The heavens darkened.

The clouds crackled.

The winds blew furiously.

Two moving blades, one white as snow, one dark as night, met the length of a golden staff in battle.

The humanoid insect holding the staff twisted his weapon, and blew both himself and his attacker away.

He landed on the roof tiles of the walls around the courtyard of a temple.

His attacker, face masked by a straw hat, landed on the courtyard itself.

Staff raised, he chanted a prayer.

"Yosanze! Hand of the Just!"

Swords raised and crossed over his straw hat, the dragon prepared for the attack about to descend from the golden light behind the pitch black clouds.

The thick mass of nimbostratus in the skies began burnung away as a giant, golden hand began to descend. Its fingers straightened to form a palm, it shoot down towards the courtyard, meeting the black and white swords the dragon wielded, and pushing him into the ground.

But though he resisted enough to crack the stone tile unders his feet, the palm still pushed him into the ground and destroyed the rest of the temple with the energy released when it touched the ground.

The insect priest tapped the ground with the bottom tip of his staff as he lifted his hand to his chest, performing the abhya mudra.

"Thus ends your justice, Ibuki Harui."

But alas.

That was far ahead into the week.

In fact, that week would mark Heiwa's history, becoming a tale told by those who saw it to the new students that enrolled into the school, and then of those who heard it to the even newer students.

The Yosanze Week, marked by the total and extremely sudden change in all of the members of the Royalty, culminated in the Musou Ragnaraku, the fight that shook the school and revealed what the super rookies of the new generation was capable of.

And to think it all began with Kikka smoking without a care in the world during her lunch break on the rooftop.

"Yohohoho! This is the best! No new cards usable in Unica for me to buy, I have my Seven Star payed for me, and I'm even gonna see Lucia-san today! Life's coming a-Okikka! Yohohohohoho!"

Then there was Harui, who was giving her the stink eye from across the rooftoop instead of eating the spaghetti in tomato sauce Izuru cooked for her that morning.

"Fisher Tuner was not worth me paying for that tank engine's addiction!"

"I dunno, I thought it was tasty. Never thought eel could be so crunchy when grilled. I guess that's what you get when you fish an eel abnormally fatty." Satoru commented. He was feasting on some homemade yakisoba his sister's girlfriend had prepared.

"You two are yet to comment on Fisher Tuner not being an actual tuna..." Yukie sweatdropped. Her lunch was rice with grilled pork Jiei made that morning.

"Oi, probie! My wallet closes today, I'm cutting you off! You'll thank me later when you quit smoking!"

"Coping mechanisms created off this world's ruthlessness are immortal, daikonhead! I'm never quitting! Besides, with no new cards on the horizon, I can pay for my own Seven Stars!" Kikka cackled, huge smile on her face as she rested her head on both her hands. "Ah... Life's good. Life's finally good."

Don't tell her Unica is getting three new cards, one being a new Bico.

"That mouthy probie..." Harui scowled. Talking was no good, so she changed her focus to eating her lunch.

"You oughta start thinking less about Uekoshi biting back and more about what to do next, 66 Mil-san. You're gonna pummel if you don't get to earning some Kon before the next Ragnarøk stage." Satoru said.

"You're telling me... Knowing Ryuzaki, the next stage may begin next decade for all we know." She sighed. "I guess I can hit unrelated tournaments... But that only goes far when you're that close to 100 mil. Hm... Hmmmm... Hmhmhmmmmm... I got it! I'll go pick a fight with someone extremely higher than me! It's that simple!"

"Idiot!" Kikka exclaimed, lifting her head. "You'll hit 0 million if it backfires!"

"High risk, high return." The tanuki winked.

"Yukie-san!"

"Sometimes, not even I can hold Harui back..." Yukie sweatdropped, putting on a pensive face.

"Ah gosh darn it! Oi, daikonhead! You gotta think about this properly! If you shoot further than you can reach, you'll pummel Izanagi into the dirt! You wanna be in the team carried by Nozomi's Kon?!"

"Absolutely not!"

"Good! So you know that you need to aim for someone near your Kon, maybe around the 70 to 75 million, but not even one Kon high-"

"I'm gonna beat up the Witch King!" Harui declared with a massive cheeky grin.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU TANUKI-SHAPED DAIKONHEAD?!?!" Kikka screamed in horror. The shock Harui's declaration gave her was enough to make her sit up and accidently spit out her cigarette.

