Azure Archive (BlazBlue x Blue Archive)

Kiek · May 4, 2024

Omniwhatever said:
"Yeah, yeah. I didn't forget." Ragna waved his hand a few times for emphasis. "Hope you don't mind me coming along for more of these though."

"H-Huh!?" Hoshino stood up perfectly straight, her eyes wide. "T-That wasn't part of the deal!"

"I'm gonna be coming out here with or without you, so might as well tag along." Ragna plainly stated without hesitation.

"Sensei, don't you have important adult stuff to do or something for SCHALE? Skipping work is setting a bad example for your students." Hoshino whined, trying to turn the tables on the other. Sure, she wanted to keep an eye on him, but that didn't mean he had to be around her all the time!

"This is my work." Ragna stated without an ounce of shame and smug look. "Besides, maybe you'll get a better chance to judge me for yourself."

Ragna out-teased a teaser uncle, what are the chance?

Omniwhatever said:
"No!" Ragna abruptly interjected with a stern, yet shaking word, pointing accusingly at Arona. "We are not telling ghost stories!"

Arona recoiled back in surprise. But it only lasted a moment, as the little brat's face started to turn toward something teasing, perhaps even a little smug, as she raised her hands forward with twitching fingers to try and look scary. "What's wrong, sensei? Scaaaaaaaaaared?"

"I am not scared." Ragna said way too quickly to be convincing. "You just… can't hit a ghost like everything else." Oh, sure, it was perfectly possible to cheat with something like Ars Magus or the Azure Grimoire to get around that.

Neither of which he could use now.

And that was the only reason. No other reason what so ever.

Fucking Terumi.

I thought he got less jumpy regarding ghost stories as BlazBlue plot progressed. Turns out he's still the same ol' Ragna, never changes.
Or is it because him jumpy by ghosts is treated as comic relief now?

Omniwhatever said:
Arona paused her meal, looking over Ragna curiously but with a tender smile spread over her features.

This detail caused the GSC Prez to pop up in my mind.

Omniwhatever said:
Ragna froze. Oh, goddammit. He'd forgotten between all the returning memories and planning around what to do with Abydos

"Know what, that's not my problem right now." Ragna let out a guttural groan. "I'm dealing with that crap in the morning. She's gonna be mad anyway, so not bothering with a message now and going to enjoy a nice meal instead."

Ah yea, not used to high tech can really be a pain in his flucking ass.

Thanks for the chapter, it seems we are tackling Sericar's part-time job next chapter, plus a scolding Rin too. Looking forward to it.

Renko · May 4, 2024

Before I continue reading, I just wanna point some things out.

Omniwhatever said:
Both his right eye and arm, dependent upon the Azure Grimoire and its need for seithr, the energy substance that permeated the air of his world, were utterly useless,

Can the girls from Millenium can help him out with this? A new eye and arm?

Omniwhatever said:
The tall girl with wings who wielded a weapon called a sniper rifle was named Hanekawa Hasumi, specialized in longer range engagements with a weapon called a sniper rifle.

You already mentioned her weapon. Why mention it again?

Omniwhatever said:
The girl he'd assumed was some kind of medic, which turned out to be an accurate assessment, went by Hinomiya Chinatsu and focused on tending to injured and using her pistol when needed.

You already called her a Medic. The way it was elaborated further is odd.

Kiek · May 4, 2024

Renko said:
Can the girls from Millenium can help him out with this? A new eye and arm?

This matter might be tackled by either the Millennium mobs or the Engineer trio when he comes to the plot of V2C1.

I've seen another author trying to fix this problem by having a doctor gives him a "fake nerve" to link the prosthetic arm with his limb, and it only works because the world Ragna ended up in that fic was Fairy Tail, with magics and all that. Not sure what miracles will the students of Kivotos pull to help their sensei.

Renko · May 4, 2024

Kiek said:
Not sure what miracles will the students of Kivotos pull to help their sensei.

You are forgetting that the world of Blue Archive is where all miracles begin!

It's possible!

Kiek · May 4, 2024

Renko said:
the world of Blue Archive is where all miracles begin!

ABSOLUTE CINEMARCHIVE

Omniwhatever · May 4, 2024

Kiek said:
I thought he got less jumpy regarding ghost stories as BlazBlue plot progressed. Turns out he's still the same ol' Ragna, never changes.
Or is it because him jumpy by ghosts is treated as comic relief now?

He did get a bit better about it, but even if he's not going freeze or anything when it's serious doesn't mean the subject is Ragna's favorite thing for casual discussion and the things he'd normally use to deal with them aren't the most accessible right now. That doesn't help.

It's also hilarious, coming from a person like him.

Kiek said:
Thanks for the chapter, it seems we are tackling Sericar's part-time job next chapter, plus a scolding Rin too. Looking forward to it.

Not quite next chapter, but soon.

Renko said:
Can the girls from Millenium can help him out with this? A new eye and arm?

That exact thing gets touched on briefly a few chapters from where you are. The Millennium Girls are smart and Kivotos has some pretty silly super science, so they could probably figure out some kind of solution if he lets them look at it. Ragna's relationship with the Azure Grimoire is complicated and even goes across timelines, so he's pretty cagey about that on account of the fact almost any time somebody took an interest in the Azure Grimoire, it was often followed by the sentiment of "I'll be taking that arm now. Do not resist." and the Azure or things associated with it do baaaaaaaaad things to most people if unprepared and not handled with extreme care. He'd rather have a bad arm and eye than risk irreparably screwing somebody up who didn't know what they were getting into.

And it can cause a lot worse than that.

Ragna is not fully exempt from those problems either. He just is able to handle it much, much better than the vast majority of people and spent a long time learning to work with it.

Kiek · May 4, 2024

Omniwhatever said:
they could probably figure out some kind of solution if he lets them look at it

One thinks it might take a collaboration between students of various schools, such as Remedial Knight of Trinity, Medical Club of Gehenna, Saya the apprentice alchemist of Shanhaijing, to figure out a solution, much like how the girls dealt with that alien spaceship underneath Abydos.

But his current situation is a bit limited, plus the things the girls of those clubs that I suggested might do to Ragna aren't so different from what Kokonoe plans to do to him or Tager. Let's...only get to it in the foreseeable future.

Lovnag · May 5, 2024

Okay, this story is already shaping up to be good enough for me to cave and go play BA.

Also Ragna do be behaving like a proper adult.

Omniwhatever · May 5, 2024

Lovnag said:
Okay, this story is already shaping up to be good enough for me to cave and go play BA.

Thanks! I do try.

They have a collab going right now that showers players with resources, so not a bad time to get on board even if you don't want any of the collab characters. There's also the anime going right now if you want to get to know Abydos specifically, since this story is going into that arc, but it's... Alright? It's one of those adaptations where feels like it assumes you have some familiarity with the game. Does a few things differently too and I'm generally giving priority toward how things go in the game. Do not use the official subs on any streaming website if you do watch the anime, for the love of god. They're so bad.

Also Ragna do be behaving like a proper adult.

He may be a bit abrasive and as blunt as a brick to the face, but the man can be good with people and kids when he tries to be. Such is being an older sibling. It's fun to explore that a little in the writing as with how Ragna's life was constantly one headache after the next, it didn't get much screentime.

Renko · May 5, 2024

Is Ragna going to be given his own firearm? I mean, unlike canon Sensei, Ragna knows how to fight!

Omniwhatever said:
They're so bad.

Beggars can't be choosers.

Kiek said:
One thinks it might take a collaboration between students of various schools, such as Remedial Knight of Trinity, Medical Club of Gehenna, Saya the apprentice alchemist of Shanhaijing, to figure out a solution,

This can be a future plot point for this story!

Everyone joining and pooling their talents together to help Ragna the same way he helped them!

Shadow_Stalker134 · May 5, 2024

Seems Ragna dosent learned anything from his time with Sector 7... Oh well, at least it would be amusing to read.

Omniwhatever · May 5, 2024

Renko said:
Is Ragna going to be given his own firearm? I mean, unlike canon Sensei, Ragna knows how to fight!

Unless the engineering department figures out an IRL infinite ammo cheat, Ragna only having one functioning arm would make trying to use a gun suck, even if he does have the strength to deal with recoil on bigger guns one handed. I've tried reloading (very realistic) guns in VR one handed and on man it did not go well. Iiiif he ever gets the arm even semi fixed though, might be another matter. Because even if he's monstrously capable in melee if everyone else is using ranged weapons then trying to get physical with the enemy means plenty of chances for friendly fire or making it harder for your own side if they try to not hit you.

Kivotos has plenty of things to use though. This is the same place where a grenade is as much of a household item as a gun is. Suzumi can probably buy all her flashbangs at any convenience store with how off the wall the city is.

Tekishiro · May 5, 2024

Omniwhatever said:
Unless the engineering department figures out an IRL infinite ammo cheat

What about energy weapons? Ragna can get his own "Sword of Light", since IIRC it was just too heavy for your normal student to use.

UPD: looked it up, it's:
>A huge railgun that Alice got from the Engineering Department.

Shadow_Stalker134 · May 5, 2024

Tekishiro said:
What about energy weapons? Ragna can get his own "Sword of Light", since IIRC it was just too heavy for your normal student to use.

UPD: looked it up, it's:
>A huge railgun that Alice got from the Engineering Department.

And since Azure Grimoire is essentially an infinite Mana Generator... He could use that railgun. But problem with paralysis still stands.

Omniwhatever · Jun 25, 2024

Aaaaand we're back! Sorry bout the delay, this one took a while due to the length, decided to move a few things into the next chapter or else this would've been a 16k word chapter, and because the story updates for BA on JP did a number on my motivation, not in a good way either. Will see how much I end up using or not from that...

One quick note I also forgot to mention last chapter. Those of you who play Blue Archive know that a few characters, Nonomi as a particularly relevant example right now, sometimes end their sentences with a ☆ symbol to indicate a more playful or cute style of speaking. UNFORTUNATELY, fanfiction's formatting doesn't appear to support it and will just delete the symbol. So to save myself some headache going back and even more formatting per website since I'm already posting this on 3 separates places and have to do a little extra per website, I'm just gonna replace where I would use ☆ with a ~ going forward to simplify things, since I also typically see that used to indicate playful/teasing tones. If somebody does know a way to have the star symbol show up on FF.net and I'm just being stupid overlooking something, please let me know in the comments somewhere since far as I can tell the only thing which does work as an improvised star is * and that ain't cute enough.

I also hope I didn't screw anything up with the new website editor, first chapter update since that happened. Think I got everything in order though.

Volume 1 Chapter 1: The Situation at Abydos (VII)

Out of habit, Ragna was generally an early riser even when he didn't have the luxury of resting without worry of an attack, so by the time he woke up it was still on the earlier side of the morning. Even from within the dilapidated interiors of the abandoned building, Ragna could see the sky was clear, but with the sun only just beginning to rise it lacked the usual vibrant blue of midday with the sky's duller shade instead fitting the colder atmosphere that was yet to be baked in the scorching heat of the afternoon.

Rising to his feet, Ragna briefly stretched his body to help himself fully wake up. According to the time, even with that meeting with Hoshino he'd managed about an extra hour or so of sleep. Nice, no wonder he felt a little more rested. A little more of this and maybe Arona would get off his back about sleeping more. But, he could let the girl nap for a bit longer herself, he'd already woken her up once with his early habits.

He probably still had a short time before the rest of Abydos would start showing up at their school. Maybe he cou-

Ragna's eyes went wide.

Shit, Rin.

Ugh, he'd said that was future him's problem and now future Ragna was present Ragna. Well, he might as well rip the bandaid off now instead of trying to further delay and risk forgetting about it. The longer he waited, the angrier it was going to make the acting president. It was a bad idea to not tell anyone he was going to be out of office.

With a slowiness to his motions, as if he could somehow avert the inevitable by pushing it back even a few extra seconds, Ragna retrieved his phone and, after struggling for a minute to remember where to send a message via Momo Talk, found Rin and slowly typed up a brief message.

'Left for Abydos yesterday. Staying here for a while, won't be in the building.'

Without Arona to help, even with some of the extra accessibility feature she'd set up, typing with one hand was still annoyingly slow for Ragna so he kept it brief. No sense making this harder than it had to be.

"Alright, guess that's done. Might as well-"

The sound of Ragna's phone blaring in alarm cut the man off. With a creeping sense of dread, he looked a the number and recognized it as Rin's. The fact it hadn't even been 30 seconds since he'd sent the message somehow managed to give every ring a palpable sense of menace to it. Crap, this was going to suck.

With a groan to prepare himself. Ragna answered the phone and held it to his ear. "H-"

"Explain yourself."

"Hello to you too." Ragna answered with dry sarcasm. "If I knew you were going to call me this fast, I'd have skipped the text entirely."

"Ah, so I am to assume you merely sent such a brief message due to your difficulty typing instead of assuming this notice was good enough to run off and leave the SCHALE building unattended for a long period with no other notice?" Rin's tone was pointed and equally as dry.

… Yeah, sure, why not go with that.

"Uh-huuuh, yeah I prefer phone calls instead of texting because of that." Trying to make his voice sound as convincing and not at all like he was improvising, Ragna answered.

Rin somehow managed to make the ensuring silence so exasperated, Ragna could perfectly picture the girl pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Hey, hey." Ragna's voice suddenly turned stern. Why was he supposed to be feel like the bad guy here!? "I was told SCHALE has a lot of freedom to operate how I want. Abydos asked for help and so I came here. Busy dealing with something that's going to be easier to handle if I'm here instead of constantly going back and forth."

With a deep breath, Rin began speaking again. Her voice somewhat more level yet still firm. "Sensei, it's not as if you can't do something like this. I understand that with the size of Kivotos and on a long term assignment, constant travel back and forth is impractical even with railways. The Abydos School District is a problem we've, regretfully, never had the resources or time to try and properly address. If you're able to help those girls where we failed to, then I believe you're doing the exact kind of work the president hoped SCHALE would do. So far, I don't doubt that you're taking aspects of the job seriously in your own way."

Ragna restrained a sigh, his expression turning into a frown instead. Yeah, something about this was feeling a bit familiar and he could guess the direction. Well, Ragna supposed he could lighten up a little on her. The man knew she had to be working overtime to deal with getting Kivotos back in order as the acting president and was neck deep in bureaucracy. Filling that kind of position took a certain character and temperament, while Ragna knew he was not that type of person. "Look, Rin, I already said I'm not the kind of person who's good with office work or that kind of stuff, so I'm not gonna get this immediately. Wasn't planning on staying there yesterday, but found some bigger trouble than I expected and got a little caught up with that, so forgot to say anything, sorry."

The line went quiet for a few seconds.

"I see… I understand that mistakes or emergencies happen and it's a significant shift from whatever you're used to. Please, just try to be more careful with notifying the General Student Council before leaving next time." A hint softer, Rin said with an understanding, yet slightly scolding, tone. "I don't doubt your ability to handle part of the job, but your position has several aspects to it beyond that which still need doing, regardless of being comfortable or not. I've given some leeway while you adapt to your position, but it's important to eventually learn the stations of it as that can't last forever."

"And it's not going to. I made it through all the paperwork over what happened day one, didn't I?" Ragna fired back.

"Yes, you did. So, I know it's not out of your abilities and you're capable of it, even if needing some help. Please, just show it more often." Rin answered with words that almost sounded like approval. "We are both busy individuals, however, so I won't keep you any longer if there's nothing else. Between whatever situation came up and normal duties, I'm certain you'll have your hands full, but perhaps the situation with Abydos will help prepare for teaching at larger schools with a normal student body."

"Yeah, it-" Ragna paused for an entire second as his brain processed what Rin had said. "Sorry, what was that last part?"

"… Teaching…?" Rin's voice was near entirely flat, only the audible equivalent of an oncoming headache preventing it from being so. "What's in the title of your position."

God. Dammit. Ragna wanted to argue and say something, but no that was literally his job description and title right now. Was it even worth complaining Rin hadn't told him much if it was that obvious? Oh, sure he was more than confident in his ability to teach somebody in certain areas, how to fight, cook, tend to wounds, practical applied skills like that or hell even… Wasn't it called Physical Education? Those, he could do if he had to. But the way Jubei had taught him was a world apart from a typical school room where one learned academic subjects. If he had to do that then it sure as shit was going to be well outside what he was good at. It's not like he was stupid or anything, it's just those were COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS.

"What am I supposed to even TEACH out in a place like this?" Not bothering to hide his audible frustration much, Ragna answered. "Even I know there's no way every school's going to be teaching the same stuff!"

"You are correct, but there are common subjects and material taught across most schools. A large place like Kivotos could hardly function if there was not at least some common ground. For any material specific to each school, there should be ample notes within SCHALE for you. Although, given the nature of Abydos's situation, what's there may be sparse or not as up to date." Rin answered while obviously trying to keep her tone professional and not weary. "I hope that is your concern."

Ugh, that last sentence was just menacing. Not worth arguing over. "Yeah, sure, let's go with that. There any other surprises you wanna tell me about how I'm supposed to do this?"

The phone may have been silent, but it didn't stop Ragna from hearing the mental anguish coming from the other. The lack of words said plenty.

"As with most matters, you have a significant degree of freedom to conduct your job how you want." Rin finally said after composing herself. "An actual teacher in Kivotos is a rarity with the majority of lessons being handled by blu-rays, self study, or the occasional associate instructor robot, similar but distinct from your role. There is not exactly a standard 'procedure' for your position."

Well, that was something. Maybe he could figure something out that didn't make him want to scream.

"My job to figure this out too then. Guess it could be worse. I'll figure it out." Ragna said with a huff. Yeah, this job was definitely a weird fit for him. Half of it, he was certain he'd do fine on and played to his strengths, but the other half? It was like somebody had tailor made a position designed to do what he sucked at. Still… As much as he complained, things could've been a lot worse. It wasn't like Ragna had planned to or wanted to carry on exactly like he had for the prior decade forever, constantly fighting for one's life wasn't his idea of fun. It wasn't like his life was suddenly worry free, but besides the time loop issue things were already calmer than his daily life back home. Maybe this was just part of getting used to something a bit more normal after so much of his life being a rollercoaster. Even his childhood only had that brief glimmer of normalcy when he lived in the church. Annoying as this would be though, not like he could grumble too much after what he'd said to Arona last night, she was counting on him. As long as he could still work toward figuring out whatever caused time to rewind and keep Kivotos safe, he was going to stick with it. There were big things coming and since Ragna knew about it, it was his responsibility to do what he could to help weather the oncoming storm. Despite still having gaps in his knowledge or memories, they were slowly returning and he already knew Arona would be right about the position making working with other school's easier.

"Now then, if that's all I have work to get back to." Rin spoke calmly, but with a minor edge.

"Yeah, I got a lot of shit to do to- Wait, wait, wait. There's one more thing." Ragna quickly spoke before Rin could have a chance to hang up.

"Hm?"

"About SRT, there's one thing I wanted to ask." Ragna said plainly.

Rin's following sigh was deep. "Sensei, that is not a brief topic suited for an unscheduled phone call."

"I know, you said you wanted to meet in person for that. So think you can schedule something in about a week or so? Should have a little time to drop by then." Keeping his voice level, Ragna said. "Sure that you're busier than I am so go ahead and give me a time, I'll make it work."

"Ah, I see. I can do that then. I will send a message to you once a time has been scheduled. Is that all?"

"That's all. But hey, Rin." There was one more thing Ragna wanted to say. He'd spoke with Rin a few times now and was getting that sense of deja vu he'd had before, vague and not as clear as all the events involving Abydos but still bringing forth some scattered images and emotions. He only had a few memories that did paint a strict image of Rin, but the girl seemed extra on edge lately, though it was completely understandable with the whole situation in Kivotos.

"Yes, what is it now?" Though trying to restrain it, there was still a slight undercut of annoyance to her words.

"I know keeping Kivotos under control is a hell of a job with everything going on right now and it can't be easy. Shit has to get done, but don't work yourself to death, alright? Not a lot of people who can handle a position like your's. It's a lot at your age." Ragna said, softening his tone compared to his usual gruffness.

Once more, the line was quiet for a second, but this time the silence lacked any tension the previous pauses had.

"Thank you for your concern, sensei." Rin's words were level, but just a little lighter than before. Yet she sounded tired, like a mask were starting to slip. But it was only brief, as her tone returned to normal as she continued. "But, I can't allow myself to rest while the balance of Kivotos is so precarious. Despite the worst being over, it hasn't even been a week since we regained control of Sanctum Tower and we are still rebuilding the house of cards in the aftermath. A careless move will cause that foundation to collapse in on itself."

"Yeah, I get it. Believe me, I do, the world doesn't wait for anyone." Keeping his voice low and understanding, Ragna spoke back, some concern creeping in as well. He, of all people, knew how easy it was to keep pushing yourself far past safe levels when it was necessary. Didn't mean somebody shouldn't say something. A person occasionally needed a forceful tug on their arm to keep them from doing something stupid and plenty of people had been that for Ragna at one point. "Just take care of yourself, alright?"

"I will manage, but your worries are noted and appreciated. I have important matters to attend to now, however. Goodbye, Ragna-sensei. Do look after yourself too."

"Later, Rin." With a casual farewell, Ragna hung up the phone. That conversation hadn't been so bad, given how it started. But goddammit, he was seriously going to have to start worrying about teaching at some point, wasn't he? Well, he could… Deal with that later. Given Abydos's current situation, he could make it a lower priority for the moment over the current crisis since everyone mostly studied on their own time with how essential earning money was, rather than having structured class time. He'd just have to hope none of the girls got any funny ideas about asking for help with their schooling.

Ah, well, he could worry about that another day. It was time to wake Arona up and head over to Abydos. Maybe he could spend some time getting to know any early arrivals again if he got there before everyone did and a meeting started.

Okusora Ayane knew that today was going to be an eventful one, but that wasn't going to come until later with the ahead of schedule meeting given yesterday's revelations. For now, she still had her regular duties to attend to for school. From the daily cleaning and inspecting the desolate halls for anything useful, to planning the Foreclosure Task Force's day, there was going to be much to discuss about yesterday's findings. Not to mention her own school work.

As such, she had come into the school slightly early. There wasn't often that big a gap in everyone's arrival, but since Shiroko had to bike a decent distance from home or did some morning exercise while Serika was one of the busiest with all her part time work, on a typical day her or Nonomi were the first to arrive. Well, not counting Hoshino since despite sometimes being the actual first one there, even with her generally casual and carefree demeanor, she was almost always napping until more of the Foreclosure Task Force arrived. So the third year didn't count

But as Ayane approached the school building's main gate, she heard a few odd sounds. Shuffling feet and shifting sand, alongside some clearly male grunts. Was that… Ragna?

Peering into the gate, Ayane saw saw the man practicing off to one side of the track field, swinging the sword practically her height with powerful, yet precise motions. Despite how large the weapon was and it must've weighed, the man swung it with such ease and quickness that if Ayane so much as blinked she would've missed a whole series of motions.

Still, from what Ayane could see, even though she wasn't an expert in using a sword, a few of Ragna's motions felt slightly off or strange. The man often made quick, light swings without leaning his body into the strike, most of the force coming purely from the arm instead of the body. A few times, Ragna did make a powerful, heavy swing with his body that followed the momentum of the blow without any wasted movement in the initial swing. Yet, while still incredibly quick, upon trying to recover the flow of motion wasn't as smooth and was lagging or awkward, such as when Ragna tried to do something like abruptly turn where the flow of movement lost the same snappiness it had as he made excessive looking motions or even returned his sword to his holster on his back. The oddest was a sharp pivot where Ragna held his sword near awkwardly close to his body and leaned slightly back before returning to a more neutral stance with a frustrated expression.

"Damn, going to take some getting used to this again…" Returning his sword to its holster, Ragna grumbled with a scowl. Upon seeing Ayane, the man's expression lightened and he threw the girl a casual wave. "Oh, hey Ayane. Thought somebody would show up sooner or later."

"Oh, h-hello, sensei!" Ayane spoke up, feeling a momentary shyness. She hadn't intended to stare, but being caught doing that was rude. Brushing that aside, the girl approached the man with a friendly smile. "Have you been here long?"

"Nah, I only got here a few minutes ago. Haven't gotten to do as much practice as I'd like the past few days, so thought I'd catch up a bit till somebody got here." With a shake of his head, Ragna said. "Gotta get used to fighting with one arm again, can't move exactly like I used to."

"Eh?" Ayane's curious gaze shifted between the man's limp right arm and the massive sword on his back. Was that related to some of the weird movements she saw from him? She understood why lacking a working arm and eye would be an issue, but it sounded like there was more to the problem then Ayane initially assumed. "What do you mean by that?"

