BEWARE OF DOG (Blue Archive)

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"Mmm… Banana milk… Better than Strawberry Milk…"

Splash.

"Not now… I still have more to eat…"

Sploosh. Splish. Sploosh. Splish. Sploosh. Splish. Sploosh. Splish.

"Please… I can't possibly eat more…"

Arona's eyes fluttered open, her eyes floating across the classroom to the sound of continuous splashing as she slowly peered out the window...

"A-Ah!?"

Arona peered out the window at the flooded horizon of the virtual world. In the distance, a small black-clothed figure was splashing around frantically.

With a sigh, the AI silently reached out a hand, picking up the figure with a strange, firm force and forcibly dragging her back into the flooded classroom before unceremoniously depositing her soaked form onto the floor.

"You shouldn't go out there! It's nothing but hundreds of kilometers of virtual sea!"

"Exactly, I can swim for hours without fear of drowning." the silver-haired woman hacked up water, seeming oddly proud of herself, "It's certainly convenient the water appears to be breathable."

Arona sighed, passing her a towel, "The Shittim Chest isn't a swimming pool! It's meant to be a tool to assist… Sensei?"

"Oh. That would be me." the woman quickly accepted the towel, drying herself off before digging into her bag and taking a sip from her water bottle, "Hello."

"Um… How did you… get in?"

"Beats me. I just took up that tablet and then I was here. I figured I was stuck here forever so after setting up a base camp I decided to try to see if I could swim back to Kivotos from here." Sensei explained, pointing over to a pile of desks that had been assembled into a makeshift shelter, complete with a miniature campfire burning merrily away atop it, "Of course, I then remembered I couldn't swim but I couldn't drown anyway, so I decided to start training by swimming laps around the classroom."

Arona stared incredulously.

"By the way, do you have any fishing rods? I haven't seen any Iwak out there yet but I think I haven't dove deep enough-"

"Sensei…" Arona took a deep breath, "There's a door."

"Nn?"

"You can just walk out the door over there. You're not trapped here forever."

"Oh." Sensei stared silently, "...I see."

"Well… In any case… How did you get here…?"

---

Approximately 2 Hours Ago...

"Um… I'm the new Sensei." the haloed woman explained, clearing her throat somewhat awkwardly, "A...Apparently."

Rin stared, bewildered, at the tall woman before her.

"That… A fellow student, a Sensei? No, that doesn't make any… No, I suppose that it would, since only another one of us would have the uniquely special perspective of happenings in Kivotos… But…"

"I wish I knew what the missing GSC President was thinking myself." the silver-haired woman shook her head, her canine ears pressing down hard on the top of her head, "But… Nn, I can't be Sensei! Not after everything I… Everything…"

A cracked tablet, the warmth of the handgun still in her hands.

"...We'll have time to worry about this later. For the time being… The Sanctum Tower…"

"It is…? Nn. I see..." she snapped into a sharp salute, "I'll go get it. The others in the lobby should be willing to help, right?"

"You catch on fast."

The woman nodded once more with a quick final, "Nn."

---

The bullets ricocheted off her body. Sensei glanced down quickly, noting her new coat was somehow unscathed from the shots.

Nice. She never had an article of clothing this fancy and durable before.

That being said.

"As soon as we reach the sanctum, I'm changing out of this suit." she grumbled to Yuuka as the two ducked behind a car to reload, "I can't fight well like this."

"You seem to be handling yourself pretty well to begin with though. You must be a pretty experienced student."

She remembered the shock on her face as she burst through the storm of gunfire, swinging up her weapon as the light of explosions ripped apart her opponents, before-

"S-Sensei!?"

Sensei blinked, realizing she had pulled a grenade out and was hooking a finger around the pin.

"Ah. Right. Sorry. It's just… I think I remember something like this happening before."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I'll explain later." Sensei tossed the grenade out, ducking as the explosion threw aside several screaming opponents.

---

"I think there's a non zero chance I might have traveled back in time."

Yuuka blinked as the two of them took shelter from the roar of the tank outside of the bombed out convenience store, "Back in… time?"

"Nn. I remember hearing about these events years ago." Sensei peered up from the mess of scattered material on the floor, "It was all over Kivotube. The Sanctum Tower was under attack by one of the Seven Prisoners. Then a group, led by… Sensei… arrived and liberated it."

"Sensei… But you're Sensei."

"And there was none before me… That's the thing that's troubling me." Sensei paused, bringing up her cracked phone, flipping through it, "I don't see any mention of a past Sensei here at all, let alone an attack on the Sanctum Tower prior to this one. It's like all this is happening for the first time."

"…I think I would have noticed if this happened before." Yuuka muttered, peering out over the counter before ducking back down with a yelp as bullets flew through and embedded themselves in the wall behind the two, "I would doubt the whole time travel angle, but the circumstances of your arrival out of nowhere..."

"Exactly. Not to mention, the fact you're still alive when in 'my time', you…" Sensei hesitated, having pulled open a bottle of gasoline, "…Ah! Abydos! I need to get to Abydos as soon as I can to change fate…!"

"Abydos? The desert… You're from there, I presume?"

"Nn. I should return. The others would be concerned if I was gone for so long… If the others are even still there…" she shook her head, downing the rest of the energy drink bottle before filling it with gas, stuffing a soaked rag into the top and lighting it, "Good questions for later. Hup!"

The plastic bottle bounced off the top of the tank before tumbling into the crew hatch on top.

Several loud screams followed, followed by a sudden eruption of flame from the vehicle.

Yuuka's jaw fell open, Sensei nodding proudly.

"Isn't that a bit too much!?"

"Probably."

---

"Wakamo's in there. Let me deal with her alone."

"A-Are you sure? Maybe you'd want to take-" Rin began to ask, only for Yuuka to nod confidently by Sensei's side.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. I'm reasonably confident she won't harm a Sensei." the silver-haired woman proudly puffed out her chest before strolling into Sanctum Tower.