"Kishishishishishi! You're overreacting, probie! I got it all planned out!" The tanuki laughed.

Bt dubs, that Witch King fellow has almost eight times Harui's Kon, is closer to Nozomi than the rest of the usual gang combined, and was even a billion tier before the change from points to Kon, so Kikka wasn't overreacting this time.

Unrelated, but just as Harui's stupid declaration made its way out of her mouth, Nozomi and Naomitsu felt particularly strong shivers go down their spines.

"I severely doubt it!" The redhead weeped, her extremely shaky hand bringing a new cigarette to her lips as the other equally shaky hand lit it up. "I need a new coping mechanism just because you...!"

"The Witch King, huh... All mystery aside, you got an easy road to them." Satoru said with a small cackle. His lunch finished, he leaned back against the wall with his hands behind his head. "That's why you're aiming that high, isn't it?"

"Kishishishi, I knew you'd see what I'm cooking." The white haired girl replied with a short cackle of her own. She set aside her empty bento and crossed her arms. "That's right! Believe it or not, Izanagi has a a straight path leading to the Tam Lin Knights, so we might aswell kick 'em down before Ragnarøk's next stage!"

"I don't think I wanna hear the rest of it..." Kikka sobbed.

"We know two of their members by name, and who'd have guessed that both of those named members are so close to me! This is a lucky chance not many people get, you got it? I oughta grabbed this bull by the horns and make it ours!"

"The only bull-related thing here is not its horns, it's what's coming out of your mouth..."

"Oh smile a bit, probie! Can you imagine how much that Lucia-san would praise you if you took down someone as big as the Tam Lin Knights?"

"Cruel." Satoru said.

"Harui..." Yukie sweatdropped.

"...you won't tempt me... I'm too strong to fall for obvious sweet words like those..." Kikka muttered.

She held on.

She crossed her arms and held on.

She lowered her head and held on.

She took a drag from her sweet Seven Stars and held on.

She imagined Lucia clinging on to her and calling her strong and even so she held on-!

No, nevermind, no she didn't, she crawled like a running lizard over to Harui and looked her dead in the eye.

"You sure this'll work?!"

She tried to look serious, but she couldn't hide the stupidly overjoyed look on her face, or the drops of blood rolling down her nose.

"Lucia-san, Lucia-san, Lucia-san... Yohoho..."

She didn't even wait for an answer! She was already thinking about it!

"When did you become such an obvious leecher..." Harui cringed, holding her handkerchief up to her friend's nose. "So, from the Tam Lin, we know about the Dark King Inoue Himeno and the Loan Shark Ibarai Ran, one who happens to study at the same uni as Kiru, the other who happens to be Ichika's bestie. Needless to say, alot of this plan rides on having Kiru and Ichika pull the strings to make it happen."

"You think boss Kiru knows this Dark King girl?" Satoru asked.

"Absolutely not, no. That's why I have my money on Ichika. That Rita's not sociable enough to get close to a high profile name like Inoue Himeno, and I doubt Akafuyu can be of much use in this, so we'll relegate the Blacksync folks to Plan B. Plan A's much simpler and easier, it's just asking Ichika to ask Ibarai to make it happen."

"But would Ichika-nee do it though?" Yukie asked.

"If it's her dangerously cute lil sis, absolutely." Harui responded, shooting Yukie a wink. "Besides, despite me only meeting Ibarai maybe three times in the past, I got something on her that'll make Ichika fold instantly."

"Huh? What do you mean? I don't get it." The dark skinned girl said.

Yukie wasn't very fast on the uptake as to why Ibarai Ran was in Gunma when Ichika was and why she's back in Tokyo now that Ichika is also back.

"No need to waste your beautiful brain power on it, my sweet Yukie. I got it all over control, kishishi. Ibarai's about... 90% of the road to the Witch King, so while I'd obvioisly love to have 100% of said road instead, she'll have to do. And once she's down, I'm whooping that wiki king!"

"It probably goes without saying but you don't really got anything on the Witch King itself, do you?" Satoru brought up. "Hard to fight someone you know nothing about but who is extremely above your league."

