The Ordinary Student

Ren's heart hammered against his ribs, a frantic drumbeat against the silence of the empty hallway. The image of the scene in the library replayed in his mind. The need to understand, to see more, gnawed at him, overriding the primal urge to hide. He had decided to follow Kaito, Maria, and Yumi.

Staying out of sight, pressing himself against lockers and peering around corners, Ren carefully tracked their movements. He watched as they descended into the school's rarely used basement, a section he hadn't even known existed outside of the main boiler room access.

He waited for a long moment before he crept down the cold concrete steps. At the bottom, he found not an open space, but a single, heavily reinforced metal door, devoid of handles, seamlessly blending into the wall. It was far too suspicious.

Cold feet began to creep up his legs, a chilling sensation that had nothing to do with the basement's temperature. This was beyond him; this was a door leading to something he was utterly unprepared for. Ren made the difficult decision to turn back.

As he silently ascended the basement stairs, making his cautious way back towards the illusory safety of the main school building and, perhaps, the library where other students were huddled, a sudden, jarring commotion erupted from a nearby corridor.

He froze, instantly pressing himself against the wall, straining every fiber of his being to hear. Rough, unfamiliar voices grew louder, closer, echoing eerily in the deserted hall. Taking a daring, cautious peek around the corner, Ren's blood ran ice cold. He saw Akari Sato, her usually composed face streaked with fresh tears, her hands bound tightly behind her back, being roughly dragged away by two burly, armed mans.

A sudden, overwhelming wave of impotent fury washed over Ren. Akari was a friend and a fellow member of his club. She was a kind, quiet girl, unfairly caught in this nightmare. He wanted to do something, anything, to help her, but what could he do in a situation as terrifying as this? He was merely an ordinary high school student, utterly unarmed and completely untrained. Even if he tried to intervene, even if he made the slightest move, it would only make things worse, not only for himself but almost certainly for Akari as well, likely escalating their danger.

His mind, racing frantically, flashed back to Maria and Kaito. They were, unequivocally, not ordinary students; their astonishing actions in the library provided irrefutable proof of that. From what he'd witnessed, they seemed to be some form of bodyguards for Yumi-senpai, capable of neutralizing armed men with frightening, almost effortless efficiency.

But asking them to risk themselves, to potentially expose their true capabilities further, for his sake, or for Akari's sake... The thought was a heavy burden, weighing him down. He wrestled internally with the desperate hope and the bleak reality. Even if they possessed extraordinary abilities, what genuine obligation did they have to anyone else in this school? Would they even offer aid if he, a mere classmate, were to beg? The crushing weight of his helplessness pressed down on him, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth

The chilling sight of Akari Sato being dragged away by the armed intruders solidified Ren's resolve. Helplessness was a bitter taste, but allowing it to paralyze him felt even worse. Despite his earlier reservations, despite the crushing weight of their potential refusal, he had to try. Kaito and Maria were his only hope at this moment.

He spun on his heel and raced back toward the basement, his footsteps surprisingly light, fueled by a desperate urgency. He reached the reinforced metal door, the same one that had seemed so ominous moments before. Now, it represented his last, desperate chance.

He hesitated, a new wave of fear washing over him. Should he yell? Scream for their attention? The thought was immediately discarded—the sound would carry, alerting every armed guard within earshot. He couldn't risk exposing Maria and Kaito, not if he wanted their help. Instead, he raised his fist and knocked. Not a timid tap, but a firm, distinct rap against the cold metal, loud enough to be heard within the confines of the secure room, but hopefully muffled enough not to attract unwanted attention from the corridors above.

Just as his knuckles connected, a sudden notification vibrated in his pocket. Ren instinctively fished his phone out, his brow furrowed in confusion. The message was from an unknown source, a stark, text-only pop-up, as if it had hacked directly into his device.

"What do you want, Ren Suzuki?

His eyes widened. Kaito. It had to be. He returned the message.

"Kaito, is that you?"

There was no immediate reply, just the eerie silence of the basement. Ren's heart pounded, a mixture of relief and fear. He decided to push.

"I saw what you did at the library, and Maria had a gun. Do you think you could help me rescue someone? They are being kidnapped right now."

"No. Please leave."

The single word, stark and uncompromising, struck Ren like a physical blow. He stared at his phone, the hope he hadn't realized he was clinging to dissolving into cold disappointment. The response was expected, he knew. It was pragmatic, logical, given the dire situation the academy was in. They had their own priorities.

With no other option, Ren slowly, defeatedly, turned away from the door. He left the basement, the weight of his helplessness settling back upon his shoulders. As he moved through the silent school, the sounds of distant chaos a chilling reminder, he could only offer a silent prayer for Akari Sato's safety, hoping that her parents would pay the ransom, and that she would somehow, miraculously, be back afterward.

_______________________________________________________________

The silence in the secure basement room was thick. Kaito stood still, his gazed fixed on the array of surveillance screens. He was quiet, a storm of conflict raging within him.

Maria, understanding Kaito's nature perhaps better than he understood it himself, remained silent beside him. She knew his deep-seated desire to help, yet she also understood the stringent demands of their responsibility: protecting Yumi, maintaining their cover, preventing any incident.

Yumi, watching both of them, simply sighed. Months of meticulous observation had given her a unique insight into Kaito. She knew he possessed an inherent kindness, a reflexive urge to go out of his way to help others, whether it was rescuing a trapped cat from a tree or guiding an elderly person across a busy street. Yumi had often pondered whether this heroic tendency was an influence of Durandal or if it was Kaito's own fundamental personality that had made him worthy of such a powerful weapon in the first place. From her conversation with Kaito, she was aware of the sword's sentient.

Finally, Yumi's fingers flew across her keyboard, and a text appeared on the main screen for Kaito to see.

AluM7: "Kaito, you can help them if you want, but not yet. Wait until the hostage negotiation are over. Let them get clear of the academy first."

As the message blinked across the monitor, Yumi moved without a word. She opened a narrow drawer built seamlessly into her desk and pulled out a small, matte-black box. From within, she retrieved a smooth, featureless white mask—eerily blank, with no eye slits, no mouth opening, no indication it was even meant for a human face.

She turned and handed it to him.

AluM7: "Here, take this"

"A mask?" Kaito muttered, puzzled. He turned it over in his hands. "There's no—"

He raised it to his face.

The moment it settled into place, his vision remained perfectly clear. As though the mask wasn't even there—except he could feel it, cold and strange against his skin.

AluM7: "It was given to me by another executive. It blocks most form of modern surveillance."

Maria stepped beside him, slipping something small and round into his other hand.

"Take this too," she said quietly.

It was a delicate pendant—what looked like a glass marble suspended from a thin silver chain. The moment it touched his skin, a subtle warmth spread from his palm outward. Kaito felt the faintest ripple wash through his body, like a cloak being pulled over his presence.

"It's a psychic veil," Maria explained. "It won't make you invisible, but it'll keep people from noticing you. Their minds will blur around your presence, ignore you, if not, forget you. Just be careful, it doesn't last forever."

Another text from Yumi flashed onto the screen.

AluM7: "Get it done and return quickly. Don't raise any suspicion. I know you're capable of that much."

"...Are you sure this is okay?" he asked, glancing between them. "What if 'they' attack the moment I leave?"

AluM7: "Epsilon's en route. If anything happens before you return, she'll handle it."