Several minutes later, a massive explosion erupted from within, blowing out a window on the top floor, followed by two girls tumbling out, slamming into the streets before the tower.

They promptly rose to their feet, running and slapping each other rapidly with their rifles. Sensei was screaming incoherently about how Wakamo was, quote, 'a fake and a fraud'.

Concerningly, she seemed to be also giving her pointers on breaking and entering.

"At least wait until the building is populated before you start robbing it! The staff have a better idea of where all the loot is so it's faster than searching alone!"

"You know nothing about finesse, darling! I'm an agent of chaos! Your overthought burglaries don't even come close to the things I can achieve!"

"It's called pulling a heist!" Sensei exploded, "At least do it optimally!"

With that roar, Sensei swung her rifle around, knocking Wakamo back into the building through a window with an oddly baseball-bat like sound before lunging after her with a bark.

Rin let out a sigh, face-palming.

---

The two girls lay atop the completely destroyed floor of the SCHALE lobby, bullet holed furniture lying silent around them as they gasped for breath.

Two hours of continuous fighting had not done them much good.

"...Good talk, Sensei." Wakamo finally croaked out, pulling off her mask to breathe easier, "I think I… I think I have a slightly better idea of what you're… into…"

"Nn." Sensei responded, herself also gasping for air, "I'll keep in touch…"

"H...Hai."

"Nn."

The two exchanged Momotalk contacts, before Wakamo silently and bashfully slipped quickly out the back door.

---

"...But then suddenly I found myself getting pulled out of the water and then I was here." Sensei took another breath, pausing, scooping up some water from the floor in her hands, drinking it, then continuing, "Then you asked me to explain what was happening. So I said-"

"I… I think I get the idea." Arona's head was starting to spin, "And you come from… the future, you say?"

"A dark one, yes. Where all has fallen and there is none but terror and despair." She seemed troubled by this, but shook her head, "It appears I have been sent back to this time to avert that future."

She paused.

"Which to be honest is awfully ironic considering where I came from." she finished, before glancing down at the energy bar in her hands and taking a bite, "Mmn. Thanks for the food."

"You have been explaining everything to me for the past hour. You'd get really hungry if you didn't eat. I really didn't need to know all that at once, you know." Arona shook her head, "I've reactivated the Sanctum Tower and redistributed power while we were talking by the way. We have access permissions to all of Kivotos now, and management has been provided to the GSC."

"And let me guess…"

"Yes, I put in a backdoor for us. Way ahead of you." Arona shrugged, "I'm used to it. Everyone keeps telling me to do that. You'd think it was part of the original story all along but…"

"Nn. It's useful, but I have yet to see it actually get used in any of those stories." Sensei calmly pulled out some sports tape, wrapping it over the cracks in the fourth wall, "If that's everything, I must take my leave. Abydos awaits."

"O-Oh, wait! Before you go, can you place your finger against mine? I almost forgot, we need to confirm your identity."

Sensei blinked, looking up at the pointer finger held before her, before silently nodding. She pulled off a glove, raising her own finger and holding it against Arona's.

"It's like making a promise, isn't it?"

"...Perhaps so. Maybe it's something like… I promise to keep everyone safe… or something standard like that."

"I know you will. There has to be a reason you were sent back. There has to-"

Arona's eyes widened silently, and she blinked.

"Uh oh."

"...What?"

"Sensei. Your fingerprints and scans… match that of a registered student. If you're registered to this device… Then she will be too."

"That's fine. I know who I am. A student of Abydos, in the academy city Kivotos. I bear this burden so-"

"No! You don't get it! What I mean to say is…"

---

Earlier.

This was… new.

The icy wasteland, the chill of the handgun in her hands. The warmth of the dying fire she had curled around. It was as distant as a fading dream now.

Now, she sat alone in the train as it traveled through central Kivotos. Alone.

The woman blinked, looking around confused.

Wasn't there a dead body sitting across from her...? Wasn't this place… razed to the ground?

Yet, it looked as bustling as it was before…

The woman stretched slightly, before realizing what she was wearing. Her black flowing dress poked out from under a smart grey business suit. Pinned onto the front lapel of the jacket was…

"Oh. Oh no." she uncharacteristically snatched up the name tag, studying it quickly, sniffing it, then slapping her face in an attempt to wake up from this nightmare.

And yet… The reality before her didn't change.

"T-This can't be happening. I'm not- I can't be-!?" the soon-to-be Sensei gaped.

---

Sunookami Shiroko slowed down, her jaw slowly falling open.

Next to her, on a modified black mountain bike, the taller woman slowed similarly, mirroring her actions. Reaching up, she lowered her shades, revealing an identical pair of mismatched blue eyes, similarly widened in shock.

Even her halo, cracked apart as it was, had the same shape.

But her nametag… her outfit…!?

Their mouths slowly fell open, gears rotating in their heads.

OMAKE - Volume S: Where All Shirokos Collide

---

"Shiroko! Attack!"

"Yes, it was I who killed Sensei!"

"But I killed Sensei!"

"As long as you exist in this world, I am your future!"

"No, I am!"

"Iwak."

"Not so fast! I am here too!"

"Wait, where did- Sensei!?"

The Shirokos awkwardly stood, staring at each other.

"Um… I'll go first." Sensei Shiroko – not the other Sensei Shiroko – explained, "I'm Shiroko who went back in time to fix the future and became Sensei."

"So therefore, I must be your future self." the other Sensei Shiroko rubbed her chin, doodling on a whiteboard, "And that means that my Shiroko over there must be the future version of your Shiroko."

"Good. We got that sorted out."

"Nn. Yes. Things would have gotten messy."

Past Shiroko But Small pointed, "I'm concerned about why there's two more small ones over there wearing a swimsuit and biking gear."

"Iwak." the fifth Shiroko held up a pufferfish, the sixth giving an awkward wave.

"We really need to start getting nametags."

"Nn."