"Rude! Also yes and no. Sure, we don't have a name, a face or even a deck, but we have a team." Harui said, cocky smug grin already on. "Think about it. Tam Lin Knights, and two members of a three member team are girls? I think the odds of our Witch King being a girl are higher than you think. You could probably also bet on the idea that the Witch King's also a legal adult given Inoue and Ibarai's ages, but you never know these days."

"Izanagi has a literal old man, so." Kikka shrugged, then immediately lowered her head. "Y-yeah, I heard it, I'm becoming too much like you, let's not go there right now..."

"Kishishishi." The white haired chuckled, comforting the redhead with a headpat. "What probie said. This Witch King could be someone's parent or be our age, we won't know until we met them face to face. Still, working under the assumption they're a young adult like Inoue and Ibarai's still valid. You know how the saying goes. Once's an accident, twice's a coincedence, but three's a pattern."

"Does knowing who the Witch King is actually help in taking them down?" Yukie questioned.

"Yesn't. For any other team, it'd be an irrelevant factor who'd add up to nothing. But for us? If this Witch King's a girl close enough to our age group, I can absolutely make her throw the game with how cute I am."

"Yohohohohoho!" Kikka wheezed, tears already in her tears.

"Oi, quit it, probie! I'm a million percent taken woman, but I can't stop my natural charm of making random bimbos fall to my knees!" The white haired exclaimed, teeth furiously grinding as she smacked Kikka's head. "I get lesbians!"

"YOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!" But that only made her laugh harder.

"Ah, mou! Tell her, Yukie!"

"No. I'd prefer not risking your natural charm giving me more enemies than necessary." The dark haired girl replied with a threatening dark expression on her face.

"I can't believe part of your plan to handle a foe like the Witch King is to get your natural charm to seduce them... YOHOHOHO-" Some harsh coughing got in the way of her laughing.

"You gotta give it to Uekoshi, you can do better than that, tanuki." Satoru sweatdropped.

"You three are just doubters! I assure you I'd one thousand percent beat this Witch King in our first brawl!"

"Good thing you said assure and not be..." Kikka chuckled softly, having calmed down from her coughing fit. But she giggled a bit. "Then again... Yoho-!"

"You're out." Harui deadpanned, covering Kikka's mouth to stop the next wage of yohohos. "Let's put the Tam Lin matter to rest there. You may think I'm full of it, but I'll definitely pummel that Witchy Clinger whenever I meet 'em! Kishishishi!"

"You definitely got alot of time to prepare for it. Ragnarøk's next stage won't be until the First Winters are all done, and in typical Ryuzaki fashion, he didn't say a peep about when that's happening." Satoru mentioned.

"It'd be cool if it was after summer. I don't wanna worry about going to venues in the stupid summer heat." Harui sighed, finally removing her hand from Kikka's hand. "Man, I want a sweet treat... I'm going to the cafeteria real quick-"

"I'm coming too." Yukie and Kikka said in too perfect of a unison, the latter looking disapprovingly at the white haired girl.

"...ah dammit." She clicked her tongue.

"Bring me some orange soda." Satoru requested.

The sunglasses lover was left alone in the rooftop, relaxing by himself as he killed time waiting for his friends to go do what they had to and return by scrolling througu his phone.

But then, a call came in.

"This is a surprise. What do you want?"

"You're at the rooftop, aren't you? Did Harui left to go to the cafeteria by any chance?"

"Huh, spot on. You got a phone, don't you? Call her if you need her."

"I couldn't stop it... No, I don't think I ever had any chance of stopping it from happening."

"What are you talking abou- Jiei?" Satoru asked, looking at his phone. The call was cut off from the caller's side. "That guy... What the hell's going on with you now, Jiei?"

But back to the girlies.

Harui was walking some steps ahead of Yukie and Kikka, hands stuffed inside her blazer's pockers and eyes closed, but her eyebrows and lips were always twitching. She could feel the powerful gaze of two women glued to her back.

"I wasn't gonna do any-"

"I wasn't born yesterday, you fight-or-fight response diakonhead!" Kikka exclaimed, finally breaking her silence. "You got all hyped up thinking about beating the Witch King and decided you'd go knock King Tonitrus outta the way first, didn't you?!"

"Excellent reading, Kikka-san. I was thinking the same." Yukie nodded.