"Since I can't move my arm, my sense of balance and center of gravity is off. I can move my shoulder, but that's not really enough to use my arm to help counter and adjust any momentum I have while fighting. Makes it harder to commit to stronger swings without leaving myself open. Haven't really had to fight past a few swings with how quickly everyone's gone down, but can't count on everything being that easy and might have some trouble with big groups. I had to deal with this once before but it's been a while, so just have to get used to it again and won't have it mess with my reflexes. Shouldn't take long." Ragna's voice was exactly like Ayane pictured a teacher would have while giving a lecture, confident and composed, yet with a dash of casualness. "Know how you flail your arms when you start falling or spread them out when walking over something narrow? Kind of like that, your arms help your balance a lot more than you think."

"Ah, I didn't think of it like that, but when you put it that way it makes sense." Ayane nodded in understanding. Ayane wasn't unfamiliar with the idea but, besides the obvious idea of something like spreading one's arms, she didn't think about all the little ways not having both arms could effect one's balance in less obvious ways. Those moves she saw must've been Ragna's attempts to compensate for the issue. "What brought you to our school so early then? This place doesn't seem like the best to practice in."

"Well, if I got here early, thought I'd get a chance to get to know the place and everyone before we all got down to serious matters. If I'm gonna stay here for a bit, might as well get to know everybody and see what I can. Didn't exactly get to talk much with the Helmet Gang dropping in." Ragna's voice still had much of his usual gruffness, but it was a bit lighter too, friendly even.

Ayane smiled, this was a perfect opportunity then! She was curious to know more about the enigmatic man who'd showed up in Kivotos even a week ago and was given so much power. But more importantly, he was the only one who'd answered Abydos's call for the aid they so desperately needed after the district was thoroughly ignored by the General Student Council, despite prior pleas. There were a few strange or surprising things to Ayane with how much the man knew. However, despite some rough behavior, she believed he had to be a good person with how fast he came to help and already was getting to work on unraveling the attacks on Abydos. This was her chance to learn more about Ragna and give a good, proper first impression of the Foreclosure Task Force and her own capabilities. Even if she had requested the aid and it was truly needed, Ayane didn't want to give the wrong idea that the Foreclosure Task Force weren't capable with how bad a situation he had found everyone in.

"In that case. Would you like to look around the school a little with me, sensei? We didn't have a chance for a proper tour after what happened." With a warm tone and friendly smile, Ayane invited. It wouldn't be long till someone else showed up, but she'd at least have some time alone with Ragna.

"Sure, why not. Came early to get to know everyone anyway." Ragna said. "Already saw a bit of the main building yesterday, so why don't we start with some of the other ones?"

"Eh, are you sure? With only the five of us here, we don't get to make as much use of the other buildings, so they're mostly just for storage and collecting dust. There's not a lot to show." Glancing between some of abandoned buildings on the small campus, from a large storage shed to the gym area over by the sand filled pool, Ayane answered uncertainly.

"If I'm gonna be here for a while, might as well know the whole school." The man was undeterred, shaking his head dismissively. "Who knows, maybe we'll find something interesting in all the junk. A lot of the main building is just classrooms anyway, right?"

Well, that was a good point. The Foreclosure Task Force, though primarily Ayane and Hoshino, did sometimes scour around the school for anything valuable that could be sold to help with the debt or was simply interesting. Compared to most other schools, the Abydos campus was quite small, but it was still massive for only 5 students with lots of rooms they couldn't attend to. Sometimes, Ayane had a lucky find and so searching the school had become a bit of a hobby for the group's treasurer. She didn't want to give Ragna the wrong idea she was an overly uptight cheapskate though. But if he was suggesting it, maybe he wasn't so different? It sounded like they were used to using whatever was around if he camped out a lot. It would save her some time killing two birds with one stone…

"Well, if that's what you'd like, we can get started there. We do tend to find new things all the time and there's been an area I've been meaning to check." Putting on an inviting smile, Ayane took a few steps toward one of the sheds at the far end of the campus. She may as well start far out and work closer to the heart of the school with this plan.

With Ragna in tow, Ayane led the man to medium sized building at the edge of the area. It wasn't the largest one where some bigger assets, such as a car Ayane still needed to ensure could run, but the sand sprinkled structure was still comparable to a cheaper house.

Opening the big door and flicking on the lights, the interior was littered with all sorts of random clutter, junk and furniture. It was in somewhat of an odd state, as certain parts of the room that Ayane hadn't touched yet looked like they'd not seen a living person's hand in years, dust and sand covering some of the objects or tarps. But other sections had little signs of neglected as Ayane had been through the area recently with some light cleaning while she looked for anything of interest. But one thing immediately drew Ayane's eye. A small pile of sand with a thin line of more trailing in from the roof.

"One of the tiles is slightly loose..." Stepping inside, Ayane muttered with a frown. Not only that, sand was trickling in. It wasn't any pressing concern, but left unattended it'd quickly become a larger problem. As long as it got put back in place, someone could take a look later, today would be too busy to properly address the issue and this wasn't the first time Abydos had dealt with this problem. "At least there's a ladder here. Hang on, sensei."

"No need, I got this." With confident words, Ragna walked past Ayane and under the loose ceiling board. Unholstering the massive sword on his back, Ragna held it up and the blade shot up, more than doubling the length of his already huge weapon and giving the tall man enough reach to prod at the ceiling with it. "I'll just push it back into place real quick."

Ayane blinked, checking over the weapon closely. That was a strange, yet interesting design. But more importantly… "Um, sensei, are you sure you can do that?" It was still better than when Shiroko stacked a bunch of desks as an improvised ladder for some ceiling repairs. That'd ended poorly with Shiroko, and Ayane from being right next to her, getting an avalanche of sand on dumped on them.

"It's fi-"

Like Shiroko before him, the exact same fate befell Ragna as the tile abruptly collapsed and collided with Ragna's face, bringing with it an entire bag worth of sand straight down onto the man.

"S-Sensei!?"

"Arg, stupid son of a bitch…!" Ragna swore a few more times under his breath and made Ayane's face heat up. She could sometimes let a few things slip when particularly mad, but for a teacher Ragna sure had some colorful language.

Ragna's sword returned to its original form and he shook his body around a few times to dislodge some of the sand. "Forgot how easily this damn stuff gets everywhere."

"A-Are you okay?" Ayane rushed over to the man, ready to offer any assistance she could, stepping over the hugely expanded pile of sand. Okay, things were off to a bad start with trying to give Abydos a better second impression, for as good as they could do with the school in this state, but she could still salvage this!

Hopefully...

"I'll live. Might be annoying as shit, but a little sand never killed anyone." Ragna grumbled with a scowl. "Grab me a broom and we can sweep some of this sand out, good excuse to clean up and look for anything interesting. We're pretty close to the door anyway and that was my fault."

"Y-"

"No," Ragna held his hand up practically the instant Ayane muttered the sound of a single letter, almost like he had read her mind. "I came to help out the school, so that's what I'm going to do. This one's my fault anyway."

Urg, that was true and it would go much faster with another person to do some of the sweeping and dusting. Ayane wasn't adverse to asking for help, she had been the driving force behind asking SCHALE for help, but he was talking about doing more than just sweeping out the extra sand. She didn't want to try imposing all the school's responsibilities on him at once with how severe what he'd already come for was. If Ragna was going to be so insistent though...

Not protesting further, Ayane picked up two of the brooms left around to deal with the sand and handed one to Ragna. "Here you are, sensei. Hopefully, this won't take too long. I'd hate to have to put off giving you a tour because of this accident."

"Not like there isn't plenty of time. Let's get to work."

Trying to keep working as quickly, but diligently, as she could, Ayane engaged with some occasional conversation with Ragna during the cleaning.

"Forgot the sand, there's dust everywhere."

"I-It's been a while since we've cleaned certain parts of the room."

"Can't blame you, not like there's much use here but storing stuff. Hell of a chore trying to keep this school in order with so few people. You're a pretty determined bunch."

The discussion between the two was largely light hearted and Ayane quickly lost track of the time getting to know the man. He was kind of a nice, if crude, person, though. Housekeeping like this always felt like less of a drag when another person was around to help, and just like whenever her classmates were around for a job like this, having Ragna around made the task fly by. And as most of the sand had gotten swept out of the building, Ayane was able to focus a little more on trying to find anything particularly valuable that could be sold to help with the debt. There were only a few things of any worth she could spot between her cleaning though. It appeared like Ragna was doing the same thing, as when Ayane glanced over to the teacher, the man moved about the room like he already found something specific, going more toward the far area of the building where Ayane had seldom ever checked.

"Sensei, did you find something?" Shuffling over some of the clutter on the ground, Ayane spoke up while curiously scrutinizing the corner of the room for anything that would've drawn Ragna's attention.

"Think so, right about…" Not glancing back her way, Ragna pushed aside a shelf with a light rumble and Ayane could now see a massive tarp tucked away in the corner.

"Here!" With a casual tug, Ragna yanked it off, a moderate amount of dust scattering through the air with the motion, to reveal a large cart with a massive amount of.. Was that a big slab of metal?

Eye widening, Ayane raced over to the cart with an excited energy in her step, barely avoiding knocking something over in the cramped room with her rush to get a closer look at the thing almost wide as she was tall and nearly chest level in height. "Wow… That's a lot of metal…"

The cart was filled with the material, comprised of a few slabs of varying sizes. How much exactly, Ayane couldn't be sure but it had to be heavy, maybe even a few hundred kilograms. Some sheets looked pretty big.

"Look at that, told you we'd find something interesting in all the junk." Ragna said with a proud smirk, fiddling around and turning over the huge tarp awkwardly with his one good arm.

A beaming smile quickly spread across Ayane's face. "I don't think I'd have noticed this for a while between how much of this room there is to search and how hidden away it was under the tarp. This is a great find, sensei! I know a scrap metal dealer we should be able to sell this to for a good price."

"Don't get too enthusiastic." Ragna said with an annoyed grumble and scowl on his face. The tarp, having proven to be such an annoying foe to manage with his single hand had been given up by the man and dropped on the floor.

"Eh? Is there something wrong with it?" The cheer in Ayane's face quickly started to evaporate as less optimistic thoughts took over. Was it not actually worth much? With the huge sword he had, perhaps Ragna had some idea about the topic with the kind of maintenance one would need on such a weapon. Metal was metal, but that'd be disappointing…

"No, not that. Mind checking under the tarp? Not enough space to flip this thing over and turning it over's a pain in the ass with one hand with how cramped it is." The man said with a scowl, glaring at the covering like he had a personal vendetta against it.

Curious, but complying, Ayane picked up one side of the tarp and turned it over. Inside, she saw a notice written on the inside. "Let's see.. Handle with caution, this is special high-grade steel that must be kept in a climate-controlled environment…"

Ayane's eyes went wide, repeating part of the notice to herself to ensure she'd read that right, some of the excitement returning to her voice. "Special high-grade steel..?"

This was a huge find!

"Yep, that's why I wanted to check the tarp." Ragna commented, inspecting the cart and its contents. "Should be able to get a lot more than if you just tried to sell it normally without looking, right?"

"Definitely!" Ayane said with a glowing, thankful smile toward the man.

Only for it to immediately deflate and her face to rapidly burn up with a blush upon thinking over the implications of his words and how she responded. She wouldn't be… that hasty and sell the steel at a much lower price that would haunt Ayane for the rest of her life after finding this out too late if she'd found it on her own, right?

… No, she absolutely would've and felt incredibly stupid. Not just that, she would've looked incredibly stupid to the man she was trying to leave a good impression on. B-but to her credit it appeared like the tarp had been put on up side down so that notice had been hidden! Not many people would've expected it to be there without being extra careful or already knowing about it! But she was trying to appear capable, she still had to salvage this since she must've already appeared a bit stupid to not think of this!

"T-Thank you for finding this, sensei. I-I didn't meant to say I was going to sell it without thoroughly checking everything! I was just excited to find something so valuable! Wedon'tusuallyfindthingsthisbig!" Nerves quickening every word, Ayane stammered out in a desperate attempt to save whatever face she had left. Arg, nonono now she just sounded cheap and aaaaaaaaaaaaah why couldn't she keep it together!?

Ragna put a large, gentle hand on Ayane's head. "Hey, Ayane, stop freaking out. Always pays to be thorough with this stuff, but easy to overlook. Don't wanna have to run across town looking like an idiot trying to catch the truck you sold it to before it's too late to get your money. Nobody's got time for that annoying shit…"

The warm, comforting gesture was like someone had pressed a reset button on her, stopping Ayane's runaway train of thought before it get too out of control and giving her a few seconds to compose herself again. Something about the reassurance coming from him made it feel more comforting than usual. Ragna sounded pretty understanding and it did help… But that story was oddly specific.

"Did something like that happen to you?" Cheeks still having some lingering warmth, Ayane managed to ask with a calmer voice as Ragna removed his hand. That would make her feel a little less embarrassed about the situation.

Ragna's expression went flat, his eyes lingering on the cart for a second before going back to Ayane. "… You could say that."

"W-Well, at least we found something worthwhile here. We must've spent a while here by now…" Trying to change the subject, Ayane reached for her phone to check the time and found that, while not exactly late, she'd definitely spent longer than expected out here with Ragna. That was definitely going to put a dent in her plans for a tour as the usual Foreclosure Taskforce meeting was going to begin earlier than usual with the heavy revelations from yesterday and Ayane still had her own assignments to attend to. Despite Abydos being in the state it was in, everyone still had to keep up with assignments and homework, it was one of those things which kept the spirit of the school alive despite the lack of formal structure. Assignments and grading largely being done by pre-recorded blu-rays or automation helped greatly with the state of her school at least.

"Ayane-chaaaaaaaan, are you out here? I see the door's wide open!" Nonomi's voice echoed from outside in the field.

Ah, she should've expected someone would come looking for her eventually. She had been in a remote corner in the dark and abandoned shed.

Alone.

With Ragna.

For an extended time.

Ayane's face started turning the same shade as her red rimmed glasses. Wait, no, that was really bad! When you thought about it, wasn't this situation kind of… Scandalous? What kind of reaction would the rest of her classmates have from her doing something like this on the second day knowing him!? S-Surely the truth would be a valid explanation, right? Or maybe it'd be better if she just didn't say anything and hi-

"Oh, hey there Nonomi." Ragna's loud voice sent Ayane's train of thought flying right off the track as he stepped toward the door.

SENSEI, WHY?

"Ah, sensei! I didn't expect to run into you here too!" Nonomi's form entered the dimly lit room. The radiant smile plastered across her face that usually made Ayane at ease instead flaring her anxiety up more.

Ragna gestured back toward the room, including Ayane doing her best impression of a deer in headlights. "Ayane was planning to show me around the school a little. Had a bit of an issue with the ceiling and some sand getting in so stopped to clean up the place."

"T-That's right!" Ayane squeaked from the corner of the room, maneuvering past some of the junk toward the two. Good, Nonomi wasn't pointing out anything strange... "Um, Ragna-sensei found a bunch of high quality metal hidden away while we were cleaning up too. We should be able to sell it for a good price."

Nonomi looked over Ayane's shoulder back toward where she'd come from, a surprised yet pleased smile rapidly spreading on her face. "Wow, that's quite a find~. You're already proving to be pretty helpful to have around, sensei."

Ragna waved his hand a few times dismissively, then gesturing with his thumb toward the hole in the ceiling. "Abydos called me for some help so I'm doing what I'm here for. I caused the sand to get in here anyway trying to push the ceiling back into place."

"Speaking of that." Nonomi clapped her fingers on both hands together. "It sounds like you've been with Ragna-sensei since you two got here, right? Since we were planning to have a meeting about yesterday soon, how about I take over with him so you can have a break before we start, Ayane-chan? You've been hard at work with all this cleaning and today's likely to be a long one~."

"That'd be great, Nonomi-senpai, thank you. There was some prep work I wanted to do for that." Ayane responded with an appreciate smile. Even if Hoshino was the official leader of the Foreclosure Taskforce, Ayane was generally the one directing the meetings or trying to help keep order with how… Absurd, some of the suggestions from her classmates could be. That sometimes led to quite the headache and less than flattering outbursts…

But Ayane put those thoughts away for now as she stepped past Nonomi and back into the blistering bright Sun of the Abydos sky, throwing a quick wave toward the two. "I'll see you later, Nonomi-senpai, sensei!"

Well, even if things hadn't gone to plan, Ayane had at least gotten to know Ragna a bit better. She'd been the one most insistent on continuing to try and petition for help, even when the rest of Abydos had long since grown skeptical to the idea. Maybe it was part of being a 1st year compared to everyone besides Serika having an extra year, two in Hoshino's case, of dealing with the situation, but her persistence and hope had paid off. As bad as the revelations were about somebody financing the Kata-Kata Helmet Gang, Ragna was already proving himself quite capable in and outside of combat, quite kind too but that was expected for somebody that answered her call for help so soon. It made her feel more confident about the situation and like maybe everyone's luck could start turning around.

Ah, but there was one thing that had slipped Ayane's mind she'd meant to ask the man, but it was a bit later now. Between being blind sided preparing for Ragna's unexpectedly quick visit and then the news from the attack yesterday, she'd completely forgotten to ask for more details about the Foreclosure Taskforce being on SCHALE's student registry. It was effectively acting as the student council, but officially the club didn't exist and with that came certain limitations if it ever had to act as official leadership. It hadn't mattered yet, but if it and the students were recognized in some official capacity by the General Student Council it would be a significant benefit, were the situation to arise. Not to mention good for everyone's mood to know. That'd be a topic Ayane would have to ask Ragna about another time, perhaps not the upcoming meeting since the schedule was already crowded.

Still, maybe she was jumping to conclusions but it was a nice thought and brought a smile to Ayane's face as she strolled through the main Abydos school building to prepare for the day.

Nonomi knew she wasn't going to have much time with the enigma of Ragna before it was time for the meeting, but some time was better than no time! She was curious about the man, yet also apprehensive how he knew so much and wanted to understand that. There weren't that many ways somebody new to Kivotos would know so much for being from outside it. There was one particular lingering thought at the back of her head, but, well, she wasn't going to jump to conclusions that quickly when she had the chance to get to know Ragna now~.

"Aaaand this is the Annex building." Nonomi proudly introduced the second largest single building of the campus, gesturing with a spin around the dull silver halls her and Ragna walked through. "There's a lot of rooms here meant for club activities. We don't get much use out of them so there's all sorts of stuff you can probably find if you look hard enough. They've been a few fun ways to entertain ourselves we've found while checking the rooms. I'd love to show you around some of them, but I don't think we have the time."

"Sure sucks all that equipment has to just collect dust. Least even a little bit's getting some use though." Ragna grumbled with a vaguely frustrated, yet sympathetic, sigh while scratching the side of his head. "Place has so many empty rooms I bet Hoshino could sleep in a new one every day and still not run out by the end of the school year."

Nonomi let out a light giggle at the image. Though Hoshino had some favorite spots, it wasn't even that off with how the third year liked to sleep wherever she pleased. "Careful, Hoshino-senpai might start getting ideas if she hears you."

"Knowing her, I bet she's already had that idea without me saying a damn thing." Ragna said with a huff, though despite the words and mild exasperation, his expression was still light hearted, almost a grin.

"That definitely sounds like her~." Nonomi kept her voice playful and warm, yet the comment was a bit weird. Maybe it was just how Ragna was, after all from what little she'd seen he was a very direct and blunt man, but the familiar way he spoke about everyone was more in line with someone who'd known Nonomi and her friends for months instead of not even a few days. Perhaps he was just very direct on trying to be friendly or keep the atmosphere light? A little odd, but Nonomi wasn't entirely opposed to it. But coupled with how much Ragna knew the attitude stood out more than it otherwise would. Especially with his story…

Continuing, Nonomi kept her tone warm and friendly. She did still want to get to know Ragna more before making any judgments. "I forgot to ask too, did you find somewhere good to sleep, sensei? I'd hate for you to have a hard time just because you're helping us."

"Yeah, was fine. Don't worry about it. Not the first time I've camped out in the desert." Ragna said with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "Thanks for the offer yesterday, but I'm just doing my job and the right thing. Wouldn't feel right asking you girls to pay for anything for me with the school like it is."

Nonomi briefly frowned before her expression returned to a more caring, casual one. So Ragna had really been serious about that huh? "You don't need to feel guilty about me spending money on you, sensei. Abydos might be in debt, but that doesn't mean I am. I can't pay off the school's debt, but I can still do something nice as thanks for yesterday. It's important to take care of yourself and a good night's rest is part of that~."

Well, can't might've not been the right word. Her credit card could've paid for the school's debt and then some just fine. But that would've been trading one creditor for another without the school truly being free and belonging to the students. Besides, though provide her money they did… Nonomi's relationship with her family hadn't been the best for a while. She understood why Hoshino had rejected that idea when Nonomi had initially proposed it with how things were.

"No, I know you could spend more in a day than people make in a year and not even blink." Ragna said, holding up a hand.

Hm? Did she imply being that rich at some point?

"Appreciate the thought, but it'd disturb my sleep if I started letting my students pay for my stuff when I just got here. Haven't even done that much since we're still gonna have a lot of shit to sort through about who's after the school. You can save the thanks for when we're finally done with it." Ragna finished his words with an annoyed grumble.

Ah, Ragna wasn't that different from the rest of the Foreclosure Taskforce in that way. The rest of her classmates, mainly Hoshino though, didn't like relying on her card much. That had been why their ammo was so depleted to begin with. Though Nonomi wasn't trying to disrespect the sentiment or anything, the girl would admit she did sometimes get carried away buying supplies accidentally and not so accidentally when she could~.

Still, even if she understood why, Nonomi couldn't help feeling a little guilty about not being able to do more when her friends had such difficult lives. However, in a way it did somewhat work out as Nonomi's financial situation meant she could spend more time on school maintenance over the weekend to give everyone else the chance for part time work. A healthy studying environment was just as important as any other element!

"Well, that's true. We should probably go get Hoshino-senpai soon for the meeting so we can get on with that." Nonomi looked up and down the hall to emphasize the statement. Hoshino had a few spots she primarily napped in, but checking those might still take a little time.

But before that, Nonomi still had one more thing to ask about while she had some alone time with Ragna, but this needed a bit more subtle approach. "It's nice that we're able to get right to everything with everything SCHALE had about Abydos and the student registry. I'm kind of surprised how much it had."

"Huh?" Ragna paused for a moment, his expression drifting toward sour. "Oh. Right. That. Yeah, sure helped give me a good idea about the situation coming here."

"I hope you weren't reading everyone's embarrassing secrets in those files. Sounds like they had quite a lot there~." Nonomi drew a few steps closer to Ragna with a playful smile and voice.

Casual though her words were, Nonomi was also fishing a bit for information. It wasn't that she distrusted Ragna, but his reasoning behind knowing everyone so well despite having just arrived in Kivotos wasn't entirely adding up. Beyond Ayane sending an occasional message to the General Student Council for help, Abydos had been almost entirely ignored by the governing body for a while. Them actually going to the effort of including contact information of Abydos students, besides Hoshino who had been enrolled when the school still had a proper student council president and was the only official member of the leadership body left, on official anything was a little strange with the lack of any attention otherwise. At the same time, with how Ragna had so suddenly moved out to help the school where nobody else would and quickly gone to work helping or uncovering secrets with a lucky hunch, Nonomi would've felt bad directly bringing that up since it would've made her sound like she thought Ragna was lying or was more suspicious of him than she actually was by being so blunt.

Ragna let out a deep, guttural sounding sigh. "Should've figured you wouldn't believe that story either."

… Of course all that thought meant nothing when the other was blunt as a wrecking ball and could see right through Nonomi.

"Eh?" Nonomi recoiled back with some surprise and embarrassment. Well, she might as well take the direct approach if Ragna was too. "Well, it's not exactly that, sensei. It's just a little surprising to hear with how neglected the Abydos district has been. The Foreclosure Task Force isn't an official club after all."

Ragna frowned, some sympathy under his annoyed face. "Yeah… Well... It's not like Ayane didn't try to petition for help before and sent some information along with it, right?"

"Hm? Well, that's true. They actually kept that on record and cared enough to leave some notes?" Nonomi tilted her head and tapped her cheek a few times with her index finger. That was surprising to hear, but it did sound plausible. How else would he have known Ayane's message to SCHALE wasn't her first attempt asking for aid?

Ragna nodded, though the frustrated expression didn't leave his face. "Yeah, something like that. I haven't been here long and even I can tell the GSC was tied up managing this place even before the president went missing. I don't care how annoying as shit politics can be, but still wasn't right that they left you all to the wolves without doing a damn thing. Maybe somebody still felt bad about it or they at least thought about doing something eventually and still kept everyone in mind. Maybe the president was hoping I could help deal with it or something, I don't know. I don't have to worry about all the usual bullshit regulations. Well, some of them." Ragna's expression morphed into a scowl with his last sentence. But there also something else there, was it guilt? No, probably sympathy, that made more sense.

