The class looked up to where Ayaka was standing. They could hardly see her face, but she was definitely emotionless up there.

“She honestly can’t be thinking of jumping, right?” Yuto frowned.

Daiki stared at the ledge. Since he knew of her problem, his guess was that she wanted to get rid of the elemental-side of her. What other better way to do it than to kill herself?

” Let me fight you” Ayaka’s words ran through Daiki’s head. Yes, he would like to fight with the actual user of ice, but at this moment, he was powerless. He wanted to keep Ayaka from dying so that he would be able to have a match with her other side once he could use is own element.

There was one person whom he could think of that would be able to save Ayaka in the case that she does decide to fall. He took out his cell and used speed-dial to call him.

“Please, I need you right now.” Daiki mumbled.

Meanwhile, Ayaka finally looked down at the crowd. ”Why are they all here?” Ayaka thought to herself. ”This won’t be a pretty site…”

She took a deep breath and lifted her left leg. ”This will be quick…let’s just get this over with.”

Ayaka closed her eyes, pushed her own body forward and she was airborne. The crowd below screamed with both excitement and fear. Just when she reached three quarters of the way down, a huge gust of wind came out from nowhere and a figure swooped up to catch Ayaka. The gust enabled both Ayaka and the figure to land safely on the ground.

Confused, Ayaka slowly opened up her eyes. It was the other guy that was with Daiki when they fought with Chinen. Without noticing, she started to fluster, and the guy was a little red himself. He gently placed Ayaka down and turned to find Daiki. Ayaka’s heart could not stop beating quickly.

Daiki and Inoo found a quiet place behind the trees.

“Thank you so much Inoo-chan.” Daiki had a sigh of relief. When Inoo did not say anything, Daiki looked up. “Inoo-chan?”

Inoo looked away. “I’m sorry Dai-chan. I can’t help you anymore. Actually, I came over to tell you this.” He took out a small key and placed it in Daiki’s hand. “This is a spare key for your cuffs. Take this as a last gift from me.”

“What do you mean?” Daiki was confused.

“You’re no longer part of the Kusamine.” Inoo closed his eyes. “Takaki says that you are no longer one of us.”

Daiki began to tremble. He knew that Takaki’s words were final. “You can’t be serious…He didn’t…what about you?”

“I’m standing alone as one of the four Aces.” Inoo replied quietly. “Honestly speaking, I’m the one who has been helping you all the time. Without me, your element would have not been concealed as ice. You’re the one who has been using me.”

“Inoo-chan…no…I…”

Inoo continued. “Like what Takaki said. I’m more powerful than you. Without me, you won’t be able to survive. You don’t deserve the title of being one of the Four Aces.”

Daiki approached Inoo. “I always thought of you as an equal.”

Inoo began to show his anger. “You’ve never done anything to prove that I’m an equal. You always ask me for help. I’m sorry Daiki, but this is our goodbye. When you come back to the gifted side, please be prepared for it.” He left.

Daiki slid down to the grass. “I just lost my only friend…”

Unknown to Daiki, Ayaka was carefully listening to the conversation a few trees behind them.

=====

In the early morning, Chinen woke up with a stutter. “Oh not again…” He noticed that his watch was stuck on his cheek. “I don’t understand this at all. Why does this happen even though I placed it at the other side of his desk.”

Yuto rubbed his eyes. “What’s wrong, Chi?”

Chinen looked at his watch. “It got stuck on me again. I don’t understand why. Oh, and it stopped working now. This .”

Yuto was only half awake, but he could already notice that everything that had a piece of metal in it surrounded Chinen’s bed. “What’s going on here? Chinen, why do you have so much stuff surrounding you?”

Chinen finally saw all the objects surrounding him. “Gyahh!!” was all that he could say in response. As he said that, the objects bounced up and fell back down. “Do you think that we have a ghost here or something?”

Yuto tugged on his bedsheets and glanced around. “I hope not!” Then, something came to his mind. “Say Chi, why don’t you try and imagine that your watch is floating in mid-air?”

Chinen raised an eyebrow. “I’ll try it…”

He did not have to think too much before his watch hovered in the air.

Yuto’s eyes widened. “That’s so cool Chi! You must be the elemental user of metal!”

Chinen was surprised himself. “Are you sure about that?”

“What other proof do you need? Ah, Chi…you’re so lucky! You can move to the gifted side now!”

Chinen hesitated. “But then I won’t know anyone there.”

“But…when you discover that you have an element, you’re automatically transferred.” Yuto frowned.

Raising up his head, Chinen answered, “Why don’t we keep it as a secret? As long as you don’t say anything, and I don’t say anything, we should be alright. I want to wait until you discover yours!”

Yuto smiled. “Thanks Chi. However, I might not even have an element.”

Chinen began to pick up the objects to clear his way. “Nah, don’t be so negative! I’m sure you’ll get yours soon!”

Throughout the morning, it was hard for Chinen to keep his uncontrolled element hidden. He somehow managed to conceal it even until lunch time.

Yuto pointed towards a corridor. “I don’t believe that you’ve ever been into the cafeteria in this building before?”

Chinen shook his head.

“Then let’s go!”

When they entered the cafeteria, they noticed Daiki with the group of girls again.

“What’s wrong Dai-chan?” a girl asked. “You don’t seem to be too happy today.”

Daiki was still at a loss for words from Inoo’s talk. The key was still in his pocket. He could only think of one thing to distract him from Inoo. He looked at the girls. “Can you bring Ayaka to the pool side tonight? I have some unfinished business with her.”

Taken back from the comment, the girls whispered to each other. “Do you need our help when we bring her there?”

Daiki shook his head. “I’ll deal with her alone.”

=====

When he went into the pool room, he saw that Ayaka was tied up with ropes. The girls did not even bother to tape up , since she was silent. She still had the death glare when she saw Daiki, but her it was not as intense as before.

Daiki took out the key from his pocket and unlocked his two gloves. He threw the gloves aside and stretched his fingers.

Similar to the few nights before when Ayaka attacked Daiki, the pool water began to swirl. However, it was Daiki who was controlling it this time.

“I haven’t felt water like this in a long time.” Daiki mumbled as he lowered his hand right above the surface of the water.

He then turned to Ayaka. “Bring your element out.” Daiki said with watery eyes. “I want to have that fight right now.”