Cedar and Deia were the first to get back from training, both of them standing in front of the boys' dorm.
"Didn't expect you to be here so early," Cedar said, seeing her awkwardly stand in silence.
Deia slightly fidgeted with her fingers before giving a direct answer. Cedar couldn't tell what she was thinking, or rather, no one could.
"Yes... I didn't expect it either."
"I assume you were the closest out of all of us."
"...Probably."
Cedar wanted to find ways for them to talk, but he wasn't great with it. Sure, he had top grades, read books, and worked with people daily, but he never mastered the art of small talk.
Before Cedar could even think of something to respond with, footsteps echoed in the street, getting closer to the gate.
"Someone's coming..." Cedar said, hoping it'd be one of his friends.
Deia focused her Kishin to her forearm, getting ready to summon her chains.
"Who...?"
The tension grew with every step, both of them still hoping it'd be one of their friends.
But that hope shattered once they saw who stood before them. Instead of one person, it was two people.
Their steps were so in sync that it sounded like one person made their way to them.
It was the twins: Himari and Himiko.
"The ones who dare challenge a leader, why?" One of the twins, named Himiko, spoke in a soft tone.
Himiko had lavender-gray hair while wearing the uniform of the Elites. One of her eyes was blue, and the other almost black as a shadow.
She was the Head of Medical, being in charge of medics and the protocols.
Next to her stood Himari, who didn't say anything at first. She had muted black hair, with her opposite eye being blue and the other black.
"Sorry... But we'll have to stop you." Himari finally spoke.
Cedar pulled his eyebrows closer together, being on the verge of activating his Junigenme eyes, if things were to escalate.
"We'll do it no matter what, and you don't have the means of stopping us."
Deia pulled her arms closer to her, a worried look forming on her face.
"Um... Could you not provoke them..."
"My apologies, but we can't stop here, after already coming this far," Cedar said.
However, one of the twins heard Cedar's words and took it as confirmation that they'd have to battle, with the winner deciding the outcome.
"If that's the case, you shall be put on trial against fate," Himiko said, her hair slightly flowing upwards.
Himiko revealed a cross tied around her neck.
"I am the decider in this instance."
She threw her fingers before herself, forming a cross with her index finger.
"Grava Kruco," Himiko whispered.
Cedar's eyes moved from one side to another continuously, trying to figure out what her Kensei did and where she'd attack from.
But despite Cedar having better eyes than Deia, she was the one to point out the Kensei.
"Behind you, Cedar!" Deia yelled, as if her shyness didn't exist in the first place.
Cedar's eyes widened, and he jumped forward as soon as he heard Deia's words. While in the air, he turned around.
Behind Cedar was a huge, shadowy cross, which had grown out of the ground.
While Cedar was in the air, he was completely defenseless, and the cross started pulling him towards itself.
Cedar had no idea what touching the cross would've meant. And he wasn't willing to test it out either.
His eyes transformed, his pupils shifting and deforming. After a second, his eyes turned into a 4th-dimensional cube.
And that's what Cedar used to make the cross disappear. It was a draining move and made his eyes bleed if used for even a second longer, but that was the only outcome he saw at that moment.
Perhaps his Kensei, the dark matter, could've also done something, but he had to act fast and couldn't go through the different possibilities.
Meanwhile, the other twin, Himari, also took out the cross from beneath her uniform. She also formed a cross with her index fingers.
Deia had to act; standing around while Cedar was already being attacked would've amounted to nothing.
Chains dropped from her forearms, echoing in the area. They glimmered as if they were painted with the moonlight.
She shot the chains forward, hoping to hit Himari. Luckily, Deia was able to command the chains without needing to rely on a do-or-die moment.
Himari's fingers shone brightly before a huge, white, shiny cross shot out of her fingers, heading towards Deia.
The chains and the cross clashed, cancelling each other out.
But Himari wasn't done yet; another cross headed to Deia's way right after the previous one.
Deia ran to her left to avoid the cross with the chains dragging through the ground. Once she had evaded the cross, jumping to make sure there was enough distance, and landing on the ground, the chains disappeared.
The shining cross hit the dorm building and exploded, breaking the entrance door and the windows.
Things had escalated too far, and even the bystander noticed it, stepping before Deia, whose face was on the ground.
"Are you in need of assistance, Ms. Sato?"
'That voice...' Deia said to herself, her heart rate picking up.
Deia raised her head to see thin black shoes in front of her, and as her eyes followed the person upwards, through the skinny black jeans, and the red striped white western shirt, she saw the red messy hair that could've only belonged to one person.
Rye Ginfay.
His tombstone-like teeth reflected the sun above them as his eyes locked onto Himari and the new cross heading their way.
Rye only took a step forward when he disappeared from Deia's vision.
Deia pushed herself up from the ground, trying to see where Rye had gone. But the cross heading their way disappeared, and Rye stood before Himari.
At such close distance, Himari's Kensei was useless, but even if she tried something, it would've been useless. Rye had snatched her necklace with the cross while at the time getting rid of the attack and stepping closer to her.
Rye's true power was unknown to Deia, or anyone, but all of it happened in the blink of an eye.
Rye spun the necklace around his index finger as he stared at Himari.
Even Cedar, who had deactivated his Junigenme eyes, admired Rye's quick thinking. They were from the same class, so Cedar had had more time than others to talk with him, but nothing of his powers was ever revealed.
But an opening appeared to Cedar when he saw Himiko distracted by Rye.
He threw his hand before him and activated his black matter Kensei, the gravity shattering Himiko's cross that gave her the powers.
Meanwhile, Isabella and Kaminari had left Yamikuro alone to deal with Yure. While running, they ran into Liv, the Head of Defence.
And their way headed the two strongest Elites, Seiji and Raien, ready to give their all to stop the kids from going to the other world, which they were just a few steps away from doing so.