"Hmm…" Nonomi hummed to herself while she processed the information. The story did make some sense. Nonomi, of all of Abydos's students, understood how business and government could be a slow process with numerous layers to it. Abydos still wasn't remotely a priority for the General Student Council or else they would've done something earlier, it was practically insulting the lack of aid, but it would explain a few things about Ragna's knowledge. He knew a lot but not everything.

Nonomi's expression rose back to it's usual cheerfulness with a smile. "I guess that makes sense. I was certain the student council had forgotten about us~."

"Yep, guess not. Now, let's hurry up and go get Hoshino so we don't keep everyone waiting." Ragna said, starting to push past Nonomi abruptly.

"Ah, one second, sensei!" Nonomi grabbed Ragna's good arm with a firm tug to bring the man to a stop. "While it's topical, I had one more question."

Ragna pulled his hand away, looking back over his shoulder and only half turning toward Nonomi. "Fine, just make it quick. It's going to take enough time dragging Hoshino to the club room."

"If the General Student Council kept our records, did you see anything that'd indicate they recognized the Foreclosure Task Force?"

Ragna fully turned toward Nonomi, placing a hand on his hip, still scowling. "Nope, sorry. Just had a little description of everyone and how to reach you. Still just an unofficial club."

Nonomi's smile deflated somewhat. "Ah, that's too bad. I guess it was a bit much to hope for. But at least they paid even a little attention to us. That's more than any of us had expected."

"Don't start looking that depressed on me." Ragna said with a wave of his hand, sounding reassuring. "Maybe I can try getting something done about that once this is all over. Got plenty of crap to talk about with the GSC already so might as well throw that onto the pile."

The positive smile returned to Nonomi's face. "Really? That'd be great if you could, Ragna-sensei~! It sure pays to have adults in high places like you."

"We gotta deal with the current headache first." Ragna turned around, holding his hand up casually to his side and gesturing a few times for Nonomi to follow as he stepped down the hall. "So, come on. Let's go get Hoshino already. And if you can tell everyone else what happened here, it'd save me some trouble having to repeat it all again. Sure you're not the only one who thought about this."

"Coming~!" With a bounce in her step, Nonomi trotted after the man. She might as well lighten the mood a little while they headed over to get Hoshino. "Say, sensei."

"What?"

Nonomi stepped slightly ahead of the man with a light lean in her posture while keeping pace. "Since you're a teacher, when things have calmed down a little we'll have to have a real class together with everyone. I've always wondered what it'd be like to have one with a real adult teacher and not just blu-rays or a robot instructor~." Nonomi ended her words with an excited giggle.

Instead of the reaction Nonomi thought she'd get, Ragna stopped dead in his tracks, palm going right to the side of his head and fingers digging into his scalp. The man looked about ready to make internal screaming become external. The exasperated and weary words didn't help either. "Yeah, that's just my goddamn luck… Let's just focus on the current problem and worry about that later. A lot later."

"Hm? Something wrong?" Instead of tilting her head, Nonomi leaned even further with her body to punctuate her confusion.

"Noooooope, nothing you should worry about." Ragna immediately started walking with a more brisk pace after his exaggerated, exasperated words. "Let's hurry up already and get this damn meeting over with already."

Did she say something wrong? Wasn't it normal for a teacher, to, well, teach?

Well… Never mind that for the moment. She'd gotten to know Ragna a little bit and get a better idea of their character. He wasn't quite as rough as he'd given on a first impressions, but she still didn't know him that well. However, it was enough for her to feel more optimistic about the situation Abydos was facing, even if Nonomi couldn't fully shake the feeling there was more to what Ragna was saying.

Either way, she trusted him a bit more now and, hopefully, Ragna would be the aid Abydos needed to make some real progress in their situation. If whoever was behind the attacks on the school could be dealt with, then it'd give everyone much needed breathing room.

She just hoped it wasn't who she thought it was. If that was the case, then…

No, she could wait a little before worrying too much. Maybe Ragna would have more to say at the meeting. There weren't many other groups Nonomi could think of with the resources and interest in Abydos, but maybe she was overlooking something.

Hopefully...

Kiek · Jun 25, 2024

Omniwhatever said:
T-Thank you for finding this, sensei. I-I didn't meant to say I was going to sell it without thoroughly checking everything! I was just excited to find something so valuable! Wedon'tusuallyfindthingsthisbig!

Whoa, didn't expect her Relationship Episode to pop up in the middle of story mode at all, but hey it makes sense, both teacher & students are trying to get to know each other better after all. Also Ayane somehow managed to sound like Hifumi (Daisuki) squeaking.

Omniwhatever said:
Did she say something wrong? Wasn't it normal for a teacher, to, well, teach?

Unfortunately, Nonomi-chan, your Schale's Sensei can teach anything but proper lessons. Fighting style maybe, survival skills perhaps, cooking sure, but not proper lessons. Can't be helped when he wasn't taught the normal ways after all, just had to be that kind of master who throws students headfirst into danger.
Would be amusing to see him trying his best tho.

Omniwhatever · Jun 25, 2024

Kiek said:
Unfortunately, Nonomi-chan, your Schale's Sensei can teach anything but proper lessons. Fighting style maybe, survival skills perhaps, cooking sure, but not proper lessons. Can't be helped when he wasn't taught the normal ways after all, just had to be that kind of master who throws students headfirst into danger.
Would be amusing to see him trying his best tho.

Funny enough he'd probably get along with some parts of SRT's curriculum rather well for that reason since their stuff is a bit more hands on and field/survival skills are trained more than most schools. He'd still do terrible with the whole military discipline thing because THIS IS RAGNA AFTER ALL.

Kind of hilariously too, because it's basically what a lot of BlazBlue runs on to some degree, especially Observation, he could probably keep up surprisingly well with some areas of quantum physics, of all things, at somewhere like Millennium. He's no Relius or Kokonoe, but Ragna's really knowledgeable about his own setting. It's just almost none of that specific knowledge translates to the average Kivotos school subject whoops.

Too bad neither of those things are at Abydos, so if Nonomi gets her wish, Ragna's in for a baaaaaaaaaad time.

Omniwhatever · Jul 30, 2024

Volume 1 Chapter 1: Setting the Board (VIII)

Ragna had been both looking forward to and dreading the upcoming meeting. On the one hand, it'd be a chance to start pointing fingers toward the person behind all of it and get everyone onboard to do something about it. Things would be so much easier than the first time if he could get some proof before trying to deal with the Kaiser presence, learned that the hard way when he may've jumped the gun a little originally and caused a hell of a headache sorting it even if he was right. On the other hand, trying to actually prove it to Abydos at this point sounded like a bad time. Some of the girls were already a bit skeptical at best about his knowledge, and damn did he hate lying to everyone but he wanted to try and avoid telling them about a potential time loop till he had more information on it. They had enough on their shoulders for the moment. But he didn't have any real evidence right now nor an immediate idea on how to get good supporting evidence when that information had come from either other people or directly from ripping it out of Kaiser's base after he trashed it. He was starting to regret going after them so early last time with how many headaches it'd caused both immediately and long after the fact.

Hrm… Actually, that was a thought. Maybe he could make some time to hit Gehenna later and see if he could talk anything out of Hina as a lead. She already knew the information and seemed reasonable from what he could recall. Maybe he could do something with SRT and help the closure problem if he played things right concerning Kaiser too…

Well, those were thoughts for another time as it was time for the meeting in the same club room as always. Ragna had taken a spot to the side of Ayane and nearby a large whiteboard with some notes scribbled on it.

"Alright. Since everyone's present, let's begin this emergency meeting of the Abydos Foreclosure Task Force." Ayane spoke up, her voice formal yet still possessing a lightness to it. But as she continued, though still smiling, her words took on a subtle edge. "I'll remind everyone that Ragna-sensei in in attendance today, so I would hope for more decorum than usual between that and the subject matter…"

Man, Ragna really wasn't one for all these formalities, but he also knew how off the rails the Foreclosure Task Force could get if allowed to be caught up in their own momentum. So maybe it was for the best to just leave his personal gripes be.

A few acknowledging answers came from the rest, save for Serika giving an annoyed huff. "Come on. You say that like we've never taken it seriously before…"

He didn't wanna hear that from the girl who, without fail, brought in a scam every goddamn meeting.

"I know that this is ahead of schedule and everyone has their own work to keep up with, so let's jump right into the current order of business. The attacks on our school and who is behind them. We don't have much evidence to go on right now that could give us an idea of who is responsible, but we have to start somewhere, even if it's just crossing off possible suspects or a lead to investigate later." Ayane paused briefly, allowing her words to properly sink into the assembled group. "Does anyone have any ideas and would like to present them?"

"I got one." Ragna abruptly interjected and took a step forward in the same instant Ayane finished, drawing all eyes to him. No sense wasting time.

Ayane, and the rest of the girls, peered at him curious. "You have the floor, sensei. Who do you think it is?"

"I think it's the Kaiser Corporation." Ragna declared with a casual bluntness, hand on his hip.

The rest of the girls looked at Ragna like he'd sprouted a second head, except for Hoshino. With a hand resting against her palm propped up on the table, her sleepy, eyes half open expression suddenly vanished for a tenseness that lasted only a moment.

"What?" Serika looked almost offended by the statement. "Why would you even think that, that doesn't make any sense!"

Ayane raised her hand slightly to draw attention, keeping her voice diplomatic. "Sensei… We didn't tell you this yesterday, but Kaiser Loans is who we pay our debt to."

"Yeah! So why would they do something dumb like attack our school!? If we were to lose to those thugs harassing us, then they'll never get any money back." Serika crossed her arms, goddammit Ragna wished he could still do that, in an annoyed huff.

"And what if that's what they want?" Ragna fired back with an edge, raising his arm to the side and rolling his hand dismissively a few times for emphasis.

Hoshino let out a light yawn, straightening her posture and speaking casually. "That sounds like a pretty bad business strategy, you know."

"Nn, a company that big could take the loss though. But why would they want to?" Shiroko said with a pensive frown and curious twitch of her wolf ears.

Ragna turned his head to Ayane. "Hey, how long's it supposed to be till you pay back everything at the current rate? Don't need exact numbers, just a ballpark."

"Eh, um, well…" Ayane remained silent for a moment, a finger raised and slightly moving like she were recalling something. "After the last repayment, between the interest rate and how much we're able to pay per month... It was over 300 years…"

"And that's exactly my point." Ragna declared, gesturing back toward the rest of the girls. "You owe almost a billion yen. That's gonna take more years than everyone in here has been alive put together. I'm sure they never expected anyone to be crazy enough to actually try and pay it off and got sick of waiting. And if you can't pay money, then they can take what they're owed. One way or the other. I think you all know what that'd mean." Ragna let the implications hang, slowly looking around the room but at nothing in particular to beat the point in.

Nonomi frowned. "They'd foreclose the building and we'd lose our school if that happened."

"Arg, that still doesn't make any sense!" Serika interjected with an angry scowl. "What would they even want with a place like Abydos if not the money? Kaiser's the biggest company in Kivotos and not like there's anything super valuable here, if there was we'd already have paid off the debt! Even if they get this tiny spot and some of the other land, not like they'd even get much from it!"

… Oh, Ragna sure as hell wished he could've thought of a good excuse to shut that down, add that to his to do list for getting information. If only Serika knew how much Kaiser already owned. Well, he could still work with this.

"Think about the bigger picture, Serika." Ragna said with a groan, ignoring the glare it got him from the cat eared girl. "If you all got driven away or captured by somebody like the helmet gang, who the hell's supposed to even bother setting up a replacement school? If you can't pay the debt, then you don't have any damn money to do that even if that wasn't a problem. If you're gone, then there's nobody to stop them from doing more shady shit out here. They can start making moves into the district legally without needing to try covering it up if they want."

Hoshino tapped her fingers on the table a few times. "I don't know, sensei. That's a pretty hefty thing to say with how little we know. Sounds like a bunch of extra steps for nothing since Kaiser wouldn't need the debt to give a reason to chase us off even if it was them." Hoshino's voice ended with a hint of lightness. And if Ragna didn't know the girl well, he might've not though too much behind her statement. But know Hoshino he did and he could tell that scrutinizing look in her eyes was giving what he said more credit than her words did.

"I know organizations like this back where I come from and I did my research on the company, Hoshino." Ragna answered immediately, gesturing with his hand. He had done some beyond the issue of the warheads, but the man was also relying on what he knew in the original timeline. "Kaiser's the biggest company in this damn place and has their hands everywhere. If it exists, they have a branch for it. Banking, charity, manufacturing, military… The sheer size and resources mean they get away with all sorts of crap and they've always had a reputation for being shady on a good day. They've done more illegal things than this already. Don't know if any of you heard about it, but a bit back they got busted for making thermobaric warheads. Stuff that could flatten everything in a few kilometers. Corruption and coverup on that was goddamn huge."

"Oh!" Nonomi abruptly spoke up. "I don't remember all the details, but I think I heard a news report like that a while ago. Wasn't there something about the Office of Defense being involved too?"

Ragna nodded. "Yeah, something like that, but not important right now. Point is there's plenty of other shady crap anything Kasier related gets up to and you could write a book about it. Few times they've actually been caught it's always some bullshit of trying to pin it on some rogue executive of the company. Sometimes it works, but they've started getting a lot more scrutiny because of how many times somebody high in power just happens to be a corrupt asshole trying to keep a good public image. Being behind the attacks on the school would be completely up the alley of a company like that. Those bastards constantly push the law as far as they can and act like it's an obstacle at best."

"And that's not all." Seeing Hoshino was about to speak again, Ragna forcefully interjected before she could say anything. "Whoever's doing this both has a good reason to want to stay hidden, money to throw around hiring thugs, and is good at covering their tracks. That last one can take a lot of time, money, and experience. You remember what the Helmet Gang said yesterday, right? They wouldn't go through all that trouble to hide themselves if there wouldn't be a big problem getting discovered, like somebody high up in a company pretending to be normal with the resources to hire all those girls. Wouldn't have a reason to give a shit if they were already criminals like that and would make more sense to use everything on their own guys instead of another faction fighting as a proxy. So doesn't make sense for it to be any other gangs here."

The room went silent and Ragna could see the contemplative faces of the Task Force mulling over his words, uncertainty and interest in their expressions. Ragna knew he had some decent points to cast suspicion toward the company, but he still lacked some kind of solid smoking gun proving it beyond reasonable doubt. But that'd be fine if he could get the girls at least considering the possibility and investigating it more.

"That's still very circumstantial…" Ayane muttered, looking perturbed by the possibility regardless. "But if Kaiser were involved, that would make our situation significantly more dire."

Serika let out an annoyed groan, frowning aggressively. "That's still hard to believe. Hoshino-senpai has a point it'd be a lot for nothing."

"Got any better ideas?" Ragna huffed, matching the energy of her tone. "We don't have much evidence yet, but gotta start checking out any leads. Might as well throw out ideas and I think there's enough to look at Kaiser more."

Hoshino lazily turned her head to the side with a casual hum, eyes closed in thought. Her expression was contemplative, yet it wasn't overly heavy either. "Well, that's one thing, but you sound already convinced it's them."

"And what if I am?"

Hoshino's expression turned light, almost teasing. "Well, we should think about other ideas before getting too focused on one, could be something less serious. Tunnel vision's bad for an adult, sensei~."

"Shouldn't dismiss an idea just because you don't like what it implies either." Ragna answered back without blinking.

Hoshino's eyes narrowed.

The point itself normally wouldn't be bad, but Ragna knew he was right and that Hoshino tried to shoulder as many burdens, knowledge or otherwise, so that she could to keep things easier for the others. Come to think of it, in the first timeline Hoshino mentioned some interactions and offers from Kaiser in the past, hadn't she? Trying to keep things light again huh… With how little evidence they had, hopefully she wouldn't take the wrong conclusions from that. Maybe he'd have to talk with her again later just in case. Last thing he needed was Hoshino running off on her own again with how well that'd gone in the first timeline.

"Whaaaaaaaaat about another organization?" Nonomi suddenly interjected, lightly tapping her hands on the table a few times to draw attention. "Kivotos is a big place~. Some other companies have been caught trying to hide illegal activities. I heard about somebody who was once running a cram school trying to brainwash students into being their own workforce."

Ragna's face went flat as his voice. "That's one of the dumbest ideas I've heard come out of this place. Who even tries that?"

"A captive workforce can't run away~." Hoshino lightly chimed in, the hostility in her eyes gone like a switch had been flipped.

Of course the one who had the idea of kidnapping to get more students in his first time with Abydos wouldn't see a problem. At least that hadn't been a serious idea.

Maybe.

"Nn, Hoshino-senpai does have a point…"

Ragna's palm slammed right into his forehead. Oh, hell no. Not Shiroko too. "None of you better start getting ideas from that."

"Ahem!" Ayane loudly interjected, a restrained glare in her eyes that quickly wilted once everyone's eyes were on her. "Can we try to avoid straying too far off topic?"

At least he could count on somebody to be another voice of reason besides him.

"Alright, so suppose it's another group trying to chase you off and take the school themselves, sure, fine. That'd only cause problems for them." Ragna declared confidently. Maybe he needed a little different approach for the moment. "If you can't pay up, then Kaiser has the right to take whatever lying around to make up the debt. Which they can't do if somebody else decided to trash the place and take it themselves. Sure, maybe Kaiser writes it off, but with all the crap they've done in the past that was already illegal I don't think they'd take it lying down without trying to get revenge for messing with their business. Not unless it's somebody big enough to not be worth it. Know anyone else who'd have a lot of resources and an interest in Abydos that'd fit the description?"

Once more, the class went silent for a moment as everyone contemplated possible options. Notably, Ragna could see Nonomi fidgeting more than usual in her chair. Yeah… Her rich family could definitely fit that description, but yet again Ragna wasn't going to pull the pin on that grenade any time soon. He already had enough to try explaining. Hopefully, she wouldn't bring it up.

"Could it be another school?" Shiroko was the first to speak up. Her expression was rather neutral, but the slight flick of her animal ears betrayed the sudden burst of inspiration and curiosity that'd stuck her.

Hoshino stretched her shoulders in an exaggerated motion. "Mhm, the Abydos district doesn't have a lot of natural resources. It'd take a huge investment to build the district back up in its current state. Trying to manage a big project like that would be pretty hard if the main school wasn't already close to us. But who knows, maybe some school's as determined as we are to and wants to expand. It wouldn't do them much good with the desertification, but hasn't stopped us from trying~. Even if it's not the best land with every resource needing careful management, finding a huge patch of land to build on isn't easy in Kivotos. Even with how much is buried in sand, the Abydos district is one of the larger areas of Kivotos."

"It'd be cheaper to drive off whoever's already there than try to buy some land elsewhere. Whatever money's spent on supplying the Helmet Gang would be nothing compared to that." Shiroko commented, briefly glancing over to the rack where the rest of the girls had stored their weapons to free up hands for the meeting.

Ragna huffed, shaking his head. "I'm not convinced it's another school. Makes sense for you guys when this is your home, most schools are already huge as hell." The man was certain that Hoshino herself didn't even believe that possibility, but with how against the idea of it being Kaiser she was, or at least was outwardly, she was probably trying to bring up another remotely likely possibility as a distraction. He was gonna need some better evidence than this. If things went at all like last time, then maybe he could get some of that tomorrow though...

"Unfortunately, it sounds like we don't have anything concrete to go off of either way." Ayane said, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "But given everything, I think that sensei's right we're likely dealing with a bigger group with the resources to fund the Helmet Gang's attacks and cover their tracks."

Pausing, the girl picked up a marker and began writing a few notes on the white board, recapping some points that had been discussed in the form of two distinct categories for a large organization like Kaiser or another school. "Does anyone have any more specific ideas or names?"

"Those aren't exactly narrow categories…" Serika grumbled, putting her elbows on the table and chin in her palm.

Nonomi clapped her hands together a few times, putting on a reassuring smile and tone. "It might not be much, but at least we have a place to start~. That's better than being completely in the dark. The real question is what do we start investigating then?"

"I got an idea." Raising his hand lightly to command attention, Ragna spoke loudly. "Bet the bastard behind this knows we suspect them now, or will soon since we confronted the helmet brats about it. Not only that, but everyone's been resupplied so a simple attack again would be a dumb idea. I bet they'll step up the attacks to something bigger and we'll see another one pretty soon. Might be our chance to get some clues out of it."

Shiroko gave an affirming nod. "Nn, that could work. The Helmet Gang never let up for long and if someone's after the school, they won't give up easily. If they keep coming after us at the same rate then won't be more than a few days at most."

"That's one option, but is it really a good idea pinning our hopes on that, sensei?" Hoshino said with a skeptical look, rhythmically tapping her fingers on the desk like she were bored. "The Helmet Gang didn't have much to tell us so we might not get anything else this time."

Ragna shrugged casually. "Might happen, but we don't have a good place to start and if they were smart enough to not get found out so far, then I'll bet they're not dumb enough to expect the same plan to work. Trying to force their hand and get more involved might give us something to work with. If that doesn't work, then we'll just have to figure out where to start ourselves."

"I don't see too many other options right now." Ayane said with a resigned sigh. "There must be some kind of paper trail we could follow if we only knew where to begin, but right now it'd be like a shot in the dark trying to find anything conclusive with how little we know. I could try doing some more research into any larger entities around or within Abydos in the meantime, alongside Kaiser, but it might take a while without a starting point. I wasn't able to find much of anything yesterday with the short notice."

"Sure, fine." Ragna grumbled, holding back a sarcastic comment about having brought up a specific company. If they were lucky, then something would happen tomorrow anyway which he could use to make things simple and this clearly wasn't going anywhere. "Guess nobody else has any other ideas?"

Serika shook her head with an annoyed frown. "Better than nothing, but doesn't even feel like we're much further than where we started yesterday."

"Don't feel too bad, Serika-chan." Nonomi put a reassuring hand on the other's shoulder with a smile. "We've got to start somewhere and I'm sure we'll get something to go on soon~.

"Well, if that's it then, there's one more thing I wanna mention." Gesturing with his hand to the side, Ragna stated. "Like I said, whoever's behind this will probably try and step up the attacks and try something new, so think everyone should be careful for the next few days till we know what we'll be dealing with."

Serika leaned forward in her chair, glaring at Ragna. "Hey! We can take care of ourselves and don't need to be told that. We're not little kids you know! We only had trouble yesterday because we were almost out of supplies."

… If things went even close to the way they did the first time, Ragna was definitely not letting Serika live that comment down.

"Actually~," Surprisingly, Hoshino spoke up, wagging her finger a few times in Serika's direction. "Ragna-sensei's got the right idea. So far, the plan looks like it was to eventually exhaust us with repeated attacks, then swoop in for an easy win. But that's not going to work anymore, so makes sense to try something else. It'd be best to keep our eyes out for what that is. I'm sure we can handle it, but wouldn't hurt to be a little extra cautious till we know what they'll try."

Serika reclined in her chair, looking defeated. "I guess that's true..."

Oh, sure. When Ragna says it, he gets immediate and dismissive opposition. But when Hoshino says the same goddamn thing, Serika doesn't complain at all. Damn kids...

"Whatever they try, we'll be ready for it." Shiroko declared with a determined look, ears flattening slightly.

Ayane raised up a personal tablet, making a few motions on it that looked like she were taking notes. "Well, if nobody has anything else to say. I think that we can conclude this emergency meeting. Given the short notice, I don't want to take too much of everyone's time for their own work. We'll add this topic to our discussion at the regularly scheduled meeting next week and see if there's been any developments worth talking about and we've had enough time for our own investigations."

"Oh!" Nonomi's hand suddenly shot up with incredible enthusiasm that matched her cheerful face. "Actually, there's one thing I wanted to ask sensei~. I think it'd be good for the atmosphere."

A pit was forming in Ragna's stomach. This was going to suck, wasn't it? "… What?"

"Since we have everyone gathered here already and has school work to do, how about we have a group le-"

"Rejected." Ragna firmly interrupted with a raised voice. Oh, hell no! He wasn't getting dragged into this with all the other crap he'd already dealt with and still had to later. That was a problem for another day!

Nonomi frowning like a kicked puppy still made him feel a little guilty, however.

"Hm?" Hoshino suddenly perked up menacingly, a playful glint in her heterocromatic eyes. "This oji-san was getting tired and ready for a nap, but now I'm curious what kind of lessons an adult holdsv . A teacher's job is to help their students, right se~n~sei~?"

Ragna's hand slammed into the side of his hand, fingers scraping at his head in exasperation while he scowled. That little gremlin! This was revenge for last night, wasn't it? He should've expected this the moment Rin brought up teaching. This was always how Ragna's shitty luck turned out.