"Geh... I got busted..." Harui clicked her tongue. But against her better judgement, she decided to stop to argue her case. "But-"

"No buts!" The redhead deadpanned. "You gotta think about the team too! You just beat the famed Eternal Ruler, losing against a school level King will just make you seem like a fraud! You wanna be a fraud?! Do you you, you fraudulent Frederica?!"

"Ah?! Who're you calling a fraudulent Frederica?!" The white haired exclaimed, already butting heads against her teammate. "I can absolutely beat up old Tony! I'm above school level Royalties!" She pushed.

"But you're not above getting your ass kicked and the problem is you don't see it!" Kikka pushed back. "I'll stop you from challenging King Tonitrus even if it's the last thing I do!"

"I wanna see you try!"

"Bet!"

"Calm down, you two..." Yukie sweatdropped as she separared the two girls. "Kikka-san just doesn't want you to lose points right after getting them. Just give it some time before challenging Ryuden-san, Harui."

"Aw man... How can I say no to a heckin' cute gal like you." Harui clicked her tongue as she threw an arm around Yukie's neck. "Guess I'll just have to wait! Kishishishishi!"

"Oi, don't think I didn't notice you sneakly say I wasn't cute. I'll kick you in the nads." Kikka said, looking at Harui with an extra disapproving side eye.

"Kishishi! C'mon probie, I'll get you a sweet treat too. Dessert's on me today!"

"Nice save." Yukie chuckled.

"Right?" The tanuki wiggled her eyebrows.

"Don't enable her, Yukie-san!"

As they approached the front counter of Heiwa's cafeteria, Harui took no time to notice the familiar face that was cleaning the exposition glass next to it. With lunch break so close to ending and the cafeteria empty, he could finally relax and clean up the place before having his own lunch.

The King of Heiwa, though truly, only a bygone memory now.

"Yo, Sparkman! Done with work for today?" Harui greeted, waving at him as she approached the counter.

"Hm? Well, if it isn't the problem child." Ryuden laughed, throwing his cleaning rag over his shoulder. He looked at the group and greeted them with a nod. "It's almost time to go back to class. What brings you here at this hour?"

"This tanuki wanted to make a fuss so now she's just paying for dessert, King Tonitrus." Kikka said, pointing at the daikonhead with her thumb.

"Did not!" The daikonhead deadpanned. "Hey, come and fight me, Sparkman!"

"Did not my ass!" The redhead scowled, pushing Harui's head down. "You oughta be more thoughtful! I'll start hitting you one of these days!"

"You're abusing the sanctity of our friendship!"

"You two..." Yukie sweatdropped.

"Lively as always, huh?" Ryuden chuckled, but soon deviated his look from the three. "Go get yourselves a table. I'll bring some of the cake the cooking club made this morning. It's on the house."

"For real?!" The bickering duo asked, immediately forgetting all abour their own squabble to look at the king with sparkling eyes. "Free cake, free cake, free cake! Caaaaaaaakeeeee!"

"B-behave yourselves!" Yukie exclaimed, at a lost of what to do now that Kikka had gone full Harui mode.

But she managed to pull their reigns in eventually and get them to sit around a table by the window. That smoker was too prone to go back on her word to never fall to the tanuki's level at times.

It wasn't long until Ryuden had come around to set a plate with some chocolate and carrot cake and a spoon in front of the three of them.

"Free cake!" Harui and Kikka exclaimed.

"Please don't repeat what just happened..." Yukie sweatdropped.

"Like hell I'll be like that daikonhead!"

"Who're you calling a daikonhead?!"

"You really know how to find 'em, Kiba-san." Ryuden chuckled. "Let me know of you guys need some-"

"I do!" Harui exclaimed.

"Don't you dare challenge him!" Kikka warned.

"I wasn't! Well, not right away anyway. I was gonna ask what's up with that old coot face you had since we walked in, Sparkman."

"Oi, daikonhead! You can't just tell a Royalty's King he's got an old coot face! What's the matter with you?!"

"Is that Eguchi bimbo? I keep telling you you'd be better off with that Shaku girl from Class B! She'd treat you right!"

"And now you're giving him relationship advice?! We're finished!" Kikka weeped, hands on her head. "We're so sorry, King Tonitrus..."

But Ryuden just laughed. He laughed low and darkly, but he laughed.

