A hand slammed on to Tetsuki's desk and he looked up in annoyance, knowing who it was. Though only the first lesson had finished, Chika seemed to be radiating some kind of weird positive energy. "What do you want?"

"We're going to be having morning practice, lunch break practice, after school practice and after club practice! So I'm going to get busy. You better have a good meal going at you house tonight! I want yakisoba noodles!" Chika demanded loudly and excitedly as he slammed his school bag on to Tetsuki's table.

The boy with the short brown hair rolled his eyes. "Who said you could choose? Actually, who said you were even coming? I'm going to make beef and soba noodles tonight."

"Hah?! No! The only thing you can't cook is beef and soba noodles. Do NOT cook that!" Chika protested furiously. Remembering the revolting taste that had not left his mouth for hours. "That night haunted me for weeks!"

"Then don't come."

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Just as Reina straightened her back with a yawn in the morning sun, she felt her brain pulsate with a strange sensation. She dodged on instinct but then something pierced her arm. The pain flashed through her arm like lightning. She jumped up in surprise and scanned for the source. She'd been found, and she was being attacked. Reina let her spider legs sprout from her back. One of them wrapped around the bullet in her arm and wrenched it out. The result was agonizing, but worth it.

As another bullet came flying, she jumped out of the way. Reina could feel herself jump, but it was happening too slow, her reflexes were not yet up to speed. But she knew where the sniper was now, and she could see that there were only three of them.

Three of her spider legs lengthened considerably and immediately grabbed hold of the men, who were crouching several roofs away. They were completely dressed in black from head to toe with a silky fabric that Reina was unfamiliar with. The black clothing made them stand out in the daytime. Her legs dropped the men in front of her.

Reina's eyes twitched and she shot them a glare as she grinned at them. Her expression was frightening. "You thought you could surprise me like a bunch of amateurs?" She sneered. "You're wrong." Her legs got ready to stab them all, but two of the one dodged the attack like it was nothing. Reina widened her eyes. Was she still too slow?

One of those who'd escaped, leaped on to her, a knife ready. Using two of her legs to trap and stab the other escapee, she retracted the rest and rolled up her sleeves. Close combat, she could do.

Reina's eyes caught the dagger coming for her head and she was swiftly able to dodge by a small centimeter. The guy slid away, but his next attack was more relentless. The punches were powerful, and they were quick too. Blocking every single one of them would be energy consuming.

The girl backed down towards the roof's edge, the black clothed man overwhelming her. Reina watched as his knife spiked into her leg. She staggered backwards, wincing in the stinging pain. But as he got ready for his final punch, he felt his legs give way and he fell flat. Reina had taken the small gap of advantage where he had paused, and tripped him. Her hands worked quickly and she twisted his arms behind his back before rolling him off the edge. She did the same to the other two. Hearing the echoing thumps was satisfying.

Though she had shown almost no sign of weakness, Reina couldn't help but stop and catch her breath. They were the first to show more than just charging straight at her for once. Yes, it had been more interesting this time, but no less dangerous.

When she'd finally rested, she sat down cross legged and sprouted all of her eight legs from her back. That was the max I could do all these years. But I feel like I can grow more legs. I did it a few nights ago, after all. Reina closed her eyes. It was always a risk to do so, but it was unlikely there would be going for her. All her legs were out after all.

Slowly, she felt another leg. She could sense it. Another leg was growing and as soon as it was completely grown. It meant that more could do the same. If she could just speed up the process, it could be handy in battle. The leg was out, bigger and stronger than the rest. And it had taken only a minute to grow.

Back when she'd just found out about her legs, she'd taken up so much time just trying to stash them away, forget about them and ignore the face that she really was a monster. But she had learnt to accept them, and used them to her advantage. She controlled all her eight legs like they were her own hands. But if she was going to count on having more, she would have to polish up her skills and get used to controlling more. I bet I can do ten today.

She took a deep breath, and steadily, one more began to grow. It was faster than the one before, and even bigger. She flexed all of her legs - even her human ones - and laughed. It felt so good. When she put out her hands to rest, she felt the sharp pain that Reina had felt before. "Oh right, my arm... and my leg." She glanced at it. The bleeding had stopped, but it was going to need more time for recovery. She had to get the antiseptic cream.

Reina looked past the roof's edge and observed the surroundings. There was a hospital a good few kilometers away, but she just didn't feel like going all that way. The school will have to do. They ought to have a nurse or some sort.

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School was a place to learn, that's what they all said. But to Reina, it just looked like such a fun place to be. But thoughts and feelings like that were forbidden in her mind. She couldn't be mulling over things like that; she had to make it out alive first. That was her rule. Anyway, she didn't belong to such a nice place as school.

So when she strolled through the school hallways, with students and teachers gawking, she couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like to be on the other side. To be gawking at a super-villain as a scared student. The thought was almost laughable. Being weak had never been her strong suit.

Reina slammed open the doors to the nurse's office and glared around. "I need the doctor. Or nurse. Whichever."

"Just wait a moment! Agh! All you bratty students. Just can-" the woman stopped short and stared at Reina with a stunned expression. "Spider."

Reina rolled up her sleeves and pointed at her wounds. "Get this cleaned up and patch it up." Her sharp hawkeye-like eyes glared at the nurse. "Now."

"O-of course!"

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By the time she had stepped outside of the school building, there was barely anyone left. There were the few students running about or just hanging around with friends, but that was all. The few people sprinkled around the courtyard caught sight of her, and the atmosphere immediately changed. There was a intensity between them, a strong barrier that separated the greatest criminal known in the world, to the high schoolers.

Obliviously, she strode towards the gate and stopped. Her leg was throbbing too much for her to move more. Reina shakily walked away from the school gate. When she was finally a good distance away from the gate, she slumped down and took a deep breath.

Moving still hurt and she didn't know whether she'd be able to get away to safety. Word would spread, and soon people would be targeting her, knowing that she was at her weakest point. Reina gritted her teeth; she couldn't let that happen.

"Are you okay there? You don't look very good," a voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Snapping her head around to face the voice, Reina found herself looking at a tall boy. He had short dark brown hair and multiple earrings on both ears. His eyes had a glint of concern as he eyed the girl on the ground, resting by the fence.

"Bullet and knife wounds," Reina explained dryly with a semi sarcastic tone, "Seen them before?"

He shrugged. "Not so much bullet ones, but knife wounds; yes. My friend used to get them a lot." Reina glanced at him, wondering what sort of friend he could have. Despite his kind appearance, she knew she had to be cautious. Though she hadn't thought news could be spread this quickly. "So you don't need help?" he asked.

"I would be stupid to accept help from you. Or you're just the one being ignorant," the girl replied truthfully. "Do you even know who I am?"

He stopped and thoroughly inspected her. "Oh, you're the Spider, right? We used to hear stories about you all the time, a trick the adults use to keep us in line. It's worked well in the past, honestly. I was pretty petrified at one point too."

"Glad I could be of help," she smiled sardonically.

"You're pretty famous, aren't you? Even throughout the world."

"I wouldn't say that I'm famous. More like majorly feared and misunderstood. Probably a disgrace and monster to human kind," Reina stood up slowly. "Everyone would probably be happier if I were dead." Her fingers curled into fists inside the pockets of her jackets. "Forget me, will you?" With that, she walked away. For the first time in long time, she wasn't leaving a pile of dead bodies in her wake.

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HIGHSCHOOL