At least he had a valid excuse to put this off for now. "No, we're not doing this today. I didn't even have the time to look up what's taught here and prepare. Kind of hard to teach when I don't even know what to do. Sort of had to jump here on short notice with Ayane's urgent letter."

"Ah, if that's the case, then I'd be happy to show you some of the course material we have here to help you prepare, sensei! It's only right after you rushed here for our sake." Ayane spoke up with a 'helpful' smile that was anything but for Ragna.

… Shit, there goes his afternoon. Well, he was gonna have to do this eventually, may as well rip the bandaid off now. At least he could put off actually teaching with this an excuse to prepare.

"Sure… Fine…" Ragna didn't even bother hiding the tone that resembled a man who'd just been sentenced to death. "But no lessons today."

What a turn his life had taken.

Following the concerning emergency meeting, the rest of the day had proceeded rather normally, if still a bit tense. Ragna had gotten a proper tour of the school and started taking a look at some of the course material for Abydos, looking like a man marching to his execution doing so, while everyone else attended to their daily duties of the school. It gave Hoshino the perfect chance to rest for a bit and collect her thoughts, as the meeting had given her a lot to think about.

Ragna had been laser focused on accusing Kaiser from the beginning, he probably even planned it yesterday. By itself it would've been odd, but not unbelievable, with somebody who had arrived in Kivotos barely a week ago knowing so much of the company history, but it wasn't just that. On several topics, Ragna spoke as if he knew the answer already and was just trying to convince everyone else, but it wasn't being outrageously arrogant, it was something more, especially since parts of his story didn't right with Hoshino. "Guessing" the Helmet Gang had a sponsor the second he saw them was intuition that bordered on supernatural, unless he already was aware of it somehow. Yes, Kaiser was a shady company… But they also had an interest in Abydos, more specifically her. And if Ragna was accusing them after knowing about the Helmet Gang…

Well, Hoshino didn't like the potential implications and turning those thoughts over in her head had made the girl's already restless napping even more anxious.

She had some more digging to do and so come the end of the day, as the sun painted the sky from a vibrant blue to warm orange with its setting, Hoshino rushed up to Ragna as he departed from the school, with a wave and friendly mask. "Senseeeeeeeeeeei~, wait up!"

"Hm?" Just past the main gate, Ragna stopped his stride, turning back toward Hoshino. The man lazily raised his hand halfway in response to the girl's greeting. "Oh, hey Hoshino. Thought you'd still be resting."

"These old bones might get a bit creaky, but I can't juuuuu-" Hoshino drew out her words into an exaggerated yawn she took a moment to push away and continue. "-uuust sleep."

"Sure could've fooled me." Ragna commented with a sarcastic deadpan, though his expression was lighter with a smirk. "Didn't think I'd see you coming to me any time soon though. Figure you want to talk about what I said earlier, right?"

Hoshino nodded, not losing her friendly mask and lightly kicking some of the sand on the ground with one leg back and forth. No sense in trying to hide at least that. "You're sure sharp about this stuff, sensei. It's about what you said with keeping an eye out for any trouble."

"Yeah, what about it?" Ragna asked with a raised eyebrow, leaning his body against the brick wall surrounding the school.

"You've been staying out in the abandoned buildings in the desert, right?" Hoshino said, leaning forward slightly toward the man. "Where have you been camping? I'm guessing it's gotta be somewhere close by, right?"

Perhaps it was being unusually direct, but Ragna clearly already picked up on her suspicions and while she wasn't going to completely give up hiding some of her distrust, she could be more forward than she would've typically gone about something like this. The man had, after all, said he was totally fine with Hoshino watching him till he did something to earn any trust. If she had the go ahead, then Hoshino was going to use that to the fullest. This'd be quicker than trying to hunt down where he was herself and current matters gave her a perfect excuse without arousing too much suspicion. Hoshino would give Ragna a chance and more investigating was simply part of it. How did the saying go again? Trust, but verify? There had to be something more to this.

"It's not too far from here. Go past the first few groups of buildings and it'll be the larger silver one off by itself with only 3 floors not buried." Pointing out toward the desert and away from most of civilization, with barely a glance in the direction, Ragna stated. "What's got you suddenly so worried about that?"

"Hm? Sensei, you're the one who said we should be careful in case they try something new, right? It'd be bad if nobody knows where you are and something were to happen, you know. Keeping a girl waiting all alone in the cold dark for a secret meeting of the night after inviting yourself to it would be bad form, sensei~." Hoshino finished with a light tone of teasing and a playful smile. Important as this was, it didn't mean Hoshino couldn't have a little fun with it when Ragna had been so merciless in his teasing during their first meeting. She still had an act to keep up anyway.

Ragna's expression went flat, hand slamming into his face with a groan and barely covering the exasperated sneer on his lips. "Do you have to phrase it like that?"

"Uhe~, phrase it like what? Most people would be happy to know their cute student was worried about them." Hoshino answered with an obviously fake pout.

Ragna's hand slowly slide down his face, dragging his skin with it to make him look even more annoyed. "Know what, forget I said anything. Guess I did say you could keep an eye on me anyway… If that'll make you relax, then fine stop by whenever you feel like it and see for yourself."

"I'm just doing what you said. Too late to take it back now~." Hoshino added with some more lightness, though internally the frustrations wouldn't fully go away. She hadn't been subtle, sure. However, once more, she felt like an open book to Ragna to where she may as well said she wanted to know where he was because she half suspected he was doing something sneaky and gotten the same results. Was there even a point to trying with him? Well, if he liked being direct, maybe it was worth pushing things a bit further...

"But, sensei. There's one more thing I wanted to ask…" Hoshino's expression and tone fell somewhat, smirk leaving her and eyes narrowing. It wasn't overly serious, but it lacked the same casualness she typical had. "Is there any other reason you think it's the Kaiser Corporation?"

"Yep, that's what I was waiting for." Ragna muttered to himself with resignation. "No, I basically told you why in the club room. I'm still convinced it's them and we won't have to wait long to find out with the kind of company it is. You've been dealing with the debt the longest out of everyone and have the most experience with Kaiser, so you understand what I mean about that piece of shit company, right?"

Hoshino paused, carefully thinking her answer over and expression becoming a pensive frown. By itself, that statement was innocuous enough, but yet again with everything else Ragna could intuit from seemingly thin air, Hoshino couldn't shake the feeling there was… More behind his statement. Did he know about all the times Kaiser, or more specifically that one creepy man in a black suit, bothered her?

It sounded paranoid and brought to mind Ragna's words from yesterday. Maybe a part of her was being a little overly suspicious of the adult and ready to jump on the smallest thing he did. But she couldn't just dismiss the feeling outright, not without knowing the man more. Ragna had said they had experience with entities like Kaiser though, perhaps he was doing the same thing to the company as Hoshino was doing to him?

"Mhm… Kaiser's not the best company, but it's still a lot to jump to at this point." Hoshino finally answered, keeping her voice level. After a brief pause, she continued with some concern lacing her words. "Whoever it is, since you're the one who figured out somebody was behind the Helmet Gang, aren't you worried that might make you a target if you're off by yourself so often?"

Thought part of her reasons for this whole exchange was more digging, that didn't mean some real worry couldn't motivate it. Strong Ragna was, this was potentially a big enemy. Cautious as she felt, that didn't mean Hoshino wished harm on the other without doing something to deserve it.

"Oh, I'm counting on that." Ragna stated without any hesitation or worry, lips curved into a confident smirk.

Hoshino blinked and then sighed, shoulders slumping. "Sensei's being a bad adult, not practicing what he preaches."

"I don't wanna hear the girl patrolling the district every night trying to lecture me about being careful either." Ragna answered flatly, eyes slanted. "I'm experienced with this kind of stuff and know what I can handle. Whenever they do step up the attacks, they're not gonna pull out all the stops immediately. And I'm banking on that giving us a chance to catch Kaiser doing something while it's still at a level that's easy to handle. If I can throw a tank down the street, then I can take care of whatever they do here."

Well, that wasn't the most unreasonable thing. Hoshino could even relate to the idea a bit. The girl was strong and knew it, she'd never lost a direct fight before, so any worry was more about the others. The less attention on them the better.

"But anyway, there's one more thing I wanted to say, Hoshino." Words softening, Ragna continued before Hoshino could think of a response.

Hoshino tilted her head curiously. Ragna had that voice again, that unusually sincere one he used the day before when telling her a little about his past.

"I get we don't have much to go on right now, but don't think about running off doing something stupid on your own because of it, got it?" The man's words were firm, but there was concern under them and in his eye.

"Huh? Where's all the sudden concern coming from?" Hoshino recoiled a little in confusion before she could put her composure back together to something more casual. "Ah, I guess all this old timer's napping makes me look like a bad student, huh~. Or maybe-"

"Hoshino. Cut the crap."

The girl went quiet from Ragna's harsher words, face turning into an annoyed frown.

"You're already going around keeping the district safe without anyone finding out and this is a big threat to the school. I know you can take care of yourself, but if you're gonna do more digging on this yourself, then you don't have to tell me, but don't run off without telling somebody first." Ragna looked directly at Hoshino's eyes all the while he spoke, words stern, yet understanding. He actually looked concerned for her.

Hoshino let out a long sigh, a grumble even, before matching Ragna's gaze with a scrutinizing one and lower voice. "I wasn't going to do anything, sensei. But like you said, I can take care of myself too."

The thought had definitely occurred to her. With how in the dark everyone else was, besides seemingly Ragna, Hoshino had a potential lead to follow up with on Kaiser, but that was her business. If it could get anything to go on compared to how aimless the investigation currently felt, it was important to think of every option, even if not her first choice.

"Yeah, I know you can handle yourself in a fight." Ragna said, finally standing up straight instead of leaning on the wall again. "Still easy to get in over your head if you try to do everything yourself. Got bit in the ass a few times rushing off to deal with something I thought I could handle but couldn't. Just remember what I said, alright?"

Hoshino waved her hands a few times dismissively. The girl tried to lighten her tone, but it was getting harder to keep pretending everything was casual, so best to not drag out the conversation further. "Alright, alright. I'll be careful and think twice about anything, so you don't have to keep worrying about me, sensei."

Well, if it was past experience again, that explained a little bit but why was he focusing on her with it all the time? Yeah, she was the kind of person to shoulder what she could to keep the burden light on her fellow students, it was her responsibility as the oldest to not make a careless mistake putting the others in trouble, but aside from that one damn time a while back, she hadn't failed ever since then. So she wouldn't fail. She couldn't fail.

Ragna let out a huff, not looking entirely convinced by her words yet again, but none the less turning around and starting to walk away. "Fine, just watch yourself and get some sleep. I'll see you later tonight, Hoshino."

Hoshino lightly waved back at the man till he was decently far away and she began the journey back to her own home for some rest, a tense frown on her face.

Ordinarily, Hoshino might've laughed off the situation to try and get some peace on her own investigation and Ragna off her back, but with Ragna that just… Didn't work. Every time it was like he could somehow see through the normal facade. Any kind of mask, any kind of act, it may as well not existed. As if he already knew her, Ragna could see exactly her intentions just like he knew somebody was behind the Helmet Gang.

And Hoshino just… Couldn't wrap her head around Ragna being friendly and even actively reaching out to her specifically multiple times with the clear problems, yet still being respectful enough to only do it in private despite his blunt as bricks personality. Especially when he somehow knew her intense suspicions of the adult. Hoshino had her reasons to maintain some outward civility in that Ragna was currently helping Abydos and even if a person didn't like somebody, sometimes the task at hand was bigger than one's personal feelings. But, she couldn't figure out Ragna's angle.

She had said she'd give him a chance, but Hoshino couldn't stop herself constantly wondering why even with that. It couldn't be that he simply cared with no strings attached, right? That idea was even more outlandish than his knowledge, adults didn't do that. What could a person like her do to even deserve that kind of care?

Hoshino shook her head, no she didn't want to get too deep into those thoughts again. She didn't trust him yet, but she was going to at least give him the opportunity to prove if he only deserved a little suspicion vs a lot. A surprise visit to pick him up for the nightly patrols would be a decent chance there, maybe the unexpected drop-in would let her find something.

The sun had long since set over the deserts of Abydos, replacing the brilliant blue skies with a dark one filled by glittering distant stars. It made for a quiet, almost peaceful environment for Ragna as he sat around a campfire after a round of sword practice. He was once again joined by Arona, who had still not ditched her camping clothes, sitting beside him.

But nothing could be relaxing for the man with the sour tumble his thoughts were in.

"Senseeeeeeeeeei, if you keep frowning like that your face is going to look even more grumpy all the time!" Arona said with a drawn out whine.

"Hey!" Ragna lightly pushed at the girl's shoulder. "I don't look mad all the time, dammit!"

Arona promptly and childishly mirrored the gesture with far less success at moving Ragna so much as a centimeter. "Do too! Otogi-san said so at SRT!"

"And I'll say what I did then, it's not my fault my right eye doesn't work!" Ragna shouted back, definitely not helping his point glaring at Arona. Realizing that after a second, the man let out a guttural sigh and leaned his head into his palm, arm propped up on his knee. "Oh, forget it, not in the mood right now."

Hugging her knees to herself, Arona's expression fell to a concerned frown. "Something wrong, sensei? You seem like something's bothering you compared to yesterday."

Ragna, once more let out a deep sigh, this time slower and more tired. Well, if he was gonna be glued to the hip with Arona, might as well get it off his chest. "Yeah, guess you could say that. Know it's probably for the best right now, but sure feel like shit lying to everyone when I have to keep pulling answers out of my ass."

Half the time he tried to get answers to things in his own adventures, he was the one given cryptic bullshit instead of getting to the point. Now, here he was being the person giving cryptic bullshit out, funny how life worked. At least he was trying to be more straightforward than he got before...

"Oh…" Arona's words were low as her expression, but it only lasted a second as the light came back to her features with a reassuring smile. "Well, if you already know what's going to happen and who's behind it, then stopping Kaiser this time should be easy!"

"Yeah, once I get something to work with." Ragna grumbled with a scowl. "Might've tried pushing a bit too hard too early when there's jackshit to go on. Should get something solid tomorrow if nothing big changes though. I'd rather get through this without having to burden those girls with all the timeline crap if I can help it, they got enough on their shoulders. Doesn't always go the best when people learn about it."

Arona tilted her head curiously. "You said you'd been through this kind of stuff before, did something happen?"

"Something like that." Ragna straighted up somewhat and leaned backward on a piece of rubble. "You gotta keep something in mind, Arona. I remember when an Intervention happens. Those girls sure don't, so it'd be much worse if they found out."

"Eh? Wait, how is that worse? Wouldn't it better to not remember what happened? You wouldn't have to be always thinking about all the bad things that might've happened and constantly worrying about how to avoid them because it'd be just like any normal day…" Arona's voice trailed off slightly as she finished, some of her usual energy lacking, but she quickly fixed that with a shake of her head, trying to return back to her usual energy. "I know you've had a lot on your mind because of it too!"

Ragna shook his head, a heavy weight in his eye while looking at Arona and lecturing in a firm voice. "That's the problem. Let me put it like this. Imagine you find out the world can repeat itself while you forget everything between resets. Everything you do, all the people you know, all the accomplishments you make good or bad. You'll be stuck constantly repeating that without even realizing it. Imagine those girls found a way to pay off the debt by some miracle, what they're struggling every day to do, and can finally have a normal school life for once. Except it doesn't matter, because they could go right back to the beginning and being into debt and repeat that exact thing 10, 100, or 1000 times. Oh, sure, they'll forget if another loop happens… But think about how they'd feel this time. That's a special kind of existential hell."

Arona recoiled back with wide, distressed eyes and her halo appearing like it was glitching with parts phasing in and out of existence. "T-That's a really negative way to look at it, sensei! And if it only happens once, then it won't be a big problem!"

Ragna let out a scoff, slightly mixed with a dark, low chuckle while looking at the crackling fire. "Hey, relax. That's not how I look at things, so don't expect me to start spouting about everything being meaningless. We're aware of it and so we can do something about it. But that's the situation nearly my whole world was in. And some people took it a lot worse than I did when finding that out."

Arona relaxed, shifting herself closer to Ragna with a curious, yet worried, glint.

"To make a really long story short, knew a woman called Nine. Her head was already kind of messed up for another reason by the time she found out the truth, so might not have reacted so bad if she was in her right mind but, well, when she figured out she'd been fighting through the same war to save the world a ton of times and things went back to square one every time, she got the idea in her head to destroy and remake everything to change it." Ragna lectured with a heavy voice, eye clouded with memories. The fire wasn't helping matters. The warm glow took on an almost nostalgic warmth to it with the topic. She always did use a lot of fire magic. His relationship with Nine had definitely been… Difficult and rarely did they get along, but he would've preferred if he hadn't had to kill the woman that was Jubei's wife and Celica's sister to stop her.

An awkward silence hung in the air. Arona always seemed to lose some of her usual energy when discussing the time loop issue. It wasn't exactly the lightest after all.

"So," Ragna raised a hand to finally break the silence. "I don't think anyone would suddenly go crazy or anything, but point is that it's a lot to have weighing you down on top of everything. Rather try to figure shit out before I tell them if I can help it so there's less to freak out over. It's a lot not keeping or keeping your memories of all this."

Arona gently rocked back and forth a few times in her huddled up position, looking at the fire with a contemplative look in her eyes.

"Plus, I've been on the other end of that too. Trust me, it's weird as shit when somebody you never met shows up who knows you better than you know yourself. Can already tell Hoshino's starting to get a bit pissed at me for it." Seeing the girl's somber mood, Ragna said with a slight subject change and wave of his hand.

Sure, he was being a bit forceful with Hoshino, but at the same time it was exactly because of that knowledge Ragna was doing so, even if it might strain things a bit in the short term. He knew Hoshino had some issues to deal with that she kept buried deep and well hidden, even from the rest of Abydos. Though it was gonna take some time and he'd meet resistance, somebody had to help that girl and he was the only one who knew how badly she needed it. He wanted to avoid it coming out as a horrible mistake, like last time, if he could. Hoshino had tried to be a self-sacrificing idiot the first time and sold herself to Kaiser, it'd absolutely be within possibility she'd poke around herself and do something foolish trying to shoulder everything herself when Ragna was pointing fingers this early.

Arona perked up a little, shifting her head back and forth with a nervous chuckle. "Ehehe… I guess I can see how that'd be weird, especially if you also knew you knew the person but just can't remember. But something'll happen tomorrow to give us some real evidence so we can nail the bad guys easy, right?"

"Will get us started at least." Ragna said with a shrug. "Things were a bit different the first time around, so might not go exactly the same. Bastard sent some people to try kidnapping Serika, but also sent thugs after me since I was being a pain in the ass taking out hideouts for the Helmet Gang but wasn't formally with Abydos or anything like now and drifted around the district. That failed, so the dumbass tried calling me through the girl's phones thinking they could pay off and hire me like I was some kind of mercenary he got off on the wrong foot with since I kind of just appeared in this place out of thin air. Waste of my goddamn time, but at least got to hear his voice. That came in handy later at the base way out in the desert they're hiding."

A positive smile quickly spread over Arona's face while she leaned closer toward Ragna like a curious child. "Sounds like you've already got a plan figured out then, sensei!"

"Something like that." Ragna said with a casual wave of his hand. "No idea how much might change compared to last time and throw things off, so keeping everything a little fast and loose. I still got some plans though. Rather not have to go out and deal with Kaiser myself if I can help it, especially before we get enough evidence to prove it. Fallout from that was in a pain in the ass." Sure made for a hell of a first meeting with the GSC though, the President especially.

Arona giggled nervously, sweating a little. "Ehehe… I can imagine…"

"Speaking of-" Ragna retrieved his phone from his pocket, shaking it a few times in Arona's direction. "Call Miyako for me, Arona. Might be a bit early for it, but the girls looked depressed about the school's state and haven't given them up an update on the SRT thing. Might as well give them something to look forward to while we do some digging. They should still be up."

Arona's eyes shifted back and forth between Ragna and the phone. "You're planning to get SRT involved in this?"

"Sure am. SCHALE can recruit any students. Just need to get enough evidence to get moving. Kaiser's good at covering their tracks, so should be easier to get solid proof of the shady shit they're doing from their base directly. Going to need somebody better with stealth than I am since that's never really been my style, not really the Abydos student's either. Know they're not going to be jumping with enthusiasm to ask for another school, but getting SRT to put the final nail in the coffin after we get everything else shouldn't be that bad. The school already got involved with Kaiser once and it's facing a potential shutdown too, think both sides'll be sympathetic in wanting to help out a bit." Ragna lectured.

"In that case…"

A few seconds later, after some ringing, Miyako's voice came through Ragna's phone. "Hello, sensei?"

"Hey, Miyako. Been working a few things and had some news to tell you about SRT." Ragna greeted with a friendly tone.

"You do? What's the report?" The girl's voice brightened up noticeably.

"Two things, but don't get too excited yet." Ragna said, a light dose of dry sarcasm entering his words. "Firstly, going to be meeting up with Rin next week to talk more about SRT's situation and see what I can do there. No idea if it'll go well, but if it doesn't, I got another idea in mind. Might be a little bit before anything gets moving on this one though."

The sounds of furious taps and slow words came from Miyako's end, was she taking notes or something? "Meeting… Next… Week… Okay. Thank you for the status update, but this sounds a little premature to tell us..."

"Just listen to me before you start judging. That's not the big news I called you for." Ragna shot back with a sarcastic edge before reigning in his voice to something more diplomatic as he proceeded. "Doing some digging around over in the Abydos district. Somebody's funding gangs to attack the school to try driving off the last couple students to get the school closed. Because of who I think is behind it, think it'd be the exact kind of thing SRT is meant for. Part of the problem is that since the president went missing, there's been nobody able or willing to step up and take charge of the school, so everything's been sitting there and wasting away. But if the students were to do something and show SRT's still important dealing with shit like this…"

There was a brief pause, alongside a few more taps, before Miyako spoke, her words slow and contemplative. "… Then that would help prove the school's purpose to anyone trying to shut it down… The idea is sound, but SRT isn't some personal attack force to be used lightly or for personal gain, sensei. Who do you think is responsible that's so important?"

"Kaiser Corporation." Ragna delivered bluntly, letting the accusation hang in the air before he continued. "That other group, FOX Platoon, dealt with them in the past because the company was making illegal weapons. They're a bunch of shady bastards and whoever's behind this would need a hell of a lot of money and experience to fund all this while covering their tracks so well. The school here is facing the potential of being shut down, like SRT, if the students get drive off since there's only a couple left. Think you could both help each other out here. I already know SCHALE can get help from any students, which means that I can let SRT officially move if nobody else is gonna give a damn."

The pause this time, accompanied by a thoughtful hum from Miyako, was a long one as the girl absorbed everything Ragna had said.

"It does make sense, when you put it like that… That's a big accusation to level though, sensei. If you had enough evidence for reasonable suspicion, that would be an operation for SRT." Miyako said, cautious optimism leaking into her words.

"Woah, hey. What's this about an operation?" Saki's muffled, distant voice came from the other end of the line.

"Are we finally going to get to blow something up?" Moe's soon followed.

"Give me a minute, sensei."

With Ragna left hanging, he heard some muffled discussion between the four members of RABBIT Platoon. He could make out a few things among the chatter, namely Miyako providing a few details to recap what Ragna had said.

"Alright, I'm putting you on speaker now, sensei. Please, continue." After a few minutes of being forced to be a bystander, Ragna heard Miyako's clear voice once more.

The man cleared his throat. "Right, where was I? Ah, so anyway I'm still finding enough dirt on them, wanna have enough so Kaiser can't weasel their way out of this no matter what comes out. They've clever and aren't making it easy. I already got a plan, but need a little more before everything can get moving. Gonna get some more evidence here and then think we'll need your school to get the last little bit to nail them, so you can be certain it's the right move. Wouldn't ask you to until then. I'll give you the full details once I got everything together, kind of a long story and it's getting late."

"You sure as hell sound confident on who it is. But you still don't have enough to tell us so we can move out yet?" Ragna could practically hear the skeptical frown on Saki's face.

Ragna let out an annoyed grunt. "Look, a lot's happened the past two days and might find a lot of new shit to talk about soon if it keeps going at this rate. Yeah, yeah. I know it's not much to go on right now, but if everything keeps going well I don't think it'll take too long. Thought you all could use something resembling good news with the state of the school. This place is getting harassed and could close down if whoever's behind this wins, so thought about you girls."

"I see…" Miyako murmured, that same cautious, yet hopeful tone in her voice. "Actions speak louder than words. But… Thank you, sensei. RABBIT will standby for further intel then. We have a lot to discuss."

"I-It's more attention t-than we've gotten from anyone else…" Miyu's gloomy voice added.

