The first holidays since Sayuri's enrollment at the Northwind Academy had gone by faster than expected. With mixed feelings the girl got in her parents' car that would bring her back to the supernatural school. While the three of them were in the car, no one said a thing, so a billion thoughts ran through Sayuri's head.

How did her whole family manage to keep all these things from her for her entire life? Why was her heritage so secretive and even dangerous? How many things were left worth to find out? How much did Sayuri really want to know? Sometimes it's better to be in the unknown. With that, her grandmother wasn't wrong, but still … It should be for herself to decide. Now the young necromancer was not only bewildered, but had also lost a big rock kind of worth in trusting her own relatives. She had been so close to them, they could talk about anything without judgment, she'd never doubted a single word they said to her, but now? Sayuri was overthinking almost everything already and from now on there would be even more to question. She sighed. Before the girl could lose herself even more in a roundabout of thoughts, her phone vibrated. A message from Hana!

»Hana♥: Sayucchi!!! R u already on the road? I can't wait to see you again (I didn't arrive myself yet, but soonish, in 1h or so!) ^^ Aaaand … u know?! There will be a surprise waiting 4 u!!! :D«

»Sayu: Hi, Hana ^^ yep, I'm on my way, but we're only half through, though … A surprise? Uh … :o«

»Hana♥: Yesssss!!! But I've already spilled too much, aaaa. I really missed you! <333 I'll make sure we can visit each other during summer! :)«

»Sayu: Haha, okay, c u l8r.«

»Sayu: I have something kinda "surprising" to tell you as well …« Sayuri had that line of text in the messenger's input field for quite a while, thinking whether she should send it or not. But in the end she deleted it. She would tell her friend about the new revelations in person. No need to give Hana a teaser. Otherwise she wouldn't stop asking and that was a rather complicated topic to discuss via phone.

When her parents dropped her off the entrance and she stared at the huge gate it felt quite like a déjà-vu. Only the weather had changed. It was already dark at 5pm and a chilly wind whispered around her. But while at home everything was covered in white already, here not a single snowflake was visible, thankfully. Sayuri wasn't a big winter fan after all and so she pulled her woolen scarf higher over her face before entering the campus once again. 

As early as she had barely opened the door, Hana instantly jumped on her best friend.

Hana: "SAYURIIIIIIIIIIN!!!" The blonde girl screamed right into Sayuri's ear. "Finally! Will you believe me, I felt so lonely without you?! Just surrounded by boys, I clearly had forgotten how exhausting this is!" She hugged her as tight as she could while giggling. Yet, she didn't let Sayuri get a chance to speak. "Damn, I cannot wait to give something to you! I'm so excited!"

Sayuri: "I missed you, too." With a gentle smile on her face, she hugged Hana back. She really meant it. Even though she didn't miss the mess that was her life now, she had missed Hana and the others. On the contrary, she didn't miss her old friends from back home … Was that a bad thing? Ah well, whatever … "What is this surprise? You sound like you're going to explode soon for keeping it from me, haha."

Hana: "Ah, well, screw it!" She started to rummage around her bag. "You know, Kira and I got you a little something. But she's not here yet. But I can. Not. Wait." The blonde girl thrusted a neatly wrapped package into Sayuri's hands, but she hesitated, so Hana encouraged her. "Come on, open it, pleeeease!"

Sayuri: "Alright, alright." She laughed and started to unwrap the gift. 

What could it be? Alone the thought that they bought something for her made her heart flutter. She didn't expect such a gesture at all. From the feel it was something soft, so maybe a piece of clothing? Sayuri was proven right. It was a shirt, but not any shirt. A band shirt from the Black Sky Foxes, but not any band shirt. A special limited edition that was secretly put up in their store and sold out before Sayuri even knew about it. With an open mouth she stared at Hana.

Sayuri: "W-where did you get that? How do you even know –"

Hana: "Hehe! Don't underestimate my powers." She proudly placed her fists on her hips and raised her chin. "To be fair, I know about your love for that band from Toki. BUT when I was looking for some nice merchandise for you, I saw that shirt popping up. Without knowing I just ordered it, because I thought it looks exactly like you'd wear it. Tokkun told me about its rarity afterwards. He will envy you forever." She stuck out her tounge.

Sayuri was really amazed. Her eyes must have looked like stars, she was truly happy about that shirt. Hana's stats for luck must have been over 9000. And when Toki visited her dream, he didn't say a word about this. Such a valuable gift for an average person like her? She didn't even do anything to deserve this …

Hana: "Oh, by the way, Toki also paid his part for it. He said I shouldn't tell you, but I refuse to execute this order." She grinned.

Sayuri wanted to ask why he wouldn't want her to know, but in that moment the door opened and a pink haired girl came in.

Kira: "Couldn't you have waited just a little longer, Hana?" Even though the words were chiding, her voice was gentle. Was it even possible for Kira to be mad at someone?

Hana: "SORRRRRRY, Kira-chaaaan! But, you know, I was so excited and look how happy she is! Also she still has to put it on, right? So you're just in time for the fashion show, haha."

Kira: "It's alright. I'm glad we found something she likes."

Sayuri: "Aah, thank you so much, I really appreciate this!" She smiled at her roommates. "I'll try it on right now, gimme a sec!" The girl disappeared into her room and came out shortly after with an even bigger smile. She was very satisfied with her new piece of clothing. The fabric felt soft and Sayuri thought it really suited her. Hana was right, that was definitely something she'd wear!

But because of sheer excitement she totally forgot that she wanted to tell Hana about her family. Now she should involve Kira as well, right? But before she could decide what to do, it knocked on the door. Was it Toki? 

Hana must have thought the same as she happily hopped to the door and opened it.

???: "Hello Nakata-san. Can I speak to Kobayashi-san?"

Hana: "Uh, sure, Osakabe-sensei! She's right here …" The girl's exuberant voice tone changed within a second. She stepped away so the headmistress could come in.

Sayuri turned around and froze on the spot. The headmistress? Why would she make her way to their room? She had a bad foreboding.

Miss Osakabe: "Good Afternoon!" The woman with that intense aura stood in there with crossed arms and looked at the insecure necromancer. "I guess you're fine with me telling some news in your friends' presence here." This wasn't even a question. But she waited that polite second, so Sayuri could nod. "Perfect. Starting from tomorrow, your regular training with your originally assigned tutor will resume as before. So please be prepared accordingly."

Sayuri would have shattered into small ice shards if she could. She already thought it would have something to do with Vincent, but this? He was back? Just like that? Her head was spinning as endless thoughts ran through it at once. She was so shocked, she didn't realize Hana and Kira looked pretty concerned as well.

Miss Osakabe: "I'm aware you have a lot of questions. Please direct them to Mister Black directly. This is everything." She headed towards the door.

Sayuri: "Wait! Please … I mean, uh …" Her eyes wandered around nervously. What did she even want to say? "Does he even want to see me?" What a stupid question.

The headmistress turned around and her heels clattered on the wooden floor. She bowed her head next to Sayur's ear and whispered something that only the girl could hear.

Miss Osakabe: "He insisted on you and your friends keeping your memories from that day. Since he vouched for you, I advise you not to disappoint him." And with that, she left and closed the door behind her.

Sayuri gulped. What did that mean? Keeping their memories? Vouching? Did this have something to do with the Council? She was scared. This wasn't a joke, this wasn't a fantasy movie. Seemingly people were ordered to delete their memories from the incident … and Vincent could convince them of the contrary.

Hana: "What did she say to you?!"

Sayuri: "N-nothing … I mean, I really have to talk to Vincent tomorrow …"