"It's really hard to keep something from her, isn't it..."

"It's almost to impossible, Ryuden-san." Yukie answered with a smile. "Will you seat with us and tell us what's on your mind?"

"Yeah... Yeah, I think I'll do just that, if you don't mind." Ryuden replied with a weak smile. He pulled the chair from a nearby table and took a seat at the edge of the one the three girls sat around. "How do I even start with this..."

"That Eguchi screwed up that hard?!" Harui asked.

"No, this wasn't just her fault. We all screwed up. I'm sorry, problem child, Kiba-san. I couldn't cover you guys from what's coming."

"Oh... O-oh... Oh no.... OH NOOOOOOOOOOOO! What crimes did she commit?!" Kikka asked.

"Why do you always assume the worst when it comes to me?!" Harui scowled, smacking Kikka's head.

"Past experiences!"

"What do you mean exactly, Ryuden-san? Who is we? And what is coming?" Yukie questioned.

"We... My guys. My Royalty. We screwed up. And... I can't tell you. I made an oath that I gotta honour... Even though my honour's probably worth jack by now." Ryuden grit his teeth, his head lowered as he hid his eyes behind his hand. "He knew you'd come here... He knew he'd come here after the new Kon bounties thinking you could challenge me... But there's no King Tonitrus anymore!" He admitted. "I failed! I failed this school! I failed my students!"

"You're not King anymore?! What jackass took away your seat?! I'll beat 'em up!" Harui exclaimed.

"I can't tell you... I can only give you the damn name of the bastard that beat me, but they're in cahoots with the guy behind all of this!"

Yukie felt a freezing chill crawl up her spine. Immediately, her entire body tensed up and her eyes slightly widened.

"What... What is their name...?"

"Yukie-san...?" Kikka muttered. In all tye time they spent together, she had never seen Yukie so terrified.

Ryuden lowered the hand covering his face and looked at Yukie dead in the eye. His eyes carried the shame of his failure, and the pain brought about for being forced to hurt one of the people who looked after.

"Ohdo Kyora."

"Ohto Kyo- Who even is that?!" Harui asked. "Oi Yukie, have you heard that- Y-yukie?"

Yukie looked as if she had seen a ghost.

Unbeknowst to her, her hands were shaking and holding tightly onto her skirt. Her chest raised and deflated over and over again with the speed of her breathing.

Harui placed her hand over Yukie's.

But the shock of being brought back to reality only made Yukie get up and ran out of the cafeteria.

"Y-yukie!" Harui yelled, chasing after her.

"Yukie-san!" Kikka followed, going along with her captain.

Ryuden lowered his head in shame, teeth gritting to the point he could break them if he used any more strength.

As the two girls crossed the cafeteria's door, they passed by a student with black hair and hanafuda earrings, who whispered only one thing to Harui.

"Royalty Room, after class. That'll make things make sense."

Though Harui chose to ignore those words, she still felt them. To say such a thing, that could only be one of members of the new Royalty. She grit her teeth.

Kyora took a seat at Ryuden's table. With an amused chuckled, they picked up one of the spoons in the table and decided to enjoy the cake.

"You're a good dog, Tonitrus. You should taste this cake, you've earned that much."

"Shut up... This is all your fault... Yours and Jasei Yura's...!"

"Yes. But we only got so far because you decide to cling on to your honour. Had you casted it aside, all of this would have been avoided. Ironic, how such a small thing is what broke the dam keeping all of this from happening. That's why gods don't waste time with trivial things such as honour."

"Spare me your crap! You'd arrive at this end result no matter what! Jasei Yura happened to be correct about they coming her, but for what?! Just for you to make a dramaric entrance?!"

"People get loud when they have nothing worthwile to use as an argument." Kyoea commented, taking another bite of the cake before them. "People are also less logical when in stressful situations. So while it is true Yura would arrive at this outcome regardless of whether or not this situation happened, it only benefits his fight. Humans have roles to play. You played yours perfectly."

"Go to hell, all of you... There's no way you'll succeed!"

"Perhaps. But allow me a counter point, Ryuden Daiki. This is Yura's justice. Has there been a time when the Unjustice failed to negate the justice of others and impose his own on them?"

Kyora laughed.

"Yahahahaha. This will be an interesting week."

