KämpferX: squared!

by Salvatore the Supine

The rogue Kämpfers face their wildest trials yet! When a long-forgotten chamber in an ancient Greek temple is discovered, it unleashes a never before seen prophecy upon the world, changing lives, and Humanity, forever.

9. Schleichen! I t' s time we m ade a move

A/N: Okay! Break is over, I had some fun with this chapter. A lot of the time was spent on trying to minimize the amount of errors, like duplicate words. My writing program is usually pretty good at finding those, but it also makes some weird grammar correction suggestions that make no sense, sometimes, so whatever.

I know the wait was long, so hopefully this 54.5k word chapter makes up for it! Things are heating up and beginning to boil over!

Heads up, there is some more French in this chapter. Just like last time, there is a bit of French-Canadian slang, which Google translate can't understand, so I've tried to keep it to a minimum. Essentially, if you see it... it's almost 99% guaranteed to be a curse, so fill in the blanks as you see fit.

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"Haaaah… I'm a genius." Natsuru sighed quietly, patting her stomach as she felt the last of her burgers settle nicely as she approached Kaede's apartment. Looking at the building as she adjusted her jacket, she noticed that it looked fairly imposing in the dark of the night, and knowing all of whom were waiting up on the top floor for her made her nervous.

"Hmm... just Kaede and me tonight..." Natsuru pondered to herself, feeling uncertain as to her goal tonight. "Am I even going to have an opportunity to sneak around in there? As soon as I walk in, Kaede is gonna be attached to my hip..." She mumbled, gripping her chin and tapping her foot as she contemplated the issue.

'Oh… wait a sec…' Natsuru's stomach began to do flips as she began to notice an unfortunate truth. 'I-I'm going to be alone… w-with Kaede… in her home…!' she panicked, swallowing audibly as a blush overtook her and she began to feel hot. Pacing, Natsuru began to fan herself when Hitomi's words from the afternoon flooded her mind. 'Kaede isn't going to pressure me into… f-fooling around… is she?' she worried, biting her lip as the memories from the science lab came back to her, her heart beginning to race.

"Oh, Natsuru!" Kaede's relieved voice floated out to her, causing Natsuru to jump. Turning towards the entrance, Natsuru was greeted with the sight of Kaede in a cute teal jacket and jeans as she walked towards her.

"K-KAEDE! Uh, er, w-what are you doing out here?" Natsuru asked her quickly, doing her best to act natural as Kaede giggled, seemingly seeing through the act.

"I came out to check for you at the bus stop, since it was getting late and I was getting extremely worried." She explained, her expression softening into a somewhat sensual one. "So, what has you pacing and fanning yourself? Hm? Could it be that you've realized that you and I have the apartment all. To. Our. Selves?" Kaede spoke softly, moving closely to Natsuru and prodding her arm with a finger to punctuate her words as the Kämpfer felt her heartrate skyrocket.

"Huh, what? Oh, pshaw, naw! I never even thought about that!" Natsuru attempted fruitlessly to lie, feeling very nervous as Kaede covered her mouth and giggled again, a massive, teasing smile on her face.

"Oh my, Natsuru~! Were you having naughty thoughts about you and I just now?" Kaede teased her again as Natsuru failed her arms around, shouting and stammering in an unintelligible manner as her face went completely red. "Hahaha, oh, you are so easy to rile up!" she laughed, Natsuru now looking at her in confusion as Kaede wiped a tear from her eye, surprising Natsuru when she suddenly stood on her tip-toes and gave her a smooch on the cheek. "Come on, you silly girl, let's get inside!" she announced, turning and walking back to the entrance of the apartment building.

"I… uwah…" Natsuru trailed off, reaching up and placing a few fingers on her cheek where Kaede had given her a peck and feeling like she was on cloud nine, sinking into a daze as she offered a lopsided smile after Kaede. As if a bolt of lightning had flashed in her mind, Natsuru suddenly snapped back to reality, shaking her head and clearing her thoughts. 'No, bad Natsuru! Keep your head in the game! Kaede is going to do whatever she can to convince you to ditch your manhood!' she reminded herself, steeling herself as she quickly moved to rejoin Kaede inside. Stepping through the automatic doors, Natsuru stepped over to an elevator that Kaede was holding open, coaxing her inside. Pressing the button for the top floor, Natsuru sighed as the feeling of contentment from a full stomach returned in full force, the sigh causing Kaede to look at her in interest.

"You look happy." She stated simply, Natsuru smiling sheepishly as she rested her hands on her stomach.

"Y-yeah, sorta. It's kind of silly, and a little embarrassing, but... I grabbed some hamburgers on the way here before transforming because I knew I would be hungry, and, well… I was." Natsuru recounted for Kaede, as the Moderator squinted slightly, wondering why that would make her pleased. "So, I practically inhaled them on the bus, and now I'm perfectly full… which is something I seem to have a hard time achieving when I'm transformed, lately." She finished with an annoyed grunt, looking down at her stomach.

"Hmm… you did complain about that, yesterday, didn't you…" Kaede recalled, gripping her chin and staring at Natsuru intently as the elevator came to a stop. Motioning to stay quiet, Kaede pointed out a house cleaner who was finishing up her job, earbuds blasting music into her ears. Walking past her, Natsuru and Kaede offered her friendly smiles, the cleaner returning it as she watched the pair of them enter Kaede's apartment. "So, when did this start, exactly? I don't recall you complaining about being hungry constantly in the past." She picked up their conversation, having closed and locked the door.

"Um, well… actually, it was probably since I got hit by that energy wave." Natsuru answered her, thinking about it for a moment, looking back at Kaede when she was silent.

"Have you noticed any other side effects?" she finally breaking the silence as she removed her shoes, holding her hand out for Natsuru's jacket. Removing it, Natsuru handed her Jacket over as she thought about the question. There were a few things that came to mind, the leading one being her increasing femininity while transformed. And although that whole thing had started a while ago, the event in Greece seemed to have an impact on the severity and intensity.

"Natsuru? You're being too quiet, what else has happened?" Kaede urged her, very curious as Natsuru scrambled to find something else to tell her. She'd sooner die than inform Kaede that her will to be male was occasionally compromised, even if only ever-so slightly.

"U-um, well…" she bit her lip, her eyes shooting around the room as Kaede began to get another teasing look, already piecing something together as Natsuru began to panic. "It's kind of… dumb?" Natsuru made up weakly, trying to think of anything that might explain her hesitation.

"Oh…? And what might that dumb thing be~?" Kaede teased her, slinking up to Natsuru and snaking her fingers up Natsuru's arm, causing her to shiver.

"I've been having weird dreams!" she blurted out, causing Kaede to lean back slightly, looking at her in confusion. "Ever since that day, I've had this weird dream a couple times of a psychedelic version of our school, and when I wander the hallways, I eventually come across this weird... mirror-like thing in a room, the small area around the door and the mirror itself only lit by a single overhead lamp."

"A strange mirror?" Kaede asked her, still completely confused.

"Mmm, yeah, a mirror… and it's weird, because it looked like it stretched on into the darkness in both directions forever, and it only ever showed the other version of myself instead of my reflection, but it behaved just like a reflection, with my other half anyways mimicking my movements."

"…That is weird. Are you sure you've been getting enough sleep? Maybe you were sick?" Kaede fretted over her, placing the back of her left hand against Natsuru's forehead. Blushing in embarrassment over Kaede's actions, Natsuru gently grabbed ahold of her wrist and pulled it down.

"That's not all, the second time I had it, there was a strange woman with a British accent. She was about the same height as me in basically all purple and wore some sort of mask that covered her face entirely, and she was shouting at me about my destiny or something while literally dragging me through the mirror."

"A masked woman in purple…" Kaede mumbled, looking troubled as she mulled over Natsuru's dream. "Wait, when she was dragging you through this mirror, were you a boy or a girl?" she asked, suddenly very serious as she gripped the front of Natsuru's shirt with both hands.

"O-oh, um, I was a boy… oh, and she was somehow forcing my reflection to switch places with me, which is where she began shouting about destiny... if I remember right." Natsuru recounted, scratching at her chin. Suddenly jumping up and cheering, Kaede startled Natsuru as she pumped her fist into the air. Stepping back, Natsuru looked on as Kaede squealed in excitement, crouching slightly before launching herself forward and clinging to Natsuru.

"Ahh, Natsuruuuu! This is incredible! Even your subconscious is trying to tell you the truth about yourself!"

"W-WHAAAAT?!" Natsuru choked out, inhaling her own saliva out of shock as Kaede nuzzle into her. "Yeah right, Kaede! You know my opinion on this!" Natsuru argued, grimacing as Kaede continued to look at her looking as if she had won a major victory. Just as she was about to press Natsuru's buttons some more, an odd sound emanated from Kaede's pocket, prompting her to step back and pull a what looked like a cellphone out from her jeans. Natsuru watched as she looked over a message of some sort, before her expression switched from one of curiosity to contempt.

"Tch, the scum…!" she scowled, moving away towards a nearby balcony door before looking back at Natsuru, her expression softening. "Natsuru, do you know if you were followed by the anyone?" Kaede asked her, looking at Natsuru as the Kämpfer's face turned white.

"N… no. Oh God, I never bothered to look, I didn't think they knew where I was!" Natsuru groaned, her breathing beginning to hasten as Kaede held her hands out placatingly.

"Natsuru, just relax, okay? They might just be here simply to try and find out about how close we are. They might not even know you're here, so just breathe." Kaede urged her, glancing behind her angrily through the darkened glass. "Stay in here, away from the windows. I'm stepping out onto the balcony to take a look for anyone out of place." She instructed Natsuru, who nodded and skittered towards the couch and waited.

Quickly adopting a pleasant expression, Kaede pushed the balcony door open to greet the evening air, stepping out and looking out over the city unwaveringly as she relied on her peripheral vision to catch any minute movement in the darkened streets nearby. After taking a deep breath, she began to scan the horizon, using her eyes to discreetly watch for any movement that might indicate the presence of Military personnel she was warned about by her organization.

Just as she was about to return to the apartment and watch from another angle, her deceptively sharp eyes picked up on someone barely moving, crouched in dense, dark brush from a nearby park, and her eyes were immediately drawn towards it.

'Caught you, you piece of garbage…' Kaede mocked the man as she hammed up the act of squinting and looking down towards them, before gasping and running back inside. If anyone else had been watching her, they should have gotten the idea they had been made, which ideally would cause them to back off. 'I would have preferred to just deal with the scum myself, but Natsuru would have done her utmost to save them from me, undoubtedly…' she grumbled, finding her hand itching to summon her blade and just deal with the problem, but she shook the desire and paid attention to the present when she found Natsuru wringing her hands nervously while sitting on the couch.

"Kaede…?"

"They are here, but it doesn't look like they are any higher in number than when they are watching your home." Kaede assured her, though Natsuru still sighed and dropped her head into her hands.

"I'm so sorry! You let me stay here, but here I am, unable to even put in the effort to make sure you don't get harassed by them as well…" she groaned, shaking her head as it rested in her hands.

"Hey." Kaede called out to her softly, Natsuru slowly looking up only to be surprised when Kaede hugged her suddenly, holding Natsuru's head against her as she stood in front of her. Gasping out of surprise, Natsuru noticed that Kaede exuded a faint, flowery perfume that reminded her of lavender, the smell distracting her until she was let go. "I need to make a quick phone call to the police to complain of men hiding in the bushes, okay? Just stay here, I'll be right back." Kaede instructed her again, Natsuru nodding gently as Kaede rested a hand on her cheek and smiled before stepping away.

Natsuru sat alone nervously as she waited, looking towards the balcony and unable to help but wonder if someone was spying on her with some sort of thermal or night vision camera. Feeling her stress beginning to mount, Natsuru shrunk down in her spot on the couch as she bit her lip, briefly wondering if she should attempt to sneak around the apartment and look for intel on anything she could, but her nerves kept her rooted. A little voice reminded her that Kaede wouldn't be long anyways, with Natsuru hearing her on her phone in another room, so that any attempt to spy would be short-lived and likely lead to her being caught, and who knows what Kaede would demand in retribution.

'Actually, scratch that, I think I have an idea what that might be…' Natsuru thought to herself nervously, feeling a heat in her cheeks as she once again recalled Hitomi's words from this morning, and prayed that she wouldn't try and force her into anything.

"Right!" Kaede suddenly exclaimed from the doorway into her bedroom, Natsuru giving her an odd look as she wandered towards her holding some pillows and a comforter. "Police have been called, and have been warned about perverts hiding in the bushes. I don't want us apart tonight for your own protection, sooo… let's sleep on the couch!"

"On... the couch?" Natsuru asked, looking down at the couch in surprise, a little confused as Kaede sat down on the end beside Natsuru and placed her pillows against the arm of the couch.

"Well, yes? Where else would we go?" Kaede asked her, watching Natsuru closely as she began to blush again slightly.

"W-well, there's always a bed... I-I mean a couch is just—!" Natsuru began to point out, stopping mid-sentence as Kade looked at her in shock for a moment, quickly giving her a half-lidded stare while biting her lip.

"Goodness, Natsuru, you are being naughty tonight! I never would have expected you to be this forward! But if that's what you want, you won't hear me say no.~" Kaede teased her, her tone very sensual as Natsuru completely broke, unable to make much of any sound except embarrassed squeaks while hiding her face behind her hands, steam practically rising from her as she shook her head.

"That's not what I meant! I knew I shouldn't have said anything!" she finally squeaked out, Kaede giggling as she gripped Natsuru's shoulder.

"You are so unbelievably cute when you get flustered! Now just relaaax, I'm only teasing you." Kaede reassured her, smiling as Natsuru slowly looked up at Kaede, her face still entirely red. "Come, let's sleep!" Kaede exclaimed, lifting up the blanket with one hand, and patting her right side as Natsuru gawked at her. Rolling her eyes, Kaede couldn't help but laugh. "I promise I won't do anything untoward to you. Now, come on, I'm sleepy, and I wanna cuddle!" She pleaded, yawning widely right after as if in an attempt to sell that she was tired. Realizing that she was feeling quite exhausted herself, Natsuru bit her lip and weighed the risks, before relenting after realizing it wasn't as if she was going to have a chance to sneak around, anyways. She sighed quietly and leaned against Kaede, nestling her head in the crook of her armpit as the Moderator covered them both with the blanket, Kaede smiling as she did so.

Almost immediately, Natsuru froze stock still as she felt Kaede's hands gently tugging at the scrunchie holding her ponytail together in an effort to release her hair. Feeling her hair fall past her shoulders right after as Kaede tossed the hair-elastic onto the table, Natsuru shivered as she felt a pleasant tingle when Kaede continued to massage her scalp where her hair had been pulled taut by the ponytail. The entire time Kaede was ministering to her hair, Natsuru's nose was once again filled with the smell of her perfume, finding her stresses melting away as Natsuru felt fingers continuing to gently run through her hair. Finding the sensation incredibly soothing, Natsuru found herself slipping into sleep almost immediately as she tried to remember the last time anyone did anything like this to her, and fell into a pleasant slumber while snuggling into Kaede's side a moment later.

---

"Psst… hey... hey, Natsuru… it's time to wake up, sleepy head." Natsuru heard a voice gently whisper into her ear, causing her to stir slightly from her comfortable bed.

"Ngggh… leavemealoooone…" Natsuru complained, snuggling into her pillow tightly as Kaede giggled above her.

"Goodness… I know they'renot nearly as impressive or enticing as yours, but I'm glad you like them." Kaede's voice floated into her ear, Natsuru barely processing her words as she finally begrudgingly cracked her eyes open and sat up slightly.

Looking up, she noticed Kaede's face inches her own, a blush present on her cheeks as she smiled pleasantly at Natsuru. Looking back down at her pillow, Natsuru became mortified once she had realized that it was not, in fact, a pillow, but was instead Kaede's clothed chest. Quickly becoming acutely aware that she had been resting her head on them for an unknown amount of time and had just snuggled into them, Natsuru shot up shouting incoherently, running for the bathroom as she pinched her nose tightly, launching Kaede into a loud fit of hysterical laughter.

After a few minutes, Kaede had calmed down and Natsuru left the bathroom, with a small tissue in her right nostril. Blushing and unable to look Kaede in the eye, Natsuru shimmied past her towards the kitchen after Kaede smiled and gestured towards it. Walking in, Natsuru was unpleasantly surprised to find the entire White team sitting at the table, eating breakfast. When they looked up and saw her, all four of them switched from mild curiosity to teasing smirks, prompting Natsuru to groan and hide her face.

"Girls, leave her alone, she was asleep and didn't know." Kaede admonished them, though her tone was still somewhat playful.

"You sure looked comfortable, though." Hitomi snarked, smirking as Natsuru glared at her with her blush still glowing. "Soft, weren't they?"

"I don't..." Natsuru began to refute, her mind suddenly racing as she ran the words through her mind a second time. "Wait, how do you know that? That they're soft, I mean?" Natsuru asked her, now less embarrassed and feeling more suspicious than anything as Hitomi froze, everyone looking at her. Her team all appeared to be cringing, and when Natsuru glanced towards Kaede, the Moderator was looking directly at Hitomi, fairly displeased.

"I... tripped once and fell face first into her chest." Hitomi tried to lie, hoping that Natsuru would buy it, since she really had no reason not to. As Natsuru dabbed at a stray droplet of blood after removing her tissue, she continued to glare, narrowing her eyes. A moment later, she turned, a strange expression present as she shrugged.

"Makes sense, I guess. It's not like Kaede would go sleeping with you all, considering how obsessed she is with me, right?" Natsuru asked, turning her back to the group who all sighed in relief silently, though Kaede did appear a little off-put due to the backhanded comment. "I can't even believe the thought crossed my mind, especially considering how young you are, Ueda." Natsuru lectured herself, shaking her head as she filled a glass with water at the sink. "Wait, what am I saying? It's not like you even know what that stuff is, anyways."

"Say what? I know what sex is!" Rika exclaimed angrily, shaking her fist at Natsuru as she cocked an eyebrow and gave the young girl a lopsided smile that challenged her. Growling, Rika swung her school bag around from the back of her chair and dug through it, eventually pulling out a fairly non-descript box with '0.01' written on it, Natsuru's expression switching from mocking to one of sheer, unadulterated horror. "Big Sis got these for me, since Daddy refused to! She said it's better I have them, just in case!"

"Dang, you like 'em thin, don'tcha?" Hitomi casually joked, taking the box from Rika and pulling one of the packages out, before furrowing her eyebrows and looking back at her. "Hold on a sec, I thought you said you thought boys were gross?"

"First of all, Big Sis got these for me and told me that they would work better, since most boys my age wouldn't be that big yet." Rika replied nonchalantly, giggling at Hitomi's reaction. "As for me thinking boys are gross, I do think that, but it won't stop me from wanting to maybe have some fun with them, sometime, though."

"Ahhh! Where did you learn about all of this?! You're too young!" Natsuru shrieked, stomping her foot as the Whites all looked at one another, snorting and stifling laughter as Rika giggled.

"Well, Natsuru, did you know that the Government is forcing Junior High Schools to put sexual education into the curriculum now? I've already played once with aboy at school, you know! Why else would this box be missing some product?" she laughed, watching as Natsuru recoiled, her left eyelid twitching.

"That is improper! You're only thirteen! Children that young shouldn't be learning about sex so early!" she screeched as the group gave her a look.

"I'm almost fourteen, you know!" Rika shouted back, her cheeks puffing out in frustration cutely as Natsuru gave her an indignant expression.

"What a prude..." Sayaka whispered to Ryouka, who nodded shyly but jumped when Natsuru shouted in frustration and stormed off.

"Why are people starting to call me a prude, lately?! And now over this? I'm right about this!"

---

Shivering at the fresh memory of the morning's conversation with Rika in his mind, Natsuru trudged his way into the boy's entrance of the school, grimacing as her mocking grin while she wiggled the box of condoms flashed into his thoughts.

Thankful for a warm day, Natsuru took a deep breath before slapping his cheeks, toughening himself up before stepping into the entrance of the school. Greeting a few other boys that he knew, Natsuru made his way to the second floor to get to his locker, noticing a number of the guys in the hallways gossiping about something, looking a variety of emotions ranging from worried, to mystified, to downright excited. Shaking his head and ignoring them, Natsuru did what he did best and kept to himself. That is, until he entered his classroom.

"Oi, Senou, you see this crazy shit?" Mikihito called over to him, a routine that Natsuru had noticed become the norm nearly since the start of the whole Kämpfer mess. Grumbling, he wandered over as Mikihito eagerly coaxed him over. "Come on, man, take a look! This is freaking wild! The news says some dog ate a dude's face last night!"

"What…?" Natsuru asked in exasperation, giving him an annoyed look. "You sure you haven't been watching too many horror films?" he grumbled, stepping closer as Mikihito appeared insulted.

"What? No! It's all over the news, too! Take a look! Hiroshi, dude, pull it back up." Mikihito said to his friend, who was sitting beside him. Nodding, the brown-haired bown took a moment to scroll on his smartphone before look back to Natsuru.

"Here, Senou, take a look." He said, handing his phone over. Gently taking it, Natsuru looked the news story over as Mikihito and his friend Hiroshi watched, grimacing and nodding as Natsuru's brow furrowed.

