Episode 7

Raiden stormed out of the classroom to keep himself from harming anyone that was nearby, he went to his normal hangout spot which was the dormitory roofs. Carmen and Lotus had gone back to their dorm, and once there Lotus went to her bed and laid there unable to speak or say anything. Carmen stayed beside Lotus until she fell asleep, the smaller girl let out a sigh then looked at the window. She could see lightning coming from one of the training fields. Followed by a flash of light then something flying in the air and coming back down like a lightning bolt. Carmen looked again to Lotus making sure she was completely asleep then heading towards the field to investigate. At the very field Carmen had seen outside her window were Riku and Raiden sparring. "DAMN IT!" Raiden yelled angrily.

"Keep going until you manage to hit me" said Riku,

Raiden launched himself at Riku again at an almost ungodly speed appearing on his right side leaving a crack in the floor. Riku turned to face Raiden, blocking the strike that was delivered to his face, but the force was enough to send him flying back. Though once Riku got his footing he began to slow down, Raiden had followed up to perform another attack. Damn it...I can barely see his attacks Riku thought as he ducked under a kick Raiden was about to deliver to his head. The kick that Raiden had missed was followed by a trail of lightning, this was due to the lightning Raiden's body was emitting.

Carmen finally arrived at the field, the sight of Riku and Raiden was enough to make her heart drop to her stomach. Raiden could kill him...I...I have to do something! Carmen thought as she formed a fireball in her hand. Carmen raised her arm to throw the fireball, but the feeling of someone's hand on her shoulder made her lower her arm as the fireball went out. "Do not interrupt them," said Mrs. Yuki.

"But...they could kill each other!" Carmen shouted.

"Raiden won't kill Riku. See Raiden is angry that Akaze died, and he needs to get that anger out in a healthy way...he was on the dormitory roofs when everything had happened last night. So naturally he feels maybe if he had gone back to his dorm at the time of the attack he could've saved Akaze" said Mrs. Yuki.

Riku had coated his hand in darkness and went for a strike at Raiden's cheek using a right cross. Raiden somersaulted, managing to deliver a kick to Riku's jaw. Riku took the hit and stumbled back taking a defensive stance staring at Raiden who in turn returned the stare. Raiden recognized he had Riku on the defensive, which was odd for Raiden due to him always spectating Riku he was always on the offensive. This is something new… Raiden thought to himself as he rushed Riku, thus causing Riku to put up a barrier of light to keep from getting hit by the attack head on. Is he learning? Riku thought to himself as Raiden suddenly appeared behind him, sending a lightning blast at Riku's back causing the boy to stumble forward. Riku hissed as he felt the lightning strike his body, and surge through his body, but he managed to turn around and send a blast of Light at Raiden which managed to hit. Raiden came through the light blast and struck Riku, making the latter hit the floor, but what Riku saw shocked not just him but the spectators. "Why...why did Akaze have to die...if I had gone to the dorm sooner...he would be here right now instead of me…" Raiden said as tears fell from his eyes.

"Raiden doesn't know how to express his emotions like other people, so instead he relies on combat to convey his emotions" said Mrs. Yuki

"I thought him and Akaze weren't all that close?" asked Carmen.

"Riku, Akaze, and Raiden all hung out after classes to help him try and talk to Lotus, even ask her out on a date...the same date he didn't get to take her on" said Mrs. Yuki.

Riku hugged Raiden as the other male had cried over the loss of his classmate, and even dared to say it to his friend. After the two shared a heartfelt hug they as well as their spectators all went back to their dorms for the day. The four went back to their respective dorms, and turned in for the day as they all took the time to mourn over the loss of their classmate. Amongst those that mourned the loss of Akaze was surprisingly Karma, the one that committed the crime. I...I shouldn't have killed him… Karma thought as he looked at his hands while sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Please don't tell me you actually feel bad for him?" asked a female voice that came from a shadow in the room.