"Nn."

"Nn."

"Nn."

"Nn."

"Iwak."

Shiroko Terror, Shiroko, Other Shiroko Terror, Other Other Shiroko Terror, Biking Shiroko and Iwak Shiroko would eventually all agree this entire fight was stupid and leave to rob a bank. The Shiroko Gang would become known as the most fearsome bank robbers in all of Kivotos. Eventually they would have to fight another Shiroko Gang from another universe, known as the Shiroko Terror Gang before absorbing them into their group. But then yet another Shiroko gang appeared, and another, and another until Kivotos had a percentage of the population comprised entirely of alternate versions of Shiroko-

---

Yurizono Seia sat up screaming in a cold sweat, before clutching at her chest, glancing around her room.

"No more cheese for me." she muttered quickly, before lying back down in bed.

...This feels oddly familiar at this point.

Welcome back, again, again, to BEWARE OF DOG! I don't really have much to say about this other than I can't help but feel like this is a Skyrim situation where I'm porting this to literally everywhere.

Over the next few days, I'll port over the other chapters of this story bit by bit.

Nn Counter: 15
Global Nn Counter: 15

Reposting my MBAIBA omake here, inspired by the "Volume S" Omake.

---

MX Blade: "Sensei... We're supposed to have a Kivotos-wide 'end of the world party' for you with the final chapter of the main storyline!"
Kuroko-sensei: "Nn, is that so? At least your Shiroko's doing better, not unlike me."
MX Blade: "At least we now have a name and a face for the enigmatic Sensei. Just, don't go licking feet for no reason, okay? You're gonna be a playable student soon and I don't want to fuck this up."
Some time later...
MX Blade: "If Kuroko is the sensei, then... Who's gonna be Phrenapates–Oh shit, we'll have two more Kurokos... OH FUCK! MY BRAIN!!!"

Events of Volume F happen, with small Shiroko and Kuroko aiming at another Kuroko and an armored Kuroko...
Shiroko: "Blue Archive never told me about an additional Shiroko..."
Kuroko-sensei: "Nn, my arrival has complicated things."
Kuroko (Phren TL): "I'm going to end this world as you know it..."
Phren!Shiroko: "Nn."
Hoshino: "Uhee, there's too many Shirokos~"
Neru: "Thank you for teaching me, Phren-sensei... But I need to defeat you because it will mean that I'm stronger than ShirokoKawaii..."

---

---

"You've got to be kidding me." both Shiroko spoke at the same time.

"Why do you look like me?" both of them sounded at the same time.

"Nn!" they both- you get the idea.

"Stop copying me." You know, that kind of thing.

"This is starting to get on my nerves." me too.

The two Shiroko glared at each other, before…

"I smell like stinky tofu and bean sprouts."

"…"

"No, wait, that's silly. Why would you say that?" The bigger Shiroko suddenly spoke, "Bean sprouts don't even smell like anything."

"Nn. I mean you said it, not me."

"But you said it."

"Yes, but I'm clearly you so therefore…"

"Argh!" Arona let out a frustrated cry, "Will you two just figure this out already!"

"Sorry, sorry." Sensei explained, "Um… Hi, me. I'm Sensei."

"No you're not, you're me."

"Yes, but I'm also Sensei."

Shiroko picked up her water bottle, sniffed the lid, then warily took a sip. She was certainly not expecting this turn of events this early in the morning, "I suppose we did have a bet about Sensei resembling me."

"...I'm sorry that you've lost that bet."

"The universe continues to amaze me…" the smaller Shiroko leaned in, inspecting her future self closely, "...So. Are you me from the future or something?"

Flames. Gunfire. Debris, scattered all around as far as the eye could see. She didn't know it was possible for Abydos to be even more desolate than it was already, and yet-

"Nn. It's a… bad future." Sensei bluntly replied with a nod, "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Nn." Shiroko stepped back, noticing the thousand-mile stare the larger wolf-girl had, "Sorry, then… That's not going to happen here, is it?"

"I think that's why I'm here. Maybe because now I know those bad things are going to happen, I can stop them." Sensei shrugged, before digging into her backpack, "Oh, by the way, I came to see you for a reason..."

She produced a tablet from her bag.

"Arona, do you think she can hear you?"

"I mean, in theory, only Sensei can hear me unless I let them and you're Sensei but she's…"

"I can hear her." Shiroko blankly replied.

"...Awfully blunt, isn't she?"

"Nn. She is."

"Nn. I am."

"Uh… Well, I'm Arona! Shiroko, I'm the AI assistant within the Shittim Chest." the AI appeared on the screen, "We're pretty much here to just give you that heads up."

"That, and apparently nobody outside of us two are allowed to know she exists." Sensei paused, "Normally it would be just me, but I was worried that since you were also me, you would-"

"Nn. I see." Shiroko rubbed her chin, "So, is that everything?"

"...The rest of the Foreclosure Task Force. Are they still alive? And what of the school?" Sensei sounded slightly more desperate.

Shiroko's eyes widened in realization as Sensei spoke, "Oh!"

---

"Serika, be a dear and get the door would'ja?"

"It's not like Shiroko to be this late… Could the helmet gang have returned?"

Ayane peered out the window, pushing aside the letter she was writing briefly, "It's Shiroko… and… Shiroko?"

---

"You're dressed in all black, right?"

"I suppose I am…"

"So hence, Kuroko." Shiroko folded her arms, "It'll make things less confusing."

"That just makes me sound like some kind of evil twin." Sensei whined, "Why can't I call you… Weak Shiroko?"

"B-Because I'm not weak!" the smaller wolf punched the larger one's side slightly, "You really want to play that game… Fat Shiroko?"

"Smallroko."

"Bigroko."

"Anubis, Consumer of Energy Drinks."

"Shiroko Terror."

"…Shortroko."

"...That's meant to be an insult?"