"It sounds exactly like a stray, rabid dog, alright." Natsuru confirmed, finding it still unbelievable that such a thing could still happen, stopping himself from silently rolling his eyes after remembering he was a person who could change genders on the fly and bend fire to his will, who was also being fought over in some intergalactic cat fight between his friends and his crush, who was technically an alien. Handing the phone back, Natsuru began to debate with Higashida and some other boys before Hiroshi began to freak out, dancing in his seating.

"Holy shit, boys, take a look at this! Someone leaked some stills of some security footage from a nearby store, this thing sure ain't no fucking dog!" he exclaimed, the group jumping up and crowding around the phone to take a look at the blurry images.

"It looks like… some sort of weird stag… lion… badger-like thing? What the hell is this thing?" Natsuru asked as his classmates held the phone out at arms-length in an attempt to get more clarity from the image. Finding none, he and Mikihito both shrugged as Natsuru felt a small pit form in his stomach.

"We're all just as stumped as you are, man. Even the internet can't figure it out, it looks like." Mikihito shrugged, pointing out the constant flow of confused comments while he scratched the side of his head, his friend looked at the photos again.

"The article said this thing… ate that man's face?" Natsuru asked them both, looking down at the photos again as they nodded.

"That's what the news is saying… Police cordoned off the area, and it sounds like they won't let anyone get close, since now it seems like they lied and said it was a dog." Hiroshi explained, Natsuru nodding as a faint chill ran through his body when he looked at the grainy image again.

"Oi, boys! Tanaka found a site hosting the actual leaked video of the security tape!" one of their other classmates exclaimed from the other side of the class, all of them rushing over to watch. Natsuru managed to get into a decent position, considering only a handful had decided to watch.

Looking on, the video showed a young man turn and flip the camera off as he held a phone out in front of him, quickly turning around again as he put his phone away. A moment later, they watched as he began shouting at someone off camera, going as far as to pull a knife out. Before long, even in the grainy, low quality of the camera's recording, they could all see that he bore a look of pure terror on his face as the creature walked into frame, jumping the man a moment later and knocking him down onto his back, their view blocked from his waist-up by the building itself. It didn't take much imagination to figure out what was happening, however, as the man failed wildly on the ground until a violent geyser of blood shot out and sprayed the wall in view of the camera, the man's movements quickly reduced to nothing but slight jerks and twitches caused by the creature devouring him.

The reaction amongst the boys was immediate, with one of them rushing to the garbage bin and retching, quickly losing his breakfast. A few others simply looked green and walked away, fanning themselves and taking deep breaths to relax their stomachs.

Natsuru felt ill as well, having just witnessed a man being killed on camera, though he had much better control over his stomach, simply looking away with pursed lips as he shook his head. Looking over at Mikihito, he found the aspiring photographer cringing and sitting down at his desk, appearing a bit green.

"God damn, first aliens create super-human hotties, and now we have monsters eating people…" he grimaced, Natsuru coughing at his comment as he sat in his own desk. "What's going on, Senou? I'm starting to feel like we're preparing for a world that never really existed in the first place…" he groaned, settling his own gut as their peer over by the garbage can retched again.

"I… I don't know, Higashida. A lot of secrets have been coming out since last Monday, although…" Natsuru pointed out, reaching over and slapping a hand on his shoulder with a firm squeeze. "That doesn't mean everything is being upended. We might all learn some things here, soon, but I don't feel like a heck of a lot will change." He said with a confident smile, Mikihito looking on in surprise, before returning the confident grin.

"Yeah, you know what? You're right! You… er, you…" he trailed off, looking confused as he sniffed the air around Natsuru, causing him to look on in concern and becoming generally uncomfortable. "Dude, why do you smell like perfume?"

"OH! Er, uh… I spent the morning at Mikoto's house as she got ready for school!" Natsuru laughed nervously as he quickly explained, panicking as Mikihito gave him a leery glance.

"Well… alright, man, but maybe don't stand so close to her when she's getting ready in the morning, her perfume got stuck on you, and it makes you look like a weirdo." Mikihito shrugged, not seeing Natsuru's silent, massive sigh of relief over not having to explain that the true source of it was actually picked up from Kaede, somehow.

"Mr. Higashida you—what the hell is going on in here?!" the pair of them heard their homeroom teacher exclaim, as he had walked in on the smell of vomit from the garbage can, with one student hovering near it looking like he could be sick again at any moment, and a number of other students looking fairly distressed and a bit green around the gills. "Right, you, infirmary, now!" He pointed at the one student, grimacing as the smell of vomit wafted past him when the boy practically ran out of the room, the teacher groaning as he pondered how he was going deal with the mess. "Ugh, Mr. Higashida, you have a guest from the student council waiting for you in the hallway." He groaned, placing his lesson guide on the desk as he reached for a phone on the wall to call for a janitor.

Looking at Natsuru, who shrugged, Mikihito got up and stepped out into the hallway, finding a shorter girl with long, brown hair and bangs that covered the right side of her face glaring at him with a stern expression.

"Can I help you…?"

"Midori Kuzuhara, Student Council Treasurer." She introduced herself quickly, not leaving him much room for comment as she produced a large envelope with his name on it, seething. "Even though being a mail courier isn't my job, I've been tasked with handing you this."

"A letter?" he asked, taking it and only getting an annoyed shrug in response as he looked it over. "Who sent it?"

"No idea. All I got was my own letter alongside it, explaining that I was to pass this on to you and it was of great importance. And that I wasn't to look at it myself." She explained, looking utterly incensed. "Whatever, I did my job. It's time for class." She growled, storming off as the straggling boys in the hall made haste to get out of her way due to the killer aura she was giving off. Shrugging, Mikihito opened the letter, finding a strange mosaic of magazine cutouts in place of written words.

'NATSURU SENOU IS DECEIVING EVERYONE!' it started, causing Mikihito to do a double-take, eyes wide and glancing around nervously before starting again. 'NATSURU SENOU IS DECEIVING EVERYONE! SHE IS DECEIVING HERSELF, MOST OF ALL! SHE IS NOT TRUELY MALE! SHE IS NO MERE HUMAN! RETHINK EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT HER AND REALIZE THE TRUTH! SPREAD THE KNOWLEDGE AND REJOICE, FOR HER AWAKENING IS AT HAND!

MIKIHITO HIGASHIDA, KNOW AND SHARE THAT HER SAFETY AND HAPPINESS WILL BE GUARANTEED BY US! SHE WILL BECOME OUR HIGH QUEEN, AND LEAD BOTH OUR PEOPLES TO SAFETY AND GLORY! SO SAY WE, THE SISTERS OF DEATH!' it read in its entirety, the message causing Mikihito's mind to somersault before he began to laugh, folding the letter up and sliding it back into its envelope before returning to class as the warning bell rang out.

'Seriously? Is this how the day is gonna go? Okay, sure, maybe his voice is a bit high pitched for a guy. But what else is there, even?' he thought to himself, chuckling as he closed the door behind him. 'Oh, wait, riiiight, the whole changing room thing, where he hides in the stalls… okay, so, other than that, also, considering how coincidental that is, what else is there?' he recalled, snickering as his mind decided to play along, and began to think of any possible inconsistencies. Looking up as he moved to his desk, Mikihito stopped when he saw Natsuru looking pensive as he glanced out the window, his blue hair sparkling and twinkling beautifully in the morning sunlight like a certain beauty's from the other side of the school would. For a moment, Mikihito's mind had replaced the sight of his classmate with a vision of the female Senou, her hair shifting in a non-existent breeze as she turned to gaze upon him in curiosity.

"What?" Natsuru asked, having turned to look up at him, giving him a concerned, nervous smile, with a hint of irritation. A look that reminded Mikihito so much of the one he had received from the female Senou when she had served Mikihito at the maid cafe during the summer festival. Even their facial structures bore some similarities… "Higashida!" Natsuru called to him again, snapping Mikihito out of his stupor. "Seriously, are you alright? Did you maybe need to see the guidance counselor?" Natsuru asked him, watching as Mikihito slapped his forehead and smirked.

"Naw, sorry Senou, just a weird morning. Sorry to worry you so much, bud!" Mikihito brushed it off, chucking the letter into his desk carelessly as Natsuru chuckled humorlessly.

"Yeah, you can say that again. Can't believe we have monsters or something, now…"

'Pretty clear that shitty letter is just an awful prank or something, all things considered. Besides, I saw him at the beach only a few days ago, and he totally looked like a guy. No evidence of being a girl, at all.' Mikihito decided, agreeing with Natsuru and nodding before he turned his attention forward as the class start bell rang out. 'They even wasted the Treasurer's time! Poor girl… at least she was cute, in an 'angry shortie' sort of way.' He snickered, smirking as he thought about adding a new entry into the Hottie's research club's database. 'I'll ask Nishino later if she can dig anything up on these 'Sisters of Death' clowns that sent me that stupid thing, 'cause if anyone can, it'd be her. And if she does, I wanna give them a piece of my mind! Attacking a man's masculinity is unacceptable!'

---

"Haaaa... like, what is the deal with that girl? Hiding herself like that..." Amelia muttered to herself, her French accent plenty audible in her English, as she hid around the corner from the cafeteria where Natsuru sat and with a few of his classmates. As she watched, he pulled out his phone and seemed to text someone, with Amelia making note of the time in case the joint task force needed it for reference later. 'Ah, I really can't help but wonder why on earth those four are so interesting to this task force. For all intents and purposes, all four of them don't feel all that different from any other Kämpfer.' She thought to herself, before being reminded of Natsuru's ring when it flashed after catching some sunlight. 'Well, the other three, anyways, because this little one is wearing some sort of disruptor. I have to agree with that Brigade General from the JGSDF, I'm very curious as to how Senou got her hands on what is clearly Moderator tech.'

"Wait, what on earth? Young lady, what are you doing here?" a male teacher suddenly asked from behind her. Feigning surprise, she turned and held her mouth again.

"Like, soooorry, sir! I have a pass card!" Amelia exclaimed, holding up the plastic card on the end of the lanyard that identified her as a member of the Library committee. "I was here to try and track down delinquent book returns~." She explained, smiling sweetly as the teacher examined the card.

"Ah, they must be cracking down on this, hm?" he commented, smiling as Amelia nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, totally! Mishima-senpai is getting really irritated by how many books the boys are forgetting to return."

"Mm, probably for the best that you are here, instead! I heard her absolutely tearing one of her male peers a new one just this morning after he returned a book with notes scribbled in it." he chuckled, quickly bidding her farewell after reminding her to eat something before lunch ended. Looking into the Cafeteria again, Amelia realized she had lost Natsuru at some point during her quick conversation.

"Grrr, tabarnak…" she growled, gritting her teeth as she looked around for any sign of him, the ends of her pink twin-tails bouncing around her shoulders. Finding no evidence of his presence, she gave up and decided to return to the girl's side of the school, considering she was due to speak with the Student Council President anyways for the second time today after 'coming clean' about her addiction this morning as Senou had instructed her under threat to do the day before. Shaking her head, Amelia dreaded what Sangou had waiting for her, that being a number of inane self-help articles and workbooks.

Grumbling, she quickly snuck back to the female side of the school, using the very same library committee security pass she had been given by the school board to better spy on the girls, since at the time, they had only been told that a boy was involved in some manner prior to Amelia's theory of the male Senou's true identity coming up.

Thinking back to last night during the joint task force's late-night discussion over said theory, they had sent a runner to begin looking up the name 'Natsuki Saito'. In the middle of debating the merits and issues of her theory on Natsuru's identity, they came back and announced that, while a number of women came up with that name, only two of them matched her age of seventeen. However, both of them lived on the north end of the nation, with their whereabouts easily confirmed since one was in the Hospital with a broken leg, and the other was recently arrested for inciting a public brawl in her school and released on the promise to appear in court.

The unfortunate side-effect of Amelia's theory meant that they had to treat Mr. And Mrs. Senou as suspects, as well, as if both Natsurus were the same person, it would mean that Natsuru had to have been living as a boy her entire life, and that simply wasn't possible if they were not fully aware of it. The other issue was that there wasn't any concrete proof that Natsuru wasn't somehow either involved with the Moderators, or a Moderator herself simply pretending to be a Kämpfer, due to the presence of the ring. 'If I was asked, though, I'd have to admit that I don't know for sure if the ring is disrupting her aura. I did see my own aura's data from those scanners, and I saw the data that was collected on her aura before it just up and vanished, and if it weren't for something disrupting it, I would have likely noticed her aura even from my classroom yesterday once she returned after lunch in her female identity, if the data collected on her is actually correct.' Amelia pondered silently, crossing her arms as she grumbled, shaking her head as she tried wrap her mind around everything.

'Either way, that ring, or whatever it is that's disrupting her aura, is clearly something that a teenager in high school wouldn't be able to create. And though the majority of the task force don't want to agree with me immediately since they're trying to be careful, I really do feel like it's obvious she is a Kämpfer, since she had an aura, earlier.'

"Hey, your name is Amelia Tremblay, right?" a voice behind her suddenly called out to her, causing Amelia to jump and shout, spinning around as she entered into a defensive stance. Hyperventilating, Amelia found that it was Mikoto who had surprised her, the brown-haired girl leaning back out of her own shock at Amelia's reaction. "Wow, sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!"

"Ah... mon Dieu, my heart..." Amelia groaned, catching her breath as she placed a hand over her chest. "It's tooootally alright, though. I was just thinking hard about something, désolé.~"

"All the same, I could have made you more aware I was there a bit better..." Mikoto replied sheepishly, scratching the back of her head before moving on. "So, um, how's your hand...?"

"Oh, it's fiiiine, see?" Amelia giggled, showing off her hand and how it was bruise-free. "Gosh, that icepack did a lot to help! Did Senou, like, need her wrappings back? I still have them in my bag." Amelia asked her, digging into her school bag as Mikoto waved her off.

"Naw, she just got some more from her house. I wasn't even aware she had a first-aid kit, honestly, but I saw her toss some gauze and an ice pack in last night."

"Ah, okaaay~!" Amelia giggled, pressing her hands together as she smiled. "Ah!" she exclaimed, as her phone buzzed to remind her about her meeting. Quickly grumbling under her breath, she gave Mikoto an apology. "I'm sorry, I need to go! The student council President needs to see me."

"Oh, what a coincidence? She actually called me and asked me to see her." Mikoto beamed, walking past Amelia, who felt a faint seed of paranoia plant itself in her gut as Mikoto looked back at her. "Shall we?"

"Uh, er… sure, I guess…" Amelia mumbled, as she moved closer and followed Mikoto closely. As the pair of them walked the hallways, an uncomfortable silence settled between the pair of them, Mikoto glancing at her occasionally as Amelia kept nervously averting her gaze.

"S-so…" Mikoto trailed off, unsure of what to talk about. "Your… your bracelet looks pretty."

"O-oh, um, thank you, but it's a, um... smart watch! Yeah, a smart watch." Amelia stammered out, unable to shake the feeling that she was entering the lion's den with her only exit blocked if the student council president and her became hostile. Swallowing silently, Amelia went rigid as Mikoto leaned closer, suddenly poking the bulky, green bracelet before Amelia recoiled, guarding it closely. "Sorry, it's not working right now. It broke last night."

"Oh, sorry to hear that... but, then, why did you put it on?" Mikoto asked her, standing upright closer to Amelia and noticing that she was ever-so slightly taller than her, a fact not missed on her, though she kept this minor elation to herself.

"Um... out of habit." Amelia replied vaguely, Mikoto beginning to feel uncertain over Amelia's sudden shyness as the girl had begun to sweat nervously, which was feeling completely out of character for Amelia, though Mikoto admittedly didn't know her that well.

Worse still, she finally understood what Natsuru had meant the other day about the feeling of static electricity when she was near Amelia. It was very odd, and felt out of place, considering nothing appeared like it was capable of causing that sensation, beyond perhaps her bracelet-like smartwatch.

"Um, you said it broke... yesterday? Did I maybe do that...?" Mikoto asked her, her uncertainty relaxing when Amelia shook her head.

"N-no, um, I said it broke last night... but I guess it was acting up around noon, yesterday." Amelia explained, the secret Kämpfer immediately suspicious of the leading question and beginning to assume that Mikoto, and possibly Natsuru, had picked up on the faint remainder of her aura that she hadn't figured out how to hide. "I don't think you did anything to it, though~."

"Oh, well, that's good..." Mikoto sighed in relief, appearing a little less uncomfortable as she opened stopped before an elevator, pressing the call button and stepping inside when the doors slid open. Joining her, Amelia pressed the button for the top floor as she turned, the elevator hurriedly sliding the doors closed before moving. The pair of them remained silent for the short trip up towards Shizuku's office, neither of them breaking the silence as Mikoto waved to the secretary, who waved back and pressed a button on her desk.

"Who is it?" Shizuku's voice floated out from a speaker on her desk, sounding distracted and tired.

"Ms. Kondou and Ms. Tremblay are here to see you, Madam President." the third-year student announced, letting go of a button when she finished speaking. Suddenly the speaker sounded off, the sounds of papers being shuffled around, and of a drawer being closed leaked through.

"Right, send them both in, please, then get something to eat if you haven't before heading to your next class. I won't need you for the rest of this break period." Shizuku instructed her, the secretary motioning to the door as Mikoto smiled, twisting the handle and moving into the office, surprisingly well-lit as Shizuku had the curtains wide open. Opening her mouth to say something to the pair of them, Shizuku suddenly yawned widely, appearing fairly embarrassed after.

"Goodness, I apologize for that! I suppose I haven't been getting enough sleep..."

"It's okay, Shizuku, I know you're tired because of everything that's been going on." Mikoto assured her, smiling as she took a seat. Looking back, Mikoto noticed that Amelia was standing by the door nervously, seemingly uncertain if she should join them. "You gonna come and sit with us? Shizuku might be a bit stern at times, but neither of us bite, you know."

"O-oh, um, I just thought you needed to talk with her, a-and..." Amelia trailed off, slowly shuffling forward as she gently sat in the neighboring seat, doing her best to appear small.

"Don't worry, Ms. Tremblay, I only need to speak with Mikoto for a moment, and then we can discuss the addiction work booklets I mentioned this morning." Shizuku assured her, giving Amelia a gentle smile, the girl nodding in response as Mikoto nodded to the side, glancing between the two of them as she did so.

"Oh, so, I was right! Tremblay, you are the one Natsuru caught smoking yesterday, aren't you?" she asked the younger girl, causing Amelia choke back a gasp, while Shizuku blanched. "Yesterday, Natsuru honestly tried her best to keep who it was to herself, but she accidentally mentioned that the person she caught had just transferred in, so..."

"Wait, Tremblay didn't tell you? I thought she—I thought since you both...!" Shizuku gasped, dropping her head into her hands for a moment before turning to Amelia again. "Ms. Tremblay, I am so, so sorry! There are no words to properly—"

"Madam President, it's okay... it totally sounds like she knew, more or less, why I was here anyways." Amelia sighed, pressing her index fingers together. "And even if she didn't, I doubt she'd, like, take long to figure it out."

"That still doesn't excuse my actions... and..." Shizuku sighed, suddenly yawning again and leading her to blush.

"Wow, you are tired. Maybe you should seriously consider taking a break?" Mikoto mumbled, feeling very concerned for Shizuku as the latter waved her off.

"No, far too much going on right now for me to step back, amongst other things..." Shizuku replied cryptically, Amelia being left in the dark as she watched Mikoto closely, her 'senior' looking as if she understood perfectly. "Speaking of, our, mmm... friendship rings finally came in." Shizuku added, opening a drawer and digging into it

"Oh, really? I thought that was a complete scam, honestly!" Mikoto laughed, sitting up as Shizuku pulled out a white, rectangular box. "Do they, er... how do they fit?" Mikoto corrected herself, firing off a glance towards Amelia before looking back at Shizuku.

"Quite nicely, actually." Shizuku replied, holding up her right hand and showing her pinky, the green ring, looking almost like polished jade, glistening in the sunlight. "I've already handed Akane hers, she was in here about five minutes before the two of you showed up." she explained, slipping a ring out of the box and reaching across her desk. Taking the ring, Mikoto slipped it on, a smile filling her face as Amelia watched her, entranced by the ring.

"That looks... so pretty..." she whispered, her mind racing as she wondered how she might get her hands on one for testing. Having somehow forgotten Amelia was even there, Shizuku jumped slightly and gasped when the first year had spoken up. Breathing quickly, she placed a hand on her chest in an attempt to slow her heartrate.

"No, Shizuku, seriously, you need to rest! This is not normal for you!" Mikoto demanded, stomping her foot down as Shizuku groaned, rubbing her temples as she felt a headache coming on.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—" Amelia began, frantically fidgeting in her seat as Shizuku interrupted her.

"Don't worry yourself, Tremblay. It's my fault for not getting enough sleep, and I suppose it's to be expected that my attention span and situational awareness would be compromised, by now…" she sighed, grabbing the booklets she had collected. "Here you go, Miss Tremblay… please go ahead and read these, let me know how you plan to proceed tomorrow, if you could. And again, I'm sorry about not using my head and letting slip your vice…" Shizuku trailed off, her grip on the paperwork very weak as Amelia reached over and accepted it. Hesitating, Amelia bit her lip as Shizuku looked up at her, appearing very haggard. "Was there something else you needed?"