Though they spent the rest of the lunch break searching for Yukie, Harui and Kikka returned to the rooftop emptyhanded. They relayed the occurence to Satoru, who didn't have anything to do add since he hadn't been there.

The rest of the day passed like usual, though Harui couldn't even begin to try to ignore the vacant seat by her side inside their classroom.

At the allotted time, when Heiwa's bells rung to announce the end of the day, Harui was the first to leave the classroom, pushing her way past whoever was between her and the Royalty room she was told to come to.

Harui stared down the door in front of her, foot already in the air as she prepared to kick it open or knock it down trying, but was stopped by a voice.

"Harui..."

She looked at Yukie, who stood just a single meter away from her.

"Y-yukie!" She exclaimed, putting her foot down. "What happened?! Are you alright?! I spent the whole afternoon calling you!"

"I... I hid in the nurse's office..." The other girl admitted, looking down with her hwad lowered. She grit her teeth. "I'm sorry... It's all my fault...!"

"You too?! What do you mean?! What's going on?!"

At the same time, Kikka and Satoru finally caught up to Harui and joined the two girls in front of the Royalty's room.

"Yukie-san, you're here!" Kikka sighed in relief. "Thank goodness, you're alright..."

"Sensing alot of tension here." Satoru said, as if to try to clear the air. "How about we get to the bottom of this instead of stalling, tanuki?"

"R-right... You're right, being nervous when you don't know anything doesn't help..." Harui replied, weakly nodded. She glanced at Yukie, who was still looking down.

Harui reached her hand to open the door, but Kyora did it for her from the inside.

Except it wasn't on them who she focused on.

She immediately looked past them and saw who was sitting on the couch, whose blue eyes were focused on her, whose gaze made the world around her silent.

She had seen those eyes before.

She saw them the day six months from her life were stolen.

She saw them the day she lost an eye and was left with scars that haunted her to this day.

She saw them the day she lost Yukie.

The last time she had seen those gleaming blue eyes, they were leaving Yukie's house as she was going in.

Had it not been for Kikka and Satoru noticing the anger quickly spreading through her face and holding her arms, Harui would have attacked the sitting King like an animal.

As Yukie looked down to hid the shame in her eyes and hold back her tears, Harui yelled out a name too familiar to the two.

"YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURAAAAAAAAAAA!"

He spoke.

"It's been a while..."

His eyes narrowed at the two girls.

"Harui, Yukie."

Harui growled through her grit teeth as she flailed her arms, trying desperately to break free from Satoru and Kikka.

"Let me go, dammit! Get off, Satoru, Kikka!"

"W-who the heck's this guy to get her this mad?! She never calls me by my actual name!" Kikka asked in a whisper to Satoru.

"The missing link between Harui and Yukie." Satoru simply said, eyes looking around the room behind his sunglasses. "And he's got company."

Indeed.

Besides Kyora at the door and Yura sitting on the larger couch, the rest of the Royalty was also present. They were all people Satoru recognized from passing, remembering seeing their faces here and there attached to titles and bounties.

Of course, standing at the door, there was Ohdo Kyora, the Divine Flame God, worth 300,000,000 Kon.

Yura himself, despite his role as the Unjustice not being well known, was worth 130,000,000 Kon.

And then there was the rest of the Royalty.

On one the couch chair to Yura's right, the red haired Ace, Zangeki Shiroakuji, the Stalking Shark worth 70,000,000 Kon.

On the other couch chair, the glass-wearing Queen, Tokiya Chiharu, the Ibis Plague worth 120,000,00 Kon.

And sitting on a table by the wall, playing on his phone, the troublemaking Joker, Idano Aoki, the Man, worth 280,000,000 Kon.

There was also a pretty blonde girl a whole head taller than him playing alongside him, but she was neither in the Royalty, nor did she have a title and a bounty.

"Mitsuru-senpai's here too? Hell of a lineup..." Satoru cursed under his breath.

"Since when are you here?! There's no way you could've been here this long without me noticing!" Harui exclaimed. "Answer me, Yura!"

"Keep your mouth shut for five minutes if you want to know anything." Yura recommended.

Harui grit her teeth, and begrudgingly, she bit her lower lip to try to keep herself quiet. She glanced at Yukie, scanning her features for something, but the dark haired woman was the most closed she had ever been.