The doors before them swung open. Shiroko promptly stepped in front of Sensei, quickly speaking, "Turns out this is my sister from far away, Kuroko Sunookami. She's Sensei now and will be helping us save Abydos, nn!"

"...You little…" the newly named Kuroko growled, took a deep breath, before sighing, "Nnn… Fine, yes. I'm Kuroko. Hello."

Serika stared, her jaw completely wide open. Her eyes darted to Shiroko, then Sensei, then back to Shiroko, several times, before she finally spoke.

"I'm sorry, is that your future self or something?"

Sensei turned to face Shiroko, "We can't be that obvious, right?"

"Nn?" Shiroko shrugged.

"Nn." Kuroko shook her head.

"Oh. Wonderful. Brilliant. Now there's two of them." Serika groaned.

---

"Hoshino, this is Kuroko, she's my-"

Kuroko suddenly dashed forwards, wrapping her arms around the pinkette, who woke up suddenly from the rapid grip.

"A-Are you okay?! Your mystic, it's not… Okay, okay… Good." Kuroko took a deep breath, setting the girl back down, "Good. You're okay…"

"Uh… Hold on a moment, how did you know about-" Hoshino looked up into the eyes of the woman, before her own mismatched eyes dilated, "...Oh. Oh. I see. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but… I guess it makes just enough…?"

"I… I just had a feeling, you might say." she looked aside, her words obscuring their true meaning to all but two others present, before wrapping her arms tighter around the girl, "Hoshino… You're really alive…"

"...Well. I certainly wasn't expecting this when I saw who the new Sensei was." the girl muttered, before letting out a small smile, "But… Thanks for lookin' out for this ol' timer anyway."

"Y-Yes! H-Hopefully, this time we can… avoid things getting to that."

"This tim- Wait, you mean you…" Hoshino gripped her head, shaking slightly, "...Bit of a tall ask, innit? But we'll figure somethin' out."

"Yes. Because especially now… I have a plan to save the school!"

Ayane finally woke up from her shock at seeing a second, larger copy of her friends storm into the room and forcibly cuddle the last of the Abydos council, responding swiftly, "No. Absolutely not."

"You didn't let me finis-"

"Sensei." she spoke calmly, "Does this plan involve breaking into a bank?"

"No, listen, I actually did it once! I know the layout and everything incredibly well. If we break in, we'll be able to quickly and efficiently-"

"No."

"But I-"

"Sensei, no."

Sensei let out a sigh, before sitting down on a nearby chair, her ears pressed against her head, "...I'm sorry, Ayane."

"There might be something to that plan, though." Shiroko pointed out, "She's… umm… She knows a lot…"

"I'm from the future." Kuroko tore off that bandaid immediately.

"...Right, yes. She's from a little bit in the future. We can use that knowledge to our advantage to aid Abydos."

"I never said we successfully defended Abydos."

Silence.

"...Every one of you in this room, minus Shiroko – who became me – died or otherwise went missing." Kuroko spoke gravely, "If we follow exactly what I went through, we would most likely end up that same way."

Ayane was about to interject, to say how ridiculous this all sounded, but when she saw the haunted look in the larger wolf girl's eyes…

No, that future… That was definitely real.

"But that doesn't mean your knowledge is totally useless!" Nonomi piped up, "We can just use it as a guide for what not to do, right?"

"Exactly!" Kuroko jolted, shaking off her brief period of despair, "Which is why I propose we rob the bank early-"

"No. I don't care how you justify it, we are not robbing a bank!" Ayane threw up her arms, "I don't care even if you're from the future or something! There is no way you'll ever be able to convince me that-"

---

"It's time." Shiroko and Kuroko whispered at the same time, watching as the Kaiser Loans truck pulled away from the bank.

"Nn. There is no other way."

Hifumi looked over concerned at the two wolves, "Uh…? No, I'm pretty sure we could get the truck's transport rou-"

"There is no other way." Shiroko repeated gravely, for it was too late; she had already put on a balaclava.

"Indeed. We must go straight to the source." Kuroko agreed, pulling on her own identical balaclava, except in black.

"...You've got to be kidding me." Ayane deadpanned.

"Eh, go with the flow. All the whippersnappers seem to be doin' it." Hoshino pulled on her own balaclava.

"Hifumi, here, use this~!" Nonomi cheerfully held up a spare paper takoyaki bag, poking out some eye-holes in it.

"Yeah. One of us." Kuroko grinned under the mask.

"One of us. One of us." Shiroko continued the chant quietly, her future self and Nonomi joining in after a few moments.

"One of us! One of us!"

The Trinity student opened her mouth to protest, but upon seeing Sensei and the smaller Sensei positively quivering in excitement, she ultimately gave in.

"If it's any consolation, this bank is technically in the wrong, so morally what we're doing is correct…" Serika pointed out as she pulled on the paper bag over the Trinity student's head with a huff. In the background, Sensei and Shiroko both let out a calm 'yay' and high-fived.

"...I just wanted to get Peroro merch…" Hifumi sniffled.

---

"PUT 'EM UP! THIS IS A ROBBERY!" the woman in the black balaclava yelled, holding her gun up to the cashier, "You! Start filling up these bags! You! Don't think about calling the cops if you want to see your children again! And you with the stylophone! Play us in!"

Mitsukiyo, inexplicably standing in the corner of the room holding an equally unexplained stylophone shrugged, tapping on the instrument.


"DO EVERYTHING I SAY OR YOUR BALLS ARE HISTORY!" a second, smaller student in a Blue Mask screamed out in a younger version of the same voice.

"W-What do you mean by balls?" the girl wearing a paper bag over her head who had been christened 'Faust' for the purposes of this illegal activity nervously asked as she held up a Peroro-themed bag, wads of cash getting shoved in alongside countless other peroro merchandise.

"I HAVE NO IDEA!" Blue Mask screamed, choke-slamming a guard into a wall before shooting out a security camera.