"U-um, well… I know you're very tired, but… would it be possible to learn where you ordered those rings?" she asked, hoping that Shizuku, in her compromised state, might say something to point them in the right direction. However, what Shizuku did next caused her to want to bounce off the walls and shout in ecstasy.

"Mmm… hang on…" Shizuku trailed off, reopening the same drawer and retrieving the box again. Sliding the lid off, Amelia watched as Shizuku presented the box to her, showing a three empty slots, and a ring that sat snugly in a fourth spot in the white pillow inside of the box. "Take it."

"W…wait, r-reeeeaaaally?!" Amelia exclaimed, her hand shaking as she pulled the ring out from its home.

"Mhm… you can keep it, if you make me a promise." Shizuku began, smiling as Amelia slipped the ring on, a massive, wide grin on her face, before looking back to Shizuku and nodding rapidly at a pace that made Shizuku and Mikoto concerned for her neck. "Write me up a report on the self-help techniques listed in those booklets. Make it… four thousand words, and end it with the technique you'd like most to attempt, and what help you might need from the Student Council to achieve those goals."

"Absolument, je vais y arriver~!" Amelia exclaimed happily, bouncing in her seat as Shizuku and Mikoto looked on in confusion. "O-oh, um, I said I absoluuuutely will." Amelia explained, reigning in her antics and blushing, though looking back at the ring on her right pinky and giggling quietly as she admired it.

"Alright, well, make sure you start heading to class, break will be over soon." Shizuku reminded her, Amelia practically hopping out of the room as her huge smile seemed to flood the room. The two of them watching as she closed the office door tightly, Mikoto looked back at Shizuku in concern.

"Was that really a good idea? I mean, it was really nice of you, but still…"

"Well, it was better than trying to come up with a believable lie on the spot as to who made these, while I'm as tired as I am. Besides, they mistakenly gave us an extra, and giving it to Tremblay gets her off our backs about it." Shizuku pointed out, yawning widely and quickly growling over it as she pulled a milk coffee drink from another drawer in her desk and quickly cracking it open.

"I'm worried it will hurt her or something, though…" Mikoto sighed, watching as Shizuku took a large swig of her drink and looked as if she had just swallowed something gross, thoughts of a hot, black coffee flooding her mind.

"I honestly doubt it. All it does is hide our energy signature, right? So, I can't see it being anything but inert if a normal human slipped it on." Shizuku suggested, Mikoto nodding as the idea made sense to her, though there was still a lingering feeling in her stomach that a mistake had been made.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the office door, Amelia had her back to the door as she listened in to their conversation. Sighing silently as she moved on and examined the ring on her finger, she was relieved that it had seemed like her identity as a Kämpfer hadn't been discovered after all.

Suddenly very excited, the young Kämpfer practically vibrated as she pulled out her cellphone, entering the elevator when it had opened up infront of her. Dialing a number, she impatiently waited as it rung.

"Câlice, hurry up, sir…" she mumbled, eyes widening slightly as the familiar voice of the major she had traveled with answered her call in French.

"Ah, Papa! You'll never guess what just happened!" Amelia exclaimed excitedly, remaining in character and speaking in English with her French accent very apparent, hearing a click of a message recorder over her phone as she passed through a hallway now crowded with girls preparing for their next class.

"What's that, Master Corporal?" the voice answered her back, the familiar sound of hushed voices in the background, telling her she must have interrupted the Major during a meeting with the task force.

"Remember those girls I mentioned I ran into yesterday, and how one of them had a pretty ring? They had an extra and gave it to me!" she explained, hearing shouts and gasps of shock and excitement in the background.

"Incroyable! Well done, Tremblay!" he exclaimed, sounding pumped. "Just finish off the day and immediately return to headquarters."

"Sure thing, Papa, but, um… could I make a small dinner request?" she spoke quietly, quickly descending the staircase before ducking into the underside of it at the ground floor, not at all surprised to find a few cigarette butts, accompanied by a discarded face mask and a lone black aluminum bat with a dent in it.

"Go ahead." The Major spoke loudly, sounding curious as Amelia glanced around carefully, once again making sure she was alone.

"We need to give these girls the breathing room the Japanese Government promised in the media. I'm pretty convinced that Miss Sangou is going to end up in the hospital, or something, and soon, due to fatigue and stress. She is a key member of their group, and I'm totally convinced that if she collapses, the others are going to panic and do something, like… dumb." She explained, keeping her voice down, hearing girls laughing and giggling as they walked up the stairs directly above her head.

"Actually, we were just discussing that very matter when you contacted us, Agent Tremblay." another voice piped up, this one clearly belonging to a Japanese gentleman. Rolling her eyes at the 'Agent' part, since the JSDF as a whole had taken it upon themselves to call her that for some reason, Amelia stayed silent. "We were trying to determine how we could go about keeping an eye on them while giving them some space so they could focus on their studies and spend less time being nervous and distracted. They are still young women in high school, after all."

"Indeed, and hopefully this ring will give us some answers to solve that predicament." The familiar voice of Adrian floating out, clearly a distance away from the phone.

"Aha! I knew I'd find you at some point if I looked hard enough!" a girl declared behind Amelia, her shout of surprise catching in her throat as she spun around to find a purple-haired girl with a wicked smile on her face.

"Ah, Papa, I have to go…" Amelia said quickly, ending the call and switching the phone off as she watched Masumi nervously, knowing exactly who this girl was.

"Wow, I never knew that Seitetsu's female gang hung out under here… are you a member?" she asked Amelia, smiling widely as she pulled out a notepad and pen.

"N-no! I just came here for a private phone call!" Amelia shouted at her, stamping a foot to the floor angrily as Masumi prodded a few of the cigarette butts around with a shoe.

"Hmm? They sure smoke a lot, don't they?" she pondered loudly, Amelia feeling a strong pang of desire, suddenly remembering that she hadn't had a smoke since this morning. "Ah, well, I'd better leave that alone. Last time I wrote a story about them, they came and smashed one of the newspaper's computers and threatened to beat me up." She commented offhand, turning around while coaxing Amelia out. "Come on, come on!"

"They threatened to beat you up… isn't that scaaaaary?" she asked, following Masumi as they re-entered the hallway.

"Eh, if you haven't heard, I've actually received a far worse threat, recently. So, I'm not all that bothered by it. That's small time, now." Masumi answered her, the warning bell suddenly sounding off and reminding the girls to make their way back into their classrooms for their next class. Beginning to wave at Masumi, Amelia started to walk away before she found Masumi gripping her shoulder tightly.

"I don't think so! You can't get away that easily, French girl!" Masumi grinned darkly, Amelia suddenly very worried for her safety as she was suddenly yanked off her feet and dragged up the staircase. The halls moved in what felt like a blur, until she found herself in what seemed more like a small storage room with the curtains drawn down to just above the sill, letting in very little light. Looking around in the seat she found herself thrust into, Amelia was suddenly blinded by a desk lamp that Masumi had flicked on and turned towards her. "Talk!"

"Uwah... who are yoooou? Am I in danger?" Amelia whined, Masumi letting go of the lamp and smacking her palm with a balled-up fist.

"That's right! I never introduced myself!" Masumi declared, suddenly flashing her a wide smile and holding up an ID card. "My name is Masumi Nishino! I'm a reporter for the school newspaper, and was just selected this morning by the Japan News Network for an Investigative Journalism scholarship at Tokai University in Tokyo! I might be a young first year student here at Seitetsu Gakuin, but I'm also a journalist who means business!" she declared suddenly, Amelia filing that bit of information away for later as she clapped, looking impressed. Blushing and scratching the back of her head sheepishly, she suddenly startled Amelia when she slammed her hands onto the table between them.

"W-what?" Amelia asked nervously, swallowing audibly as Masumi gave her another powerful smirk, flashing her teeth.

"Unfortunately, I don't think I'm getting any huge scoops like the story with Red anytime soon, so I have to settle with smaller, school stories, such as digging into the newbies who show up. That being said, I have some questions for you!" she declared, sitting back into her seat as she whipped out a notepad and pen.

"O-oh... o-okay." Amelia answered quietly, biting the tip of her thumb as she finally began to legitimately become concerned.

"First! Is it true that you're single?"

"Huh? Oh, no... I still have a boyfriend back in Canada." Amelia replied honestly, a small part of her wondering when she'd be able to return home and see him as Masumi nodded and wrote an answer down.

"Okay, so... not at the moment, but likely shortly..." she spoke aloud, causing Amelia is frown and begin arguing with her. "Trust me, I know for a fact that long distance relationships never work out, and it's only a matter of time." she proclaimed, as Amelia glared at her. Giving her the usual trademark smirk, Masumi pointed the lamp at her again. "Besides, what lots of people want to know, is, would you swing for a girl, or are you about that vanilla boy and girl life?"

"W-wha...?!" Amelia shouted, leaning away from her as a blush began forming, not at all happy with the line of questioning. 'Christ! God damn teenagers and their hormones!'

"Oh, come on! You have to know that you're making a number of boy's hearts in our year go doki-doki!" Masumi laughed, thrusting a finger at her. "There are even a few girls who've admitted anonymously that they find you super cute, some of them even in your class!" she explained, Amelia's blush growing in intensity as she listened, simultaneously flattered that she can still turn younger boy's gazes, though also quite bitter about it since the real her was actually a twenty-eight-year-old woman, and they were only staring at her Kämpfer form, which made her look like she was a pretty girl nearing her sixteenth birthday.

"W-w-wait... r-really?"

"Take all of that with a bit of humility, though. Natsuru Senou, Kaede Sakura, and the Student Council President still have dominating grip on the school in terms of getting people hot and bothered and wanting to jump their bones. You're about on par with, mmm, maybe someone like Mikoto Kondou?" Masumi suddenly added, deflating Amelia's growing ego nearly instantly, not that Mikoto was an ugly girl by any metric. In fact, she was quite pretty and cute in her own right.

Coughing as she reminded herself that she was there on an undercover assignment, anyways, and not to try and fit in amongst teenagers, she added onto Masumi's statement.

"Oh, I knoooow~! Senou is sooo pretty! She looks like she could be an idol~!"

"Doesn't she, though? But, uh... I'm... pretty confident that he—er, she'll never do that. It's, um... against her personal beliefs... or something..." Masumi nodded, looking away with a nervous expression as she trailed off.

'Ah, bien sûr! So, it seems she knows both Natsurus are the same person, also! At least this essentially confirms it, since it's unlikely she'd have such a personal and in-depth interview with Mishima without finding out a few other things in the process. Silly girl was probably shocked to find out everyone's true identity.' Amelia thought to herself, imagining the looks on everyone's face once she got back to headquarters in the evening and recounted the day.

"Right, anyways! Next question! Where and why did you learn Japanese!" Masumi demanded, surprising Amelia as she had been expecting something lewd, the way things were going.

"Oh, uh, Papa has always had business connections here in Japan, and he alwaaaaays wanted to move closer to them. He hired a tutor to teach me Japanese when I was really little! I actually know more Japanese than he does, now~!" Amelia giggled, recalling her cover story that they had carefully built in the days before she transferred in.

"Oh, a tutor, huh? That's awesome! Your grasp of Japanese must be fantastic, because I haven't really heard any mistakes!" Masumi exclaimed, sticking her tongue out as she wrote furiously onto her notepad. "Now, another key question!" Masumi smirked, Amelia smiling as it seemed like the only objectionable question was her first. "What are your three measurements and cup size?! I know you're not all that filled out up there, but people still eat this stuff up!"

'Never mind…' Amelia groaned to herself, sighing and drooping as Masumi shoved the lamp into her face again. 'This evening can't come soon enough…'

---

"Here, try this one." Akane instructed, dropping an old tome down onto the table before them. The book made a loud 'THUMP!' as it slapped down, throwing a cloud of dust in front of Natsuru.

"Oh, damn…!" Natsuru coughed, swatting at the air in front of his face as the smell of musty paper filled his nostrils. "What the hell is this? This thing looks like it's from the seventies."

"It's titled 'Ancient Mythological Beasts from Around the World' by Kenichi Kato, and basically about one of the last damn books in here that could potentially help us figure out your weird dog-thing." Akane growled, prodding an old book of her own as she sat across from him. She let loose a choked cry when the spine of her hardback book practically disintegrated the moment she lifted the cover. Looking at the book as if a brave soldier had just died in her care for a moment, she ended up slamming it angrily onto a nearby cart to deal with later.

"R-right…" Natsuru mumbled, looking away as Akane pouted angrily. The smell beginning to fade, Natsuru leafed through the pages, skipping past the foreword written by the author and moved directly into a table of contents. Leafing past it, since he had no idea what the name of the creature he was looking for was (assuming it was even in the book) Natsuru looked up at Akane as she propped her feet up on the table and leaned her seat back.

"Not to be rude or ungrateful, but… class started about five minutes ago, you know that, right?" Natsuru pointed out to her, frowning in concern when Akane just shrugged and continued to wiggle her feet. "Akane, you're putting your status as an honor student at risk! I'm not worried about myself, since I have a plausible excuse, and my marks were never exactly anything outside of the norm in either direction."

"Natsuru, I… I have an admission to make." Akane mumbled, sitting up as she began scratching at her arm as she bit her lip. "I've not been an honor student… for about a month now."

"What?!" was all he could ask, looking on in concern as Akane began growing annoyed.

"Don't gimme that shit, man! Being a Kämpfer is hard, and it's even harder when I'm trying to make sure you don't get brainwashed into being a girl forever and letting that bitch Sakura convince you to bump uglies!" Akane snarled in a hoarse whisper, Natsuru recoiling as she stood up and slammed her hands down on the table, bothering a few other students who looked at them in annoyance for a moment. Quickly noticing her own behavior, Akane sighed and slumped back into her seat, looking downcast. "I'm sorry, it's not your fault… I shouldn't have gotten pissed at you over this."

"Hey, Akane, it's okay… I should have realized this was a sensitive topic when you tried brushing it off." He spoke softly, reaching across and taking one of her hands in his own, giving it a squeeze as she began to blush slightly. "I wouldn't have ever asked you to give up something so important to you, but I'm thankful you were willing to go this far for me. I don't think I could have gone this far without you."

"I… you… can you just…" Akane struggled, a blush forming on her face as Natsuru looked at her in curiosity, tilting his head slightly as his partner yanked her hand from his grasp. "Oi, dickhead, look for that fucking monster, would ya?" she settled on admonishing him, though a faint blush still glowed on her cheeks as Natsuru remembered the book and began leafing through it again. "But, um…" she began, causing him to pause for a moment. "If, uh, you wanted to make it up to me… you could always take me out to hang out, like to a movie or something, you know? I'm not hard to please or nothing. Just the two of us, this time, though!"

"Sure! Did you want to go tomorrow night?" he asked her, his sudden acceptance catching her off guard as she nodded numbly, unsure if Natsuru was aware he had just asked her out on a date. By the time she was ready to ask him if he was aware, the opportunity had come and gone as he had returned to the book. "Oh, good! The book has illustrations! Maybe we'll get lucky this time." He commented, the hefty book listing out creatures alphabetically as he moved through them all.

"Uh, I dunno about you, Natsuru, but I think I'd prefer finding out that this thing is just some weird deformed dog, and not an ancient mythological creature. It would present some scary connections to our current problem." Akane pointed out, as he looked up at her in confusion. "Ancient Greek artifact affecting us that's connected to Hellenism? A book on ancient mythological creatures? And a weird, man-eating freak of nature that shows up the same night that friggin' tablet does?"

"Oh… oh, man..." Natsuru groaned, suddenly wanting nothing more than to ignore the book and discuss something else as Akane nodded stiffly. Giving up, Natsuru returned to flipping through the pages, with much less fervor than before as Akane watched him closely, also eying the drawings as they went by.

A handful of minutes flew by, Akane occasionally getting up from her seat as she ministered to the odd duty in the library that came to her attention. The action wasn't missed by Natsuru, who couldn't help but let his mind wander as he wondered about her.

'I can't help but find it weird that someone who can be so wild, ferocious, and foul-mouthed continues to enjoy being a librarian… does she actually enjoy it still? Or is she just continuing to do it since she was before her personality changed?' he thought, haphazardly flipping pages as he watched her point in a direction, after another student asked her something, probably directions to a section, Akane smiling sincerely as he thanked her profusely. 'Hmm… she's actually kind of cute, when she's not being rude or ramming her gun down my throat.' He noticed, thinking back on the one time she filled his bedroom walls with numerous bullet holes in an effort to get her way. As the memory replayed in his mind, he was startled when a hand smacked down on the page he was about to flip past.

"Oi, doofus, are you even paying attention?!" Akane suddenly began berating him again, snapping Natsuru's attention back to the real world as she pulled the book away from him. Pulling up her phone, she compared an image on it to the one in the book, quickly pointing at it. "Just great… this looks almost exactly like it. Some fuckin' thing called a Crocotta. Not sure how to say that in Japanese…"

"Crocotta…?" Natsuru said back to her, sitting up from his seat slightly as he craned his neck to look. Getting up from her seat, Akane dragged the book around and quickly sat in the seat beside him, shuffling closer until their shoulders touched in an effort to get some privacy.

"Yeah, a Crocotta… says here that they are a deadly enemy of men and dogs, and a mythological 'Dog-Wolf' creature predominantly reported in Ethiopia and India, as well as… fucking Greece, of-fucking-course." Akane groaned, shaking her head before continuing. "Its appearance can change depending on its ancestry, though the general consensus is that it is a foul-looking, four-legged creature. It is known to mimic the voices of men to call them to them, prior to ripping them apart using a continuous ridge of razor-sharp bone within its mouth. It will also hunt dogs, disguising themselves as sick and weakened humans in an effort to draw them in before striking.

"Crocottas seldom capture females. According to a miniscule number of accounts of questionable reliability and origin, that Crocottas, as opposed to eating them, they prefer to attempt cop—okay, fuck off with that shit. That's just fucking gross." Akane announced abruptly, blushing intensely as Natsuru read the sentence to the end, himself. "That fucking critter had better be ready to get turned into a fine red mist if it tries to pull that shit on me, OR the other two."

"So, it eats dogs, too… makes sense for it to be an enemy of dogs, then." Natsuru forged on, wanting to forget the final part of the last passage.

"Mm. Doesn't look like much else is in here, either… mostly just about what animals mating can cause one to be born, and some more bits about it's different appearances and that it's stronger than the average man."

"Sounds like if we were to run across this thing, we'd actually be able to take it down pretty easily, so long as we're transformed." Natsuru added, Akane nodding as she pantomimed a handgun and pointed her finger at an imaginary target.

"You put enough lead into anything and it'll go down, no worries." She snarked, smirking as Natsuru chuckled. A silence suddenly fell upon the pair of them as they looked back to the book, a sense of discomfort at the unknown gnawing at them as the seconds ticked by.

"Jeez, look at us! Thinking something that never evidence that it actually existed pops into existence suddenly just because a stupid tablet shows up and rocks the boat here in Japan!" Natsuru laughed, Akane joining him as she held her sides, wiping a tear away.

"Some weird freak of a monster that wants to get it on with human girls, yeah right!" she struggled to keep her volume down, flipping the book closed and moving away from Natsuru as she prepared to return it to its home.

"Yeah, we're just getting paranoid from all this stress, I think. It's obviously some rabid, deformed dog that got the better of the poor guy." Natsuru suggested, sighing and shaking his head as Akane snorted with laughter.

"Hey, could you two keep it down? I'm trying to read my novel!" a third-year male student complained, having stomped over and looking at them angrily.

"Oi, fuck off! I'm the librarian, I'll do what I want in my fucking library!" she shouted at him, causing the boy to flinch and quickly scurry away.

"… You're just an assistant librarian from the library committee, though." Natsuru pointed out, chuckling and shaking his head as Akane smirked and shrugged.

"You and I both know that, but he clearly doesn't."

"You are a bad influence for young, studious girls everywhere." He joked, chuckling again as Akane flipped him off, though she smiled and chuckled lightly. "I have to ask, though… I thought you were trying to keep your old personality going as a cover?"

"I was, but it got really hard after I kept finding books people had defaced this morning. So, I decided to start telling anyone that asked that after getting jumped, I was tired of being meek and shy all the time." Akane explained, taking one last look at the book in front of them before flipping it closed and picking it up. "Right, I'll put this back and head to class. I'll just tell 'em I was writing reports about the vandalism in the books. You… do you, I guess."

"Hey." Natsuru called out to her, standing up as Akane turned to look at him. "For what it's worth… I am sorry that you lost your honor student status."

"Eh, don't be. I already had my cry over it, and I'd come to realize I was only pushing myself for it because that's all I thought I was good for." She shrugged, smiling as she tapped her fingers on the cover of the book. "I figured that since I don't have to worry about it so much, anymore, I can start doing more of what I want to do. Like going to the shooting range, or whatever, and I don't have to be so tired from studying all the time to be able to do much more."

"That's… actually a fairly healthy way to look at it… I think?" Natsuru responded, appearing impressed as Akane nodded.

"But, seriously, I should get going. I'll, um… I-I'll hityouupforourdatelater, alright?" she said hurriedly, before running off and leaving Natsuru confused, which quickly devolved into him blushing as he figured that Akane must have misunderstood his intentions. Sighing in defeat, since she had already bolted, Natsuru was left to his own devices.

