[@Nikki Moonlight]

[color=ec008c]~"It's good to hear from you, Aya-chan."~[/color]  Hibana whispered into the receiver.  Her voice was demure, void of any sort of expression...and yet...there was something, a subtle hint that Aya could possibly detect...of sadness.

[color=ec008c]~"The others have been assigned their missions and will be heading out shortly.  I wanted to take the time to speak with you about a private matter.  First, I need you to tell Dmitri to leave.  This conversation is strictly between you and I.  Let me know when he is gone."~[/color]

((PM for secret phone convos))

[@King Tai] [@CriticalHit] [@DriveEMOut] [@bloonewb]

[color=ed1c24]"This way."[/color]

Curtly Azuma ushered the young men to the elevator, flanked on both sides by two men wielding Heckler & Koch MP5N submachine guns.  Even within the sanctity of the school, all security measures had to be taken.  One could never know if a teacher was actually a rival hitman in disguise, or...if one of Noir's chosen...was a deceitful rat that needed to be squashed.

As they boarded the elevator and it began its descent into the school's lower level, for the first time, Azuma removed his mask, slightly just to pop a cigarette into his mouth and light it.  A scar, grisly and jagged, stretched from the right corner of his lip all the way to his mangled ear.  He sighed, a thick white wisp exhaled, [color=ed1c24]"If any of you have something to say, please do.  I have seen many...many things, both in my career as an assassin and in my time I served.  The world is filled with darkness, my students, darkness...that dwells within all of us.  Welcome...to Hell."[/color]

At that moment, the doors opened to Hell's Cistern.

[img]http://media.animevice.com/uploads/0/6872/248798-tokyo_underground_temple01_super.jpg[/img]

[color=ed1c24]"Magnificent, isn't it?  Some of you already know this place, but for you, Minato-san, this is the elite training ground of Class Noir."[/color]

[img]http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130324211833/nikita2010/images/7/7c/Training.JPG[/img]

All around them, the grunts, punches, and kicks of recruits sparring in the dojo culminated with the rattling echoes of gunfire from the shooting range, yet all sounds ceased once they stepped through the door...and all the students took notice bowing in unison.

[b]"Look alive, recruits!  Azuma-Sensei is here!"[/b]

Azuma stepped forward.  As he did, a student rushed forward kneeling at his feet and offering to Azuma graciously an antique katana in a shimmering black scabbard.  Azuma drew the sword, the blade, pristine and sharp, shining like the light of Heaven amidst the darkness of Hell, singing among the dead silence.

[color=ed1c24]"Look behind me, students!  Gaze upon them!"[/color]  His voice boomed with the utmost fear and authority as Azuma motioned to the assassins behind him.  [color=ed1c24]"Not too long ago, they were like you, worthless, impudent, rough around the edges.  Pieces of dirt that had no purpose but to be trampled under foot.  But it was here, in the fires of Hell, the flames of tribulation, these meaningless fragments of earth were hardened, sharpened, beaten, shaped and purified...to become this."[/color]

High over his head he held the katana for all to see, the students, the assassins, the guards, and the instructors.

[color=ed1c24]"The Sword of Requiem, the blade with which Natsume-Sama cut down her adversaries and carved her legacy into the criminal underworld.  It is by our bloodstained hands swift and merciless death is delivered.  Retribution is paid unto those who dare to oppose us.  We are the elite killers, the assassins of Class Noir!"[/color]

All gave a rousing shout to the end of his speech, Azuma-San sheathing the sword and resting it at his side.

[color=ed1c24]"Continue your training, students.  Requiem's future rests in your hands.  Assassins, follow me to the armory."[/color]