Firing her gun wildly into the air, Black Mask proceeded to jump the counter, spinning the weapon about and using it to bludgeon a guard. His comrade attempted to fire on her, only for the robber to launch herself at the Artificial Construct's legs. Reaching down onto her lower leg, she swung out a small serrated blade. The edge of the knife gleamed, blue flames erupting forth from it briefly.

Like a hot knife through butter, she slashed off the robot's legs, launching herself forwards into a roll into the hallway leading to the vault.

"S-Sound the alarm! We're being robbed!"

"She's not getting past us!" a group of camo-colored androids sprinted out, gripping their usual rifles, "Take her out!"

Azure tongues of fire burst forth from the intruder once more, turning her into a flash of light as she darted down the corridor, flashing between each of the androids. She rolled to a stop on the other end, kneeling on the ground.

The robots stared, slowly turning around as the thief rose to her feet… and wiggled her fingers, revealing the clinking grenade pins dangling off each digit.

Through the flame and debris, she ventured deeper, tossing the pins carelessly over her shoulder.

---

"Hinata Zero, come in." she lifted a radio to her ear, "I've breached the inside of the bank, and am heading for the staff offices."

"S-Staff offices?!" the elf-eared girl blinked, "Why would you go there?"

"This place has some… interesting paperwork we need to recover. Birkin Two will be heading for the vault to… negotiate a full refund, let's say."

"...Sens-"

"Courier Six." the black masked wolf smugly corrected her codename.

"...Courier Six, isn't stealing back the money like this illegal?"

"Nn. So is everything these guys are doing. Lesser of two evils."

"Look, Six. I know you like to play fast and loose with the law- given how we first found Shir… Birkin Two, I understand why you'd do this entirely." Ayane took a deep breath, "But what's stopping Kaiser from just…"

"Which is exactly why I'm stealing the paperwork from them too." she casually tossed a grenade into a nearby room as she strode past, not looking back as flames and scattered robot debris flew forth, "Call it… Insurance."

"Sensei… You've… changed."

Endless flame. Gunfire tearing the air around her as she weaved about, crimson filling her vision and painting the halls-

"…I will do anything to stop that future. That is all." the wolf spoke, "We'll discuss the ethics later. Courier, going dark."

"...Roger."

---

"This is Yume One…" a sleepy voice sounded, "I've secured the extraction method. This is… amazing. You're something else, kiddo."

"I'm older than you now though."

"In my eyes, you'll always be that lil' scamp we adopted that day."

Sensei hesitated for a moment, before going back to work pulling open drawers and rifling through the dozens of folders, "You still think that of me, despite everything…"

The words 'Despite everything I've done?' died on her tongue… like so many other words left unsaid.

"We're family. Don't you forget it, whippersnapper. You clearly went to hell and back for me… So I'll do the same for you."

"If only you had an idea how literal that was… Ah." She pulled out the folder she was searching for; a purple binder that seemed oddly out of place in the sea of blue and yellow within the filing cabinet, "Nn. Perfect."

"Ya got what you were lookin' for?"

"This was useless in my time; by the time we actually got to look through it, Sensei was already…" she shook her head, "No, this time will be different. We're ahead of schedule!"

"Schedule…?"

A crack of a shotgun ripped through the air, several holes getting blasted through the folder.

She glared up. An android wearing a suit, wielding a double barreled shotgun.

"I'm guessing that's… bad?"

Tucking the folder into a bag, the masked wolf stepped forwards, swinging out her assault rifle.

"C'mon…! COME ON!" the android yelled, pumping his shotgun once again.

Pulling the trigger, the bullets pinged off his form. Lowering her rifle, the thief raised an eyebrow curiously.

'That normally works.'

"You'll have to try harder than that! I'm as tough as a bank vault!" the android cackled, "Nobody gets past Manager Bob and his impeccable no-robbery record!"

He was not expecting the masked woman to pull back her sleeve, checking a battered pink Momo Friends-themed watch.

"Nn. This way is faster. Alright." she finally hummed, looking up from her watch, "I'll be leaving now."

Sprinting forwards, she leapt up, leaping off a desk and off the head of the mechanical manager, blue flames flashing away from her form as she suddenly… blinked to a new location.

Like a blue thunderbolt, she flashed through the hallway, occasionally leaping off or firing upon scattered security guards and drones.

"If I recall, at the end of this hallway…"

A random janitor android was not expecting for a masked woman to suddenly skate around the corner, perform a front flip and land atop his cleaning cart, the cart rolling away at speed as detergent and cleaning material spilled out behind it.

Of course, pushcarts of cleaning supplies aren't very maneuverable, so she soon disembarked her steed, flinging it over her head at another squad who seemingly had the idea to attempt a pincer attack.

Having corrected their previous assumption, the thief made use of the hole in their formation to once more skate through the soap-covered floors, snatching up a fallen mop from the cart and spinning it above her head.

"C'mon, 4:36!" she yelled, confusing her pursuers for a moment.

A single, hapless robot vacuum cleaner rolled out from behind a nearby door.

Spinning, the woman slammed the mop into the machine. It shot backwards, its slide accelerated by the lack of friction on the floor as it pinged off the walls, knocking several guards off their feet.

Affording herself a quick fist-dunk in celebration, the wolf hurled the mop aside, before twisting around and-

---

THUD.

Faust jolted at the sound of the door behind her suddenly violently thumping. A high pitch whine sounded from behind, before a blue flame bashfully burnt a clean hole through the door, a familiar hand reaching through, fumbling around, before gripping the handle of the door and clicking off the lock.

BAM!

The door flew off its hinges with a kick, the black-masked woman stomping out and swinging out her assault rifle, "You saw nothing, anyway - I GOT THE THING!"

"We got the other stuff on our end!" the blue masked girl replied, holding up two duffel bags of cash, "Leader Faust, give the word!"

"M-Masked S-Swimsuit G-gang… L-Let's c-case this joint!" Faust exclaimed, shaking so fast she was practically a blur.

"Mm!"

"Mm!"