Getting up, he wandered around the library and began brooding over his current problems. Tonight, Shizuku mentioned she was planning to at least scope out the facility that the tablet had been taken to, according to Mikoto. But he was concerned, since she had also texted him a warning about Shizuku right after the warning bell for the next class had gone off. Apparently, Shizuku was very out of it, extremely exhausted and making a number of silly, albeit concerning mistakes over the smallest of things. He had actually spoken with Akane about it, but she brushed it off, assuring him that Shizuku would obviously make sure she was good to go before attempting anything, and to have some faith in her, before suggesting that they try looking up the weird animal that made a meal of someone downtown last night.

Moving on, Natsuru began to wonder about how utterly useless his time spent at Kaede's had been. She had clearly made absolutely certain that, whether or not it was herself or someone else, Natsuru was constantly being supervised in some manner. In fact, just about the only thing he was likely going to be able to slink away and do with minimal interference was to try messing with his guitar again… if the mood ever struck him, that is. And even then, he was convinced that one or more of them would watch through a crack in the door. They seemed very intent on getting him to pick the instrument up again.

"Mm…" Natsuru grumbled unintelligently as he looked over some books on the shelf beside him, his mind drifting to the events of the morning at Kaede's apartment. Sure, he was bothered by Rika's admission of trying to become promiscuous at a young age, but he honestly found himself continuing to be consumed by Hitomi's offhand comment about Kaede's chest, which he had tried his best to lie and imply he bought Hitomi's weak excuse. At the time, he had instantly suspected that Kaede had slept with all of them. One might say that he was just being paranoid and jealous, but their expressions when he had pressed Hitomi for an explanation told him plenty. In fact, he had even found himself being bothered by it right before his first class, before he was distracted by Mikihito's sudden, strange behavior around him.

Part of him wasn't really concerned, since it wasn't like what Kaede did in her personal time was any of his business, even more so since they weren't even dating. But he could feel another part, somewhere deep inside him, that twisted around like an angry snake whenever he thought about Kaede sleeping with the Whites.

Shaking his head and stretching, Natsuru pushed the thoughts out of his head, deciding to finally begin making his way to class. He had been spending a lot of time these past few days skipping class to put out the various fires current events were causing, and he wondered how much longer the 'Student Council excuses were going to hold water. Thinking on it, Natsuru wondered if he might be able to also get an answer out of Mikihito for his earlier weird behavior.

---

"Ah, there is the bell… gentlemen, let's leave it at that. No homework for today, considering basically none of you would bother doing it anyways." Class 2-4's Japanese History teacher sighed, shaking his head. "Learned my lesson after 70% of you failed to turn the last major booklet in and I had a mental breakdown…" he grumbled on his way out the door.

As Natsuru couldn't help but feel a little guilty, considering he was one of the boys who didn't do the work, he opted to distract himself by looking to see if anyone was willing to socialize.

Mikihito was still behaving oddly, seeming to be reading some kind of letter inside his desk while casting the odd glance his way. Ignoring him, Natsuru continued to look around, hoping to find something, when he was surprised as a finger tapped his shoulder.

"Uh, h-hey, Senou… wondering if we could talk for a moment?" the vaguely familiar boy asked him, scratching at his stylish hair. Looking behind him at the empty desk, Natsuru shrugged and thumbed towards it, wondering what his classmate wanted, giving him a look as Natsuru tried to place a name to him. "You, uh… you don't recognize me, do you?" he asked, smirking slightly as Natsuru shook his head. Leaning back in the seat, the boy smiled as the sunlight flowed through the window, highlighting his silky blond hair, green eyes, and porcelain-white teeth. "It's me, Kenji Nakazawa."

"UUHWHAAAAAT?" Natsuru exclaimed, jumping to his feet as Kenji chuckled nervously, the debacle catching the attention of their neighbors.

"Yeah, I've gotten that a few times already, today. Just kind of kept to myself, I'm still not totally comfortable being seen like this…" he admitted, flicking his stray bang away from his eyes as he glanced around, finding a few of his peers shell-shocked at his admission, considering he had just suddenly appeared right after lunch and they had confused him for a student from another class playing a prank.

"Why… why are you… what?" Natsuru struggled to form a coherent thought, looking over the boy who was once the epitome of the 'nerdy high-school student' look, if admittedly somewhat decent looking… for a skinny guy.

"Look, uh… this is more or less… the actual me." Kenji began to explain, scratching at the back of his head a look of embarrassment filled his features. "The guy you and everyone else saw was me just trying to keep a low profile, initially. And then it became a full-on cover as I tried to get Senou-chan to consider going out with me. I kind of figured, after the initial interaction that she and I had, where I accidentally shoved my face into her... er, well, where I got the title 'Legendary Pervert'… I sort of panicked and thought it might be best to... stick to it." He paused, looking back to Natsuru as he offered a shy smile. "Admittedly, I did become hooked on anime in the end, though."

"O-o-okay, but, u-uh… why the secrecy? And why not tell her that you didn't mean to, and that it was an accident? It's not like she's unapproachable, you know... as long as you're not being weird, I mean." Natsuru asked him, explaining that Kenji didn't have to be so awkward around his alter-ego, though a part of him found it unsettling to encourage one of the original key sources of his stress at school while transformed to speak with his other half. As Natsuru looked to his side, he noticed Mikihito was giving him an odd look, only broken when he looked back to his desk, scratching his cheek.

"Ah, well... yeah... I guess I could try talking to her, but... she always seemed so annoyed whenever she saw me. I'm worried I burned that bridge by trying whatever came to mind when I was disguised."

"Yeah, w-well... like I asked, what was with the secrecy?" Natsuru pressed him a second time, hoping to correct his mistake from a moment ago of encouraging Kenji.

"Oh, uh, well... it's because my family is, like... stupid rich." Kenji explained bluntly, sighing as Natsuru gave him a look.

"Okay, well, one of my friends is also really rich. She doesn't act weird to hide it." Natsuru pointed out, not looking all that impressed with Kenji.

"But she does hide it, right?" Kenji countered, Natsuru opening his mouth to say something, the words catching in his throat as he realized that Kenji had a point. "I mean, sure, maybe she doesn't act weird, but... I'm sure we all have secrets that we'd go to any length to hide."

"I... hmm." Natsuru mumbled quietly, realizing that Akane only ever showed her home to him because of necessity. She probably would have been perfectly happy never revealing that she was rich to him, based on her stressing the point that she wasn't a rich snob once Natsuru had finally gotten view of the truth.

"See? I was so worried that everyone would think I was some rich brat who was full of himself, never knowing a moment of struggle when it comes to finances, or wanting something and not being able to afford it... it's a hard secret to have, since so many people just assume things about you before they meet you. So, it felt like a no-brainer to pretend I was just an ordinary guy whose family was just able to afford the entry fees."

"O-okay… well, alright, I guess." Natsuru murmured, still looking confused as Kenji watched him closely, his appearance still throwing Natsuru off. "Why did you stop with this, uh, 'nerdy Nakazawa' persona? And why tell me all this at all?"

"A very good friend of mine came by my home last night, and long story short, he basically slapped me around and knocked some sense into me, after I explained my current problems. I know a number of people have told me this, but when he came into my room, grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, yanked me to my feet, and told me to knock it off with the act and the weird, sketchy shit when it comes to Senou-chan, or I was going to ruin every last little chance I have with winning her over… if I haven't already, that is…" he trailed off, sighing as a look of distress filled his features, wringing his hands as he looked everywhere but Natsuru.

'Ah, I actually somehow feel sorry for you, you poor bastard. You never had a snowball's chance in hell with female me, even if you led with this persona. More-so considering I'd never let a guy get close in that capacity, even if my bracelet was permanently messed up from the first blast of energy. I'd just opt to get into Yuri.' Natsuru thought to himself, a slight blush growing as he embarrassed himself with thoughts of sleeping around as a girl.

"The, um, whole reason I explained any of this to you, is, well… if you're really not going out with her… could you tell her I'm sorry? And that I'd love a chance to talk with her to explain some things…?" Kenji pleaded with Natsuru, the shift in behavior still causing Natsuru to be completely unsettled.

"Well, you're right, I'm not dating her, but that doesn't mean she's avai—" Natsuru began, stopping mid-sentence when a sudden image of Kaede and Hitomi blushing and breathing heavily while staring one-another in the eyes blipped for a moment in his mind, causing his stomach to roll like it had earlier, accompanied by a flash of irritation that he quickly pushed aside. "Look, I'm not dating her, but it's… complicated. But needless to say, she's not available." Natsuru sighed, as Kenji grimaced, twiddling his thumbs. "That being said, I don't even know if she wants to talk to you. Your underground club disgusts her, and that whole camera thing? It really freaked her out."

Kenji made a motion to begin explaining himself, however, their next period teacher had made his way into the room, interrupting him.

"Two minutes, gentlemen! Please have everything ready for my class before the bell rings!"

"The club will be gone, today. Like, I'll have it dismantled before the end of school, on my honor… which I'll be the first to admit, probably doesn't count for much amongst everyone, since it's suspiciously convenient for me to suddenly be like this. But it's all I have, so…" Kenji declared, continuing before Natsuru could respond. "And, while I swear the cameras were for innocentreasons, as awful as it looked, I already had the cameras removed."

"Wait… you removed the cameras?" Natsuru asked, unsure if he had heard him right. "When?!" he exclaimed as Kenji nodded vigorously.

"Mr. Nakazawa? Do you plan on socializing all day, or would you be so inclined to get to your own seat?" their teacher interrupted him again, Kenji smiling sheepishly and standing up.

"Sorry, Senou. If I get a chance later, I'll try to explain! Please let Senou-chan know!" he pleaded with Natsuru, who nodded absent mindedly as his mind raced while he pulled his textbooks out for the next class.

'So, someone else added cameras after Nakazawa removed his, and then someone else still came and removed the second set of cameras. Which means the Military likely wouldn't have ever seen the other three transforming and storming my house!' Natsuru realized, before rolling his eyes. 'Not that it's anything more than a moot point, now, beyond confirming that Colonel Smith wasn't lying when he said they don't know for sure if Mikoto and Shizuku are Kämpfer.' Natsuru pondered, closing his eyes and scratching his chin as he mulled the information over. 'Actually, if Nakazawa is telling the truth, I guess it also brings into question who would have installed identical cameras. If it was the Military, surely, they would have either intercepted whoever removed the second set, or even installed another set by now. So, maybe it was Kaede and the Whites?' he guessed, feeling that familiar, faint, bitter sensation in the bottom of his stomach.

"You're not actually going to tell her, are you?" Mikihito deadpanned, Natsuru glancing between him and Kenji a couple of times before responding.

"No, no, I will. I said I would, after all." Natsuru sighed, turning to face forward as he pulled out his books for the next class."

"And is Senou-chan going to actually spare him a thought?"

"Absolutely not, not a chance. Hell would have to freeze over before she gave him the time of day." Natsuru snorted, the two of them chuckling. "Actually, I have it on good authority that condition extends to all guys, unless they just want to be friends."

"Wait, Senou is actually a yuri? I thought that was just Nishino jumping to conclusions." Mikihito asked him, looking taken aback as Natsuru froze, the color draining from his face. "That's kinda hot…" Mikihito trailed off, a lecherous look filling his features as his comment caused blood to rush back to Natsuru's face and causing an intense blush.

"Hey, i-it's complicated, alright?!" Natsuru exclaimed reaching across and yanking Mikihito closer by his collar and gritting his teeth.

"…Why are you blushing and getting all worked up?" Mikihito asked him, squinting as Natsuru's jaw dropped and he recoiled.

"Er, well… I've come to see Natsuru like a sister, okay?! I don't take too kindly to people talking about her like that!" he countered, crossing his arms and looking away, grumbling as one of their peers came rushing back into the class, tripping on one of the desks in a spectacular fashion. Temporarily distracted, Mikihito joined the majority of his class mates in laughing at their peer's misfortune as their teacher tried to quiet them down. Looking back at Natsuru, he stopped laughing when he saw Natsuru pouting as he looked out the window, still clearly bothered by the end of their conversation.

'Dang, that guy must be really close with Senou-chan if I pissed him off like that.' Mikihito pursed his lips, feeling just a little bit bad about his comments. "Hey, Senou, really quick... did you wanna hang out and catch a movie tomorrow? My treat, man."

"Eh? Uh..." Natsuru thought about the offer, initially thinking of turning him down, before recalling the girls commenting that he had no hobbies. As he was about to accept, he recalled his promise with Akane, putting an apologetic smile on his face. "I'd like to, but I already made plans with Akane to hang out tomorrow."

"Ah, Mishima, the girl from the library committee, right? Alright, guess we'll have to try some other time, my week is all clogged up except for tomorrow."

"Skipped your homework?" Natsuru asked him, Mikihito giving him a smirk.

"Yeah, I need to catch up on it. But you skip lots of the work, too, right?" he teased, only to look on in surprise as Natsuru shook his head.

"Naw, I've been getting all of it done, lately. If I didn't, I couldn't be the President's assistant, she'd never keep me around if she found out I wasn't doing my work." Natsuru explained, though in the back of his head he reasoned to himself that Shizuku likely wouldn't remove the one thing that gave his male self an excuse to miss class so that his female self could attend class. She'd probably find some way to coerce him into getting his work done, likely through some lewd blackmail.

"Huh... well, we can talk more, later, I guess. This teach' is a bit of a jerk, and I'm kind of in hot water back home, so I need to actually try for the next little while, here." Mikihito sighed, with Natsuru smirking and shaking his head as the class starting bell sounded off.

---

Natsuru made her way past the gate leading to Mikoto's front door, having nearly immediately transformed before heading home once class had finished. Mikoto had called an 'emergency girl's night' without explaining what was going on, just as Natsuru had been collecting her books after the final period had ended while still in her male form. Since it was supposed to be a sleepover, Natsuru had quickly changed forms in privacy somewhere close to the divide between sides of the school, scurrying across the walkway in a hurry to avoid being caught. Unfortunately, she ended up running into Hitomi, but she took the time to tell her that she wasn't going to be spending the night at Kaede's, and that none of them should wait up for her.

Natsuru had noticed that the angry, bitter sensation in her stomach whenever she thought of Kaede had grown tenfold when she transformed, causing her to be quite cold with Hitomi, confusing the girl. When she pressed Natsuru for more details, stopping Natsuru by grabbing her arm, Natsuru responded by slapping her hand away with an intense, silent glare, before quickly storming off with a 'hmph!' and not a second look. This had the effect of leaving Hitomi extremely confused and concerned, Natsuru imagining the look on her face to be absolutely dumbfounded as she stormed off.

Natsuru had, as a result, spent the better part of the whole walk home, as well as the walk to Mikoto's, absorbed with attempting to decipher her own thoughts and emotions. She knew that she was upset with Kaede and the Whites, that much was obvious to her, but the bitter feeling flowing through her veins whenever she thought of them caused those same cursed images of Kaede sleeping with Hitomi, or any of the others, to enter her mind, increasing the sensation even further. As she stepped up to the door, Natsuru noticed a tear threatening to fall at the corner of her right eye in her reflection in the glass, quickly wiping it away and taking a deep breath as she buried the unknown problem deep within herself.

Knocking on the door, Natsuru released the breath she realized she had been holding, making sure to steady her breathing as she saw Ryuusei suddenly look out the door and smiling. Opening the door, he greeted her with a huge grin.

"Hey! You must be Natsuki Saito, right? Mikoto's told me so much about you!" he greeted her, Natsuru giving a quick bow as she entered the home.

"Y-yes, um, Mr. Kondou... Mikoto invited me to spend the night, is that, um... alright?" Natsuru asked him, already knowing that the man wouldn't have ever said no to her. Nodding, he held his hand out.

"Of course, of course! Here, Mikoto mentioned that you have a weak constitution at times, allow me to take your bag." he offered. Natsuru, opting to play the part of a shy, ill girl in order to avoid raising any red flags, agreed and handed him her bag. Quickly removing her shoes and pointing the toes back to the door, Natsuru followed him into the home, making sure to look around and examine everything with curiosity as he watched her. "Have you never been inside our home?"

"N-no, um... I haven't. I've only ever been o-outside it, once, when we w-went to the mall... for my phone." Natsuru offered, making the entire thing up on the fly, her blood running cold when Ryuusei frowned and nodded. Nervous, Natsuru kept her mouth shut as they walked up a staircase and Ryuusei knocked on the first door on the left.

"Mikoto, Saito-san is here." he called out to her, the pair of them hearing Mikoto's feet thumping on the floor in her room as she opened it up, smiling widely as she waved to Natsuru. Handing her bag over to Mikoto, Ryuusei coughed and got Mikoto's attention again. "How come you never invited Saito into our house when she came to get you to go to the mall last week? At the very least you could have offered her a glass of water, if she gets ill easily."

"Wha...?" Mikoto asked, looking stupid as her jaw dropped in confusion, before glancing towards Natsuru, who had walked around Ryuusei and grouped up with Akane and Shizuku, both of whom had arrived before her.

"A-ah, Mr. Kondou, it's okay! I-I promise! I actually had a b-bottle of water with me at the time..." Natsuru insisted, Ryuusei glancing between Natsuru and Mikoto, as the latter gave him an exasperated look.

"O-oh, well... I see." he replied quietly, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment as Mikoto sighed, gently pushing him out of the room before closing it behind him. Putting her ear to the door and listening, Mikoto nodded to herself as she turned away from the door, promptly transforming as she pressed her back into it.

"Hey, you. How's it going?" Shizuku asked her, yawning widely as Natsuru became immediately aware of the dark circles under her eyes.

"I'm alright, but you worry about yourself! Why do you look so completely exhausted? I'm tired, too, but I feel like I'm wide awake compared to how you look…"

"Yes, well, I spent most of last night scoping out the research facility that Mr. Kondou had the tablet, and then finished up the rest of the modifications to our disguises. I think I might have gotten an hour and a half of sleep…?" Shizuku explained, looking to the ceiling as she tried to recall when she went to bed, before shaking her head. "Regardless, I know that the tablet has only just arrived, but it's time to make a move. I have it on good authority that security in the building is weak tonight."

"How'd you figure that one out?" Akane asked her, cracking open a soda as she leaned against the wall opposite of Mikoto's bed. Raising a finger, Shizuku unzipped her bag, pulling out a collapsible tripod of sorts and a small whiteboard, setting it up as she pulled out some whiteboard markers, as well as a folder. Before moving on, she pulled another folder out, one that held printed out pictures of movie titles.

'This is quickly starting to feel like some sort of mission briefing, like one you'd see in a spy movie, or something.' Natsuru thought to herself, watching as Shizuku began prepping the whiteboard.

"This gentleman, here…" Shizuku began to explain, trailing off as she slipped a photograph of a man out of the folder, and tacked it onto the whiteboard with a magnet. "He is the area supervisor of the security company that's been contracted to provide security at the research facility. I spoke with one of his subordinates last night, after school, and worked my wiles on him to wriggle some information out of him."

"Oh? What's causing the lax security, then?" Mikoto asked, as Natsuru discreetly asked Akane where she got her drink. Thumbing over to a bowl filled with ice that sat on Mikoto's desk, Akane snorted as Natsuru waddled over happily and grabbed a cola.

"It turns out the area supervisor is retiring, today. After consulting with the client, your Father's branch of the Japanese Archeological Society, they determined that a lighter roster was acceptable, so that as many of the security officers as possible could partake in the farewell party tonight. This was considered perfectly safe due to the fact that no one but themselves, the Archeological Society, the Greek Government, and the Japanese Government, are aware that this artifact is here, or even exists." Shizuku explained, writing 'weak security' in a bubble and drawing a line to the photograph. "Next up, is the 'missing' Whites last night."

"What about them?" Natsuru asked in a monotone, getting her some looks as she recalled that Hitomi had explained yesterday that none of them could escort her to Kaede's yesterday.

"Not that it's much of a surprise, but it seems they have a mole of their own. They were not at their homes with their families last night, but they were, surprise, surprise, at the facility last night. I didn't notice them until Ueda and Nakao were caught loitering. Some kind of disagreement caused them to bicker loudly. It looked as if them being teen girls caused the security team to underestimate what they discovered when they forced them to leave, hence why they still went ahead with the party."

"Of course. I thought it seemed a little too convenient for them to only get into trouble with their parents just now, after all of the after-hours shit they've been doing." Akane grumbled, nursing her soda as Natsuru's expression grew dark.

"So, do they know that security is lax, as well?"

"No idea, honestly… which is another reason why I can't…" Shizuku paused, appearing unwell for a moment as she put a hand to her head and shook it gently. "Sorry. As I was saying, I can't afford the risk of giving them a chance to take it themselves, since we know so little of their intelligence network, and that it would spell the end of Natsuru's double-life in the wrong way."

"Dad's coming." Mikoto suddenly blurted out, flashing back to normal as Shizuku draped a sheet over the whiteboard and tacked a few of the movie photos over it. A moment later, Ryuusei knocked on the door. Looking back and making sure everything was secure, Mikoto opened the door with a feigned look of curiosity, as Akane and Natsuru appeared more interested in the white board. "Hi Dad, what did you need? Are we being too loud?"

"No, no, nothing like that, I just came to let you know that I'm heading out to the research building. A few of my interns discovered something new about the text written on the tablet, and I'm heading in to confirm their findings. I'll be there until fairly late, so don't worry if you hear the door opening up at a late hour."