Ragna grinned to himself. Perfect, things were going well. "Oh, yeah. One more thing though, feel free to tell FOX about this too. They dealt with Kaiser before, so their experience could be useful. If this is as big as I think it is, the more the better."

"I'll discuss it with them after RABBIT has our own talk. Is that all to report?" With some casual friendliness in her voice now, Miyako said.

"That's it, night everyone." Ragna said, hanging up the phone after the four girls gave their own farewells.

Had he not literally known the future, in a manner of speaking, Ragna wouldn't have been as confident in trying to set up so many things in advance like this. But he knew Kaiser would escalate attacks, he knew they had a massive base out in the desert that'd be ripe for getting information, and most importantly he knew ways to get that information. He just needed a little bit more time to make it all fall into place.

"You sound like you thought of everything, sensei! But if you're all done with your planning-" Arona was suddenly cut off by a loud growl of her stomach. The girls cheeks rapidly started turning an embarrassed pink in response.

"How do you even get that hungry? Aren't you supposed to be an AI? That body you're observing isn't even real." Ragna commented with a flat sarcasm.

"I-I still need energy, just like you!" Arona whined with a flail of her arms, red faced. "The Shittim Chest doesn't run just off napping!"

Ragna huffed. "Could've fooled me with how much you enjoy sleeping."

Arona's cheeks puffed out in a pout. "Uuu… Sensei, you meanie! I only slept so much lately because you keep staying up super late! I won't forgive you for this, even if you buy me another piece of cake!"

Ragna let out a low, guttural groan. "Alright, alright. I'm gonna put some food on the camp fire now so you can eat soon. It's the weekend tomorrow, so go ahead and catch up on your sleep. We got a busy day tomorrow, but not till later."

"Jiiiiiii…" Arona continued to stare childishly at the man with a pout.

Ragna hung his head. "Okay, you want food? I'll get you something to go from Shiba Seki Ramen tomorrow since that's one of our stops. Real good place for a meal. Happy?" With how quickly he'd be able to get it to Arona, some of the usual hurdles getting ramen to go wouldn't be an issue.

All the immature complaining instantly vanished from Arona's face, instead replaced by a wide eyed enthusiasm. "Promise?"

"Yes, just stop looking at me like I broke your favorite toy already." Ragna huffed. Yes, okay, sure, food was an easy way to make people shut up and be happy in his experience, and he had offered. But Arona was clearly fishing for something with her tantrum. What the hell was it with him always getting extorted for a free meal?

"Deal!" Arona's smile was so radiant it would've been hard to imagine how sour she looked mere seconds ago, like a switch had been flipped.

Damn kids…

Well, at least he could count on things to really get moving tomorrow. But, the man still had a long day. He'd cooked up a meal for himself and Arona, but while she had crashed for the night, Ragna still had to meet up with Hoshino.

"Senseeeeeeeeei~! Are you up there?"

… Or Hoshino could meet up with him? What the hell, he could even sense her presence to go with the voice.

Peering over the roof down several stories, Ragna saw the small pink haired girl near the base of the building, waving up toward him with one hand, shotgun in the other and folded up Iron Horus riot shield strap draped over her shoulder. Not wasting a moment, the man leaped through the window and landed with a dull thud upon the cool desert sand. "Hoshino? The hell you doing here?"

"Hm?" A teasing smile spread over her face. "Did you already forget our earlier conversation? I'm just checking up on you to make sure everything's all fine. This is what you said I could do. I know us old folk don't always have the best memory, but you're pretty forgetful today, sensei~."

Motherfu-

Ragna's face went completely flat as he stared at Hoshino judgmentally. "Hoshino, I swear to god, if that's supposed to be a comment about my hair… There's a bunch of girls younger than me who have white or grey hair! Hell, that includes Shiroko. Why do I keep getting so much shit for it!?"

"It's not that unusual in Kivotos, but you're not from here and isn't it usually a sign of old age outside of here?" Hoshino said, the smile not leaving her face.

Ragna's palm slammed into the side of his head. "This happened when I was younger than your ancient ass. My hair used to be blonde, goddammit."

Hoshino squinted her eyes, staring at Ragna's white head of hair like she were trying to image another color. "Iya~, that's kind of hard to imagine, sensei. What turned it white?"

"Stress." Ragna answered with a guttural deadpan. Yeah, he wasn't about to go into what happened at the church attack again and kill the mood of the conversation. "You come here to look around or just talk my ear off? Didn't think you'd show up on the first night like this."

"Uhe~, I didn't catch sensei doing anything naughty, did I?" Hoshino said with a slight lean forward. Though her words were casual, the girl's stare was scrutinizing and observant.

There were a few meaning being implied there, weren't there...

Ragna rolled his eyes. "What kind of crap do you think I'm even doing out here? You want a tour or something so I can show you there's not anything worth a damn? That's why you're here, right?"

"Huh?" Hoshino recoiled back and blinked a few times, visibly trying to restrain her surprise at the total lack of resistance. "Er, well, if you're inviting me, then I won't say no~."

Making a gesture for Hoshino to follow, Ragna rocketed back up to the roof and turned just in time to see Hoshino land behind him. The shorter girl's eyes immediately started scanning over the area closely, narrowed and like she were looking for anything out of place. But the search only lasted a moment before Hoshino's head turned in confusion.

"The campfire's the only thing you have here?" Hoshino commented almost to herself. Was that pity in her eyes? "Sensei, how do you sleep here when you don't even have a bed? Hard floor always made this ojisan's back hurt."

Ragna scoffed. "Hey, excuse me for not running a 5 star hotel out of an abandoned building. It didn't have one so I didn't feel like going through the trouble of dragging one over. I've had worse places to rest than this and I'm pretty used to having only my coat to sleep with."

Not answering, Hoshino curiously wandered around the concrete roof, further inspecting the area, including some holes which let her see onto the floor below it.

"If you're expecting to find any buried treasure, not gonna find anything but some food in the sand." Ragna commented sarcastically and immediately mentally slapped himself for it. Ah, hell he didn't know Hoshino well enough yet for that comment on her interests to make much sense. Eh, it was at least innocent enough it should slip by without a problem.

With one last scan of the area, Hoshino pivoted on her heel to look back at Ragna. The girl had a confused frown. "Hah… Guess there's really not much to look at here."

Well, at least she was being more honest about her intents now, that was progress.

"What kind of places did you stay this isn't bad though…?" Hoshino said with a curious squint at the man.

"Places where I had to worry about some wild animal deciding I looked like an easy meal, so this is already a huge upgrade." Ragna answered flatly. "If you wanna know, I'll tell you while we're going around Abydos. Got a long night so we better get moving. Might as well fill it with something to talk about."

Hoshino let out a small yawn. "I guess you're right, sensei. We can't waste too much time standing around here."

Ragna turned back and jumped off the roof to the sand below. Shouldn't be too much longer till he could really get events moving, if all went well. He couldn't get too comfortable though, things would eventually start changing significantly, there were things he had to change. But until then, he'd leverage everything he could to his advantage.

"He's planning what?"

It was a late night for Yukino, but not one she was unaccustomed too by this point. A few quiet meeting places had been established in order to contact the Director of Defense at the General Student Council, Shiranui Kaya, who was currently standing before the FOX Platoon member in the form of a translucent hologram which gave her features a general blue tint, though the defining characteristics still stood out. She had the same long white dress all members of the General Student Council wore, with blue and gold highlights in various areas. Her pink hair was done up in a braid crown with longs bangs that went past her shoulders and an ahoge. The girl's halo was a thin circle of light yellow with what looked two small stars at opposite ends. But the most striking things were her eyes. Narrow enough to appear typically closed, they were now opened to reveal a perplexed set of green, with unusual shaped pupils like a goat's.

"That's the report. I find it's premature with how little evidence he has, but Ragna-sensei sounds convinced it's Kaiser and thinks SRT's involvement could help our school's status." Yukino stated matter of factually, keeping her expression flat. She wanted to wait to see Kaya's thoughts. Ragna's plan felt presumption and naive, at least from the little she had heard, but if he was right then it wasn't entirely without merit. SRT hadn't taken any action in some time.

Kaya tapped her white gloved hand to her cheek a few times, pensive frown spread over her features. "How in the world did he figure that out already? They just arrived in Kivotos."

"… You're saying he's correct?" Yukino asked slowly, blinking a few times. The girl was aware Kaya was making some dealings with Kaiser, powerful allies would be needed for her long term goals of leading the General Student Council. But did she know about this and do nothing?

Kaya dismissively waved her hand a few times. "Well, I can't be certain. I don't know the extent of Kaiser's operations in Abydos, but I do know they have a significant presence there and I can't think of anyone else who would be interested. The district was already falling into a sorry state for a long time and would've fallen anyway, but they did ask me to turn a blind eye to help push things along. Not that I would've needed to be asked or been able to do much, even if I wanted to."

"You sound like you already made plans for Abydos a while ago." Yukino asked with a hint of curiosity, body feeling rigid and tense. Something about this didn't… Entirely sit right with her, but Kaya always had a plan for everything and worked far in advance of her current goals. It wasn't like she was questioning the plan, but further intelligence was rarely a bad thing, particularly if it would be something that had to be dealt with soon.

"Of course!" Kaya said with a shameless, smug grin. "The Abydos District has been declining for years, even before my appointment to the General Student Council, and it's been something we could never deal with, but after the president disappeared and we had to commit resources to ensuring the safety of everything else, the district practically became a safe haven for criminals since the school barely exists, let alone has the manpower to properly police itself like other academies. Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to have a place like that around as the Chief of Defense? This isn't like a black market, this is one of the biggest districts in Kivotos!"

The girl's tone and face darkened before she continued, a near teeth gritting scowl on her. "A real superhuman could fix the problem, but there's no hope of that on the horizon as things currently stand. But if I had power, I could've forced the General Student Council to act before it got to this point, but we're past that. If the school were to collapse under the current leadership though, that would be seen as a failure for the Acting President… It's unfortunate, but an opportunity presented itself and I'd be a fool to not take it to serve as an example of what not to let happen again. Sometimes, you need to skirt the rules and sacrifices are needed to ensure they won't happen again, but you already know that. Right Yukino?"

Yukino paused. Oh, she knew that quite well. Reality was often unkind and didn't work out perfectly like a story. That had been a harsh lesson she had to face, no matter how much she had believed in that at one point. However, that didn't mean she had to like it, even if she accepted it. If Ragna was right about Kaiser though, then perhaps there was some merit to his plan and less harm would be needed, particularly since at least SRT would be revived when Kaya took power, the same could not be said for Abydos. It was the first time there was any plan beyond Kaya's own... But what reason would she have to place that much faith in a man she barely knew? Perhaps it'd delay her school's fate, but avert it? Kaya had a plan for that, but that annoying nagging in her head wouldn't leave Yukino alone.

"Yes, I'm aware…" The girl answered lowly, hand on her hip, fingers digging into her side.

"But anyway," Kaya's tone dropped as her brows furrowed, finger to her chin. "I haven't had a chance to meet Ragna-sensei yet, but they're certainly bold if they're planning a move like this so soon. It would be in their authority to have SRT act, however. Hrm…" The girl fell quiet, humming to herself for a few seconds in thought.

"Ah!" Kaya's lips suddenly curved into a wide smile. "Actually, this might work out even better than my original plans. We might be able to use this. You said he's scheduled to visit Sanctum Tower sometime next week?"

"Affirmative. No exact date has been set, however."

Kaya's smile turned almost sinister. "If the timing lines up, then I might be able to use that opportunity to meet with him and get a better idea of his character then. Going by what I've heard and planning a move like this so soon, Ragna-sensei's a man of action and that could be useful… But, if it's too much of a risk to work with them, then SCHALE taking such action involving SRT would look like an aggressive use of authority for such a recently formed organization. If something were to happen and go wrong, that'd reflect poorly on the organization when it has yet to prove itself to the public. And since Rin's thrown her hat in with SCHALE, her as well…" Kaya trailed off, tapping her finger to her cheek several times.

"Yukino, tell FOX there's been a chance of plans."

"A change of plans?" Yukino repeated, eyes widening in a rare display of surprise. Were they not going to need to attack Sanctum Tower?

Kaya nodded, still grinning ear to ear. "That's right. I think we'll wait and see what this 'plan' is. If it turns into something we can use, then we'll just roll with that and kill two birds with one stone. If not, then oh well, we just go back to the original operation, no harm putting things off for a short time. It's a win-win situation! I'll need to talk with Kaiser about this and see what else I can learn about what's going on in Abydos and perhaps prepare better, they'll want to know he's on their trail… We'll talk again once we have more information to make a concrete plan. Keep me updated if Ragna-sensei tells you anything else."

"Roger." Yukino curtly replied before disconnecting the call.

Immediately, the girl let out a sigh she didn't know she had been holding in. So FOX might not have to attack Sanctum Tower… She hadn't even considered any other possibility for a while, but something about the thought felt like a weight off her shoulders. Although, now the short term target would potentially be shifting to SCHALE and Ragna, who against all of Yukino's expectations actually… Was working on trying to help SRT? Was there a chance his offer to help wasn't simply hot air or delaying the inevitable?

Yukino shook her head. No, she had to focus on current matters and couldn't get lost in unfounded optimism like she used to. For now, the best course of action was to wait for more information and how the situation developed. She had much to discuss with her squadmates.

Only time would tell what she had to do for the mission to ensure SRT's future.

Whew, we got a real long one here. This is actually the longest chapter of the story so far, 12.6k words. I swear I'm not trying to write 10k+ chapters every time, there's just a lot of groundwork to setup here, you'll all see at some point.

Next chapter, or 2 might depend a little on how I split it up if it's taking a while and ends up long, is gonna have something I've been waiting to get to since I started the story. Look forward to it!

There's also a litte reference to the PS68 manga this chapter, for any eagle eyed readers that've read it.

Omniwhatever · Jul 31, 2024

Oh, yeah. Was waiting to have a chapter update to post this and almost forgot, but have another piece of fanart my good friend Eisen recently did. Spoilered because of the sheer resolution and screenspace it'll take up otherwise. I think I found an imgur alternate that works right and makes images display. If it's not displaying then gimmie a minute to fix it.

lufigu · Jul 31, 2024

I feel like you should post this fic on the nsfw section too, even if you wont write the expected "content", you would get higher exposure there and discussion, it feels kinda sad when there is such a big update and no discussion. And this fic is peak, hoshino best girl.

Omniwhatever · Jul 31, 2024

lufigu said:
I feel like you should post this fic on the nsfw section too, even if you wont write the expected "content", you would get higher exposure there and discussion, it feels kinda sad when there is such a big update and no discussion. And this fic is peak, hoshino best girl.

I've had another friend get told that before. Is that just something people do here? I've been lurking pretty regularly on QQ for close to 5 years now, but most of my time spent here is in the off-topic section. Feels like a bit of false advertising when I'm definitely not gonna get anywhere near that, unless Ragna's foul mouth counts. While not specifically that, I've been there before where I click on a story expecting one thing only to get bait and switched. Always annoyed me so don't wanna inflict that on somebody else.

I'm definitely aware the SFW section gets waaaaay less traffic, 192k vs 4.2 million messages ain't a small gap. But, well, figure the SFW section does exist for a reason, even if it's a bit at odds with what most people come to QQ for. I like it here better than somewhere else I'd go to drum up discussion most people normally post their stories, i.e say Spacebattles. But, I do appreciate the sympathy and comment, always appreciate whatever I get.

lufigu · Jul 31, 2024

While not extremely common, I'd say that a considerable amount of fics there will never have lewd content, especially those who are crossposted to many platforms. You can just add a tag/title like no nfsw and most people will respect it. You would have to get used to some horny posting tho, but they most likely wont demand nsfw.

Hk473 · Aug 1, 2024

Guess it's time to see if fox eats delivers hints to the abydos district as well I suppose.

Omniwhatever · Sep 5, 2024

Whew, sorry for the long wait. Been real damn busy lately and this was going to be a massive length chapter, but my progress was slow because of a lot of RL stuff coming up and came to a good stopping place with some slight adjustments, so updating now with it instead of waiting perhaps another month or more if things don't settle. Big surprise I teased will be NEXT chapter.

Volume 1 Chapter 1: A Typical Abydos Weekend (IX)

For most students, the weekend was a time to enjoy some extra free time and a break from the worries of school. Particularly on a warm and sunny day like it was currently was, still warm by most standards but just enough to be comfortable next to the typical heat of the Abydos region's desert. And though she may not have enjoyed the same degree of freedom between the school debt and the occasional part time job to help with it, Shiroko still liked the extra hours it provided for her hobbies.

Like checking for exploitable holes in a bank's morning security.

"Nn, security is lighter compared to the afternoon and evening…" Shiroko mumbled to herself, half looking toward the large bank, yet still trying to make it appear like she was merely observing her phone instead of casing out her target. She was being extra sure to keep a low profile leaning on a building off in a shaded corner of the street that saw just enough foot traffic to not stand out by herself, but also not so much as to draw attention to the area. Sometimes, hiding in plain site was the most effective disguise.

But even with their schedules, what would be the best time to sneak in? Morning may have had the least amount of guards, yet there was still significant traffic on the street and it lacked some of the 'easier' possibilities for later hours, such as perhaps stowing away on the armored truck delivering funds in the afternoon or having the cover of night and low amounts of people. Of course, there was always the route of trying to infiltrate the building in the early AM, but getting in and out without being seen would take significant time and Shiroko would be left tired for the rest of the day, which the rest of her school would pick up on…

Maybe checking another bank was a better idea. She had most of the information needed for this one. All that remained was to draw up a plan using what she had. Other targets had mo-

"Having fun with your spying?"

Shiroko nearly dropped her phone, bolting upright so fast it felt like she was going to jump out of her own skin. How did she get caught? She'd ne-

Turning to the voice while reaching for her gun, Shiroko froze after she saw who it belonged to. Tall, red coat, limp right arm, with a weary face that still had a slight curve of amusement on the lips and a slanted, exasperated, green eye staring at her.

"Oh… Sensei, you surprised me." Shiroko said softly, lowering her weapon as the tension from her flight or fight instinct faded away. But it was soon replaced by a lingering awkwardness and shame of being caught like a child with their hand in sweets. What was she supposed to say now? "Nn, I was just, um…"

Before she could make an excuse, Ragna's hand reached up and gently patted the girl on the head a few times. His gloved hand was large, but not rough and still plenty warm even through the material over it. The texture only added to the lightly scratching at her ears in a gesture that brought a sense of calm to Shiroko. It was strange, almost like she had been missing something she didn't know she needed until she'd gotten it again. This was nice...

"Hey, it's your weekend and long as you're not getting into trouble, spend it how you want." Ragna said lightly while rubbing Shiroko's head a few times before he stopped. "You weren't actually going to do anything, right?"

Shiroko's ears flattened, turning her head away from Ragna's gaze. "Nn, I wasn't going to do anything today, sensei…"

"Shiroko, just because you're not planning it today, that doesn't count as staying out of trouble." Ragna said with dry sarcasm.

"You don't get in trouble if you don't get caught." Shiroko answered back, some confidence coming back to her soft voice yet still muted by the sense of heat in her cheeks. She'd been lectured by Hoshino before, but Ragna had a certain presence to him which made the girl feel more nervous than usual about being caught, it was different being lectured by an adult instead of her senpai not much older than her.

"Hah." Ragna's 'chuckle', if it could even be called that, was completely and utterly deadpan. "No, that's not how it works kid. Trust me, been there. It's still a crime."

Shiroko's ears perked back up, the girl standing back up straight with a sense of curious hope spreading in her chest despite the disappointed look in the man's eye. So that's how he knew about the spying she was doing! Was he mad because she was too obvious? Maybe he could teach her some new tricks? "Sensei, have you planned a bank robbery before too?"

The guttural groan Ragna uttered came from somewhere deep inside his soul. "Okay, you could point at me for a lot of things, but that's not one of them."

Oh.

All the optimism suddenly left Shiroko like a deflating balloon. She'd just busted herself, hadn't she?

"Look, planning? I've seen some weird hobbies before, but fine. I don't see you that enthusiastic about much and if it's not causing problems, then hey none of my business. Following through? Not fine." Ragna lectured bluntly, putting a hand on his hip.

Some of the tension relaxed from Shiroko's shoulders. Ragna was being a bit more understanding than the response she usually got with her hobby, if still a bit firm and scolding. "Nn, well, to tell you the truth sensei, I wasn't actually going to do anything… Planning things like this is more just a hobby."

Just a year ago, Shiroko would've thought much differently and not seen much wrong with an actual robbery. It wasn't that long ago she had adapted to a more 'normal' life, well at least compared to her previous one drifting around all alone... But ever since she'd met Hoshino on that snowy day, the girl had done her best to help instill a sense of right and wrong in Shiroko, especially after she stole that truck of high grade steel. Well, she still wasn't perfect, but it was hard to change in such a short time when she didn't have a past to draw from like everyone else in Kivotos. What everyone called 'common sense' didn't feel so common to her anyway. Despite some stumbles though, she'd never trade Abydos for anything.

But it didn't mean she had to give up all her habits.

And sometimes there were emergencies.

Or opportunities too good to pass up.

There was nothing wrong with using a hobby to be prepared.

But the doubtful look Ragna was giving Shiroko made it clear he only half believed her at best and made Shiroko's hand nervously fidget with the handle of her gun.

"Alright, fine." Ragna grumbled, resignation in his words. "Just don't get in trouble this early so you're not available later in the afternoon."

Shiroko's ears twitched a few times curiously. "Nn, what do you mean by that, sensei?"

"Eh, nothing too much." Ragna waved his hand a few times casually. "Saw a Ramen Place while I was exploring around the district earlier. Haven't really gotten a chance to talk with everyone much without all the serious shit looming around or cutting things short. If I'm gonna be here for a bit helping with all the annoying crap, might as well to know the district and you girls and I could use a break anyway with all the headaches I've had lately."

Well, that made enough sense. Shiroko had been wanting to get to know Ragna more herself, but there simply hadn't been much time. She liked her initial impressions of the man though and even if still a bit stern, he was more permissive of her habits than expected. Hoshino and Serika might've been a little less receptive to him, but Shiroko was feeling optimistic. There wasn't any grand reason for it, but things were kind of… Familiar, now that she spent some more time around Ragna and thought about it. But that was probably just because he acted so forward compared to most since she definitely never met the man. Still, she couldn't remember feeling so comfortable around somebody so fast before.

Was she supposed to take this like an invitation of Ragna asking her out to eat though?

"So, though the rest of the Foreclosure Task Force could use an excuse for a break too."

Oh…

Huh, that was true, but Shiroko felt a little annoyed for some reason now.

"Nn, I don't have anything to do later, so I'll be available, sensei." Shiroko said softly, repressing that feeling back wherever it came from. "Is that why you're out right now? Abydos is a big place that can be easy to get lost in if you're not familiar with it."

Ragna shrugged his shoulders, speaking lightly and unconcerned. "Yeah, something like that. I'm used to traveling and figuring out land marks myself, so don't worry about giving me a tour or anything."

Shiroko was thinking about offering, it'd be a good chance to talk with Ragna, but she had a feeling the man didn't need it with how comfortable he seemed in the district already. And there was also that other bank she really wanted to get some information on during these early hours. Merely missing a few minutes could end up with critical gaps in her planning, like a shift change of guards. She'd see him later today anyway.

"Anyway, I'll see you later Shiroko, got some other places to be soon. Saw you over here so thought I might as well say hey." Turning to leave, Ragna said with a parting wave to the girl.

Silently, Shiroko matched the wave, until after a few steps the man abruptly half turned back toward her with a stern squint in his eyes and pointing toward. "And don't forget, planning only."

Shiroko's hand lowered like a wilting flower, gaze falling down toward the floor. "I won't forget, sensei…"

Now, Shiroko was truly left to her own devices and thoughts in the streets of Abydos once more. If everyone was going to meet up later, then she didn't have much time to collect more data and go about her usual hobbies and Shiroko had to move. After all, Ragna basically gave her permission to go ahead with her fun by saying planning was okay.

With a subtle smile, Shiroko headed off to her next destination, mentally sorting through plans for her day.

The last few day for Kuromi Serika had been, in a word, a whirlwind. As if the debt itself wasn't enough, The Foreclosure Task Force had confirmation somebody was after the school now and had to figure out who it was. Then there was the new teacher from SCHALE who decided to butt his way into everything like a wrecking ball. Sure, everyone had agreed with Ayane to send a message, but at least from Serika, that had been more to say they tried instead of actually expecting a response.