Sensei decided to correct her on the right heist terminology later.

"NOT SO FAST!" a voice boomed. Moments later, another door across the room blew open, revealing a considerably more armored Manager Bob, now gripping two shotguns with a large four-pod missile launcher strapped over his shoulder, "MY PERMANENT RECORD WILL NOT BE TARNISHED! NOW DIE!"

The entirety of the Masked Swimsuit Gang stared for a moment, before promptly drawing their weapons and taking aim at him, save for Faust and Six.

"Oh, nonono." the black-masked woman waggled a finger at him, "I kill the bus driver."

"...The what? What bus driver!?"

"Is that from a movie or something?"

The wall of the bank exploded, a rusted and battered school bus ramming through the side. The scraped off remains of the Abydos logo was barely visible on the side of the vehicle, smoke pouring from the engine at the front of the vehicle.

Barreling through the lobby of the bank, it skidded across the polished floor, ramming into the manager and sending him crumpling to the ground, coming to a stop.

The pistons of the doors creaked and hissed, one of them falling off as they clanked open, revealing a pink-masked student sitting on the driver's seat, wearing a pair of cracked aviator shades.

"Cool line." Hoshino drawled, shooting a pair of finger guns.

"…You didn't come up with one!?" the black masked woman threw up her arms, "I-I restored an entire bus for this whole thing and you couldn't come up with a good one liner!?"

"Eh, I'm not in the jive with all these newfangled word-cha-ma-callits or whatever, all aboard!" she honked the horn.

"Grrrrhmph..."

Grumbling silently, the larger wolf stepped up into the vehicle, her comrades quickly sprinting in behind her. The abused engine of the vehicle rattled, the rear door of the vehicle falling off, before the vehicle sparked and dragged itself back out into the streets.

"Sens- Six, aren't you afraid that they'll follow us?" Serika asked after a few moments as the vehicle weaved down the streets, "We're in a clearly traceable vehicle that's falling apart."

However, to this, Six simply stared off back at the bank behind her without a word, as if in deep contemplation, before pulling on her own pair of shades.

"That was a beautiful heist."

---

"Q-Quick, did anyone get the plates of that vehicle!?"

"It happened so fast! Q-Quick, print Bob's termination form! The sooner we can pin this on him-!"

"They left behind a calling card!" a metallic hand scooped up the small card, the android putting on his reading glasses and studying it, "'I, Rikuhachima Aru, would like to place a loan and smell like bean sprouts.'...Who the heck is Rikuhachima?"

"Bean sprouts smell?"

"...Unforgivable…"

The two guards slowly turned to face the source of the voice. Standing before them was a wide-eyed purple haired girl in a black uniform and cap, slowly raising a small remote in one hand.

"Y...You would… d-dare accuse t-the Boss for something terrible like this…!" Haruka shook with rage, before flipping the cap off the detonator and clicking it vigorously, "ALL OF YOU CAN GO TO HELL!"

---

The skies of Abydos darkened as a massive plume of smoke, flame and dust burst from where the Stygian Bank was moments prior.

"A true shame we will never be able to do it again." Sensei concluded as the rest of the Foreclosure Task Force stared at the rising ball of flame in disbelief.

"Nn." Shiroko nodded, also wearing a pair of shades, "If we do it again, however, I want to take the vault next time."

"Nn. We'll see." the bus finally left the outskirts of the city, speeding off into the desert sunset, "We'll see."

---

"Rin, I've come across some concerning information regarding Abydos!"

"Sensei. I heard there was a violent bank robbery in the region perpetrated by an organization calling itself the Masked Swimsuit Gang. Are you safe?"

"F-Forget that! The gang tried to attack us too! They used a refurbished bus came up to the school building and we were forced to defend ourselves, but in the chaos, we were forced to shoot it down and disable it."

"...I can deploy some JTF on site if needed. Your safety is our primary conce-"

"Forget my safety, um, everything's handled! The point is, the Swimsuit Gang wasn't just after money; they were collecting information on the bank's creditors for blackmailing the bank. While we were capturing the bus for ourselves after the fact, I discovered some of these documents. They're a bit bullet-holed, but they seem to imply illegal activity within the bank itself!"

"...Are you certain?"

"They've been gouging Abydos's loan for the past few years on the pretenses of 'interest', but the numbers are clearly arbitrary… and increasing. Furthermore, documentation seems to suggest the Kaiser Corporation, the bank's parent group, is using these funds to hire mercenaries and PMCs to attack Abydos."

"….Haru- President Ao!? Y-You're there too!?"

"Awawawawa- W-Wha- No!"

"President Ao? What? This is Arona, my AI assistant."

"N-No… That voice… it's definitely GSC President Ao!"

"I-I sound like the missing GSC President?"

"Right, you did say the Shittim Chest had an AI… But hearing that voice again… My apologies. I haven't gotten much rest for the past few days… You sound like her but… Now that I hear you again, there's a distinct difference."

"Is there? I guess… I've gone through quite a few voices in my time, or so I'm told. My pronunciation could use some work."

"I suppose I just miss her. We were… close. It's just… she'd definitely know what to do here. She always seemed to know better."

"...If you want, Rin, I may be able to lend a hand at the GSC from time to time. I'm quite capable when it comes to data management and other computerized tasks, as you might imagine."

"That… would be nice, yes. It's good to finally hear you, Arona… to hear that voice again, even if it's just simulated."

"Likewise."

"Returning to the task at hand. Given the nature of the situation, I believe we should attempt to fast-track Abydos's application for the registration of the Foreclosure Task Force as an official Abydos Club… and, by extension, making them the official Student Council of Abydos."

"…I'll see what I can do. However, things here aren't much better."

"Give me a timeframe. When will Abydos have a council again."

"...At earliest… Five days. At best. I will commend you for filing the proper documentation on the first day you were able, at least"

"I'm kinda on the clock here. We- They can't hold out much longer from all these attacks."