"I didn't want to kill him! I don't want to kill anyone!" Karma yelled thankfully the rooms were soundproof.

"You'll do as you're told, and when you're told, get it?" The Woman asked using wind to suspend Karma.

Karma narrowed his eyes at the woman before him, but stayed quiet and complacent as to keep himself from being harmed. I need to find a way to get help...maybe I could...no...no they would just turn me in Karma sighed. The next day the students of class 2-C had begun their own personal investigation on Akaze's death. Something didn't seem right. They asked the officers for some information about the case such as witness reports, body wounds, and blood samples. However, the authorities rejected any interjections that the students made. Raiden had managed to break away from Carmen, Lotus, Riku, and Mrs. Yuki. He also managed to get Karma while he was alone, and even so he slammed him into a wall causing the latter to wince from the pain. Raiden then punched the wall making a crack in the wall beside Karma. "I swear to god Karma if I find out it was you...I promise you every attack will be viscous, and I will crack every ligament in your body…" said Raiden.

"Yeah well you're also a suspect" said Karma.

"Everyone is Karma, but I'm telling you this as a warning" said Raiden, and from the look Karma was getting he could tell Raiden was serious in his words.

All Karma did was nod then walked away while the others continued their investigation, and while doing so Carmen had managed to get Riku alone for a short period of time. Mrs. Yuki went into the teachers lounge to get the trio video footage from one of the cameras. Carmen gulped, and took a deep breath she worked up the courage to tell him how she felt.

"Hey Riku...I know now isn't the time but I have something to tell you" said Carmen.

"Okay? Go ahead" said Riku.

"Riku I…" Carmen was cut off by Riku.

"Before you continue Carmen...first I find it very flattering that you have that type of feeling towards me, but I must inform you that I'm married to Mrs. Yuki." said Riku.

"M-Mrs. Yuki?" asked Carmen.

"Yes...I should have said it sooner I'm sorry…" said Riku.

Carmen fell silent, as tears began to form in her eyes just as Riku was about to try to tell her it was okay. Carmen brushed past him, and started running back to her dorm. She couldn't let him see her cry, as well as anybody else that was around to witness her rejection. Once Carmen had gotten to her dorm she sat on her bed curdling herself into a ball. She silently cried to herself but was soon interrupted by Lotus walking through the door to see her crying. "Carmen are you okay?" asked Lotus. Though Carmen didn't respond instead she just laid there continuing to cry until she had eventually fallen asleep.

Lotus sighed and decided it would be best for her to turn in for the night and talk to Carmen about what happened in the morning. Right now she was so tired she could maybe fall asleep standing up, though she decided to tuck her bestfriend in so she wouldn't be cold.

The following day the students excluding Karma continued their investigation on Akaze's death. As they were about to go and question Mrs. Yuki the announcements rang. "Would all students of class 2-C report to the principal's office" said the principal as his voice echoed throughout the school.

Raiden, Riku, Carmen, and Lotus all looked at eachother, and went to see what the principal had wanted with all of them. Once all of class 2-C had arrived at the principal's office and stood before their headmaster of the school. "I know you're all going through a tough time, and I personally would like to help each of you through this grief. However, there is an opening that needs to be filled with Akaze's death. I have a new addition to your class." said the Headmaster.

"Opening that needs to be filled!?" Raiden shouted.

"Rai, calm down you're gonna get in troub-" Riku was cut off.

"Hell no! He was a person not just another statistic you bastard!" Raiden yelled.

"Mr. Murasame, I'm going to have to ask you to calm yourself. Before I will be forced to remove you" said the Headmaster.

"You're trying to replace one of our classmates! And you want us to just be calm!" Karma jumped in shocking everyone.

Once the situation was calmed the headmaster cleared his throat looking at his students before him. He sighed seeing he had clearly upset some of them from his choice of words, and truth be told he didn't mean to be insensitive about replacing one of his students.