The man known as Ragna the Bloodedge, whatever the hell that title meant, was an annoying mystery to Serika. She wasn't stubborn enough to deny he had been helpful, between somehow knowing somebody was behind the school attacks and quickly forming a plan to deal with one, it wasn't like having him around was all bad. But something just… Didn't sit right with her with an adult showing up and trying to get involved like it was some casual thing to do. She didn't fully agree with her classmates, but Serika wasn't stubborn enough to throw away any help out of pride. Getting a chance to talk about what to tell Ragna and hear the other's perspectives, before he had interrupted the meeting, had likely been the only reason she hadn't stormed out of the room once everyone started telling him about the situation. However, just because they needed some help, it didn't mean Serika had to approve of everything and just accept Ragna trying to slot himself into the situation like he'd always been there!

Ragna knew a lot about Abydos and bothered to research it before coming, but even despite that it was a little freaky how familiar he seemed with the situation and district, but that didn't mean he understood just how severe the situation was. What did he know about how long everyone had been struggling with the debt, even before Serika and Ayane had enrolled recently? So what if he wanted to help, it was easy to talk without experience to back up knowing the true difficult of a task. That just made the aid condescending.

But now wasn't the time for her to start getting in a bad mood. It was almost time for her part time job at Shiba Seki Ramen. Thankfully, she managed to keep this one a secret from her friends. She liked them, but if they knew about this and decided to come visit her with any frequency it would make trying to focus on her job way too hard and cause chaos.

And that was absolutely the only reason, not at all because she'd be too embarrassed at everyone seeing her working and inevitably get teased by it. Not at all.

It would be a nice little shift to let Serika get her mind off some of the current worries for even a day, especially with not having to worry about that nosy adult Ra-

"Hey, Serika."

Serika froze, heart dropping into the pit of her stomach the moment she turned the corner.

No way.

Ruby eyes preemptively widening in horror, Serika spun around and confirmed her fears.

Directly behind her, was Ragna leaning against the closest street lamp, his hand raised in a casual wave.

What the… What was he even doing here!? The man almost looked like he was waiting for her to show up! Why did she have to run into the adult now, of all times and places!? There was no way she could go into Shiba Seki with Ragna standing right there, the last thing she needed was to get found out by HIM, of all people! She had to chase him off and fast. It wouldn't be long till she had her shift and no way Serika would be late for that.

"What do you want!?" Serika growled, face turning into a scowl, eyes narrowing aggressively at the adult who may as well been looking at Serika like she were a harmless kitten. "What are you even doing here!?"

"Hey, I can go wherever the hell I want. Abydos is a big place and going to take some time to learn it. What's your excuse?" Ragna sarcastically fired back with a deadpan face.

"What I do is none of your business." Serika fired back with a hostile glare. "If you want to keep wandering around like some aimless adult with nothing better to do, then go be a bum somewhere else."

Ragna let out a dry huff, looking entirely unphased by the aggressiveness. "Nah, don't think I will. Was actually thinking about checking out that ramen place behind you for a break."

Serika could feel the color draining from her face as her blood turned icy cold. The girl turned around to look out across the buildings lining the street, praying by some miracle it would make another ramen shop manifest out of thin air that Ragna could've been talking about instead of the one she worked in. But Serika already knew the answer, there was no other restaurant like Shiba Seki down the entire street with how few businesses remained open in Abydos.

Shifting to face Ragna again, but only after she had a precious few seconds to recompose herself, Serika resumed glaring at the other, but this time it was weakened by the increasing desperation to get Ragna to leave as fast as humanly possible. Arg, but what was she going to do to make him buzz off? Serika would've felt terrible saying a single bad thing about the store to drive Ragna off and make him swear off the place entirely. If anything, she wanted more people to come to Shiba Seki Ramen with how few customers it had, the owner of it worked so hard on the store. She just… Needed that patronage to happen whenever it wasn't her shift!

"You…" Serika hesitated, wracking her brain for some kind of excuse she could use while also replying quickly. "… can't do that!"

Ragna rolled his single green eye.

Serika gritted her teeth. "The store's…" The cat eared girl's mind was running into overdrive, laying the tracks for her train of thought as fast as she was making it up. "Busy! If you want a quick meal, now's a bad time! So come back another day!"

Ragna slightly moved his head to look past Serika, eye darting over the largely empty street with few cars or people walking it. The dry disbelief was practically written all over his face in bold letters. "Sure a quiet street for the lunch rush."

A low growl escaped Serika's throat. Why did this man have to be so frustrating and stubborn!? She didn't have time for this! "Just… go somewhere else! I'm going… to eat here and don't need you bothering me with your presence!"

"Look, I know you can hardly stand me, but let's have a talk then." Once again not deterred in the slightest, Ragna casually said. "Be easier to deal with all this if you're not trying to glare me to death all the time while solving the attacks."

Serika let out a huff, crossing her arms in annoyance. "Don't act like we're friends and you can just casually ask for a chat! Some of us have important jobs to do to earn money instead of slacking off exploring for your own curiosity."

"Like at the place you're pushing me away from."

"Yes, so-" Serika turned stiff as a statue, mouth hanging open in silent embarrassment as the consequences of her actions dawned on. "I mean, that's not what I…!"

"Really suck at this whole lying thing." Ragna dryly stated, lips curving toward an almost amused grin.

Expression turning into a grimace, Serika's palm slammed into her face with a dull and frustrated thud, as if trying to likewise hide her shame at being caught red handed. Ugh, her and her big mouth…

But the frustration was quickly shifted back to Ragna in the form of a glare, Serika stamping her foot once angrily for further emphasis. "Arg, never mind! Can't you go bother someone else!? If you wanna talk, I can't do it on my shift!" If it got Ragna off her back now, she was about ready to agree to his request at this point.

"Nah, you're not getting rid of me that easily." Ragna fired back almost immediately and got a groan out of Serika. "Already thought of some plans here with everyone else anyway."

Serika's heart stopped for a beat, eyes widening at the implications. "W-What do you mean by that?"

"Given all the shit of the last 2 days and something else is bound to happen soon, thought it'd be a good excuse for a casual break. I haven't gotten to talk with you all much outside of all that crap either."

Was this man just here to make her suffer!? "Grr, just because you're here trying to help us, doesn't mean we all have to suddenly be friends, you know!"

"I'm not asking to be, but what the hell did I even do to give you such a chip in your shoulder? Save some of that hostility for the people actually attacking the school." Ragna fired back with a scoff. "Not exactly trying to dismiss all you've been doing up till now. But, maybe I've got some experience with heavy shit like this and know it's not gonna be easy as waving a magic wand. You don't exactly know my history either."

Serika opened her mouth to shout back at the man.

And paused.

That was… She Hadn't... Thought about that. She barely knew anything about Ragna, yet he'd somehow picked up on exactly what one of her major issues on the situation was. She hadn't been trying to keep it a secret, but with how few her interactions were so far that was some quick intuition. Was that why some of his knowledge seemingly appeared out of thin air too, especially knowing someone was behind the attacks?

Arg, well so what if he maybe had some similar experiences. Maybe he understood things a little better than Serika had given him credit for then, but that still didn't mean he knew everything or excused him trying to get so comfortable around everyone! She'd deal with him later.

"I don't have time for this!" Serika huffed, fleeing from the conversation by abruptly turning away to march toward Shiba Seki Ramen, a small building with its logo displayed proudly over the entrance alongside the image of the owner's head, a bipedal Shiba Inu with a white bandanna, pipe, and blue samue.

Even if she wanted to talk more with Ragna and try changing his mind, she was out of time. Serika always took pride in her work ethic and showing up a few minutes early to be prepared if she could. It wasn't worth breaking that for Ragna. Even if… It meant she was going to have to deal with everyone later...

Today was going to be a long day.

Trying to push down her stewing negativity, she couldn't let her bad mood reflect on her job serving customers, Serika headed into the shop to prepare for her shift.

Shiba Seki Ramen was a modest store. A line of mostly empty booths lined the walls, with some extra seating to be had across from them at the bar, where the owner of the restaurant could be seen preparing everyone's food with enthusiasm and motions that spoke of his great experience in the culinary arts, filling the air with the enticing smell of freshly prepared food. The furnishings had been made to further enhance the warm, personalize atmosphere that the building's setup created, red paper lanterns hanging from the support beams for atmosphere and a pale yellow adorning the walls to pair with brown highlights.

It was a cozy place for Serika, now clothed in her work uniform of a black T-shirt and blue with a purple tinted skirt proudly displaying the restaurant logo, to work that, even after her short time there she greatly enjoyed. The girl had several roles, weaving between tables to take orders from the occasional customers, watching the front door to welcome in any new ones to their tables, and then manning the register for payments. On paper, it sounded like a large workload for a single person, but in practice with how few customers came in so she never had more than a few tables at once, and the overall size of the place, it was nothing Serika couldn't handle. And after a while, she had settled into a rhythm that was quickly becoming familiar, thoughts of what was to come pushed far into the depths of her mind.

The sound of an opening door brought Serika's attention to the entrance. With a practiced friendliness, Serika put on an inviting smile. "Welcome to Shiba Se-"

Serika's expression froze, a twitch developing in her smile as she realized that the hour of her doom had finally arrived, signaled by the five familiar figures before her.

"Hello! Table for five~!" Nonomi's ever radiant and warm voice, typically a source of calm but now merely a contributor to anxiety, came with a wave from behind the assembled group of Abydos students and Ragna. The only one who looked remotely sympathetic toward Serika's plight was Ayane.

"You all actually showed up!?" Serika stammered, her professional demeanor shattered like fragile glass. After so long without any sign of them, Serika had started to believe that Ragna had just been messing with her! Arg, why couldn't it have been that!

"Hey, don't look at me like this is my fault." Ragna spoke up with a flat sarcasm, glancing down at the Foreclosure Task Force Chairwoman looking cheekily at Serika. "Hoshino had the same idea and was going to bring everyone here anyway."

Hoshino let out a light snicker. "I guess great minds think alike~."

"W-Wait a minute, what was your excuse for coming here then!?" Serika, red faced, protested. That had meant she had been doomed from the very beginning, her entire conversation with Ragna and trying to steer him in another direction all pointless. Sometimes, there was simply no winning in life…

Hoshino put on a playful green. "I figured this was one of the only places you could work at, so we just came by to see our hard working Serika-chan in uniform doing her best~."

Serika's face started heating up even more. Urg, could she not catch a break?

"Are these your Abydos classmates, Serika-chan?" The words of the establishment owner and her boss, Master Shiba, called out to the girl from toward the back of the shop with a firm, but not aggressive and close to casual if anything, tone. "Stop with the chit-chat and take their order."

"Y-Yes, sir." Serika replied, her composure deflating like a popped balloon as she tried to regain some professionalism. She was on the clock, she had a duty to perform for the sake of Shiba Seki, no matter how… Frustrating this was going to be. She could see that grin on Ragna's face, clearly enjoying this. "This way to your table… Please."

In a merciful affair, thankfully, Serika was able to get every seated reasonably quickly. Though, because nothing could ever be normal with Abydos, there had been a slight issue over Ragna's seat. Nonomi and Shiroko both invited the man to sit next to them. However, as if making a masterful stroke to avoid taking a side and a surprisingly reasonable move, the man had ultimately settled on having a chair pulled up to the end of the booth to avoid trying to squeeze into a tight fit. The booth was already crowded with Shiroko and Hoshino needing to store their guns in the little empty space available as while most diners would put weapons outside the booth, Nonomi and Ragna required that space for their weapons almost the size of themselves.

That didn't mean Serika could go right to taking everyone's order though, because of course, why would anything ever be simple for her?

"So, how long have you been working here?" Shiroko asked inquisitively, eyeing Serika's uniform.

"Er, maybe about a week." Serika answered awkwardly. The sooner she got everyone's orders, the sooner they could leave.

"Oh? Now I get why you were running off from time to time. I guess it was because you were working~." Nonomi said with a glowing smile.

Serika let out a low huff, raising her pen and paper as if to urge everyone to do what they came here for. "Just order already! I hope you brought money and aren't going to make Nonomi-senpai pay for it all."

Hoshino leaned back comfortably in the booth, tilting her head slightly with a playful smirk and wagging her finger at Serika. "I think you mean, 'May I take your order?' right Serika-chan? We're your guests here after all."

Serika tensed up, the hostility fading from her face into a meek embarrassment, cat ears flattening as she forced her voice to be polite. "Ugh… May I take your order?"

"That's more like it~. And don't worry about the cost. Sensei's paying this time." Hoshino proudly declared, gesturing with her head toward the adult.

Ragna's expression fell flat, eye shifting to glare accusingly at Hoshino like she'd just committed daylight murder in front of him. "What? Wait a second, you little brat. Yeah, I said that, but then you said you were originally planning to invite everyone and pay for it anyway."

"Hm~?" Hoshino's expression didn't falter under the glare, in fact it only seemed to grow more playful in response. "That was my plan, but since you so generously offered to treat your hardworking students, I don't need to do it. You've got money to burn and were planning on it anyway, so no problem, right?"

"That's not the same thing as you suddenly turning the tables and you know it." Ragna's ensuring groan was guttural, coming from somewhere deep within him. The man started muttering lowly more to himself than anything. "Every goddamn time… Why do I even go out anymore, always end up getting extorted for food by somebody, dammit…"

Ayane raised a hand, looking at Ragna sympathetically and at Hoshino with second hand embarrassment. "Hoshino-senpai, that's not fair. You made it sound like you were paying."

"No," Ragna raised his hand, his glare to Hoshino slowly shifting to a knowing smirk, leaning on the table toward Hoshino with confident aggression. "She'll pay for it when she doesn't get any snacks out of me later."

Now, it was Hoshino turn to falter, the teasing grin fading to one that looked more forced and the feeling was only exaggerated by the subtle, unsteady tone that seeped into her words. "Ah, now you're bullying ojisan, sensei!"

"Nn, I feel like there's some secret we're missing…" Shiroko muttered, eyes shifting quickly between Hoshino and Ragna.

"Uheee." Hoshino's typical laugh was tinged with a hint of nervousness she was visibly trying to suppress with a dismissive wave of her hand. "The young folk these days have such wild imaginations."

"Orders." Serika hissed, clicking her pen twice for emphasis.

Thankfully, Serika was able to take everyone's order quickly and get some peace from the busiest table of the restaurant to go resume her other duties. But in her downtime between dutiess, the girl couldn't help some of her attention drifting toward spying on the discussion happening at the table. Between the bits of conversation she picked up purely by chance, there was this weird feeling she couldn't shake.

"So, how are adapting to and feeling about Abydos after a few days, sensei?" Nonomi's words were full of warmth.

"I know we're not exactly the most extravagant district compared to what your first impressions of Kivotos must've been like." Ayane added with a sense of awkwardness.

Ragna waved his hand, speaking casually. "Never spent much time in cities, so Abydos being a bit more quiet compared to the rest of this place is more what I'm used to. 'Quiet' is probably the wrong word for anywhere in this city though. The sound of guns might as well be white noise."

"Nn, even when we don't have to defend the school, there's never a dull day in the district." Shiroko agreed, some subtle positivity in her words. "Even during the weekend with days off."

"That's sure easy for you to say when you're looking for trouble." Ragna sarcastically added.

"Sensei…" Ayane spoke with a tone that Serika knew all too well, that tone where she had picked up on something small that was slowly fanning a fire in her. "You and Shiroko-senpai mentioned meeting up earlier. Did something happen…?"

Serika spied Shiroko ears flattening dejectedly. Oh, no, had Shiroko finally stepped into the life of crime? The girls suggestions for how to save the school and raise funds were often questionably legal at best. Serika's ideas were usually shut down for being a scam she realized far too late, yes, but at least when she brought it up it was assuming the idea was legal!

"She wasn't doing anything." Ragna's words took on a firm edge to them. "Because you're not going to actually break into anything, right?"

"You said just planning's alright and I stayed outside the bank…"

The glasses wearing secretary of the Foreclosure Task Force let out a short gasp. "S-Shiroko-senpai, were you spending your weekend spying on banks again!?"

"Hah, sounds like you've already have a run in with our Shiroko-chan's hobbies." Hoshino let out a long sigh, slumping in her seat.

"Nn, I thought I was subtle, but sensei saw right through me…" Shiroko muttered, just barely audible to Serika among the sounds of the restaurant. "I guess I need to be less obvious in the future then."

A groan came deep from Ragna's throat. "That's the lesson you took from all this? Seriously, Shiroko? Guess I should've expected that..."

"Oh! Speaking of lessons~." Nonomi began, clapping her hands together. "How was the course material Ayane-chan gave you?"

"… You're sure persistent about that idea, aren't you?"

Now she got it.

In a matter of days, Ragna had somehow slotted into the group like he'd always been there. Serika, alongside Ayane, was a more recent addition to Abydos as a first year, but she'd still been around long enough to befriend everyone, develop a relationship, and learn how to handle everyone. But this guy hadn't even been around Abydos a week, not even half a week, and he was already acting like he'd known everyone as long as she had.

Even with Shiroko questionably legal hobby, the man sounded more mildly exasperated and stern than the kind of reaction one might expect, especially with her first impressions of Ragna's personality being abrasive and forceful. Instead of deep concern, disbelief, or anything like that, he took it with a level of acceptance, yet caution, that the rest of the Foreclosure Taskforce had about Shiroko's habits, which had apparently been worse according to some offhand comments in the past, after getting to know her. He even had something with Hoshino.

Maybe he knew more about the situation than Serika gave credit for, but nobody knew that for certain so why in the world did everyone let him in so easily? Hoshino had at least been a little skeptical the first day, but now she seemed fine!

Serika just couldn't understand it.

It had been a while since Shiroko had gone out for a good meal with everyone, or well Serika didn't exactly count since she was working but the shop was quiet enough to say a few words now and again to her. Close enough to count as "everyone".

But, all good things had to end eventually. And that end had come once the meal was over and the party departed into the warm orange glow of the afternoon sun slowly fading away to the coming of dusk.

"See you tomorrow, Serika-chan!" Ayane, now outside the store with everyone, waved to bid farewell to the part timer that'd been allowed a quick break to see her friends off.

"Take ca- Wait." Ragna abruptly cut himself off, taking a step past everyone back toward the shop, half looking back toward the four. "Got one thing I almost forgot to take care of, so don't wait up for me."

Shiroko blinked curiously. What was he-

"Except you."

Ragna stopped Shiroko's thoughts dead with a point of his finger. Right at her.

"Wait right here. I wanna talk to you."

The singled out girl's whole body stiffened up straight, letting out a low, anxious whine at the sense of impending doom washing over her. Maybe Ragna wasn't quite as accepting of her habits as she had initially thought. "Nn…"

"Uhe~, Shrioko-chan's in the dog house now." The words from Hoshino were playful and only furthered Shiroko's anxiety.

"Hah?" Serika let out a confused scoff. "What else is there for you to do here? You already ate!"

Ragna ignored the outburst, taking a few more steps toward Serika. "It'll be quick, so you wanna argue with me about it or get it done so I can get out of your hair faster?"

'Ugh, fine. Just make it fast so I can get back to important work!" With a low growl, Serika turned around and made he way back into the shop, Ragna following after her.

A gentle hand on her shoulder, that Shiroko identified as Nonomi's when she turned toward it, brought Shiroko away from the scene. "Don't worry too much, Shiroko-chan. Sensei might be a bit tough, but I think he's just worried about you. We know you're a good student~."

"You haven't actually robbed any banks recently, have you Shiroko-senpai?" With a forced, nervous laugh that none the less managed to contain some force within the words, Ayane spoke up.

"No…" Shiroko shook her head, ears low. This almost certainly had to be about what happened earlier today, but was it really? Ragna was surprisingly permissive for somebody who just found out about her habits, even Ayane and Serika had taken a little time to reach some exasperated acceptance after finding out, but if he wanted to talk to her about it now that would've been quite at odds with his earlier behavior.

"Then, you'll be fiiiiiiine. I remember what a troublesome little pup you were when you first showed up like it was yesterday, and now look at you. Kids these days grow up so fast." Hoshino said with an exaggerated stretch.

"Hoshino-senpai…" Shiroko let out a low whine, her cheeks starting to heat up in embarrassment. Did she have to say it like that in front of Ayane?
Not waiting for a reply, Hoshino turned slowly and started to walk. "But this ojisan's had enough excitement for one day, so I'll leave sensei to sort it out. Have fun, Shiroko-chan~."

With some sympathetic farewells, Shiroko was left standing alone in the fading rays of the sun, thrown to the wolves to fend for herself toward whatever lecture Ragna was preparing for her.

It was an awkward, tense silence that left Shiroko fidgeting occasionally in anticipation. Seconds ticked by like minutes, to where she soon lost track of how much time had actually passed. But eventually Ragna, holding a takeout bag in his good hand, emerged from the shop alongside a screech from Serika to leave already.

"Hey, Shiroko. Sorry for the wait." Ragna said casually, approaching her. "Stop looking so tense. This isn't about the bank. Actually wanted to ask you a favor."

Like air from a deflating balloon, the tension left Shiroko's body and her shoulders relaxed. Instead, she was now filled by a burning curiosity. "Nn, a favor?"

"You remember what I said about whoever's behind the school attacks is probably going to escalate, right?"

Shiroko nodded, slowly.

Ragna leaned against a nearby wall of a building as he spoke. "Well, Serika gets off at 9:00PM. The owner told me when I was telling Serika to be careful tonight. I'm sure whoever's responsible is pissed we stopped their plan and with somebody all alone like that deep in the city here late at night, I bet they'll try something. Everyone's dangerous as a group, but all on your own it's much easier to pick people off. I'd do it myself, but Serika can still barely stand the sight of me and like hell she'll let me stick around her at night. So, think you could check on her for a bit then? Can't exactly ask everyone to stalk her on just a hunch in case nothing happens and you pass through this direction on your way home, right?"

"I do." Shiroko curtly answered.

"Yeah, so I'm sure Serika'll be a lot less pissed off with you around for just a brief walk with her. I'll still be out in the general area taking care of stuff, so if something comes up just call me and I'll be there immediately. Think you can do that?"

Shiroko paused, carefully absorbing Ragna's words and tossing them around her head. Ordinarily, Shiroko might've been at little uncertain if it was worth being this cautious, bordering on paranoid with how confident the man sounded. Yet, Shiroko found herself immediately believing Ragna and his plan before any doubts came up. It wasn't as if there was the question of if she could trust Ragna, she simply did without having to think about it, just like if any of the Foreclosure Task Force had told her to do something. There wasn't any reason Shiroko could've brought up as to why if asked. It wasn't that an attack was expected in the next day or two from precedent, it wasn't how he'd somehow figured out there was bigger players behind the situation, she simply… Knew Ragna could be trusted somehow. "Nn, you can count on me, sensei."

"Thanks." Ragna's expression lightened toward a smile. "I don't want to take any chances with who're dealing with just because somebody's feeling stubborn. But hey, probably better if you don't mention I sent you, if Serika asks and nothing happens."

"Don't worry about it, Ragna-sensei." Shiroko made her voice reassuring, despite the usual quietness. But then the girl lingered silently in front of the man, her ears twitching a few times expectantly with a slight forward lean of her body.

The adult stared at her with a confused green eye for a few seconds, till realization finally crept up and Ragna let out a low groan. "Shiroko, I only have one hand."

Without wasting a second, Shiroko snatched the bag from Ragna's hand in her own and looked at the man with waiting eyes.

Though he let out a deep, exasperated sigh, the man still reached his hand up and gently stroked Shiroko's head a few times as she leaned into the relaxing gesture. "There, happy?"

"Nn." Shiroko answered with a subdued smile spreading over her, holding the bag back out for Ragna, who claimed it once more.

"Alright, take care of yourself, Shiroko." Turning around and walking away, Ragna stated. "If there's any trouble, call me immediately."

Waiting a few seconds to wave goodbye, Shiroko finally turned around and began making her own way back. Just in case, she was going to have to be prepared for tonight. Perhaps nothing would happen, but better she have something and not need it, then need it and not have it. She had a couple hours till it'd be time to check on Serika, plenty of time to ensure her drone was in top shape and supplied.

Tonight, Shiroko expected to be anything but quiet.

IsekaiFanBoi · Sep 5, 2024

Pat pat pat, get happy.

Omniwhatever · Sep 5, 2024

IsekaiFanBoi said:
Pat pat pat, get happy.

According to the shorts, Shiroko really likes her headpats and being praised. She is not above demanding them either. Girl knows what she wants and will take the first chance she gets to have it. She's real expressive in the ears too in them, even if she's normally a little more subdued in emoting.

It's cute.

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PTysqnqcm5Y

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VSxEbyV_yC8

Hk473 · Sep 5, 2024

Scritches and headpats.
The true nirvana

Lovnag · Sep 9, 2024

Ok I've started playing Blue Archive and it is truly cinema.
Shiroko is awesome.
I'm waiting for PS68 to show up now though. If Aru ever learns even a little bit of Ragna's story, the fangirl levels of energy will be off the charts.