"Okay… and you're letting a bunch of interns handle that thing? Sounds dangerous." Mikoto joked, smirking as her father laughed.

"Oh, goodness, no! No one is touching it unless we need to. We took some high-quality photos, so no risk of damage to it." He answered, looking into the room as Natsuru and Akane bickering over a pair of movies. "Ah, romance films, I should have guessed. I suppose I'm dodging a bullet."

"Hey, romance films are a valid story medium!" Akane yelled out at him, stomping a foot as everyone looked at her in alarm. "What?! So, I like romance movies, sue me!"

"W-well, anyways, I gotta run, sweetie. I'll see you later. You girls all have fun!" Ryuusei exclaimed, smiling and waving as the girls returned the gesture, with Mikoto peeking put and waving one last time before closing her door.

As Ryuusei ventured down the stairs, his smile turned into a worried frown, as he bit his lip. Stopping at the phone, he picked up the receiver and dialed a number, waiting impatiently as it rung before a familiar voice answered him.

"What's the situation, now?" Adrian asked him, his tone serious as Ryuusei sighed.

"They're definitely up to something. They set up a whiteboard in Mikoto's room, and covered it with a sheet covered in photos of romance films when I went back up to them."

"Did you tell them you were heading out like I said?" Adrian asked him, Ryuusei quickly confirming he did. "Right, you'd best head there, then. An 'Emergency Sleepover' as your daughter called it was fairly clear, but all the same. Something is going down tonight."

"Adrian, Mikoto is all I have left… if my baby girl gets hurt..." Ryuusei's voice wavered, not finishing the thought as he felt ice run through his veins.

"She won't. Amelia is already on route to your home. If they step foot outside, she'll shadow them and provide support where she needs to, and deter them from something if necessary. Otherwise, she'll remain unseen." Adrian assured him, though Ryuusei groaned, rubbing his right temple. "Ryuusei… I know she might not look like much, even more so when she's transformed, but Amelia is a toughcookie, she'll keep them all alive."

"This just isn't fair, Adrian… I lost my wife and unborn daughter years ago, and now someone wants my other daughter dead before she can even properly spread her wings…" Ryuusei huffed, rubbing his eyes as Adrian stayed silent. "Right, well, I guess I need to get scarce… I'll talk more with you later, Adrian."

"Keep your chin up. Everything will come out in the wash, but noone will get hurt as a result if we have anything to say about it." Adrian finished, the pair of them bidding each other farewell before Ryuusei hung up. Grabbing his suitcase by the door, Ryuusei draped a jacket over his arm as he slipped on a pair of loafers. Stepping out the door and into the steadily increasing darkness of the twilight, he spied a young lady in a cloak and a mask as he approached his car. Lifting her mask up, he saw a pink-haired girl smirk, winking as she waved before lowering her mask again and stepping into some nearby bushes. He stared out at her last location, before shaking his head and opening the driver's side door of his car. Giving one last glance up at the second story window belonging to Mikoto's room, he sighed when he saw three of the four girls quickly shy away, causing him to wonder if they saw Amelia as he drove away.

"Okay, he's gone." Mikoto announced, the others sighing in relief as Shizuku gently removed the sheet from the whiteboard. Moving to tack a photo of the facility to it, Shizuku paused again, appearing to stagger slightly.

"Hey, Shizuku, you alright?" Akane asked her, reaching out and touching her shoulder as Shizuku smiled.

"Y-yes, I'm fine—" she began, before stumbling again and falling over, the girls shouting out in worry as Natsuru grabbed ahold of her, gently dropping to her knees as she gently brought Shizuku with her to the floor.

"Shizuku!" Mikoto fretted, pressing the back of her hand to Shizuku's forehead as Shizuku groaned, gripping the sides of her head and grimacing.

"O-oh, my head won't stop spinning…"

"Give me your hand, Shizuku." Akane instructed her, the student council President weakly extending her left arm towards her. Taking it gently, Akane gently slid two fingers onto her wrist, focusing on it intensely as her mouth made small movements.

"Shizuku, have you been drinking water?" Natsuru asked her, carefully reaching for a glass that had been left on Mikoto's bedside table and handing it over to Mikoto, who rushed out of the room to fill it.

"Yes, I have been, but… I feel so dizzy and weak, w-what is…" Shizuku sighed, watching Akane as she released her hand.

"Well, she has tachycardia, at least." Akane confirmed, as Natsuru looked confused. "It means her heart rate is at least one hundred beats per minute. It's normal if you're exerting yourself, but she wasn't. I read it in a medical book in the library."

"What does that mean, though? Is Shizuku okay…?" Mikoto asked her, having returned with the glass of water. Helped into a sitting position by Natsuru, Shizuku accepted the glass of water and greedily drank from it, her hands shaking and straining as she did so.

"I'm… fairly confident that I know what's wrong." Shizuku offered, sighing as the water seemed to fill something her body had desired greatly. Watching as Mikoto's messenger peeked her head out from her hiding spot in Mikoto's closet, Shizuku sighed and glared at the floor. "Over the past few days, I may have only gotten three to four hours of sleep. I've been running around looking for information on this tablet, as well as dealing with the situation at the school, and I've been filling in the gaps with coffee, energy supplements, and the odd power nap w-where…" she trailed off, yawning dramatically. "… Where I could."

"Shizuku!" Natsuru admonished her, upset that the girl had pushed herself to the breaking point like this. "Why are you hurting yourself like this?"

"Because I don't want to lose you, Natsuru. I thought that much was obvious?" she countered, looking completely drained of all her energy. "Let's face it; if you get forced to remain as a girl forever, because I failed to get that tablet before the Whites do, we'd eventually watch as Kaede took you away from us, bit by bit." Shizuku said quietly, a bitter tone in her voice as Natsuru recoiled, looking hurt.

"What? I'd never—!"

"S-speaking of… ngh!" Shizuku grunted, struggling to her feet as the other three watched her in worry. "R-right… let's continue… I can't afford to not be able to do this…"

"Are you fuckin' kidding me? Shizuku, there's no way you're gonna be able to sneak around that place. You can hardly stand on your own!" Akane berated her, as Shizuku gave her a dirty look.

"Watch your tongue, Mishima. I'm capable of a lot of—!" she began to snap back, only finding herself stumbling again, grunting as she fought to maintain her balance.

"Right, that's it! Lay down on my bed, now! You're going to sleep!" Mikoto shouted at her, Shizuku struggling against the other three as they forced her down onto Mikoto's bed.

"You d-don't understand! This is our best chance to protect Natsuru!" Shizuku exclaimed, beginning to panic as her body began to betray her, feeling herself falling asleep quickly as it eagerly welcomed the sensation.

"Yeah, I know it is. That's why I'm going to try and take it." Natsuru said to her quietly, squeezing her hand gently as Shizuku gave her an incredulous look.

"The hell you are, I'm gonna go—" Akane began, before Natsuru raised her hand and silenced her, her expression leaving no room for argument.

"You're already perfectly known. You'd probably be spotted right away, before getting anywhere near the place." Natsuru pointed out, Akane grimacing as she tried to think of a retort. Hearing no response, Natsuru turned her attention to Mikoto. "And before you start, I was able to peg you as you the moment I laid eyes on your Kämpfer form. I can only assume Colonel Smith and your Dad could, as well, and your Dad is there."

"But Natsuru… if you get caught…" Shizuku argued weakly, trailing off as a flash of blue light filled the room. Before them stood the male Natsuru, in unfortunately feminine clothing, though none of them seemed to care.

"Hey, I'll be fine. I'm not gonna get caught… but hey." He chuckled, posing for them. "If I do, at least you can have one last funny memory, right?" he joked, rocking his hips. Though his mind was racing with an unbelievable amount of embarrassment, he grinned and bore it as the girls snickered and laughed, before joining them himself. The four of them all laughed, and laughed, far more than the situation would have really called for, but the stress from the last week and a half had caught up to them, and they couldn't help themselves.

"Heh heh, ah, N-Nat, look… I'm gonna go with you." Mikoto added, her laughter dying off as Shizuku and Akane watched them, wiping tears from their eyes. Natsuru sighed and rolled his eyes, quickly transforming back into his Kämpfer form

"Mikoto, come on! The last thing I need is for you to get spotted by your Dad... or anyone for that matter."

"Hey, are you saying I can't be sneaky? Who's the fastest one in this group?" Mikoto growled, stomping her foot down when Shizuku and Akane joined Natsuru in pointing at herself. "How do you two even know that for sure?! We've never tested it!"

"Pot calling the kettle black, Mikoto. By that same logic, why would you claim that you're faster than Natsuru, if we haven't tested it?" Akane pointed out, Mikoto snarling and waving her arms about.

"Whatever! We're probably really close in agility, since I have to get in close, and all!"

"It might be close, but... I'd wager that Natsuru is just able to edge you out, at the very least." Shizuku sighed from the bed, no longer wanting to leave it as she hardly had the energy to do so. Seeing Mikoto give her an exasperated look, she continued. "She has longer legs than you, so her strides are longer... which is probably for the best, since Natsuru is a glass cannon."

"I am not a glass cannon! I can take a hit!" Natsuru exclaimed angrily, a slight blush forming as Mikoto gave her a look as well.

"... You told me yourself last week that Hitomi basically knocked you clean out with a single, pulled, punch."

"It was charged with electricity!"

"Uh, not to rain on your parade, Natsuru, but she's tagged me with the same kind of punch in full force, before, and I was only dazed and staggered right before returning fire, not full on fall over, clocked out." Akane snickered, as Natsuru groaned in frustration.

"Right, whatever, we can bicker over who's faster and stronger later, we're getting off-topic." Mikoto pointed out, surprising even the half-asleep Shizuku over being the voice of reason. "Nat, I didn't mean I'd follow you directly into the facility. I meant that I would stay outside, on a nearby rooftop, and provide support. I know that place inside and out, and I could get into every room from the entrance with my eyes closed."

"O-oh... that might actually be helpful. Scratch that, it would be immensely helpful." Natsuru smiled sheepishly, as Mikoto smirked and scratched the underside of her nose.

"Hey, cool! If that's all it's going to be for Mikoto, then I can come, too!" Akane exclaimed, wagging her finger and smirking when Natsuru groaned and gave her an irritated look. "Look, if shit hits the fan, you're going to need all the help you can get. I might only be using a 1911, but I can still hit small targets from far away pretty easily. And since we don't know if that Rebecca bitch is in the area and working for the Government, we don't know what to expect."

"But, Akane, I don't—" Natsuru began, once again being interrupted by Shizuku, something that was beginning to grate on her nerves.

"Natsuru... please take them both with you. I'd feel more comfortable handing the responsibility off if you had them there to back you up..." Shizuku spoke quietly, her voice somewhat gravelly as she sat up and took another large gulp of water.

"But, Shizuku... you're sick, and you'd be left alone." Natsuru fretted, frowning in concern as Shizuku cast her an annoyed look.

"Come now, Natsuru, I'm not some helpless child felled by sickness. I just pushed my body too far, and I need to rest." Shizuku admonished her, before looking down to the floor and glaring at it. "My only regret is choosing to do so at such a critical time." she spat venomously, clearly frustrated with herself.

"Hey, Shizuku, give yourself a break. If you didn't do all of this footwork for us, we'd have never known that we have a good chance of pulling this heist off tonight." Akane pointed out, as Shizuku looked up at her in surprise, before quickly looking guilty.

"Ah, and yet, I've managed to not only ask you to put yourself in harm's way again, but I've also gone and dragged the other two into this, all the while sitting in the background once again. So, I suppose that makes for two regrets." Shizuku muttered, before finding herself startled and stuck in a pile of hugs.

"Hey, Shizuku, remember when you got upset that Natsuru and I hid that she was having problems with her magic? You reminded us that we're a team, so keep that in mind! We don't mind pulling our weight, since we're in this together. Stop trying to shoulder everything by yourself, and let us help!" Mikoto chided her, Akane chuckling sheepishly as both Natsuru and her nodded. A few moments went by as the silence started to become awkward, until Akane finally had enough.

"Alright, already, lemme go! This is all the sappy shit you're gonna get from me today, gawd!" she grumbled, breaking free of the group hug as Mikoto and Shizuku giggled, and Natsuru shook her head and smiled. "Right, so how are we doing this?"

"Ah, that's right. Akane, can you get my bag? Feel free to take a look inside, as well." Shizuku commented, grimacing as a wave of nausea left her a bit dizzy. Sparing a moment to show concern for Shizuku, Akane did as she asked, hoisting her surprisingly heavy bag up.

"Jeez, what have you got in this thing? It feels like an armory!" Akane joked, digging into it for a moment before pulling out a clear satchel of what appeared to be small orbs. "Oh... I guess I wasn't far off, huh?"

"Only non-lethal items, don't worry." Shizuku promised, smirking as Akane peeked back into the bag to see what else was in there. "There's also some extras I picked up, just in case I... well, more so in case I was caught, and not laid up in bed with illness."

"What, slow down. What are those?" Natsuru asked, gently taking the bag from Akane as she noticed what appeared to be small wicks peeking out of each silver ball, appearing to be tinfoil now that Natsuru looked closer.

"Those are homemade smoke bombs." Shizuku replied in a matter-of-factly tone, giggling as Natsuru eyed them with intense curiosity. "I decided that if we were going to be disguised as Ninjas, then we might as well go the full mile." she explained, as Natsuru began digging into the bag some more. "Why don't you close that blind, first... I'm getting a bit nervous with the window being wide open like this, considering we know that Yamakawa likes to shadow Natsuru." Shizuku said quietly. Nodding, Mikoto stepped past Akane and Natsuru, making sure to lower the blinds, and set them so nothing could be seen from outside.

Unbeknownst to the girls, however, Shizuku's hunch was very nearly spot on. Their actual audience tapped a button on her phone's screen, ending a recording before she hopped off the rooftop of the house across the street from the Kondou household.

Amelia nodded her head with excitement as she confirmed her recording had saved properly, though she pondered what had transpired directly before, nearly causing her to miss the juicy catch she had just witnessed.

When she had clambered onto the rooftop, she had caught sight of another girl on a different rooftop, only two houses down. She had concealed herself with a cloak, obscuring her face, but Amelia had been able to make out enough of her to be able to tell that they had, indeed, surprised one-another. The girl had quickly clambered to her feet, and the two spent the next few moments staring each other down, Amelia's face hidden by her non-descript mask. Amelia's fingers itched to summon her weapon, but she had held back due to the lack of an aura, and couldn't be sure she wasn't just one of the girls from the school that was obsessed with Natsuru.

In a flash of movement, the girl had bolted, and her inhuman agility had prompted Amelia to give chase, but she had been surprised by the girl's sheer speed, very quickly losing track of her in the dark alleys below. Making note to pass on the discovery of what she suspected was the local Moderator keeping tabs on the girls, Amelia had returned to the house with haste, managing to return in time to see Shizuku Sangou collapse.

Pursing her lips, Amelia started to record from her perch, though she had considered stopping, since it appeared to be nothing more than one of their number having a moment of vulnerability, leading to the others panicking. However, as she continued to record, Amelia's jaw dropped almost comically as she couldn't believe her luck, witnessing and recording Natsuru Senou transforming and confirming her theory practically in broad daylight.

Watching her video in its entirety, Amelia felt a surge of euphoria as she felt vindicated. A smug expression filled her features under the mask as she could only imagine the looks of the Japanese in the task force when she shoved the video in their doubting faces.

'Putain de connards, telling me that I don't know what I'm talking about. Fuck you! I've been a girl for twenty-eightyears, and I've been a Kämpfer for thirteen of them. Pricks!' she thought to herself as she raised her nose in defiance, hands on her hips. Looking back up at the window, Amelia brought her attention back to the mission at hand, as she played with the ring on her right pinky, twisting it around as her red bracelet caught a reflection off a street light. 'Something tells me I won't have to wait too long for something to happen. I don't know what I was looking at in that bag, but still...' she pursed her lips, hoping that the girls weren't going to try to do anything foolish. She sighed, though, and got comfortable as she brought up a secret application on her phone, attaching the video file to a message destined for her Major. Writing up a quick report with the mention of the odd orbs in the girl's possession, as well as the unknown girl spying on their VIPs, Amelia hit send and then leaned back in the shadows as she saw the odd vague silhouette behind the blinds.

A vibration in her pocket let her know that someone had already sent her a reply. Slipping it out, Amelia carefully read the contents.

'Video received; Fantastic surveillance capture, Master Corporal! Natsuru Senou's identity confirmed: Both Natsuru Senous are, in fact, the same individual, and Miss Senou is, indeed, living a double life. Cursory video analysis, coupled with Miss Sangou's purchase records leads intelligence to suspect objects seen in bag are smoke bombs. Be prepared for possible conflict between subjects and unknown third-party. Utmost caution is urged for the unknown third-party spotted at Site K, attempt apprehension of individual if it won't risk endangering subjects, however lethal force is authorized should subjects or yourself be actively threatened. Continue monitoring and reporting on subjects.'

"Damn, like, that was fast... I guess they're totally pulling out all the resources, tonight~..." Amelia mumbled to herself, glancing back up at the window as she noticed another shadow move across it. Deciding to return to higher ground, Amelia hopped up onto the wall she was hiding against, before lithely and expertly leaping to the edge of the rooftop of the same home she had before. Looking around, she determined that, as far as she could see, that strange girl hadn't returned. Lying flat against the roof, Amelia once again returned her attention to the Kondou household, and simply waited.

---

"Another Kämpfer?! What?!" Hitomi exclaimed, her face filling up the entirety of Ryouka's screen as she nodded. Pulling back on her, Kaede gave her an irritated look before looking at her own screen.

"Ryouka, are you sure it was a Kämpfer? Even I haven't noticed anything in the air around the school, beyond a hardly notable disturbance in the local mana field... though, I suppose that could have been the only warning we were going to get." Kaede surmised, as the two girls appeared completely lost. "Mana is the universal energy that spells tap into to take form, and my people are sensitive in varying degrees to anything that alters it." Kaede quickly explained, nodding as Hitomi and Ryouka understood.

"It's almost like a video game..." Ryouka blurted her thoughts out loud, cringing as she realized she had compared a major part of Kaede's culture to mere entertainment, only to find Kaede tilting her head back and forth while wriggling her hand.

"Somewhat, I suppose, depending on the game. Earth's Polynesians were probably the closest to accurately describing it as my people know it." She offered, before shaking her head. "Anyways, what makes you think this girl was a Kämpfer?"

"O-oh, um... I saw her red bracelet reflect the sun just as it was setting." Ryouka explained, as Kaede grimaced and pondered firing a message off to her peers, hoping that someone could tell her if she had found a lost little Kämpfer of theirs.

"And you're sure it wasn't any of them?" she asked, groaning as Ryouka shook her head.

"With the way she carried herself, there's no way she was one of those four. Besides, I had seen all four of them were in Kondou's house when this girl and I surprised one another."

"Ugh... the fact that I didn't pick up on her being around is infuriating! Whoever she is, she's been at this for a while if she learned how to hide her aura." Kaede grumbled, clenching her fists as she tried to think of what this Kämpfer was doing there. "I'd deal with this myself, but there's no guarantee I wouldn't be caught doing it, and if she's been alive long enough to be this skilled in deception, it's entirely possible she'd manage to fend me off."

"U-um, Kaede, her being a Kämpfer isn't all I noticed about her..." Ryouka mumbled, ducking away when Kaede looked on with a smoldering gaze. "She had one of the rings."

"She WHAT?!" Kaede shrieked, infuriated that someone would one of their Kämpfers rings. Her Kämpfers were a unique exception, since they were key to something very concerning, and the more they kept all four of them secret, the better it would be for the organization.

She was about to rage and fume some more, when a stray thought had jumped to the forefront of her mind.

"Hitomi..." she trailed off, the girl besides her growing nervous as she quietly nodded, visibly swallowing. "I know I told you not to take a look at the contents of the ring box when you brought it over to Natsuru's friends this morning, but did you maybe, perhaps... take a look?"

"Nope. I kept my word, and just handed it over to Sangou." Hitomi answered her, still somewhat nervous that she had screwed something up. Kaede turned and looked at her with a fierce expression, leading Hitomi and grow intimidated again as Ryouka could only watch.

"I..." Kaede started, sighing and shaking her head, before looking up with a dangerous expression. "I think those bloody morons at Headquarters gave us a box with four rings, not the three we asked for."

"Wha...? Kaede, are you sure?" Hitomi asked her as the Moderator growled, pulling another object similar to a cellphone from her pocket.

"Yes, I'm willing to bet money on it, since all of you still have your rings... though I suppose it's possible that one of them lent her a ring..."

"I, um... I couldn't tell you either way, except for Natsuru... I couldn't sense her at all." Ryouka added, as Kaede growled.

"It's fine, Ryouka. Honestly, all I need to do is check the manifest they sent me here." Kaede mumbled angrily, moving through something unseen on the screen. Before long, her eyes stopped, as the object began to shake in her hand as she squeezed it. Unfortunately for it, the device shattered and was crushed in her onslaught, as Kaede's expression grew intense. "Those fools accidentally gave them a fifth ring, and then they found another Kämpfer to turn against us." she spoke quietly, taking a deep breath as she unceremoniously dropped the broken device, where it thumped against the floor, unseen by Ryouka. "Someone at the quartermaster's section is going to die tonight.~" Kaede finished sweetly, smiling gently as she looked back to her normal phone, catching Ryouka's eye.

