"Yes," he agrees, then looks around the circular room, with barred cells lining all the walls. "Still, this is a surprise. The state of this room reflects the state of your own heart. To think a prison would appear as such. You truly are a 'prisoner' of fate. In the near future, there is no mistake that ruin awaits you."

"Ruin, huh." She scowls. "And why should I believe you when so many others have told me the exact same thing?"

"I speak of the end to everything."

He leans forward.

"However,  there is a means to oppose such a fate. You must be 'rehabilitated'. Rehabilitated toward freedom. That is your only means to avoid ruin. Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?"

A challenge, then?

She'll rise to it. 

"Yes."

Igor nods.

"Very good. Allow me to observe the path of your rehabilitation."

The two girls step crisply back in front of the bars and turn to face Akira.

"Ah. Pardon me for not introducing the others. To your right is Caroline; to your left, Justine. They serve as wardens here."

Caroline glares at Akira, unimpressed.

"Hmph. Try and struggle as hard as you like."

While Justine gives her a softer expression, though her voice has a faint hint of condescension.

"The duty of the wardens is to protect inmates. We are also your collaborators."

A pause.

"That is... if you remain obedient."

"I shall explain the roles of these two at another occasion."

The two girls turn crisply to face Igor and step back aside.

"Now then, it seems the night is waning...

"It is almost time. Take your time to slowly come to understand this place. We will surely meet again, eventually..."

He raises a hand and gestures upward.

A harsh bell starts ringing.

Caroline turns back to face Akira.

"Time's up. Now hurry up and go back to sleep."

And Akira's surroundings fade to black.

The next thing she knows, she's waking up early Sunday morning.

That was no ordinary dream. 

But she doesn't know what to do with it. It's all ominous warnings of vagueness. The kind of thing she already expects. 

All she can do is carry on in her assigned role, at least for now.

She gets up, gets into her uniform, and heads downstairs. Is Sakura-san in the shop yet?

Not quite, but he walks in just after she gets down.

"Looks like you're up. Well then, let's go introduce ourselves properly to the staff about your transfer. The school you're attending is in the Aoyama district. It'll take a while to get there by train. The transfers are a real hassle, too. I'll drive you there, but just for today. Let's go."

Lovely. 

Alright, she won't complain. She'll take it. She'll work the problem. Just like she always has. 

"Thank you, Boss."

He nods, leads the way to the car. It's a small sedan. The drive to school doesn't take very long. Sakura-san spends some of the time explaining which trains Akira will have to take to get to her new school, but other than that the trip is silent.

Soon enough they're walking up to the campus. It looks like an ordinary prep school, if somewhat deserted due to today being Sunday.

They head inside.

Okay, she has to put on her Talking To Adults face. She needs to be personable and kind and gentle and very, very sorry for her "crime." 

Akira straightens her back, adjusts her glasses, breathes a little. 

She can manage "happy for a second chance." She knows how it goes by now.

"Thanks for accompanying me, Boss."

"Needed doing. Bureaucrats like these brush off the needs of their students, sometimes."

When they arrive at the the principal's office, a tired-looking woman opens the door.

"...Yes?"

She sounds even more tired than she looks.

"We're here for a meeting." He nods his head at Akira. "This one starts tomorrow."

Honestly she can relate.

Akira nods to the woman.

She nods tiredly — whether at Sakura-san or Akira is unclear — and leads them inside.

Inside, a large man sits behind a desk. There are no other chairs in the room. A nameplate on his desk reads, "Principal Kobayakawa".

He looks them both over, before flatly saying, "Welcome, Ren Amamiya."