Omniwhatever · Oct 8, 2024

Volume 1 Chapter 1: Perilous Night (X)

After a long day, evening and the end of her work had finally arrived for Serika. Gone were the customers and cozy atmosphere of the restaurant smelling of freshly made food, replaced instead by the subdued sounds of Serika and the cafe owner, Master Shiba, finishing up cleaning for the day to head home. Besides a few comments, the work had been mostly done in silence as the smallness of the shop meant locking up tended to be a reasonably quick affair.

"You can hang up your apron, Serika-chan. I'll take care of the last few things." Her boss's voice brought Serika out of the auto-pilot she'd set herself up in scrubbing a countertop.

The girl turned around to face the other, finding them sweeping one corner of the room, blinking in confusion. "Eh? Are you sure?"

"Positive. It's already late and you should be on your way home. Take care of yourself and watch out for any trouble, will you? I know you can look after yourself, but can't have anything happening to my newest and best employee." Master Shiba stated with a hint of casual warmth, yet underneath the words was clear concern and weight.

Serika let out a low groan. Arg, now he was also getting in on it. "Is that why you told Ragna-sensei when work ended? I'm not a little kid."

The humanoid dog stopped their sweeping, making a half turn toward Serika. "Yeah, it is. I wouldn't let it get to you though. You mentioned dealing with some gangsters at one point and he made it sound like they haven't given up. I think he's just being a responsible adult thinking about their students in his own way. Not everyone shows they care the same way or is the best about showing it. Least that's how I see it."

Serika frowned, looking down at the floor with a low grumble coming from her throat. Sure, the base idea of having some extra caution wasn't bad, but Serika still felt some kind of reflexive frustration and annoyance over getting reminded of that like she didn't know. And on top of that, Master Shiba was also defending Ragna? What did everyone see in him that she couldn't?

"… Alright, I'm heading out now." With a low voice, Serika removed the hair covering on her head and left to go change back into her school uniform, to finally put this whole day behind her.

But after she had changed and begun the walk down the largely empty roads of the nighttime Abydos District, cold air biting at her skin with the rays of the sun long since gone, Serika's mind wouldn't give her any peace. How had the situation gotten so complicated in mere days? The debt situation was bad enough, but now some evil benefactor was chasing after the school for yet unknown reasons and she had to deal with the damn adult that seemingly everyone tolerated. But… Why? Was she the weird one out for being so overtly hostile? Ragna had somehow known the truth of the situation the minute the helmet gang showed up while also being annoyingly persistent about her safety or trying to get to know everyone. By any account, the man was helping, even if he was kind of frustrating. Ragna had been right, that she didn't know anything about his history, but that went both ways because he didn't know that of Abydos. But was that really true? Was whatever situation he'd been in before that let Ragna simply know certain facts truly so close to the current one? If that was the case, was she being too harsh?

Something came right at her and Serika's hands shot up on reflex to grab it.

"Nn, hello, Serika. Heading home?" Exactly where the object had come from, Serika saw Shiroko standing about a body length from her. In her hand was a waterbottle, which Serika realized was an identical copy of what was in her hand, while beside her was a bike leaning against some rails.

"Shiroko-senpai…? What're you doing here this late?" Serika asked with a furrowed brow. She knew Shiroko would sometimes be out late cycling and for… Other habits, but seldom did Serika ever run into her. Shiroko almost looked like she'd been waiting here.

Shiroko's hetereochromatic pupils briefly flicked over to her bicycle and then back to Serika. "I was on my way home and stopped for a quick water break. I thought maybe I'd see you if I came this way around this time too."

… That was really coincidental.

"Nn, you look tired, Serika." Shiroko added before Serika could form a proper reply.

Serika turned her head away, opening up the water bottle Shiroko had handed her without meeting the other's gaze. "I'm fine."

The girl could see Shiroko didn't look entirely convinced as Serika downed a few gulps of water. She may have looked mostly the same as ever, but Serika had known Shiroko long enough to pick up on her classmates more subtle reactions. The slight droop of her ears, the barely there curve of her lips, and slightly narrowed eyes. Shiroko wasn't usually the most overtly expressive, but it didn't mean she cared any less.

That wasn't too different from what Master Shiba had said, come to think of it…

"I'll walk with you home for a little then. I'm still going that direction." Taking a few steps toward her bike, Shiroko suggested with a hopeful stare.

Serika let out a weak huff at the forceful invitation. She knew Shiroko was doing this out of concern and she appreciated the girl being a good friend, but the day had been a long one in part because of her. Yet, this time Serika held her complaints. Maybe Shiroko could help keep her mind off the day a little. Tthere was still a decent walk toward her house and Serika didn't love the idea of being alone with her thoughts the whole way. If she remembered the layout of everything right, Shiroko would only be with her for several minutes anyway. A break would be nice. "Sure, fine. Let's hurry up and get moving."

Not a moment later, Shiroko had fallen in step right beside Serika, rolling her bike along at a pace to match. But the two walked in silence and Serika could see that Shiroko looked like she had something on her mind and was close to bringing it up, but appeared to be deciding how to say it.

"So, what did he yell at you about." Serika finally broke the maddening silence with a dry tone. Shiroko… Probably deserved a bit of a stern talking to now and again about her habits to help keep her in line. The girl behaved herself pretty well, but sometimes Serika wondered how far she would go if somebody wasn't there to give Shiroko a not so gentle reminder with how she would bring up the idea of robbery now and again as a money solution.

Shiroko turned toward her, ears flattening in confusion for a few moments, till realization dawned on her and they flicked upwards. "Nn, Sensei didn't yell or anything. He just cares in his own way."

The sudden heaviness in her chest brought a frown to Serika's face, the girl turning her gaze down to the ground in front of her as she walked. So even Shiroko was saying the same thing about Ragna… What the hell was it about that guy? Shiroko even had the slightest smile on her face while talking about him. And all Serika could wonder was why?

"You sure like him, don't you…" Finally finding words, Serika said in a low voice and with a sigh.

"I trust him." Shiroko answered plainly, as if already guessing what Serika truly wanted to say. With how… Unique her thought process could be, it was easy to forget how perceptive Shiroko was about her friends.

The grip on Serika's water bottle tightened, fingers starting to crumple the plastic as Serika's cat ears flattened aggressively. "He hasn't even been in Abydos, in Kivotos, for a week. We barely even know him, let alone have a reason to trust him."

"Is there a reason to not trust him?" Shiroko asked with a tone that made the question rhetorical, having already decided the answer herself.

Serika let out a low grumble. That was the important question, wasn't it? What was the reason to be so hostile to Ragna? Several answers immediately jumped into Serika's head, yet when trying to put them to words for Shiroko she found herself hesitating, doubt staying her response. She couldn't say he was being too helpful, Serika wasn't some cynic that thought everyone was out for themselves or hiding something, quite the opposite and might've been a reason why she was so quick to trust a sales pitch. Ragna had also been right, Serika didn't know much about him and sure that was a reason to not trust him so completely like Shiroko did, but was that a reason to be so actively hostile? That's what she had thought before, but that stupid, nagging question of his from earlier made her so uncertain if that was true. Sure, it was kind of weird how Ragna just knew things, but if there was anything malicious behind that, surely he would've done something already.

"Well, what reason do you have to trust him so much then, Shiroko-senpai?" Her usual fire not present, Serika finally answered, looking Shiroko up and down.

"Nn…" Shiroko flicked her head to the side, looking away in a surprisingly long silence as thoughts were visibly turning in her head. Serika had expected a little pause to organize her thoughts, but with how much faith she had in Ragna and the friendliness shown to the man, she didn't expect such a long one. It was like Shiroko was trying to figure out the answer as well. "... I just feel like we can. He's already helped us work toward finding out who's behind the attacks and definitely made an enemy out of them. Ragna-sensei's also worried about us too because of that. He's kind and wouldn't get so deeply involved if he didn't care. I think they've got experience with these kind of problems."

Serika's shoulders slumped with a sigh. "Did he say something to you about that?"

"Just a feeling." Shiroko shook her head, not meeting Serika's gaze.

Ugh, she'd been hoping Shiroko would say yes to that. Serika really had to ask Ragna more about himself, huh? Maybe she'd learn something to better justify her thoughts or… Maybe she was being too harsh.

Well, no matter. She'd leave that matter for another day as while double checking the street signs, Serika noticed something important that brought her to a stop. "Shiroko-senpai, I think we walked a little longer than we should've. If we keep going, your dorm's going to be in the opposite direction."

Shiroko abruptly stopped to check the street signs, turning toward Serika with a stone faced expression after a momentary pause. "Nn, don't worry about it. If I've come this far, why don't I go a little further till your dorm's in sight. I could use some extra kilometers on my bike anyway. I didn't get to ride as much as I usually do with the stop at Shiba Seki today."

"Ugh, Shiroko-senpai, you don't have to do that. Just go home already." Serika answered with a huff. She'd appreciated the break from her thoughts Shiroko provided, but now she was beginning to wish for some time alone to collect them. The neighborhoods in Abydos were so isolated now that getting one would be easy with her friend gone. Night time though it was, Serika definitely noticed most of her walk had almost nobody else on it. Abydos wasn't exactly a bustling place, but merely a month ago she at least saw a few people on this route. Things just kept going downhill, but she couldn't let it stay that way.

Undeterred, Shiroko shook her head. "It's fine, Serika. Your house isn't that far anyway."

"Your idea of distance isn't normal, Shiroko-senpai." The girl answered with visible exasperation. Sure, it wasn't more than a few kilometers, but the way Shiroko talked about it was the same way somebody would talk about going down the street.

"Nn, it's been a while since I've been down this area of Abydos anyway. This is a good excuse to see it again."

Serika groaned, crossing her arms. "You don't have to do that with me. Come back here and explore it in the day time or something, easier to see and safer anyway."

Once again, Shiroko's determined expression didn't falter. But there was something else, almost hard to tell with how muted the girl kept some of her emotional expression. Concern, maybe? "I'm already here. I may as well stay just in case."

Serika's ruby cat like eyes narrowed, looking Shiroko up and down. Sure, she had just mentioned safety and Abydos wasn't a peaceful place. It was borderline lawless if anything given the lack of her school's ability to enforce the law in a serious capacity. However, especially with that comment, something about Shiroko's insistence of staying with her and the fact she was even waiting for Serika to begin with didn't add up. "… Just in case what?"

Though her expression remained relatively composed, if still a little perturbed with a frown, Serika could see her friend was nervous. Their ears had flicked up in surprise, a dead giveaway Serika was onto something. "Nn, well, the district's been getting less safe the last few months and we should see another attack any day at the usual rate…"

Are you kidding?

Serika gritted her teeth into a scowl, voice raising to almost a shout. "Shiroko-senpai! Did he put you up to this!?"

Shiroko stiffened up, her eyes momentarily widening before she had a chance to visibly try restraining her reaction. "Nn… o…"

"You can't hide an answer like that!" Serika lectured with a glare. "Ugh, I can't believe him! How stubborn can one person be? I thought I told him I didn't need somebody looking after me!"

That matter Ragna had come back into Shiba Seki for had been both to get a to go container, a rather unusual request, but he had also tried to talk with Serika about being careful on her way home, given whoever was behind the attacks was going to attack again. And, sure, that was a good point, but Serika didn't need a babysitter. She could take care of herself!

"Serika…" Shiroko raised her hands defensively, a frown on her face that bordered on distress. "Sensei's just worried. I don't want anything to happen to you either… I think he's right that they're going to try something new."

Seeing her friend upset, the fire of Serika's anger simmered down slightly, but only slightly. The behavior was coming from a place of worry and Shiroko meant well, so Serika couldn't be overly mad at her and even Ragna's actions did too, as he had been very pushy on the idea of upcoming ideas. But she couldn't help feeling frustrated and patronized. She could still be mad at Ragna for roping Shiroko into this silly waste of time though, that must've been why he asked her to wait outside the shop. But getting angry at her wouldn't solve anything.

"Senpai, how did you let him talk you into this?"

"He asked and I trust sensei." Shiroko answered plainly, not hesitating for a moment in her answer.

Seriously?

The answer had been so quick and certain it'd actually caught Serika off guard. That can't possible have been it. Why did Shiroko trust somebody she just met so much? Serika could take care of herself and to go this far just on a hunch? "Wh-"

"To hell with all this waiting, we'll just take both of them and charge extra!"

The sound of numerous footsteps silenced Serika and sent a chill up her spine.

Mind gearing into high alert, Serika threw the sling on her gun over her head and readied it, eyes darting around to watch a large group of the Kata-Kata Helmet Gang appear around the intersection from out of alleyways or around other buildings to quickly surround her and Shiroko. Serika could see her friend mirroring her own actions, quickly sending her bike rolling with a shove into a nearby building and away from the ensuring combat.

Right away, Serika could notice something was different about the Helmet Gang. The girls had come out in force, with up to 20, maybe even a few more, by her rough estimate, but all of them were wearing black, military like body armor. With how almost everyone in Kivotos was at least bullet resistant, body armor tended to be a rarity outside anything military with how much extra gear or ammo it let one carry. It was often more an inconvenience in daily life, where a gun fight could erupt at any moment, without much gain when even getting a full magazine dumped into one's head would only cause a moderate headache for most, perhaps knock a person unconscious if they were on the weaker side or lacked a halo. But well made body armor coupled with the natural durability of Kivotos residents, particularly those with a halo, could take most bullets from being an annoying, if painful, experience to one barely felt without strong weapons or person wielding them. A powerful edge if one knew a fight was coming.

Ragna… Had been right. This was the next move of whoever was after the school. If Serika had been all alone when she ran into this…

Ugh, she could feel guilty later! A fight was on their hands now!

A series of explosions, alongside panicked screams, erupted from behind Serika as the ground shook, making her turn around on reflex to the source. The girl saw small missiles impacting the ground around the gangsters, blowing them aside and covering the immediate area with thick clouds of smoke. Eyes flicking upward, Serika saw Shiroko's blue and white drone emptying most of its missiles into the group that'd blocked off her and Shiroko's rear escape.

"Get down!"

"Wha-"

So many things happened at once, Serika's mind only started to make sense of them when she was already tumbling through the air.

Shiroko had tackled Serika and pulled her into a bear hug, almost like she were trying to protect her from something. The reflexively turn from such an action had given Serika a fraction of a second to witness a brown blur the size of a person barreling toward her before everything exploded. The world shook, rattling her bones as fire and smoke blanketed Serika's vision before it all turned into a distorted mess as Serika spun through the air, causing the buildings and lights of nighttime Abydos to blend together and robbed her ability to even attempt orienting herself. The only constant was Shiroko's iron grip on her body, the only thing keeping both girls from being tossed apart.

Almost as quick as it'd come and before Serika could begin to orient herself, she hit something hard and Shiroko's grip loosened enough for the two to tumble apart.

Head pounding and ears ringing, Serika bolted up, reaching for a dark wall, the side of a building, to help push herself up and stay upright. Her mind fought to push away the disorientation the explosion had caused while trying to make sense of it. The impact of that had been massive, the already present smoke from Shiroko's rockets combined with the other explosion to blanket most of the intersection in a thick cloud that killed whatever visibility the remaining lights of the district provided.

Whatever shot her was powerful, artillery grade. A high caliber anti-air or anti-tank gun, maybe? Serika was still rattled despite not even being a direct hit, which was only avoided because-
Alarms blared in Serika's mind, as did the sound of bullets whizzing by through the cloud of smoke, eyes darting around till she found Shiroko lying a few meters beside her, trying to shakily push herself up with arms that trembled trying. Her cyan halo flickering a few times from being on the verge of unconscious and only stabilizing after a moment.

"Shiroko-senpai, hang on!" With a shout, Serika bolted over to the girl, gritting her teeth through some bullets bouncing off her body, and wrapped their arm around her shoulder, rapidly helping Shiroko to her still unsteady feet. The second year had been closer to and taken the brunt of the explosion shielding Serika and that left her to figure a way out of this situation.

Serika's eyes darted around the street, begging to find some inspiration to move. What was she supposed to do? They were outnumbered and outgunned against artillery. Her and Shiroko were sitting ducks out in the open and another round would be their doom against so many of the Helmet Gang.

Cover, the two needed cover. They needed to hide but arg where!? Serika didn't have time to think, it'd be seconds before someone charged through the smoke and saw where they went! Bullets were already blindly flying around her and Shiroko. She just had to choose something and pray it worked.

"Senpai, this way!" Serika shouted, practically dragging Shiroko to the nearest house and diving through an already broken window, arm around Shiroko's waist to get enough a hold to lift them one handed.

With a thud, Serika landed upright, holding Shiroko tightly toward herself to keep the girl from collapsing again. It did little to stop her from attempting to break out of the girl's grip though. "Nn… Serika, get down…"

"I know that…!" Serika hissed in a raised whisper, dragging herself and Shiroko away from the window and into the darkness of the abandoned house. She could barely make out any of the interior details, but Serika didn't care, they weren't important and worth the attention.

Carefully guiding Shiroko back down toward the floor to take precious moments to recover, Serika released her hold and gripped her gun tightly, leaning against the wall beside the window to keep herself out of sight but still let her see a glimpse of outside with a tilt of her head.

Through the rapidly dissipating smoke, the girl saw around a dozen of the Kata-Kata Helmet Gang emerge, the crackling spray of bullets falling silent as they began to start looking around the area.

"What a pain, that girl was ready for us."

"Hurry up and find her then so we can make her pay for it. This was supposed to be an easy job."

"I told you that was crap when they gave us a bunch of body armor 'just in case'."

"Whatever, just find them already! They've can't have gone far! Keep an eye out for that drone too! Flew off somewhere."

A nervous sweat appeared on Serika's brow while she saw a little movement from the slight peek she could afford. She could only silently pray that the Helmet Gang went to literally any other house first. This section of Abbydos was somewhat rundown with a few buildings already abandoned and looted, something Serika had to hope would buy her and Shiroko at least a couple minutes in their spot.

Glancing over at her friend to see how they were doing, Serika almost did a double take seeing Shiroko on her phone, with the brightness turned down at least. Not that it'd do much to hide it in a totally black house.

Creeping over as quickly as she could while staying silent, Serika crouched down next to the wolf girl to help keep her words whisper quiet as well. "Shiroko-senpai, what are you doing on your phone now? They're going to see us!"

"I'm messaging sensei, he said…" Shiroko paused, wincing slightly. "Said that he would be in the area just in case. We need help for this and he already heard the explosion. He can't be far."

Serika bit her lip, forcing down an annoyed reply. Loath as she wanted to admit it, Ragna would've really helped about now. If her suspicions were right and it was a flak 41 cannon, it could be a problem even with backup, but without any the odds were bad. If she hadn't been so caught up in her own frustrations, Shiroko wouldn't have taken that hit for her. Serika wasn't used to seeing her so physically capable friend look so weak. Even with it not being a direct hit and Shiroko shielding her from it, Serika's body was plagued with a dull aching. Even if some of that was from the bullets that came afterwards, she could only imagine how bad it hurt if Shiroko was so unsteady. If Ragna hadn't been so persistent trying to help her despite constantly slapping away the helpful hand, Serika would've been all alone to take such a hit. And from there…

Serika shook her head, banishing away the unsettling thoughts before they could take too deep a root in her head. Now wasn't the time.

"Senpai, can you stand?" Serika, still keeping her gun prepared to shoot at a moment's notice, asked in a whisper, looking around the room and settling her gaze on the stairs. If Ragna was on the way, they needed to be ready for a fight and with the Helmet Gang sweeping the streets, going out the back was a trap waiting to happen. Upstairs would at least buy them some extra time. "Let's go upstairs and get in a better spot."

"Nn… I think so." Leaning a hand on the wall and with shaky legs, Shiroko managed to prop herself, still looking ready to tip back over from so much as a gentle push but at least she was standing mostly on her own again.

Trusting Shiroko's self-assessment, Serika crept up the stairs quick as she could, turning back to see Shiroko about halfway up after her, following a bit slower but quickly starting to recover from her initial disorientation. Maybe they could-

Serika's blood ran cold as front door was thrown off its hinges and too the floor.

"They're in here!"

With no hesitation, Serika raised her rifle, power flowing into it with a faint blue that had her gun spraying bullets even faster and harder than usually possible into the girl's helmeted face, sending her stumbling backwards out the doorway and to the floor with a shout.

Serika preferred being more selective with her ammo given how conservatively she'd gotten used to treating it, but right now wasn't the time to hold back anything and her covering fire gave Shiroko the time to stumble up the stairs to behind the corner opposite to Serika for cover.

A few more of the Helmet Gang started funneling into the front door only to meet a volley of bullet from both Shiroko and Serika, but with both their faces and bodies armored, it let the girls push through and set up at the bottom of the stairs, where as before it would've at least made them retreat through the door or dive off for cover.

Now facing returning fire, Serika ducked back behind the hardwood wall and inched away from the edge as a few bullets riddled the corner of her cover. Hands racing as fast as they could, Serika unloaded her magazine and retrieved another from her bag, loading it and racking her gun with lightning quick, practiced motions. She heard trampling footsteps coming up the stairs between the bullets and had to move fast.

Opposite from her while she reloaded, Serika saw Shiroko produce a grenade from inside her own bag, pull the pin out with her thumb, pivot out from her own cover, and shove her palm with the grenade in it into the Helmet Gang member at the top of the stairs with such force that with Shiroko's better leverage the girl went tumbling backwards into her allies, all the heavier armor worn sending each of them barreling down toward the bottom steps like knocked over bowling pins.

With the grenade.

A brilliant flash of fire and light erupted at the bottom of the stairs, briefly blowing away the darkness and the bottom steps apart, shredding sections of the nearby walls in the process as the sounds of pained yelling mixed with shattering furniture.

"How many explosives did you bring?!" Not waiting for a reply from Shiroko, Serika peered from behind her cover and started shooting once more, every flash from her muzzle lighting up the dim room as her bullets slammed into a few of the downed girls, sending one scrambling into a side room, but two more that'd been further from the explosion fought through the volley with only a light flinch and returned fire, striking Serika twice in the chest and forcing her back behind her wall before any more rounds could hit and throw her aim off.

"Nn, not enough." Shiroko answered as she replaced a magazine in her own rifle before giving Serika a quick thumbs up. "But they can't up as easy now."

Serika peeked out to fire a few more empowered rounds at a girl before ducking behind safety once more. "We're still stuck up here! Don't you have anymore rockets in your drone or something to help!?"

"I used them all to make a path."

Serika groaned in frustration. That was a good use for it, but it didn't make her feel much better about the current situation! While the front door and stairs prevented too many from swarming her and Shiroko at once with the 10:1 number advantage, the current position was one of attrition both would lose if something didn't change soon.

"Everyone out! We'll just do this the hard way!"

At all once, the sounds of gunfire ceased, only to be replaced by numerous footsteps retreating directly outside the building. That should've brought Serika some relief, but instead it only heightened her anxiety and the growing pit in her stomach. No way they were giving up that easily with how heavily armored the group was and hired specifically to target the school. If not for that stupid body armor, her and Shiroko would've been able to knock out or send a couple retreating by now with how combat with the Helmet Gang typically went. However, the most Serika could tell from her limited view of the street and the gang gathering in it, was they'd only managed to make a few girls unsteady on their feet with only two actually needing anyone to lean on.

"They're planning something." Shiroko said lowly, emerging from her cover with a tight grip on her gun. "I can hear what they're saying from here, let's wait a second."

Staying still while the enemy planned right in front of them was a terrible idea to Serika, but even a few extra seconds of peace was time they didn't have to stall for help arriving and so the girl strained her ears listening for whatever the leader was yelling about. She looked to be saying something over a phone…?

"Just shoot the house on the right in front of us! Who cares about collateral damage in this abandoned place? It'll flush them out or knock them out!"

Just shoot the ho-

Serika's eyes went wide, locking with Shiroko's as her's mirrored Serika's reaction with the same realization dawning on both girls.

Without another word, both girls bolted for the nearest window at the end of the hallway, Shiroko nearly stumbling and just managing to correct her stride in time to not fall.

A tremendous rumble shook the ground before Serika could take more than a few steps. She expected to be blown aside, the roof blowing apart wherever it struck, the whole world to spin like it had from the near direct hit of the first round.

Yet, aside from a rumble that felt close, but not disorientatingly powerful, none of that happened and the sheer confusion briefly stopped both her and Shiroko. "Nn, did they hit the wrong house?"

"Not YOUR right, MY righ-Ack!"

The leader's words were cut off by sound of a shotgun rapidly going on. A very familiar shotgun.