"Oh..." Hitomi and Ryouka said simultaneously, both immensely relieved that they were not to blame, as well as also realizing the increased difficulty they would have when it came to snagging Natsuru, having five against four, once the cease-fire ended.

"Well, u-uh, moving on... who is this Kämpfer, then?" Hitomi asked, keen to move away from the subject of the ring quickly while she scratched her head, thinking back on any new faces she had seen recently.

"I don't know. Whoever it is, their presence did cause a fluctuation in the mana surrounding the school. starting three days ago, like I said. I was a fool and didn't pay it much mind when the disturbance vanished around lunch time, today, as I had suspected that it was either being caused by Natsuru and her friends, or that it had been a minor temporal disruption correcting itself." Kaede explained, though Hitomi and Ryouka were both still left confused. Looking at the screen, Hitomi was at least somewhat relieved that Ryouka was similarly lost.

"Fucking shit! I think I know who it is, that sneaky little bitch!" Hitomi suddenly exclaimed, grabbing her chin as she concentrated hard, unable to believe that the new Kämpfer had been right in front of her. "You know who showed up around the time you said the disturbance showed up? Amelia Tremblay, a French-Canadian girl in her first year! She came in to sign some paperwork for transferring to the school, and I'm pretty sure she's also the only student to transfer in, too!"

"You know this girl, then?" Kaede asked her, suddenly deadly serious as Hitomi nodded.

"Yeah, I was actually assigned with one of my classmates to show her around the school yesterday, since her class was busy with an exam and they couldn't spare anyone." she explained, chuckling in a nasty manner. "That little conniving bitch! She had me completely convinced that she had no idea what Natsuru's bracelet was after we ran into him! I thought I might have found you a potential candidate for a replacement Kämpfer once we knocked off those three traitors!"

"Could you see her bracelet?" Kaede asked her, Hitomi shaking her head quickly.

"Naw, she has this huge, green bracelet-thing on her right wrist, claimed it was some kind of custom-made smart-bracelet thing designed for her by her dad. It's probably just hiding her real bracelet."

"Ryouka, that cover bracelet wasn't there when you saw her, was it?" Kaede asked her, Ryouka shaking her head as Kaede pondered this information. "Alright, keep an eye out for her, Ryouka. Be as sneaky as you can, and stick close to Natsuru. We might not know for certain who, exactly, this girl is, but for now, let's assume it is her and keep a close eye on her, but don't go starting a fight. She's likely very skilled."

"You don't want us to take her out?" Hitomi asked her, pursing her lips as Kaede shook her head.

"No. It might upset Natsuru more than she already is, and I'd like to figure out what's changed and made her upset, before risking making her angrier. On top of that, it seems awfully convenient for a Kämpfer from another continent entirely to just suddenly appear like this. Someone had to have brought her here, and I'm willing to bet it was the local authorities." Kaede grumbled, sighing as Hitomi frowned and shrugged at the camera.

"So, um... Kaede... Tremblay is French-Canadian... how would the Government... find how to contact a foreign Kämpfer?" Ryouka asked her, causing Kaede to pause, her eyes to narrow and dart around.

"...Yes, you're on to something there. I'll get to digging up information on her, but be extremely careful around her. She may have a ring now, but she obviously didn't a few days ago, and if she was able to keep the effect her presence had on the local mana field to nothing more than a few ripples, then she is very skilled. I know I keep saying this, but you have to use your head, here."

"Ah, we're all super charged as White Kämpfer, Kaede! You said it yourself." Hitomi assured her, patting the Moderator's shoulder, until Kaede pinned her hand down.

"Don't get cocky, because that will be what gets you killed." Kaede snapped, glaring at her intensely and causing Hitomi to flinch. "Yes, I made sure you were strong enough to survive Natsuru, but that will lose to experience nearly every time. I can't tell you how long this girl has been doing this, but I can almost guarantee she's likely older than she looks."

"O-okay... I'll be careful, Kaede..."

"Right, now... Ryouka, were you able to determine what those four were up to? I'm... really worried about why Natsuru was so upset with us after school..." Kaede mumbled, seemingly growing meek as Ryouka sighed and looked away sadly.

"N-no, um, that strange girl—ah, I mean, Tremblay, she... kind of spooked me, and the last thing I could see before that was Sangou sticking something to some kind of board, and pointing to something as Natsuru became irritated." she explained, as Kaede sighed sadly, holding her arms to her chest tightly.

"Okay, well... keep an eye on her, all the same, but be careful around Tremblay! Do not let her spot you if you can avoid it."

"Okay, Kaede. I'd better get back to it, then."

"Hey!" Kaede spoke sternly to her, catching Ryouka by surprise. "Don't. Get. Caught! It's going to be a pain if I have to find a replacement for you, because the others are nowhere near as sneaky as you."

"Y-yes, Kaede, I'll keep further back from them. I promise." Ryouka finished, turning her screen off as Kaede ended the call. Ryouka pouted for a moment, having nearly thought to herself that Kaede was worried about her in the sense that she saw her as a friend. However, she quickly cleared her mind, giving her cheeks a slap, as she reminded herself that she was a small, albeit valuable, piece of the well-oiled machine that Kaede simply called 'The Organization', and likely one of the only five girls who could convince Natsuru to accept her true self.

Quickly clambering up towards the rooftop above her, Ryouka peeked over the edge carefully using a compact mirror, eventually spotting the unknown Kämpfer, possibly Tremblay, a number of rooftops away, still idling atop the home across the street from Mikoto's house. Watching her for a moment as the sun finally set, Ryouka quietly and slowly dragged herself atop the house she was hanging off of, making sure to keep her body on the low side, only crawling up the roof enough to watch Tremblay closely.

As she watched, Ryouka tilted her head in confusion as she watched Amelia bring something up to her mouth, followed by the sounds of clicking, before a small flame lit up near her mouth. A moment later, Ryouka understood that she was smoking, grimacing slightly as she made the connection that Amelia was either a delinquent, or older than she looked, as Kaede had advised. From the distance she was at, even transformed, Ryouka barely made out Amelia's sigh on content as she exhaled smoke.

'She's definitely an old lady! Only old ladies and delinquents smoke cigarettes!' Ryouka judged her, sneering as she thought about Natsuru hanging around her. 'No wonder Natsuru was in a bad mood when Hitomi went to pick her up! She's been around a bad influence!' she thought, growling under her breath as Ryouka felt an odd sense of frustration. 'I want Natsuru to be my friend, but it'll be hard if she turns into a chain-smoking harlot like this girl! And Kaede would be furious if Natsuru stopped being a gentle sweetheart!'

---

"S-Shizuku...!" Natsuru whispered hoarsely, stepping back into Mikoto's room as they gawked at her.

"Wow, Jesus, uh... Shizuku, I thought you said you improved Nat's costume?" Akane whispered to the drowsy girl, who grunted as she forced her eyes open, eyeing both Akane and Mikoto.

"I did~." she got out, winking as she took in the sight of the now neon green-haired gunslinger in her own ninja costume, the seams simply being reinforced. Looking back at Natsuru, the three of them took in the sight of a similarly neon green-haired Natsuru, her ponytail extended to the small of her back thanks to glue-on extensions. Her eyes changed from blue to purple thanks to colored contacts, she blushed as she noticed the intense stares she was getting from her friends, Shizuku's being a little less pure than the other two as Mikoto was busily fussing over doing her best to cover Natsuru up as she mussed up her own equally neon green hair and Akane kept looking away with a slightly blush.

"Seriously, Shizuku? Why do those two get normal tops, with mine being spandex around my chest?!" Natsuru shouted at her, doing her best to cover up her chest. "Not to mention, why did the pants turn into fishnet leggings?! Is the goal here to give the guards nosebleeds or something?!"

"Well, it's not like I did this without a good reason..." Shizuku sighed with a smirk, doing her best to stay awake as she eyed Natsuru. "I had to change the materials for your chest. I approximated using some melons, and they kept wanting to rip the fabric when I would jiggle them about to simulate running."

"So why not just add more fabric, for God's sake!" Natsuru admonished her, pressing on herself in an attempt to reduce how much the spandex accentuated her bust, though achieving nothing more than squishing herself out to the sides a bit, the spandex moving with her. Akane suddenly turned her head away after covering her nose, becoming very interested with something in the hallway. Moving quickly past Natsuru and Mikoto, it was only the bathroom door closing gave any indication of where she went after she had left the bedroom.

"Yeah, uh, I'm kind of with Natsuru on this one, Shizuku... I thought you said you had to modify it so that Natsuru wasn't going to become a 'Sexy Ninja', as you put it." Mikoto recounted, frowning as Shizuku took a deep breath and shrugged.

"I figured I'd get creative. Natsuru has an amazing body, and you'll notice it, too, once you stop letting the fact that she's supposed to be male blind you from seeing it."

"I do see it! I just think it's not fair to her to force her to advertise how much of a titty monster she is!" Mikoto admonished her, grabbing Natsuru's arm with her hands. "It's almost like you want her to continue to be referred to as a milk truck!"

"Wait, what?! People call me a 'Milk Truck'?!" Natsuru shrieked, covering herself up again as Shizuku sighed.

"Okay, okay, since I've had my fun, I'll let you know that you're missing part of the costume." she explained, pointing to what looked like a pile of hoods. Digging through it, Natsuru noticed one garment that appeared different, the colors matching their costumes. Taking a better look, she noticed what appeared to be strings that would tighten or loosen depending on how the person who wore it moved, which would allow the fabric to give her a sense of modesty.

"Then... what's the spandex part, for?" Natsuru asked, getting some help from Mikoto as she adjusted it for her.

"Like I said, I had to try and use melons as a stand-in, since it would have raised Kaede's suspicions if I called you to come for a fitting last night. I had to change it to that leather-like material to give your breasts proper support, so that they wouldn't wreck the costume. With how cheap and thin the fabric was, there was only so much I could do to reinforce the costume." Shizuku explained, as Natsuru examined herself in Mikoto's mirror, its owner nodded in acceptance of the change.

"U-um... are there any proper pants, in there...?" Natsuru asked her, itching her scalp as the extensions tugged on her head.

"Sorry, but no... I needed the extra fabric for your modesty piece." Shizuku explained, pursing her lips as Natsuru sighed, picking at her fishnet tights with a grimace. "As for the questionable tights, well... I'm honestly sorry. I know it's rather... well, it's all I could get in such short notice."

"I... well, alright... I suppose it's not like you want to make me look like an escort..." Natsuru sighed again, before looking up from the tights slightly to look at Shizuku. "You don't, right?"

"A... a what?" Mikoto asked her, not completely sure what Natsuru was alluding to.

"Ah, some American women are called 'Escorts' in English. They are essentially just fancy prostitutes… from what I understand, that is. I might be wrong, though…" Natsuru explained, Mikoto coughing and blushing, nodding in understanding.

"No, Natsuru, I didn't mean for your costume to look so... questionable. If I had the time and material, I would have made proper pants for you." Shizuku finally answered her, sitting up and swallowing another glass of water. "I also want to touch on Mikoto's 'milk truck' comment: you shouldn't hear the comment at all. I nipped that one in the bud before it had much of a chance to proliferate." Shizuku promised her, giving Natsuru a look that ensured her Shizuku wasn't playing around. "I refuse to allow such a comment to go around. Not only is it demeaning to you, and women in general, but it is a very poor representation of Seitetsu Gakuin. I'm aware that our school struggles with the onslaught of teenage hormones, but that doesn't excuse a disgusting comment like that."

"Wow..." Natsuru answered breathlessly, looking at Shizuku in shock. "It almost feels like I could take that seriously, if it weren't for the constant threats of forcing me into photoshoots nearly naked, or in lewd outfits."

"I..." Shizuku sighed, trailing off as she looked away from her. Swirling the remaining water in her glass, Shizuku's face filled with guilt. "I'm sorry, Natsuru..."

"...Shizuku?"

"I'm sorry. It was awful of me to do those things, from when I first had your female half enrolled at the school, to the latest one where I blackmailed you to transform again at the beach so I'd be harassed less."

"Oh, Shizuku, come on... you know Natsuru doesn't hold grudges..." Mikoto chuckled, as Shizuku looked up at her sadly.

"Ah, but, she does. Why else would she have not taken me seriously after I promised to double down on those pigs calling her a milk truck?" Shizuku sighed, shaking her head. "I've been feeling progressively worse about how I've been treating you since about a month ago, every time I did something cruel to you, Natsuru. But, I'm very, very bad at expressing how I feel, so I just... resort to my usual methods of teasing and... what have you." she mumbled quietly, quickly surprised when she felt Natsuru hugging her tightly.

"Look, I won't lie and say that the teasing doesn't get annoying at times, and that being forced to act in a lewd manner for the sake of my class rep and her team's wallet doesn't leave me feeling filthy, but..." Natsuru trailed off, pulling back slightly as Shizuku looked up. "I won't ask you to change just to make me feel better. Sure, being teased by you can be embarrassing, but, um, it's sort of your thing?" she tried her best to explain, scratching her chin as Shizuku smiled warmly at her. "I'd really, REALLY appreciate it if you could quit it with the blackmailing stuff, though."

"Oh, so sexual harassment is okay, then? Because it isn't blackmail, so this sounds as if you didn't find what I did to you at the café a while back at all, unpleasant?" Shizuku asked her, her trademark teasing smirk filling her face again as Natsuru hopped off the bed and began sputtering, blushing like a red neon sign.

"I-I-I didn't enjoy that! It was awful! And I was next to Higashida, of all people! I'm lucky he's obviously a virgin, or I'm sure he would have figured out why I was crying out!" Natsuru shrieked again, blushing as she hugged herself.

"Oh my God, do we have to get into that again?! Can we just move on from that?!" Mikoto cried out, blushing herself at the memory, though equally as thankful that the only male there had no idea what had rocked Natsuru at that particular moment.

"You're only upset that you couldn't get... Natsuru going... yourself..." Shizuku spoke quietly, beginning to doze off the second she laid back down. Only seconds later, Shizuku had fallen fast asleep, unable to fight to stay awake any longer. She slept wearing a victorious smirk, one that caused Mikoto to pout angrily and consider waking her up to argue. With a sigh, Natsuru put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle pull. Grumbling, Mikoto quietly grabbed the rest of the kit in Shizuku's bag, flicking her light off as she followed Natsuru into the hall.

"You just had to encourage her to continue being this way..." Mikoto growled quietly, Natsuru chuckling sheepishly.

"W-well, she wouldn't be my friend I've come to know if I didn't. She'd be a stranger..."

"Yeah, but she sure took you up on it quickly, though..." Mikoto grumbled, moving to the bathroom door and knocking on it as Natsuru shrugged.

"Maybe she got nervous again and just stuck with what was comfortable for her? I'm not going to judge her for it... particularly since, like you said, I gave her the go ahead."

"Yeah, come in, I'm good!" Akane exclaimed from the other side of the door. As they stepped in, Akane was finishing wiping something out of the sink with a tissue, a red tint on it visible as she dropped it into the toilet and flushed it. "Natsuru, I'd say you're almost good to go, but your bangs are too recognizable." she opined, having turned to look her over. Looking at the modesty cover, Akane sighed in relief. "Oh, perfect, Shizuku had something to cover you up."

"Why? Worried you'd get distracted?" Mikoto teased her, causing Akane to give her a heated, withering glare.

"I'm not into chicks, you miniature fucking clown..."

"Anyways!" Natsuru shouted, as the two of them had become sidetracked. "I agree with you, Akane. I mean, sure, my hair color is insane, but someone would recognize me with my bangs like this. Did you have anything in mind?"

"Oh, uh, well... we could braid the longer bangs, and then ping them back. Then, we can use a hairclip to hold back the shorter ones. Top that off with the hood, and I doubt anyone would recognize you in a photo." Akane suggested, getting right to work as Natsuru sat on the edge of the tub while Mikoto handed over her supplies of hair products.

"Say, Natsuru... how permanent is this dye, exactly...?" Mikoto asked her, still handing Akane bits of hair bands and the occasional finger to help braid Natsuru's hair as Natsuru carefully reached for the box the bottle had been in.

"Um, well, it said something about being water soluble once it dried, so... very temporary?"

"Oh, cool, so all we have to do is not get rained on, or sweat. Nice." Akane growled as she finished braiding one of Natsuru's side-bangs, bringing it up along the side of her head and finishing it off by connecting it with the scrunchie that was helping to maintain her ponytail.

"Yeah, that's, uh... that's gonna be tough." Mikoto grimaced, realizing that even the act of quickly getting near the research facility was going to make them work for it. "Almost done?"

"Yup, just about... aaaand, done! There!" Akane stepped back, admiring her handy work as she watched Natsuru get to her feet and examine herself in the mirror.

"Looks great! A bit uncomfortable, honestly, but I'm sure I'll get used to it quickly."

"Heh, it sort of looks like a laurel wreath. How fitting." Mikoto giggled, stopping when she noticed the other two looking at her with curiosity. "Y-you know... laurel wreaths... Greek mythology, uh... ancient Greek artifact? … Seriously?" she asked them, squinting as they shrugged at one another. "I thought it was funny... am I being a history nerd right now?"

"Well, whatever, I'll take your word for it that it makes sense. Let's check on Shizuku really quick, and then get a move on. Not that I'm getting cold feet or anything, but the less time I spend looking like a fucking neon-colored walking cliché, the better." Akane grunted, slipping her face mask up over her nose and donning her hood. The other two followed suit, with Natsuru carefully slipping her now considerably longer ponytail through a gap in the rear of her hood before flipping it up properly.

---

"Shit! They're moving fast from the word 'Go'!" Amelia grunted to herself as three dark shadows burst out from the rear of Mikoto's home, zipping out in a blur as they made their way towards some unknown target, traveling across rooftops to save some time. As Amelia did her best to keep up unseen, she noticed that they appeared to be wearing some sort of costumes reminiscent of something she'd seen in one of her boyfriend's kung-fu movies. 'Between the two shorter girls, I can't really tell who's who, there. But since they are down Sangou, the taller girl is clearly Senou...' she determined, wondering why they went through so much effort to disguise their identities if they were simply going to do battle with the Moderator.

As the frantic pace continued, Amelia began to find herself becoming exhausted, not used to pouring on so much speed for so long. Breathing heavily, she opted to remove her mask mid-jump so as to get some of the cool fall air fanning over her and into her cloak as the girls began to pull away ever-so slightly.

'Zut alors, am I getting old? Actually, are Kämpfer even affected by age? I've never noticed, since the blues back home keep getting killed off by the other red before they can get much of a grip on their abilities...' Amelia worried, before noticing that one of the shorter girls was beginning to slow down as well, her heavy panting being audible even from the distance that Amelia was keeping between them.

Ducking behind a chimney when the three of them stopped, seemingly to catch their breath, Amelia found herself silently thanking the one that was exhausted for tapping out. She'd never had to exert herself that hard for that long.

'Hopefully I'll still have the energy to make a move if someone threatens them... how embarrassing that would be, to be the only Kämpfer in the vingt-deux, yet manage to fail a vip escort type of mission...' she worried to herself, before snapping her gaze back the way she came when she heard a clatter across a rooftop they had all already traversed.

"What was that? You heard that, right?" one of the girls ahead of her asked. As Amelia stood perfectly still behind the thin brick chimney, she shivered when she heard one of the girls walk back across the rooftops, before jumping across to the very same room she had been on. Gingerly slipping her mask back on, Amelia flinched when she saw a set of well-manicured fingers curl around the edge of the bricks. Teetering on the verge of summoning her weapon, Amelia waited in nervous anticipation as the owner of the fingers remained on the other side of the chimney, suddenly breaking the silence by sighing.

"I think we might have knocked something off a roof further back, is all. I don't see anyone, so..." she heard Senou call back to the others, her voice muffled slightly, her fingers pulling away as she returned to the others. Amelia allowed herself to silently sigh in relief, only avoiding detection through sheer dumb luck. Hearing them step off again, she gently peeked out to see if any of them were looking back, and began to give chase once again once she had realized they hadn't given it a second thought.

Glancing back for a moment, Amelia pursed her lips when she found herself alone in the rear, though suspicious. Even though her attention had been mostly evenly split between not slipping and falling to the streets, yards, and alleyways below, and chasing the three girls while being unseen, Amelia was fairly certain that there hadn't been anything that could have fallen from a roof and made such a sound. As such, she immediately suspected that the unknown girl from earlier was in the area, and was following them, as well.

Groaning quietly as she anticipated an attempted ambush ahead, Amelia further split her attention to keeping an eye on her rear flank as she looked forward, finding herself wondering where the girls were off to in such a hurry.

---

"Alright, we're here..." Mikoto whispered to them, as the crouched behind the rooftop ledge of the office building across the street from her Father's workplace. Looking back behind her and squinting, Mikoto pulled her face mask up a bit more as she slid her phone out from her pocket.

When they had heard a commotion behind them just as they stopped to give Akane a much-needed breather, the three girls immediately suspected that Ryouka was following them. Initially having a quick discussion on whether or not they should continue, Akane had reasoned that it was likely Ryouka had already reported their behavior and disguises to Kaede, so there was a good chance that the rest of the whites were rushing to intercept them, or possibly even lay siege to the research facility to try and get the tablet before them.