"We can't risk SCHALE showing favoritism, you must understand. The position you hold- indeed, the fact SCHALE exists in the first place is a matter that needs to be managed carefully. Even if you are from Abydos - in fact, especially because you are - you must still go through all the proper procedures and hoops."

"Argh, I hate politics… Alright. Arona will send over the soft copies of the documents as soon as she is able. I'll hand you the hard copies if you open your window real quick."

"Open my-"

Rin paused, lowering her phone and slowly turning around to see the silver-haired wolf woman dangling outside her office's window by a window-washing cable, wearing crude homemade abseiling gear and a bike helmet, holding up a briefcase handcuffed to her hand.

"I tried to stop her…"

"Please hurry up and open the window." Sensei strained, "Climbing with one hand is harder than it looks."

---

Shiroko glanced around what was once her living room, now a warzone of sand, plastic tarps, wiring, rusted tools and cables.

"You know, when you said you'd be sleeping on my couch… This wasn't what I had in mind."

"Nn. Deal with it. We know you barely use this room anyway." Kuroko tapped away on a keyboard missing a few keys, the dozens of salvaged, cracked monitors from the abandoned buildings surrounding the house having been jury-rigged into some kind of post-apocalyptic command center, all connected to the Shittim Chest in the center.

"Nn. Fair." Shiroko pulled up a spare chair, taking a seat behind the larger wolf, "...Is Arona in there?"

"She is… But she's sleeping." Kuroko pulled up a window, revealing a simulated virtual classroom, the blue AI assistant muttering something subconsciously about strawberry shortcake as she slumbered, "I've been… putting her through a lot of work recently arranging my… affairs."

"Affairs?"

Kuroko minimized Arona, opening up a calendar app.

Shiroko's eyes widened. Each day was filled with dozens of entries and notes, all leading up to…

"Five days. In five days… That was when everything went downhill." Kuroko's voice wavered, "Every night since was filled with regret... I wondered what we could have done differently... and now, I need to put those pie in the sky dreams into action. So it's come to this. I only have five days left to change the future."

"That's… That's not a lot…" Shiroko studied the timeline.

Mismatched eyes grew wide.

"Hifumi wasn't supposed to come today." she blurted out bluntly, pointing at the calendar, "Hifumi's arrival is two days from now on this timeline you made… no, in the original timeline!"

Kuroko looked away.

"Then… You knew we'd meet her…"

"She was… integral to the robbery. Without her… I don't think we could have done it without her."

"You lured her here." Shiroko slowly spoke, "That's the only thing I'd think I'd do… You…"

"Made a fake account. Posted in a Peroro fangroup she was in. Told her to come today."

"You lied to Hifumi and put her in serious danger."

"I… I did. B-But, in the end, we really did get her the plush she was looking for- I managed to make the seller get here and-"

Silence.

"...Both of us know we aren't buying that." Kuroko slumped, "I did something wrong."

"Nn, that's pretty scummy."

"Coming from me…" she sighed, "…We need to tell her the truth. About all of this."

"Yes. You should."

Shiroko's withering glare didn't let up.

"Nn. We're pretty different, you and me."

"I would never do something like this… to a friend, no less. A friend who you, in this timeline, pretty much gaslit into becoming friends with us."

A fist clenched, teeth gritting together at those terrible, fading memories.

"To change the future… this is what it will take. If it means becoming a monster… then I'll-"

"Stop."

The silver haired woman looked up, her shattered halo dimly drifting about behind her head.

"We both know what it's like to be alone. We were like that for the longest time – no family, no friends, no home… Not even a backstory." the silver haired girl stood up, her own halo shining behind her head silhouetting her face, "I get the feeling… You were alone for even longer than that."

"It was… an isolation of my own creation…"

"Well, not anymore. I won't stand idly by while you try to change this future on your own." she held out a hand, "We will stop that tragedy, whatever it is, from happening. Together."

Kuroko stared at the hand, her own hand…

No, Shiroko's hand.

She gripped it firmly, rising to her full height.

"Tell me everything. Let me in on this… this mission of yours." Shiroko placed a hand over her heart, "Just as much as you are the wrench in the works of this timeline, I am too."

"My leaden heart is… weighed by my sins. Were it laid upon you, I fear that cursed knowledge would see you devoured by despair."

"But on the opposite side of those scales is a feather. That's us." the smaller wolf smirked, looking all the way up, "And as impossible as it may seem…"








Identical eyes locked for a brief eternity.

"Together, let's tip the scales."

---

"Yuuka, I need you to approve this purchase." Kuroko explained, hands splayed out.

"Oh? You didn't seem to be the kind of person who actually… does such things. I would have thought you a 'buy first, ask questions later' kind of person." the voice on the end of the video message replied.

"Abydos… wasn't exactly a place where we had money to waste exorbitantly. I've seen Serika do so firsthand."

"I'll look over that invoice now, give me a se-"

Pause.

"...Sensei. Why are you buying over a hundred quadcopters… and missile pods?!"

"Back when I was still studying… I guess you could say that… I made a reasonably cheap missile drone using a quadcopter and some missile pods; exactly the ones in the invoice I sent you."

Yuuka put two and two together.

"So, you want to be able to mobilize a mechanized mob of missile machines."

"Exactly."

"...I suppose I should be just a bit lenient in that you decided to consult me before going ahead with this… But Sensei, I really don't see the reason why you need a hundred of them."

"At least 50! Can I at least build 50 of them?"

"The budget is meant to go to essentials, Sensei." Millennium's Treasurer frowned, "Missile launchers and drones do not count."

"...So 20 then?"

"That's probably the best I'm getting, I guess this means a lot to you... 20 missile launching drones approved for SCHALE use it is." Yuuka sighed, tapping away at her keyboard, before hesitating at the bottom of the document, "And… You want a chopper motorbike."

"It is absolutely necessary for-"

"No. Rejected. On all fronts. It's tacky and ridiculous." she dramatically deleted that segment of the invoice, "Grow up."