"Is that Hoshino-senpai?" Disbelief and worry for the sole third year in her voice driving her to move, Serika bolted back to where she'd been a second ago and saw Hoshino's small form standing in the doorway, blocking it off with her riot shield and firing into the street. It was hard to tell with the obstructed view, but it looked like a few of the Helmet Gang were already on the floor "W-What are you doing here!? Shiroko-senpai, I thought you called sensei!?"

Shiroko looked at Serika, then over at Hoshino, visibly confused. "I… did…?"

"Ojisan came rushing to help and I just get complaints about not being someone else. You're gonna hurt my feelings." With a fake hurt under the casualness of her voice, Hoshino turned toward Serika and Shiroko as numerous metallic pings from bullets echoed off her iron riot shield, waving her shotgun at them once. "Sensei's taking care of the artillery, so if you could give me a little hand wrapping up here?"

"Er, uh, right!" Serika wasted no further time, vaulting over the rails besides the stairs and hitting the ground running to take a position beside the window she'd broken to get in. Though, as soon as she looked out she questioned if Hoshino even needed the support.

3 girls were unconscious, one being dragged further from the firefight by another girl, a fourth was trying to pick herself off the ground with clear difficulty, two more were scrambling back clumsily for cover and clearly not in peak condition, while several others were returning while clearly looking for somewhere to hide on the mostly empty street. In total, perhaps there 10-15 of the Helmet Gang, slightly less than Serika recalled seeing. Where had the others gone? Had they surrounded the house to cut off escape, perhaps?

Whatever, it didn't matter, she had the chance to really fight back now!

Readying her rifle, Serika unleashed several bursts between the recovering girl and those trying to retreat, slightly staggering but not knocking any of them over because of the body armor.

"Where the hell is the flak 41?! It shouldn't take this long to reload it!" One of the girls screeched, slowly moving backwards.

"I can see the tank's flipped over, it's useless!"

"This was supposed to be easy, we are NOT being paid enough if we lost the flak gun! Grab everyone and get out of here!"

With the brief opening, Serika reloaded her gun, joined by Hoshino doing the same, while Shiroko rolled down into a position by the opposite window for her own defensive position. It gave the Helmet Gang a few moments to grab the unconscious girls and start scrambling away, but it was also a perfect break to reload without anyone shooting at them either, just in case.

"That's right, you better run!" Serika furiously shouted at the retreating enemies. She was so tempted to fire some parting rounds to blow off some steam from this whole mess, but thought better than to waste the ammo and she still needed to make sure Shiroko was fine after covering for her stupid mistake.

Though combat was done, Hoshino kept her riot shield prepared, stepping outside to look down the street where the ambush had initially happened. Only after a few seconds scrutinizing the direction, did she truly appear to relax and folded her riot shield back up to let out an exaggerated yawn. "Iyaa~, looks like that's about it then. Sensei's done over there. Serika-chan, Shiroko-chan, you both still holding up?"

"I'm fine." Serika immediately answered dismissively. She definitely was feeling sore and expected to wake up that way in the morning, but nothing she couldn't handle. She wasn't sure if the same could be said for Shiroko, however, and Serika's gazed turned toward the 2nd year with some worry. "What about you, Shiroko-senpai? A flak gun hits really hard. I still think my teeth are rattling…"

The usual casual demeanor on Hoshino quickly took on a dash of concern in line with Serikas. "Huh? You actually took a hit from that? You sure you don't wanna sit down for a few minutes?"

"Nn… It wasn't a direct hit, or else that would've knocked one of us out." Shiroko shrugged off the concerns with a shake of her head, leaning on the bullet hole riddled wall for some support. "I'm still a little dizzy, but I'm okay. I'm glad you weren't hurt much, Serika. It would've been bad if we both couldn't fight."

Serika frowned, letting out a huff. "Nobody told you to put yourself in danger like that for me. But, um, thanks, senpai..."

Despite her protest and guilt over Shiroko getting injured for her sake, Serika knew things would've been a disaster without her and had to be thankful. Serika would've already been getting dragged off to who knows where to never be seen again… But if she'd just been less stubborn, then maybe Shiroko wouldn't have needed to do that in the first place.

Shiroko stared at Serika blankly, tilting her head. "Nn, but that's exactly what Ragna-sensei asked me to do. If you want to thank anyone, thank him."

Urg, Shiroko saw right through her. But… She was right. Serika had been almost nothing but annoyed at best to hostile at worst with Ragna. If somebody had done that to her, she would've almost certainly just moved on and not kept bothering with somebody who clearly had issues. Yet, Ragna didn't. He was still worried about her and persistent enough to look out for her and have some tact about it. She probably would've just ran off trying to avoid him had he shown up in person.

Gah… Not only was she going to have to talk to Ragna to learn more about him, she was going to have to apologize and thank him after all this. Her cheeks were already burning up at the thought.

"Uhe? That's why you two were together?" Hoshino spoke up, eyes darting between the two girls. "He didn't have much time to explain things to me."

Shiroko nodded, her expression drifting toward a smile. "Nn, sensei was right that whoever's behind this was going to step up their attacks. He thought something was going to happen tonight since Serika got off work so late and asked me to stay with her. Sensei's got a really good sense for figuring out what's going on with this situation."

It was brief, so brief in fact Serika was half wondering if she'd imagined it, but there was… Something in Hoshino's expression and eyes, something so unlike her usual demeanor that Serika wasn't even sure where to place the emotion she thought she saw. But just as quickly as it'd come, Hoshino was back to her usual self.

"Well~, I guess he does. Serika-chan's sure lucky to have an adult that's as stubborn as she is and not pushed away so easily."

"Hey!"

Ignoring the outburst, Hoshino took a few steps down the street, beckoning for Serika and Shiroko to follow. "But, we shouldn't keep sensei waiting. I might start to feel sorry for whichever unlucky girl got left alone with him for interrogating."

On Hoshino's instruction, Serika made her way down the street with her friends, though not without a short stop for Shiroko to retrieve her bike which had thankfully remained in one piece from her rolling it out of the way before the battle begun. Soon, she saw Ragna in the middle of the street, a tank on its side with a massive flak 41 gun mounted to the top, next to him and a few of the armored vests the Helmet Gang had been wearing at his feet. The man had a pensive expression on his face, granted, he almost always looked slightly annoyed with one eye closed to Serika, as he stared up at the buildings, like he were looking for something. Whatever search he was making was interrupted as his working eye flicked over to the group and he turned his head to face them. "You three sure took your sweet time coming over here. Good to see you're all still in one piece."

"Well, since there's nobody here, I'm guessing you already tried 'talking' to the Helmet Gang to see if there was anything you could learn?" Hoshino greeted with a wave.

Ragna let out a guttural groan, face falling to a scowl. "Yep, not that it did much good. Didn't know anything new, so I told them to drop what their employer gave them and get out of here and find a better line of work. Don't think anyone's gonna listen to me there."

"Uhehe… Robbing somebody and offering advice is an interesting strategy, sensei." Hoshino said with a dry sigh. "You're not planning to make that a habit, are you?"

"Hey, I've seen some pretty messed up people change so can't blame me for trying. Don't exactly have the time to do much about it right now anyway. Felt like somebody was still watching, but couldn't find anything..." The man grumbled, taking one last, quick look toward some of the taller buildings around the area. "I'm sure as hell not gonna let them have this back to use it on us again and maybe we can figure something out with what's left behind. With how many tanks are in this place, I'm gonna assume one of you can drive. I'm not dragging this all the way back to the campus."

Serika glanced over to the sideways trank, then back to Ragna, ears flattening with her dull stare. "Sensei, that's not in any condition to drive."

Turning toward the tank, Ragna reached up his working arm, grabbed the side of it and, with a grunt, proceeded to turn the vehicle weighing at least double digit tons back upright with a loud and creaky thud.

Wow, Serika knew Ragna was strong but this man was a monster if he could go around flipping a tank with one hand. She almost felt bad for the Helmet Gang that had to take a punch from him.

"Hope you're not expecting me to drive it with one hand." Ragna sarcastically added.

Shiroko gave an affirming thumbs up, already loading her bike around the folded down back flap. "Most people in Kivotos our age could drive a tank, sensei."

"Yeah, alright. Guess that's one problem done then. Figure best thing to do tonight would be to take it back to the campus and rest there. Think everyone's had a long day." Ragna said, hand on his hip and taking one more look around the area.

Hoshino let out an exaggerated yawn, stretching in an equally over expressive manner. "I won't complain about that. Ojisan doesn't have the same energy to stay up all night you kids do."

"What were you doing out here with him anyway, Hoshino-senpai?" Serika asked with a hand on her hip, looking up and down her shorter senpai curiously. Going out for a night time stroll was one of the last things Serika would expect from Hoshino with how much she loved to nap.

"Err, well…" Hoshino's word turned unexpectedly meek, holding a shaking hand up.

"I found her taking a nap on a bench." Ragna flatly interjected. "Since she was already here, decided to keep her around just in case.

Hoshino spun toward the man with her jaw hanging open and betrayal written over her face. "S-Sensei!?"

Serika slooowly turned her head toward the smaller girl, giving her a dirty, exasperated look. She could believe that with all the places they fell asleep in at the school. It was good Hoshino had been there, but still.

"Nn, that sounds like Hoshino-senpai." Shiroko commented, starting to climb up the tank and around the folded up side flaps.

Hoshino slumped forward even more deeply than she usually did, a look of resignation spread over her the likes of which could only come from someone who knew they were fighting a hopeless battle. "Hah… Whatever happened to respecting your elders…?"

"Hey don't look at me like this is my fault. You're the one who didn't say anything earlier." Ragna flatly added, starting to pick up the armored vests and toss them onto the back with Shiroko's bike.

Why did it feel like there was something Serika was missing behind those words…

"Uhe… Ojisan's gonna take a nap on the way back." With one of the most resigned 'Uhe's Serika ever heard, Hoshino shambled after Shiroko inside the tank, leaving the girl alone with Ragna.

Part of her wanted to wait till another time, to give a proper thanks when she wouldn't have to worry about anyone else listening in, it was especially kind of embarrassing with Shiroko around after their earlier discussion she had been proven entirely wrong in. But on the other hand, not thanking the man right after his planning saved her and things were calm again just furthered the growing guilt in her chest. Might as well get this over with now, at least Hoshino would be asleep in record time and not hear this...

With a deep breath to compose herself, Serika gently tapped Ragna on the shoulder a few time as he tossed the last vest onto the tank. "Hey…"

"Hm?" Ragna turned his focus over toward the girl.

"S-So…" Serika trailed off, nervously avoiding eye contacting with Ragna. "Thanks for the help and stuff… I'm not sure what would've happened if Shiroko-senpai wasn't here."

Ragna's face twisted in an amused grin, smug even. "What do you know, you being nice once wasn't a freak accident. What did I tell you? I've got some experience with heavy shit like this and know what we're dealing with."

"Arg, fine, you were right about that." Serika said with a grimace, doing her best to push down the instinctive angry response this time. "You don't have to look so smug about it, geez…"

"Look, I'm just glad you're alright." Ragna said, leaning on the side of the tank. "Met some stubborn people before. Sometimes, you gotta be just as stubborn to help. Gonna take a lot more than a bit of screaming to chase me off. I've been that hardheaded idiot before and caused trouble for myself or others for it, so I get it."

Personal experience huh… That would explain why he was so determined to lend a hand no matter how many times she slapped it away. He was still a bit prickly, but maybe she had been too harsh on Ragna and the others were right he still cared in his own way.

"What happened?" Serika couldn't help the curiosity in her voice. She had been wanting to get to know Ragna better and so much of his past was still a big mystery.

"That's… A long as hell story and I'm ready for this day to be done already, so ask me again later. Come on, let's get going. Ayane and Nonomi are gonna have a hell of a surprise when they show up to this thing tomorrow." Ragna answered dismissively, stepping onto the tank.

Well, Serika couldn't deny being a little disappointed at the answer, but the man had a point. It was late, she was tired, and even if it would be on one of the futons at school Serika couldn't wait to lie down and rest after such an eventful day.

There was sure to be many more like it with someone after the school, but despite how daunting a prospect it was, something in her felt a little more at ease now. They'd managed to fend off an attack like this and even came out ahead, Abydos could take whoever was after them.

She wasn't entirely sure what to make of Ragna yet, but the man deserved a fair chance after today.

The hour may have been late, yet with all that needed to be done before the day was over, the night still felt oh so young to the person waiting inside Kaiser's main office building within Abydos. It was honestly quite the sterile, gloomy environment with scant few lights on in the lifeless waiting area. He was quite used to such decorum as a Captain of the NOL's intelligence branch, but even in other worlds the upper class couldn't help being so boring, could they?

Huh, that was a new one. Is this what contempt felt like? Hm, no, on second thought, that was a little too strong from how he saw people use the descriptor for emotion. He was still trying to figure out exactly how something should truly feel instead of merely knowing it academically and how to exploit it in others. Something not as extreme, but still negative...

Annoyed! That was it!

…

………

Yeah, this one wasn't that great. He'd gotten a lot more out of kicking that annoying vampire to death a bunch of times, but not all emotions could be winners. At least he could check this one off the list. Interesting feedback loop of being annoyed at being annoyed. Maybe that was something to look into later.

Oh, well. At least he had some decent company to talk with.

Off to his right was a man in a black suit, who had so creatively decided to name himself "Black Suit" after it. Though, "man" was perhaps a generous description as his face was similarly black, but with white cracks that glowed with an energy spread across it, the only notable identifying features being a large and pure white eye alongside a similarly colored mouth.

Well, not like he could knock the fashion too much, even if he'd definitely dig at the naming sense. He was wearing something similar, a simple black long dress coat over a standard black suit and leggings, held up with two belts, with white undershirt. Completing the look was a similarly colored fedora atop his short green hair.

Actually, now that he thought of it, Black Suit kind of reminded him of the form Terumi's spirit took if it got turned monochromatic and put on a nice suit. That was a picture he never expected to imagine, let alone see.

"Now then, Hazama. I think I've told you all you'll need to know going into this meeting, so let's go meet the PMC Director. I think having someone so knowledgeable about this new factor, Ragna the Bloodedge, will be quite the benefit based on what you've told me about him this last week." Black Suit stated, taking a few steps down the hall.

Hazama quickly fell in step alongside the other. "Say, you mentioned there was supposed to be some kind of plan going on tonight. I'll bet-"

Hazama ramping up his condescending tone was interrupted by the sensation of a telepathic call. He could feel it in that ingenious little addition that let him walk around despite the lack of seithr in the air, even if he was basic and most of his powers were still restricted. That could only mean one person was calling him, they had created it after all. "Oh, hang on a moment. I think we're about to get something interesting on the new 'teacher'.

With a quick application of Ars Magus to answer and project his words to the other end, Hazama answered. "Why hello there. You sure picked a bad time for some late night chit-chat, but I suppose you must have something interesting to report about Raggy?"

"Correct, Hazama. This matter also concerns your dealings with Kaiser and Black Suit. Is he with you?" The deep, masculine voice Hazama had come to know so well as his creator answered.

Hazama briefly looked over to Black Suit, flashing a grin. "Ah, perhaps I was wrong and your timing is perfect then. He was just about to introduce me to the PMC Director and the sharply dressed fellow just happens to be right next to me. You caught us right before our little meeting could begin."

With another light application of Ars Magus, Hazama 'connected' Black Suit into the exchange. "Go right ahead, the floor is all your's."

"What have you discovered?" Black Suit asked plainly, yet with a clear curiosity infecting his words.

Almost immediately, a reply came. "I will make matters brief as you have business to attend to, the full implications of this are better discussed with the rest of Gematria present. I have reason to believe Ragna the Bloodedge's existence is related to the strange ripples in Kivotos."

"Is he…? You and Hazama are more familiar with him and the Azure than we are, perhaps that's why you found it so quickly. I take it you felt something once in his presence?" Black Suit answered slowly, as if working through the implications in his head while he spoke.

"It is the opposite, in fact. There is something about his existence I can't comprehend, cannot Observe. I see him, yet it's almost like gazing upon a mirage. I believe it related to why neither Hazama nor I could recall Ragna's existence until we saw reports of his presence here." The man stated matter of factly, as if giving a research report.

Hazama's near perpetually closed eyes flicked open with unrestrained surprise, revealing the yellow snake like orbs beneath them. Had he heard that right? "Excuse me? First he pulls off a disappearing act not even the Master Unit could, and then you can't Observe him even after winning that game of hide and seek? Oh, dear. That can't be unrelated. Rags certainly has gotten up to something interesting…"

There was simply no way those were unrelated. Hazama knew Ragna almost as well as Terumi did and the both of them were clearly heading for something special near the end of the whole pain in the neck with the Embryo, but Hazama had never gotten to find out exactly what it was since he'd jumped into the Cauldron to escape and well, then he'd completely forgotten Ragna existed till Hazama saw his sour face over the news reports about some new teacher at SCHALE.

Ragna the Bloodedge, feared across the entire world with a list of crimes that'd take longer to read off than a whole phone book, the man who's default mood was "grumpy and frowning", being a SCHOOL TEACHER?

The thought was so stupidly funny Hazama had been certain it had to somehow be an alternate universe version of the guy he knew for a solid 5 minutes.

He'd then spent another 5 minutes laughing about it after realizing it had to be the same Ragna he knew. How in the world did that even happen?

Well, he could think on it later, couldn't get too distracted by that hilarious mental image right now. Back to business. He was starting to understand why Terumi had been so extreme in all his displays.

"You are correct. There will be time to discuss it more later, however. Concerning your affairs, I assume the assault I just witnessed miserably fail was under the orders of Kaiser."

Hazama let out a sharp laugh, putting an elbow onto Black Suit's shoulder and leaning on it. Exactly how he'd expected things to go. "You'd almost certainly be correct. See, what did I tell you, Black Suit? You both need someone like me, experienced with what's becoming the biggest pain in the neck to the whole operation. I didn't become captain in an intelligence department just because I could count on some good ole nepotism from my friend here."

Black Suit let out a soft sigh. "I suppose it isn't surprising. There has seldom been any true complications in this long project. Complacency is an insidious enemy. We'll discuss things further with the PMC Director."

Riiiiiiiight, still had to get to that. Hazama had been waiting for this. Kaiser Corporation, based on what he had learned so far talking with Black Suit and research he'd done, acted exactly up his alley. He just needed a quick way to integrate himself with the organization and side step all that annoying grunt work and 'climbing the ranks' rat race. And Black Suit was the perfect key to open up that shortcut. Gematria was an interesting bunch from the brief time Hazama had known them, but the analytical and dry scientist types were so much more his companion's speed than his.

"Well, hate to just talk business and run, but we'll all busy people and I'm sure our robotic friend will be even more fuming if we're late after his brilliant plan went up in smoke, so we'll talk more afterwards. Until next time." With a casual, borderline patronizing tone, Hazama disconnected the line and removed his shoulder from Black Suit, taking a few steps ahead of him with a grin. "Well then, shall we get going?"

Without another word, Black Suit lead Hazama to a wide set of double doors, opening them without bothering to knock or announce their presence.

Inside the large room with an ornate black marble floor with only a few basic furnishings, there was a stockily build, tall robot seated at a desk. He was dressed in a professional looking black suit with a coat possessing orange highlights and two lines of fabric going from the sides of his metallic silver neck down past where Hazama could see. His face was distinctly non-human, but still close enough to display human like emotion. The clenched mouth that looked like it was nothing but jaw, four horizontal slits of glowing orange "eyes" that were ever so slightly narrowed. It was clear the man was feeling a touch frustrated.

Good note for himself, that emotion sure sucked when Hazama felt it, but it was oh so much better looking on another person. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all.

"Hm?" The machine spoke up with a voice that sounded distinctly robotic in the way the voice was modulated, yet it wasn't emotionless, quite the opposite in fact. "Black Suit and... I take it this is the ally you mentioned before?"

Black Suit stepped forward, with Hazama following closely behind. "Correct. This is the man I briefly told you about yesterday. And who I believe may help in a reassessment of the current situation with the unexpected new factor. I presume that your latest attack did not go to plan, from your demeanor."

"You'd presume right." The PMC Director grumbled. "A tactical tank and body armor as insurance, yet still failing to utterly in their job. It's almost as if that new teacher at SCHALE knew what was coming with how quick the response was. Someone must be leaking information in advance with their knowledge, but I can't pinpoint where it could be coming from…"

Hazama stepped forward, putting on a perfectly practiced mask of business professionalism, much of the more playful or casual tone he spoke with earlier banished. "Well now, it sounds like Ragna the Bloodedge is proving to be quite the headache. Rest assured that I will do everything in my power to help deal with it. He's proven to be very difficult to handle back where I come from, but in his current state it should be a significantly easier ordeal than it otherwise could have. You should consider yourself lucky he only has one arm right now."

"You're from outside Kivotos, just like he is, correct?" The Director's gaze scrutinized Hazama closely. "I wasn't told much, but Black Suit informed me you have significant history with that man."

"Oh, yes. Ragna the Bloodedge and I go a ways back, in a manner of speaking. But before that, where are my manners?" With a polite voice, Hazama removed his hat for a quick, mild bow, putting the fedora back on his head the moment it was over. "Honoka Hazama, at your service. Just Hazama is fine. May I have a seat? This may turn into quite the extended discussion depending on how much about Ragna you wish to know."

The PMC Director gestured toward two chairs in front of his desk. "Take a seat. I want to know as much as I can. Ragna himself is a capable fighter from what's been observed so far, but even the data we had previously on the Abydos students doesn't match the capabilities we have seen recently. It can't be a coincidence he showed up at the same time. There was a fixer agency, known as Problem Solver 68, with a good reputation I was planning to hire in hopes of better results than common criminals. But, if I can know more about this annoying threat, it will be easier to prepare the right response."

Hazama, with a quickly muttered 'thank you', took the offered chair, alongside Black Suit, as the Director spoke, waiting for him to finish. "Then, I think I can help. I'm not much of a fighter myself, I deal more with information and intelligence. I'm sure a man such as yourself can appreciate how the right knowledge and leverage can be stronger than any brute force."

"Hah," The robot let out an approving chuckle. "I like you already. With the right black mail, not even a single finger has to be lifted."

Hazama grinned a rehearsed, fake friendly smile. Oh, yes. He could definitely work with an easy target like this. "Well then, let me tell you what I know..."

The PMC Director had absolutely no reason to know even 1/10th the full truth of Hazama's relationship with Ragna. But, well, there wasn't anything wrong with sharing some of the "official" history that would've been at play while filling his role as "Captain Hazama". He'd just need to censor a few extra bits here and there, keep it to broad strokes, no sense in inviting further questions or trying to explain being from another world aspect. Just the bare minimum to establish some trust and authority on the matter. The Director may have thought he held all the cards, but the machine was simply a means to an end for both Hazama and Black Suit.

And he couldn't wait to see the eventual look on Ragna's face once they met again.

GUESS

WHO'S

BAAAAAAAAAAAACK.

Oh, did you think Ragna was going to be the only Blazblue character featuring in this story? OH, NO. NOT AT ALL.

If you're here just for Blue Archive and don't know who this duo is and why I've been waiting the whole story to get to this chapter for them...

Oh, you're gonna learn.

And if you do know Blazblue, it shouldn't be hard to guess who Hazama was talking with.

Kiek · Oct 8, 2024

Omniwhatever said:
Wow, Serika knew Ragna was strong but this man was a monster if he could go around flipping a tank with one hand.

Kurihama Akemi meets her match... even when he's handicapped.

Omniwhatever said:
Ragna the Bloodedge, feared across the entire world with a list of crimes that'd take longer to read off than a whole phone book, the man who's default mood was "grumpy and frowning", being a SCHOOL TEACHER?

Crimes of him in that world don't matter in this one.
Unless that damn bounty paper is still flying around just like in BBTAG.

Omniwhatever said:
If you're here just for Blue Archive and don't know who this duo is and why I've been waiting the whole story to get to this chapter for them...

Ah yes, the professional troll and the mad scientist. The former is going to be a pain in everyone's collective arses. The latter...best stay far away from him, he's a pervert, definitely a pervert. Hoshino shouldn't be suffering his Altar Of The Puppet even if that's the best way to prevent her from committing stupids, just Black Suit's strings were enough already.

I hope there would be comedic moments for them too to balance out the sadistic features they originally had. For example, Kayoko threatens Hazama with all the stray cats in Kivotos; Professor Relius secretly sends his funny inventions to mess with Rags and his students, like the Soul Swapping Machine to the Engineer Club, or the Giant Mechakaka and Black Golden Tager to Rio; And let's not forget about the band! A band with Hazama, Relius, Gematria (Black Suit please let Beatrice be a standing mic), Kaiser Director, and Ragna (bro was pulled in and forced to play drummer again) would be quite a rival for Trinity's Sugar Rush band... or every band in Kivotos ever.

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