Grimacing, the three of them looked across the busy road at the building, though finding no signs that anything was wrong.

"Right, so, how do I get in there, Mikoto?" Natsuru asked her, looking down at her friend's phone as she pulled up the blueprints.

"Honestly, without knowing where the guards are going to be... I'd suggest that you break in through the receiving dock." Mikoto pointed out the area on the blueprints. "It's to the north side of the building, which is facing away from us. But if you look, it's just around that back corner there." she gestured with a finger, towards the left side of the building.

"Right, okay... maybe I should get a copy of that map, too. Where can I find it?" Natsuru asked her, as she pulled out her phone.

"No need, watch." Mikoto added, pressing on a few menus on her phone before reaching out and tapping her phone onto Natsuru's. A moment later, Natsuru watched as the blueprints appeared on her phone's screen like magic. Staring at it in awe, Natsuru became embarrassed when Mikoto giggled at her. "Let me guess: you still haven't read your user manual?"

"Do you even know how dry that thing is? I'd have more fun reading Japanese History!" Natsuru bickered, scrunching her eyebrows as Mikoto and Akane giggled and shook their heads.

"Anyways, the application it sent the blueprints to also works with GPS. I bet it won't work right once you're inside the basement, but hopefully it should give you a decent enough idea of where you actively are in the building." Mikoto explained, motioning back to her phone. "Look here, this is the ground floor. If you head in through the receiving dock, there's an elevator there," she pointed to a sizeable square box on the map, "and a staircase right beside it. Obviously, you might not want to use the elevator. It's a huge one, meant for moving artifacts and displays to and from the basement, and it's stupid loud. Take the stairs if you can."

"Any cameras I need to worry about?"

"Yeah, just about everywhere, from what I remember, so... there's a pretty good chance this is a smash-and-grab. It's probably what Shizuku had planned to do all along, hence the smoke bombs. They came with a lighter, but, well... you're a living lighter, so you won't need that."

"U-um... what do I do if the alarm goes off?" Natsuru fretted, very quickly becoming nervous and having second thoughts as Akane gripped her shoulder tightly.

"Simple: don't get caught. Last thing we need is for you to become a permanent resident there, considering it's a research facility." Akane joked, not helping Natsuru's nerves as terrible thoughts flooded her mind. "Er, I mean... try and keep the show of Kämpfer abilities to a minimum. The Police will be the first to show up, because they're probably only gonna get told that a thief in a Ninja costume is running around. Once they find out you're a Kämpfer, all bets are off, and you can expect the Military to haul ass over here as quick as they can. Once you get the stupid thing, pull out all the stops if you need to and make a break for it. They'll never fucking know what hit 'em once you're gone in a flash of speed."

"O-okay, um... where is it? The tablet, I mean."

"Right, it's in the basement, like I was implying. They always bring fresh and high-value items for research into the basement, into this room here." Mikoto pointed out another room, having flicked to the basement blueprints. It was far on the other side of the basement from either the staircase or elevator. "It's the only room they really installed a huge metal gate on, and I remember playing around with something once and accidentally triggering the security alarm, so it locked me in when it slammed down."

"Okay, but seriously? This isn't a small building, why does it have to be so far away from my escape route?"

"Well, it wasn't built as a research building at first, from what I remember daddy telling me." Mikoto began, adjusting her mask again. "They must have figured that room was the best one to use for holding sensitive items, I'd guess."

"You'll probably want a bunch of these..." Akane hefted up the bag of smoke bombs, holding it open for Natsuru. Grabbing a large handful, Natsuru carefully slipped them into a Velcro pocket.

"I'm so nervous... my body is screaming at me to just run away..." she trembled, looking out at the building in fear as she swallowed audibly.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with? There isn't much more exposed I could get, beyond the rest of the school finding out, you know..." Akane asked her gently, taking her hand and squeezing it, looking at her with a serious expression.

"Nat, bring Akane with you. If you're this nervous doing this, having backup would be for the best, I'd say." Mikoto added, gently gripping Natsuru's shoulder.

"You don't mind, do you? I don't think I can handle this alone..." Natsuru asked her, grunting when Akane lightly punched her shoulder.

"Hey, we're partners, right? Now, let's get this bread!" Akane declared, suddenly standing up and skirting the edge of the building.

"H-hey, Akane, wait!" Natsuru whispered after her, leaving Mikoto alone. As Natsuru hurried after her, she felt a vibration in a pocket in her top, prompting her to press on the little earpiece she had in her left ear.

"Can you two hear me?" Mikoto's voice hummed in her ear, as Akane peeked over the edge of the building they were currently on towards the facility.

"Yeah, loud and clear. Let's maintain radio silence for now, alright?" Akane suggested, the three of them keeping quiet as Natsuru rejoined Akane. Muting her microphone, Akane pointed out a dark area they could safely descend to the wall separating the alleyway below, and the grounds of the research facility near the loading dock. "Let's get near that wall. There's a fire escape there we can use to safely get in." Akane whispered, looking back at Natsuru for a moment. "Well, for me to safely get in. You'd probably stick the landing, considering you've done it at school."

"Still hurts like you wouldn't believe, though..." Natsuru grumbled back, remembering the sensation of what felt like hundreds of little cracks forming in her legs that day. As they quickly made their way to their step-off point, Akane stopped her.

"You're probably already thinking this, but let's go full speed once we hop over, until we get inside into some cover."

"Think you can keep up?" Natsuru snickered, grunting when Akane punched her shoulder angrily.

"Who had to get babysat and have her hand held, here, fucker?"

"Jeez, lighten up, will you?" Natsuru grumbled, rubbing her arm to soothe the sting. "I'm just trying to keep calm..."

"... Right, uh, sorry, I guess. Nerves." Akane coughed, looking back out at the loading dock. As she watched a guard yawn and stretch, she kept close watch on him as the lazily looked around before wandering off around the corner and along the west side of the building. "Ok, Let's go. Remember, don't waste any time getting over there! The less time we give them a chance to spot us on camera, the more easily we can get in and out!"

The pair of them leapt from the fire escape, and over the wall surrounding the grounds of the research building. Moving quickly, the pair of them maintained a speed that would have left a normal person reeling if they had seen it. Leaping from the ground, Natsuru clear the upper ledge of the dock almost effortlessly, whereas Akane had to detour by landing on a nearby dumpster before hopping up onto the dock. Luckily for them, someone had left one of the bay doors open, and they hopped across the gap into the warehouse area. As Natsuru slid to a stop, Akane quickly yanked her along into a dark corner behind a shelf, putting a hand over Natsuru's mouth and pointing out a camera that was just coming around to where she had stopped.

'Be careful!' Akane mouthed to her, having lowered her mask long enough to get the idea across before bringing it back up as they both panted slightly from the exertion. Nodding, Natsuru pulled her phone back out, bringing up the blueprints. The pair of them silently went over it, pinpointing the staircase door, which was only a little further into the warehouse. Crouching and stepping silently, they made their way along the darkened aisle, pausing only for them both to glance up and down the next aisle for any guards before dashing towards the staircase. Quickly stepping through, they carefully closed the door behind them, sighing in relief. Looking at one another, the huffed in quiet laughter nervously.

"Already a close call, and we just got in..." Natsuru whispered to Akane, only for the pair of them to stiffen and jerk their heads towards one corner of the stairwell as a camera's motor whirred loudly as it came around. In a flash, Akane leapt up and ripped the cords out of the rear of it, disabling the camera before she touched the ground again.

"Damn, we've gotta move. They're gonna come check that out, I'm sure of it." Akane mumbled to Natsuru, the pair of them hurrying down the stairs.

"I'm sorry, that's twice now, Akane... I feel like I'm dead weight, here."

"Hey, that one nearly caught me, too, so don't sweat it. Besides, you might just come in handy, yet." Akane whispered back to her with a wink as they got near the door to the basement. Just as Akane was reaching for the handle, it was Natsuru's turn to yank her into the shadows, this time hiding beneath the stairs. Only a second later, a pair of guards entered the stairwell from the basement, appearing irritated as they stomped up the stairs towards the camera.

"They told us this was a brand-new state-of-the-art camera system, what the hell?" one of the grumbled to the other as they climbed the stairs.

"Eh, all new technological installations have growing pains, dude. Let's just check it out and figure out what happened."

Not wasting any time, the two girls quietly bolted through the still closing door. Growing frantic, the pair of them looked for a dark corner to hide in, but everywhere they went was well lit. Akane tapped Natsuru's shoulder before thumbing towards a room with large cupboards near the floor, and the pair of them ducked inside the room. Checking a few of them, the pair quickly found one that was empty, and hopped inside, as tight as it was, hoping that no one spotted them on any cameras that they might have missed.

"This is terrifying, Akane...!" Natsuru whispered frantically, pulling her mask down as she panted, Akane doing the same, and more from the fear of being caught than exertion, this time.

"You're telling me! I know these guys would probably just try to arrest us, but damn do I feel like I'm invading a hostile country!"

"You think that maybe those guards are going to keep thinking that camera simply malfunctioned?" Natsuru asked her nervously, as she slightly pushed the cupboard ajar to peek out at the room and the hallway.

"Naw, there's no chance. I'm pretty sure I tore the cables right out of the actual plugs, so they're gonna figure out something is wrong sooner, rather than later..." Akane whispered back, having caught her breath, but was now fighting slight tremors in her body, one that Natsuru was matching. "Hey, close that door and take out that map again. I dunno about you, but I lost track of our position while we were trying to find a safe spot. Let's try and figure out where we are."

Natsuru obliged her, gently allowing the cupboard to close before pulling her phone out again. Flicking on her screen like Mikoto had earlier, Natsuru pulled up the basement blueprints, noticing that the marker showing her location was bouncing around as the phone struggled to get a good signal with the GPS satellites. Unmuting her earpiece, Akane looked over Natsuru's phone.

"Mikoto, you there?" Akane queried in a whisper.

"I've got you, loud and clear. Where are you?" she asked, Natsuru picking her voice up through her own earpiece.

"I think we're... well, we're somewhere on the north side of the basement. We were in a bit of a hurry, so we somewhat lost track of our location, and the phone isn't telling us anything useful. We're tangled up, hiding in a cupboard now..." Akane explained, scowling as she tried to figure out her exact location.

"There's definitely no rooms further to the north?" Mikoto asked her, Akane and Natsuru silently confirming with one another what they recalled before Akane answered.

"We don't think so? Natsuru seems pretty certain there wasn't..." Akane replied, Natsuru nodding as they heard Mikoto humming.

"Hmm... is it safe to take a look out? If so, tell me what rooms you see, if you can."

"Sure, one second..." Akane replied, the pair of them ever-so-slightly nudging the cupboard ajar as they confirmed it was clear, before pushing it open further and looking out. Looking out through the glass wall facing the hallway, they noticed a pair of bathrooms preceding a t-intersection that allowed passage directly south from the hall they had been following. Looking back towards the west, they cringed and wheezed as they noticed a very active lab that had been on their right side, with numerous people inside. Quickly and carefully closing the cupboard, the pair of them looked at one another as the color drained from their faces.

"How were we not spotted...?" Natsuru squeaked out, as Akane shrugged in a shocked daze.

"W-well, um... Mikoto, we, uh... we saw a pair of bathrooms directly south of us by an intersection, and a lab with, like, five people in it we didn't see that somehow never spotted us..."

"Oh, damn, be careful, you two! That might be my Dad and his assistants and interns! Now, lemme see..." Mikoto whispered harshly, before trailing off as she consulted her blueprints. "Yup, okay, that leaves only one spot. You're actually already halfway across the basement. Do you see that T intersection in the middle of the north side of your map?"

"Yes..." Natsuru whispered back to her, having located it and pointed it to Akane, who nodded.

"That room that's basically almost directly north of it, with the cleaning closet directly on the east of it? That's the room you're both in. I remember it clearly, since I accidentally got locked in that closet, once... I actually managed to get locked into all sorts of rooms there when I was little." Mikoto recounted bitterly, before coughing. "Anyways, get a move on! It's only a matter of time before you two get spotted, I'm sure!"

"Yeah, we know... entering radio silence." Akane grumbled, sitting up slightly and lifting her mask up. Natsuru did the same, quickly plotting out their next steps before switching her phone back to sleep and putting it away. Just as they were about to step out, the pair of them heard one of the doors to the room open, and two sets of footsteps on the tile floor.

"Hey, thank you so much for helping me bring so stuff across the hall, sir!" a young woman's bubbly voice exclaimed happily, giggling as a young man chuckled nervously.

"O-oh, no worries, ma'am! It's really quiet, tonight. Only interesting thing that's happened is one of the cameras broke, for some reason." the man offered, as the pair of them could hear a number of items being moved around nearby. The pair of them jumped in a panic when a large object dropped onto the counter above them, hearing the woman cringe.

"Oh, please do be careful! Some of that stuff is quite a bit fragile." she asked him, Natsuru and Akane hearing her step close to him as his feet shuffled just outside the cupboard.

"S-sorry... say, you mentioned that you needed large sheets of paper, right? Where are those?" he asked, clearly looking to change the subject.

"Oh, someone may have grabbed them already, but they're usually kept in the cupboard below you." The woman advised him, Natsuru and Akane's faces instantly growing white a second time as they realized they were about to be busted. Before anything could be done, the doors swung open and a young man in a guard's uniform looked directly at them, all three of them wide-eyed in a silent shock as the two girls froze, unsure of what to do, the guard in a similar quandary.

"Hm? Are they there? What's wrong, sir?" the lady asked him, leaning over before she caught sight of the two young Ninjas in front of her. "Ah... haaaah..." she began to panic, before shrieking to the high heavens. Just as the guard reached for his radio, Natsuru shot out and gave him an uppercut to the chin, instantly knocking him out cold as he crumpled into a heap, bleeding slightly from his mouth.

Right behind her, Akane jumped out at the young scientist, grappling with her as the people in the next lab over looked over and began to panic, seeing the commotion.

"God damn it, you just HAD to fucking scream!" Akane yelled at her, as she shoved her to the floor, discreetly summoning her 1911 as she pointed it at the woman.

"H-hey, what are you doing?!" Natsuru warned her, Akane grimacing as she didn't like pointing her gun at an innocent person, either.

"Argh! Fine! It's not like I wanna be pointing this at you, anyways! Get the hell out of here!" Akane ordered her, the woman not wasting a moment before fleeing. "Hey, grab that radio! We might get lucky and hear about their movements!" Akane pointed out, deliberately avoiding using Natsuru's name, just as Akane had done for her.

"Akane, Natsuru! Hurry the hell up! You've got uninvited company! There's some sort of Gewher-type Kämpfer that summoned a rifle of some kind and ran in through the front door, shouting and screaming about you two!" Mikoto screeched over their earpieces.

"Was it a White Kämpfer?!" Natsuru shouted back, feeling a rush of adrenaline as the scientists in the next lab began yelling and running down the hallway.

"I don't know, she was wearing a cloak and a weird mask! W-wait, hold on, who's..." Mikoto trailed off, before gasping. "Shit! The first one might be a White! I just saw Yamakawa run in there, as well!" she warned them, just as the alarms finally sounded off within the building.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Come on, we need to get that tablet!" Akane shouted, crashing through the door and down the hallway, with Natsuru hot on her heels. Running across a number of security guard attempting to apprehend them, Natsuru ignited the odd smoke bomb to hide their location as they exploded to life, the thick smoke obscuring any of the guards that the two of them didn't detour to knock out or simply disarm.

Running at full speed, the pair of them skidded to a halt as they nearly slammed into the security gate blocking the entrance into the artifact storage that had come down once the alarm had sounded, stopping them in their tracks.

"There it is! We're so close, fuck!" Akane cried out, pulling on the gate with all her might as Natsuru looked out and saw the object that was causing her all of her recent grief. It was a strange, pearl-white marble slab, approximately the size of a small computer monitor, sitting on a stand of sorts on a counter. On it were a series of markings that seemed to be painted in with some sort of dye, causing the unknown language to pop out in black. Beside the text on the left was an emblem that reminded Natsuru of the rising sun, colored in with a faint, red dye.

"Natsuru, wake up and help me with this! Can you maybe melt it like you did those chains?!" Akane shouted at her over the din of the alarm. Natsuru's expression shifted from one of awe, into one of deep anger.

"Step back." Natsuru growled, yanking on Akane and pushing her behind her. Without much of a thought, Natsuru summoned a large fireball with her right hand, giving it some energy before letting it loose towards the gate, vaporizing it with an explosion and intense heat. Ducking behind Natsuru, Akane was in awe at the carnage and temperature, opting to stay back from the gate once the smoke had cleared some, as it was still glowing.

Stepping forward into the room as the building's fire suppression sprinklers triggered, Natsuru shuffled off a small knapsack she had been given by Mikoto, and picked up the tablet before unceremoniously dumping it inside. Quickly zipping the bag up, Natsuru dashed out of the room leaving everything else untouched as she rejoined Akane. The pair of them began to make a run for it, running up one hallway before the wall on their right exploded into confetti just ahead of them.

"Stop right there, you two!" a girl's voice yelled out to them. Looking to their left down a side hall, Akane and Natsuru became aware of a girl in a cloak and a flat, white mask around Akane's height quickly walking towards them, with some type of shotgun pointed directly towards them. "Don't even think of trying to run! I'm a Kämpfer as well, and I don't miss!"

"Benelli M3, I'm guessing?" Akane called out to her calmly, though she was shaking slightly as adrenaline coursed through her veins.

"Hey, you totally know your guns! Makes sense, considering you're, like, a Gewher-type, yourself." the girl replied casually, a strange accent tickling Natsuru's recent memories as she kept her hands up. Shifting slightly, Natsuru shivered when the unknown Kämpfer pointed her shotgun directly to her. "Hey, I said keep still! This thing is using birdshot, right now, so I don't even need to be dead on you to hit you!"

"What do you want, you crazy bitch!? If you hadn't realized, you'll be caught along with us! You'll probably be forced to go through all sorts of fucked up testing, along with us!" Akane yelled at her, absolutely furious at being caught off guard like this.

"Actually no, I won't. Because I'm already totally working for the Japanese Government." the girl explained, her voice sounding very sweet, even as she sighed. "Look, it's nothing personal. I was following you tonight because they wanted to keep you safe, as do I. Believe it or not, your Government honestly wants nothing more for you than to be kept from harm so you can live normal lives, not to turn you into weapons of war, or whatever else you thought."

"S-says the girl who is literally being used by them as a weapon of war!" Natsuru snapped back at her, taking a closer look at her trigger hand.

"... Well, y-yeah, okay, like, I guess I can give you that one? But I'm not like you two, per say." she explained vaguely, not moving an inch as she waited for the authorities to show up.

"Nat! Akane! Where the hell are you two? The Military is here!" Mikoto shouted into their earpieces, the pair of them unable to answer her since they were at gunpoint, and were unwilling to alert this girl to her presence. "Hey, both of you say something, now, or I'm coming in for you!" she shouted again, sounding absolutely terrified. A moment later the call ended, with Natsuru's mind racing as it screamed over the idea of Mikoto getting caught.

"Your accent is very strange..." Natsuru commented idly, pushing the thoughts away as she witnessed the girl appear somewhat surprised by the comment.

"Seriously? Resorting to personal attacks? That's totally rude, you know! It's not like I can control that!" she shouted angrily, flexing her hand that held onto the shotgun's grip.

"Where did you get that ring?" Akane suddenly asked her, her voice dripping with fury as she tried to determine if this was something Kaede had orchestrated.

"Hang on... Akane, I know who she is!" Natsuru declared, the girl freezing in place as Natsuru lowered her hands and turned to face her directly. "Mikoto mentioned offhand earlier that Shizuku gave a spare ring to the same person I caught smoking outside of the school, yesterday! Shizuku apparently made her promise to finish some addiction workbooks, and in exchange, she'd get to keep the ring, because she 'thought it was pretty'!"

"Uh oh." the girl mumbled, wondering if she'd get in trouble if they figured out her identity.

"That French accent is also super unique in the sense that I only know of one girl in this whole city who would likely be the owner!" Natsuru fumed, pointing a finger directly at the Kämpfer. "You're Amelia Tremblay!"

"Fuck it." Amelia growled pointing her weapon just above Natsuru's head and pulling the trigger, the loud retort of the shotgun roaring out as the pellets exploded the ceiling above the pair of them, showering Akane and Natsuru in drywall. "Whatever, so you figured me out! Doesn't change the fact that you broke into a government building to steal from it! Like, why the hell are you even doing that?! I thought you four were totally non-violent!"

"This tablet is more dangerous than you realize, Tremblay! You need to step aside and let us take it, so we can hide it!" Natsuru shouted back, pleading with her, Akane joining her in lowering her hands, causing Amelia to grow more nervous. "It's exposed us all once already, and if no one's told you, it's priming to do it again! And, if we don't take it, the local Moderator will, and it'll be abused by them horrendously! Do you want your identity as a Kämpfer to leak out to the world as a whole? You'll never be left alone!"

"Then why didn't you just tell us this?! It would have been better than risking death by trying to steal it!" Amelia yelled back at them, hearing a cascade of feet running up the hallway just behind her and to the left.