"What do you want, Jasei?" Satoru asked.

Yura raised three fingers.

"I'll tell you three things. When I came here, my reason to doing so, and my reason for calling you here, though I don't recall asking for you, hyena."

"Sorry, this group's a combo deal. You pick on the tanuki, you get me and Uekoshi too."

"T-that's right!" Kikka nodded, feeling the pressure of from the gaze of the other Royalty members.

"That's serviceable. You would know these three points afterwards regardless, so there's no use in kicking you out."

Yura lowered two fingers.

"First. I transfered to this school last week, and have been a student here for seven days. I was originally a student of Tenbin Academy in Shingawa, a school that prepares its students for a future in law. It's the most sure fire way of securing a placement in a law school after graduation. Does that answer your question?"

"One of them... Get on with the rest!" Harui exclaimed.

Yura raised a finger.

"Second. I decided to transfer here because you won the First Winter and gained some recognition."

Yukie raised her head, eyes widened.

"You can't have..."

"Be quiet. I'll get to you." Yura said. His voice carried a noticeable harsher tone when speaking to Yukie.

"You don't talk to her like that! Hell, don't even talk to her at all!"

"C-calm down, Harui! Let him finish before you stir up some actual trouble!" Kikka whispered.

"You lack the foresight Kiba does, so I'll do you a favour and paint you the bigger picture. That'll make things clear, and move us along to point three. Let me give you a refresher."

Yura leaned forward on his seat, cold blue eyes locked on Harui's group. The expression in his face was unreadable, even to someone like Harui.

"One year ago, I accepted to be part of your plan, Kiba Yukie. I accepted to play the role of your boyfriend so you could stir up some jealousy in your best friend. It was the most basic manipulation possible, but I found it worthwhile to study for my own future, so I said yes to your request. And then, mere months later, your manipulation ruined my life."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Kikka asked.

"Is it not obvious, Uekoshi Kikka?" Yura asked. "Someone who had his eyes set on enforcing justice and doing what's right become an unwilling accomplice in an attempted murder."

"That's not true!" Yukie exclaimed, tears rolling down her face. "I didn't want that accident to happen!"

"And yet you still happily manipulated someone you loved to fall on your arms. You don't have any room to talk."

"And you don't get to throw baseless accusations at Yukie! I was the one who wasn't paying attention that day!" Harui exclaimed.

"And why was that? Did you lose your phone that day? Did you have a fight with your relatives? Or did you finally reach your limit because of your best friend's manipulation?" Yura questioned.

"That's...!"

"Against my will, I became an accomplice on your near fatal accident, but that wasn't what broke me. It was what came after. Yukie, you lied to your best friend. You manipulated her to suffer and feel like she needed you. You did everything in your power to play her like a puppet and make her love you. And then, you inadvertedly caused her to almost lose her life. And that's what keeps me awake at night."

Yura's gaze focused on Yukie. He looked through her, and she could do nothing to protect herself.

"To do all of that and come out untouched... It made me sick to my stomach. I contributed to someone almost dying. And then I had to sit and watch as justice let you get away unscathed. What's more, despite all of that, you won in the end. You almost killed the one you loved, but you still gained her love. Your crime only helped you. Your sin made you win. Kiba Yukie, your actions made me reach a conclusion."

Yura leaned back on his seat. His portrayed all the determination and seriousness he needed, and it was that what terrified Harui.

There was no a single hint of malice in his gaze.

"Your existence is a crime."

Harui was about to yell and try to escape Satoru and Kikka's grasp again, but they held her tighter and covered her mouth before she could make the situation worse.

Yukie lowered her head, her bangs falling to cover her eyes. Her lips trembled with agitation as she bit the lower one to keep herself from breaking down. Afterall, Yura's conclusion was something she agreed with.

"If your past behaviour is known, I have no doubts you will be relocated to a place where you can get the help you need. It's manupulators who start of young who pose the biggest dangers to society. This is what should have happened in the first place to preserve justice."

"Ow!" Kikka yelped, moving her hand away from Harui's mouth.

Harui had finally reached her limit and resorted to biting Satoru and Kikka's handa to get them off her.

"How dare you say that?! You don't get to decide someone's worth, you good for nothing! Keep your perverse sense of justice to yourself! Ignore this bastard, Yukie! Your life's not a crime!"