"Pale Rider and I will be together someday!" Sensei wailed, slamming her face into the desk, "You cannot stop me! I will not be denied, Yuuka Hayase!"

"And why have you even gone and named it already!?"

OMAKE:
You Will Know Our Names! Questionable Nomenclature!

"Alright, Masked Swimsuit Gang. Let's decide on our codenames." Sensei folded her arms.

"Masked… what?" Serika twitched, as Nonomi hummed, "We aren't even wearing-"

"It was Nonomi's idea back when I first did this." the larger wolf explained, "It was… A spur of the moment choice at the end of our first raid. This time, if we want to shave off a few seconds, we're going to need to all agree on this before we go in."

"It does sound like something I'd come up with." the blonde hummed airily, "How mysterious! Idols by day, elegant, fashionable thieves by night~!"

"T-That doesn't sound elegant at all!"

Ignoring the angry cat sounds, Sensei dug into her pocket, producing a note, "So anyway, I have created a list of codenames that I'll be assigning you all. We should all agree on them so that we don't argue about it later during the heist. In numerical order based on your masks; Hinata Zero, Yume One, Birkin Two, Trailblazer Three, Nelson Four, Faust and finally…"

She pulled on her mask, the number six taped onto the top, "…Courier Six."

Silence.

"Um… So… I'm kinda confused…" Hifumi quietly piped up, "Ignoring the 'last time you did this' part… Don't… I get a number too?"

"Faust is a good name."

"But it messes up your naming scheme."

"The legend of Faust must live on."

"Where are you even getting these names from?" Shiroko suspiciously raised an eyebrow, "...For some reason… the one you gave me sounds…"

"I… I'm not sure, actually. They kinda just… came to me last night." her future self frowned, scratching her chin, "They seem… strangely familiar, but aside from Yume One, I don't recall ever having heard those names before."

"Well, I appreciate you rememberin'… Well…" Hoshino smiled slightly, "Guess that was a no brainer for me, huh?"

"Isn't Hinata the name of someone from Trinity?" Ayane tilted her head as she looked over the radio equipment Sensei had produced.

"It is? I didn't know that." Sensei tilted her head, "But… It does sound like the name of a great tactical expert, doesn't it?"

"I… What?"

"Um… Don't get me wrong, Trailblazer is a… pretty name!" Nonomi hummed, before suddenly shuddering and glancing down, "So why do I feel so uneasy about it? I feel like… It's a bad omen all of a sudden."

"I'll swap with you." Serika offered, "Honestly, can we just get this over with already? You're acting kinda strange."

"Oh! I feel much better now!" Nonomi perked up brightly, "Six-Sensei, can you~"

"Understood. Nelson Three and Trailblazer Four…" the large wolf slumped slightly, but crossed out the names on the list and swapped them around regardless, "Four… Wouldn't that make it even more unlucky…?"

"She is a black cat."

"Nn. Makes sense."

"Nn."

"Nn."

"Hey..."

"Um… So… Can I change mine too?" Hifumi quietly asked after a moment.

Both Shiroko and Sensei stared at her, then exchanged glances, before delivering the final verdict.

"Nno."

"Absolutely not."

"You were born to wear that name, Faust."

The Trinity girl let out a soft whine, wondering how her life had come to this.

The codenames used during the bank heist are all names of various Sensei from other fics:

Hinata Zero - Hinata Ao (A Father's Love - UCCMaster, Zodai)
Yume One - Yume Kuchinashi (Aqua Dream Archive - hunter10bt)
Birkin Two - Joshua Birkin (Story of Joshua Sensei - TRUExtremeSamxX)
Trailblazer Three - Stelle 'The Galactic Educator/Baseballer' McNoLastName (Trails in the Stars - RabuRibu)
Nelson Four - HMS Nelson (From Sea To Sky - Number-75 (Numbers75))
Faust - Faust (??? - Sensei)
Courier Six - Courier Six (A Courier For Kivotos - UnknownSixth)

It's from reading longer fics like these that inspired me to start writing BA stories in the first place, so I really wanted to shout them out. Other elements were borrowed and used in BEWARE OF DOG as well; for example, the GSC President's name being implied to be 'Ao Haru' is taken from 'A Father's Love'.

Adding onto this, each one was actually picked to act somewhat reflective of the FTF member they were given to:

Ayane (Hinata Zero) - Is somewhat of the tactician of the group, much like how Ao is a combat instructor.

Hoshino (Yume One) - Doesn't really need much explanation. Yume and Hoshino are close, of course.

Shiroko (Birkin Two) - Kuroko and Shiroko have something of a rivalry. Therefore, it would make sense the former would nickname the latter after a somewhat... scuffed Sensei.

Nonomi (Trailblazer Three) - In Trails In The Stars, Nonomi ends up leaving the FTF early because Stelle missed their letter for a far longer period of time than in canon. This is also why she has a bad feeling about the name in this story.

Serika (Nelson Four) - ...okay I'll be honest I just really like From Sea To Sky. I can't come up with any other feasible explanation for this one, sorry. Maybe if you squint it's an ironic name since Nelson's a ship and cats historically aren't fans of water?

Faust (Faust) - She was born to wear that name. The legend of Faust must live on.

Kuroko (Courier Six) - I realized it would not only make sense as a codename since she's the sixth one in the Masked Swimsuit Gang, but it would also allow me to just straight up use the name wholesale.

Another thing I would like to point out is the theme naming of the chapters and, indeed, the story itself. For each chapter in this story, I decided to name them after various signage one might encounter in day to day life while still being thematically accurate.

This naming scheme also extends to the story's title; hence why the logo for this series is based on an actual 'BEWARE OF DOG' sign. In future chapters, this lead to me having to look up signage and stuff to name them, which ended up proving somewhat difficult.

Suggestions of potentially obscure signs and labels you see in your daily life I could use for future chapters is very welcome.


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