"That's not what the people who like you will say once her crimes are made public." Shiroakuji, the new Ace, brought up. "Oh, you can just call me Shiro. Shiroakuji's awfully long!" He chuckled.

"H-huh...?" Harui weakly muttered with widened eyes. "Wait... You only came to Heiwa now because..."

"Like I stated before, I came here because you gained a larger recognition following the First Winter tournament. Surmounting the Eternal Ruler has made you a hot topic in the Vanguard world. It would be a shame if the cheers of support those around you give you turned to those of pity, yet it's what will happen if you keep obstructing my justice."

Yura looked Harui dead in the eye. If the previous look in his eyes scared her, than this one outright terrified her.

"I aim to make Kiba Yukie's past actions public. This will cause her to be taken to a juvinile detention school until graduation at the very least, and should you still be together when that happens, you can kiss your hard earned fame goodbye. Forget all of your hardwork, pity is the only thing that'll keep people's eyes on you."

Harui grit her teeth.

There was nothing Satoru and Kikka could do anymore.

She jumped over the table and tackled Yura, making the couch flip over on its back and the two to hit the floor. She kept a shaking grip on his collar, but his steeled gaze didn't waver for a second.

Not even when her tears fell on him did he show weakness.

Not even when she raised her fist to hit him did his determination break.

"Drop dead, you bastard!"

"Shiro, Kyora."

In an instant, Shiro and Kyora grabbed Harui by her arms and pulled her off their King, giving him space to get up and brush some dust off his blazer.

Once again, Yukie became the target of Yura's gaze.

"Because of you, my faith in justice faltered. Because of you, my belief on what is right shattered. Because of you, my future lost its meaning. On that day, I became an accomplice to your crime. But I have hardened resolve. I have hardened my faith. I have hardened my justice. I will negate every other justice so that only mine comes to fruition. To that end, I am The U. The Unjustice. I will cast judgement upon you, Kiba Yukie."

The temperature in the room dropped to a freezing cold as Yura finally showed an emotion other than his seriousness.

He showed a small smile.

"You are untouchable. But she isn't. The only way to make you pay for your crimes is to separate you and keep it that way, one way or the other. But even the most despicable criminals are owed a fair trial."

Yura raised a third finger.

"Third. You will be judged by a court of your peers."

"What the hell are you saying?!" Harui asked.

"He's sayin' what you wanna hear the most, white hair." Aoki, the new Joker, said with a low cackle. "You can still keep your girl and your big name safe."

The girl next to him pinched his cheek and pulled on it.

"Ao-chan! You have to be nice to your kouhais! I'll be pouty otherwise!"

Aoki grinned.

"You're lucky, you punks. I'd keel over and die before makin' Mi-tan pouty!"

"That skit wasn't necessary..." Chiharu, the new Queen, muttered to herself as she fixed her glasses.

"You like fighting, don't you, Ibuki Harui?" Yura asked. "Then let's fight."

Harui grit her teeth and pushed Shiro and Kyora away from her.

"Name your terms."

"Wednesday, on the school gymnasium. I've already prepared permission slips that'll keep your attendance records clean during the trial. Five people as prosecution, five as defense. Five rounds until the final verdict. You can guess which side is which and how the verdict will be chosen."

"Don't do this, Harui..." Yukie quietly begged.

"What else? That all you got?" Harui asked.

"No. Only members of the Heiwa student body are allowed. No teachers or third parties will be part of this trial. Should the verdict come out as innocent, then I'll take this matter to the grave and return to Tenbin Academy. But if the verdict comes out as guilty, then the ball's on your court."

Harui grit her teeth and began heading out of the Royalty room, only giving Yura a small grunt as a response. Her friends followed her, with Kikka guiding Yukie out of the room by holding her arm.

"Stay away from each other and you'll be able to keep the fame you worked hard to obtain. But if you obstruct Kiba Yukie's sentence, both her and your future in Vanguard will become out of your reach until you turn up dead. You'll do well in remembering these words, Harui."

Harui placed her hand on the door.

"You can scream about being the victorious one and make yourself seem special all you want."

Harui's light pink eyes met Yura's cold blue ones as he gave his final words.

"Not even you are above justice."

She slammed the door closed.