"Sure, right! Let's just go over how well that went the LAST time I tried to talk to the military!" Akane shouted at the top of her lungs, summoning her 1911 again as Amelia switched targets. "You fuckers shot at me, and tried to poison me with some shit! You pull THAT SHIT, and then you wonder why my friends and I are not willing to fucking trust ANY of you stunted pricks?!"

"I'll freely admit, the JSDF Officers responding to the school riot made an extremely bad call, but they've been jailed! I will personally guarantee your safety if you just surrender to me!" Amelia urged the pair of them, grunting in frustration as Akane snarled and switched her safety off, pointing her gun towards Amelia.

"God damn it, girls, just listen to me—!" Amelia started to yell, before a spray of bullets exploded out from her left, ripping her mask off and peppering the wall where she had been just micro-seconds before. Her face on full view, Amelia disregarded Akane and Natsuru to face the threat that had just shown itself to her. As she looked, Amelia recognized the girl she had spotted earlier pointing a MAC-10 directly at her. Before anything else could be said, she let loose another spray of bullets, Amelia only barely managing to stay ahead of them as she circled around. Bringing her M3 to bear on her assailant, Amelia rapidly pulled on her trigger as she attempted to bring her down, finding the girl to be unrelentingly quick on her feet as she similarly outpaced her shots, the walls practically exploding behind her.

"Who the hell are you?!" Amelia shouted at the masked girl, watching as she hoisted up her weapon, presenting a white bracelet. While the girl flourished her weapon, Amelia had become quickly aware that Akane and Natsuru had escaped in the chaos, simultaneously frightening and enraging the soldier immensely.

"You've made us very angry, Ms. Tremblay! Natsuru is a key player in this region, and by pointing your weapon at her, you've made a powerful enemy in not only myself, but this area's Moderator, as well." she spoke with clearly restrained rage, her tone sounding completely deranged, her body shaking as she panted in anger. "If you thought that I was upset that you were trying to kill someone who I desperately want as a friend, try and imagine the rage my Moderator will show you when she finds out you attempted to murder her beloved after pretending to side with them!"

"Beloved?" Amelia murmured, looking at the girl in confusion, quickly shaking her head before replying. "I wasn't trying to kill them! I was trying to stop them from making a stupid decision, and protect them from you!" Amelia shouted at her, keeping her weapon raised.

"A likely story! People like you, who do nothing but put on a fake act, and then betray others when they turn their back... people like you disgust me!" she shrieked, beginning her assault anew as Amelia dodged a new spray of bullets before answering with her own.

'This girl is delusional!' Amelia thought to herself as the girl rushed forward with a balled-up fist.

---

"Mikoto!" Natsuru shouted in relief, seeing her friend burst out of the staircase before them. As she rushed over, Natsuru was surprised to see Shizuku, now in a Ninja costume, directly behind her.

"You two, hurry up! Our chance to escape is nearly gone, the Military is organizing itself outside!" Shizuku ordered them, Mikoto and herself flinching when she heard the nearby sounds of an automatic weapon echoing through the halls, joined by the repeated blasts of a shotgun.

"Amelia Tremblay and Yamakawa are scrapping, we'll explain once we're safe! Now, come on!" Akane yelled at the two of them, kicking the staircase door in as she ran. All four of them burst out of the top of the stairwell, surprising a swat officer. Firing his shotgun out of surprise, Mikoto quickly brought her Katana to bear on the projectile, recoiling in surprise when a beanbag ripped apart and peppered her and the others. Ignoring the sting, Akane rushed forward and slammed a foot into the officer's stomach, sending him flying back into a shelf, where he collapsed into a heap.

"Natsuru, you have your smoke bombs, still?" Shizuku asked her, holding out the bag of remaining smoke bombs. Nodding, Natsuru quickly pulled them all back out and poured them into the bag. "Just in case, on my signal, you ignite them all and scatter them. Understand?" Shizuku asked her in a stern tone. Nodding rapidly, Natsuru, lacking a pocket large enough to store all of them, hid the smoke bombs behind her modesty cover and held the bag down tightly as they moved out, back towards the area that Akane and she had entered the area.

Before they could get far, however, an intensely bright set of lights shone out across the grounds from the side of the building, blinding the four of them as they heard a cacophony of weapons cocking.

"Freeze! Don't move! By order of the Minister of Defense, you four are under arrest!" a voice yelled out at them from a megaphone, echoing around the grounds as Akane, Shizuku, and Mikoto all raised their hands. Still hanging onto the smoke bombs, Natsuru neglected to join them, clearly agitating the unseen soldiers behind the lights. "You, with the long ponytail! Raise your hands, or we'll be force to neutralize you!"

"Natsuru?" Shizuku turned her head, slightly, glancing back at her as Natsuru trembled with adrenaline, holding a brave face. "Now." Shizuku instructed her, with Natsuru pursing her lips and nodding. Heating her body up, Natsuru felt the smoke bombs beginning to ignite. As a voice was beginning to yell at her again, Natsuru ripped off the modesty cover and swung it in an arc along with the smoke bombs before the four of them. Though this exposed the pleather that had formed perfectly around her chest, the soldiers yelled out in surprise when the entire area exploded into a multi-colored smoke, the intense light heightening the effect of blinding the soldiers from their movements.

Making haste, the four of them bolted, drenched and cold from the sprinklers of the research facility, though hardly noticing it as adrenaline coursed through their veins. Hopping over the wall, Natsuru shrieked and found her scalp in intense pain when her hair was yanked on, the extensions having gotten caught on the barbed wire lining the top of the wall.

Not skipping a beat, Mikoto quickly leapt up and slash away at the extensions, cutting Natsuru free as green hair dye dripped off of her blade. Without a word, the four of them ran as quickly as they could after helping Natsuru to her feet, running through the alleys surrounding the area, avoiding police sirens as they came close, and generally doing what they could to prevent themselves being detected.

They found a relatively quiet nook in a back alley, taking turns changing into the clothes they had originally left at Mikoto's house, since Shizuku and brought them along with her.

"You said it was Amelia that was the one trading gunfire with Yamakawa in there?" Mikoto whispered to Akane, as they hunkered down, the pair of them having already changed, washed the remainder of the dye from their hair, and transformed.

"Later, please." Shizuku mumbled to her, also having changed and keeping a lookout as Natsuru finished changing back into the clothes she wore into Mikoto's home. Quickly dousing her hair some more with a bottle of water that Shizuku had run across the street to buy from a convenience store, Natsuru finished washing the dye from her hair. Bringing some heat to her hands, Natsuru quickly ran it through her hair to dry it as she removed the tail of the extensions, dropping them into the pile of costumes.

"Everyone have everything they need from the disguises?" Natsuru asked them. When they all nodded, she tossed them all into a metal garbage bin, melting a hole for her finger before superheating the contents with the lid closed. Waiting a moment, she lifted the lid to check what remained, quickly being greeted by a cloud of soot. Letting it pass, Natsuru looked in, finding nothing but the odd bit of soot amongst the garbage can, the bottom of which was still glowing cherry red. Giving Shizuku a thumbs up after she ensured nothing around the can would catch fire, Shizuku nodded in confirmation as the four of them proceeded to nonchalantly exit the alley, merging into the sea of people still wandering the streets.

"Mikoto." Shizuku called to her quietly, the shorter girl moving closer to her. "Did you prepare that case for the tablet, and move it somewhere discreet like I asked?"

"Yup, it's at the edge of town, towards the mountains, like you told me." Mikoto advised her, surprising Akane and Natsuru, since they had been wondering how they were going to get into Mikoto's home to get it, considering it was fairly obvious that the Military would know, now, without a shadow of a doubt, that they were all Kämpfer.

While ducking out of sight from the authorities, Natsuru had come to the grim realization that the disguises weren't really to throw the authorities off their trail. It was mostly meant to keep the public guessing. But if the Military had been confused by it, all the better. Though, with Amelia having caught them, knowing full well who they were, that was a moot point, regardless.

"Natsuru, you mentioned you had a spot chosen where to hide this thing?" Shizuku asked her, Natsuru nodding as she adjusted the knapsack slung over her shoulder. "Goodness, Natsuru, let me see your hand!" Shizuku suddenly exclaimed, confusing her.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Wow, Nat, your hand is bleeding!" Mikoto exclaimed, Natsuru raising her right hand, looking at the top of it and then her palm, surprised when she noticed a gash in her palm.

"What the hell? This doesn't even hurt!" she exclaimed, as Akane pulled out a tissue from her pocket and started dabbing at Natsuru's hand.

"How the hell did you even do this? Was it when you punched the guard that first spotted us?"

"No, I used my left hand for that... this is weird. Maybe a stray pellet from Amelia's shotgun got me..."

"Tremblay..." Shizuku growled, scowling as she wiped at the blood on Natsuru's knapsack strap with a rag. Having removed as much as she could, Shizuku's expression became intense as she led the group forward, glaring hotly at the pavement ahead of her in silence.

"Um, S-Shizuku..." Natsuru whispered to her quietly, the student council president looking back at her as Natsuru moved forward to be beside her. "I'm... sorry we failed to get out quietly. We're all wanted now because I was too nervous of screwing up to go alone..."

"Don't." Shizuku shook her head gently. "Don't blame yourself. Mikoto told me everything she saw right before she started to move in, so it sounds like that little brat already knew you were there. Regardless if Akane was there, or even if you weren't nervous, she would have tried intercepting you all the same." Shizuku pointed out, reaching up and brushing her thumb over Natsuru's cheek. "So, don't blame yourself. Besides... something about the Military was strange tonight." she sighed, yawning widely.

"What do you mean, Shizuku?" Akane asked her, eying the knapsack intensely as she felt hatred for its contents bubbling in her gut.

"The Military was able to respond far too quickly for them to have just been called in by Tremblay. There's something else here, and the only thing I can think of is they knew full well that the tablet is, at least, completely capable of something immensely powerful. And that had them concerned enough to have soldiers stationed nearby."

"But, then, why reduce the security around it, tonight? That's the fucking definition of insanity!" Akane complained, groaning and putting her hands behind her head.

"... Because I think it was supposed to be a trap." Natsuru replied grimly, pursing her lips "I don't think we were supposed to escape, but they underestimated us, and now we have the tablet."

"… Son of a bitch!" Shizuku cursed, biting her lip as she growled in frustration. "They played me like a damn fiddle, again!"

"Okay, I don't follow. Someone mind filling me in?" Mikoto asked them, glancing between Shizuku and Natsuru. Shizuku was far too busy fuming, so Natsuru stepped back and pulled the other two in close.

"Think about it: Tremblay followed us into the costume shop, and probably saw Shizuku buying the ninja disguises. I saw her come out of a Military truck right before I caught her smoking. Shizuku finds out later that evening that security is conveniently being reduced for this tonight. She probably knew to watch for us at your house because they're probably monitoring our messages and phone calls. Actually, she was probably at your house before I even got there, and I'm convinced she was the one who made that noise on the rooftops on our way to the research facility. Hell, she probably even saw—!" Natsuru's eyes went wide, her pupils the size of pinpricks as her jaw dropped, the realization that she had come upon stopping her in her tracks.

"Natsuru? What's wrong?" Akane asked her, her worried tone causing Shizuku to stop and look back.

"...She knows... she must know, I mean, how couldn't she?" Natsuru whispered, ice rushing through her veins as her thoughts screamed at her endlessly. "She must have seen me transform in your room, Mikoto... they probably know that I'm both Natsurus, now..."

"If I hadn't given her that ring… if I had just listened to that little voice in my head… she wouldn't have had as much of a free reign on us." Shizuku whispered. "Natsuru... I think this is my fault."

"Nope, if I don't get to blame myself, you don't either." Natsuru chuckled humorlessly, shaking her head, the fear suddenly leaving her body as it felt like something broke inside her. "She's obviously figured out a way to make it so other Kämpfer can't feel her presence... except maybe a weird static electricity when she's right on top of us." Natsuru pointed out with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. "If I ever get the chance to ask her without the Military putting a crater into my skull, I'm willing to bet she's probably already knew before tonight. I mean, honestly, who was I kidding? When they figured out this me didn't exist until half a year ago, I should have just stopped giving myself a false hope and accepted that it was only a matter of time."

"Natsuru..." Mikoto murmured, reaching for her shoulder and gripping it gently.

"I mean, you know who I forgot in this entire mess? That Canadian soldier, Rebecca Powers. It's pretty painfully obvious that Tremblay and her are one and the same, considering I saw the bracelet on her wrist, and it should have been a giant red flag to me when a newbie French-Canadian girl mysteriously transfers in, in the middle of the single, largest student mass exodus in Seitetsu's history. Yet I missed about her, all the same."

"Natsuru, cut yourself some slack, I mean... it's pretty clear that we're all under a lot of stress, trying to figure this shit out without dying or being locked up forever." Akane urged her, looking uncomfortable as Natsuru sighed, tilting her head slightly and glancing at Akane.

"Yeah, you're right, Akane... fuck it, no sense in whining about what's already happened. Can't change it, anyways..." she sighed heavily in defeat. "Well, let's go get rid of this thing. I'm already sick of carrying it..."

"N-Nat...?" Mikoto called after her, the three of them watching as she continued to walk down the sidewalk. Sharing a worried look amongst one-another, Shizuku, Akane, and Mikoto all hurried after her.

---

Amelia was shaking, still transformed, standing alone by the front door of the research facility. She was still struggling from the aftereffects of the intense 'workout' she had undergone while doing battle with the White Kämpfer, the adrenaline having long gone since the girl had taken off on her, seemingly recalled by the Moderator. Amelia had attempted to give chase, but she found that, like earlier, the girl was able to just barely outpace her.

This led her to being extremely frustrated that she wasn't able to stop anyone tonight, not only being forced to watch a Moderator agent practically dance away from her, but failing to prevent the victims of said moderator from stealing something clearly of major importance, for a very poorly articulated reason.

In her frustration, Amelia had begun to chain smoke, only realizing she had been once she pulled the last of her cigarettes. Sighing, she booted a stray stone away from her, recalling what the strange, vengeful, masked girl had shouted to her before disappearing.

'Thanks to your interference, I wasn't able to stop Natsuru from taking a key tool and placing it out of our reach... you'd best be ready for when my leader comes for you!'

"Fucking bitch..." Amelia grumbled in English, taking one last drag from her cigarette and finishing it, before dropping the end onto the ground and crushing it with her foot before picking it off the ground again. Exhaling the smoke, Amelia carefully dumped it into the bag of butts she had filled up in her pocket since she wasn't able to locate a garbage.

"Master Corporal?" Amelia heard the Major she had traveled with call out to her.

"Sir!" she shouted, turning quickly as she stood up straight, making sure to salute him properly. Returning the salute, he coughed when he went to say something, smelling the smoke from Amelia.

"Good grief, Master Corporal, did you smoke an entire pack?!"

"Y-yes, sir..." she blushed, standing at attention as her Major looked on incredulously. Shaking his head, he continued.

"Right, anyways, stand easy, I want to keep this informal right now." he instructed her, smiling as she relaxed some. Amelia may have been a stickler for proper procedure back home, when it came to behavior around officers, but she never turned down the opportunity to relax around them when invited to. "So, I'm pleased to see you escaped mostly unscathed." he mentioned, gesturing to his right eye before Amelia frowned and pressed on the edges on her left eye, wincing in pain when she realized she had a black eye.

"O-oh, hmm... I totally hadn't noticed, actually. I suppose she tagged me harder than I thought..." Amelia mumbled, looking into a nearby window to get a better look at her own eye. Seeing him look on in concern, Amelia chuckled sheepishly, waving him off. "Like, don't concern yourself with it, Sir! I've had worse before, this will probably clear up by the morning."

"Mmm... right." he commented, still obviously somewhat concerned for the soldier under his command. "Otherwise, it's been a fairly eventful night, hasn't it? Nearly all of Hiroshima is up in arms over this."

"That's... one way to put it." Amelia mumbled, scoffing and shaking her head as the Major chuckled. "Sir, may I ask you a question?" she inquired, biting her lip when he nodded. "You wouldn't happen to know how the Japanese Self Defense Force was able to mobilize and get here so quickly, would you? I know I was the one who put the word out, but from what I understand of the location of their nearest base, it should have taken them longer to arrive than it did."

"Ah, right, yes... well..." he stammered, looking back towards the Japanese Military officers that were discussing something near a troop truck. He turned back to her as he coaxed her closer. "Turns out, the Japanese had planned an ambush. They had received word from a source they didn't reveal to me that the local Moderator was planning to steal the tablet for themselves. To what end, I don't know, and neither do they." he begun to explain to her, his words being a near carbon-copy of what the girls had yelled at her in the building, causing her to shiver. "Turns out nobody had expected the local Kämpfer to step in and try to outright prevent the Moderator from getting their hands on it. Everyone had geared up for, and been told to expect, the Moderator and their agents." he sighed, unsure of what to think of the situation.

"Sir… when I was in the basement, I had two of those girls at gunpoint. Natsuru Senou and Akane Mishima, that is. They... told me some things that... at first, I wasn't sure had much merit." she began to recount for him, just as he was about to remove something from his pocket, someone called out to him.

"Major Anderson!" the pair of them heard a man call out. Looking over towards the commotion, the pair of them noticed (to Amelia's mild annoyance) Colonel Smith approaching them. As Amelia looked him over, she noticed that he was in an immaculately kept dress uniform, as opposed to his combat fatigues that she normally saw him in.

"Colonel... I won't lie to you; I'm thinking you're a tad overdressed for this." Anderson joked, earning him a look from Adrian.

"Yes, well, I was attending a dinner with a few of my superiors, giving them an update on the situation... up until this mess happened, that is." he explained, turning his attention to Amelia, who he'd never seen and only heard transformed before. "Is that you, Master Corporal Tremblay?"

"Aye." Amelia confirmed with a nod, snickering when it was clear that Adrian clearly hadn't expected her to look the way she did. "Like, is something wrong, Colonel?"

"No, sorry, just wasn't expecting you to be so much... shorter." he commented, appearing at a loss as Amelia's left eye twitched.

"Putain de trou du cul..." Amelia growled in a hoarse whisper, balling a fist up.

"Tremblay..." Anderson glared at her, causing Amelia to pout and glare at the pavement below her.

"Right, anyways... I understand we ensnared the wrong girls?" Adrian asked them, opting to move on and ignore what had obviously been an inflammatory comment by Amelia.

"Yes, well... somewhat. They actually managed to slip away, and with the tablet, no less." Anderson explained, Adrian sighing as he rubbed his right temple.

"Master Corporal, you... well, you wouldn't know if any of them were injured... would you?" he asked her, fairly nervous as his eyes darted towards Ryuusei, who was busy pacing frantically, holding a cell phone to his ear.

"Senou was, yes. I saw her right palm had, like, a cut in it? Though I'm not really sure how she hurt herself. It totally happened sometime after they broke into the storage room that tablet was held in, though, because I found a small blood trail leading away from it, but nothing going towards it. I never actually saw the other two down there while I held Senou and Mishima at gunpoint. And since I was ambushed, it allowed those two to escape, where it sounds like they met up."

"You were ambushed?! By who?" Anderson asked her, incredibly alarmed as soldiers and Police milled about the area.

"I don't know... she was wearing a cloak and an odd mask, pretty much like I was. We have to be extremely careful, because she was something I'd never seen, or run into before." Amelia grunted, reaching for her cigarette pack and groaning when it was empty. Looking up, she noticed Adrian offering her one, which she took gladly. Lighting it and taking a drag, Amelia let the nicotine do its work, before exhaling with a relieved sigh. "She basically introduced herself as an agent of the local Moderator, and had a white bracelet on. So, like, we have a third color confirmed. Not only that," Amelia paused, taking another drag of her cigarette, "I'm totally convinced they are more powerful than a standard Kämpfer. Even with all my experience, she made me work to stay alive."

"Moderator agents... so, other young women that they've not only enslaved, but also brainwashed?" Adrian growled, anger simmering below the surface as Amelia shrugged, scratching an eyebrow with her thumb.

"No idea. But that's not all she said." Amelia sighed, glancing between the two men. "Sure, we knew that they wanted the tablet, and she pretty much confirmed it by saying as much. But, apparently, this region's Moderator is inlove with Senou."

---

"Did we pay you to ask questions, or to drive?" Akane glared at the gentleman in the driver's seat beside her, as he grimaced nervously, shying away as they wound their way up a dark, mountain road. He kept shooting the odd glance towards Akane, causing her to growl at him from the front passenger seat.

"Do, u-um... do I know you, from somewhere?" he asked her, causing Akane to roll her eyes.

"No! Jeez, I've been getting that a lot, lately..." Akane lied, grumbling as she looked ahead. "Oi, eyes on the road, you fuckwit!" she shouted at him as she pushed back against the seat, the driver having drifted into the oncoming lane as another car came along. The young man driving the car yanked on the wheel and brought his own vehicle back into line, snaking about slightly until he steadied it.

"S-sorry..." he mumbled, paying more attention to where he was going as Akane fumed while adjusting her glasses. He drove in silence, though still casting the odd glance towards Akane, or to his rearview mirror at Natsuru, Mikoto, and Shizuku.

The three of them in the back having relaxed already from the close-call, Natsuru sighed and stared out the window, which was all she had been doing since they had loaded up Mikoto's special chest into the trunk of the car and taken off towards the mountains. Looking at her in worry, Mikoto glanced towards Shizuku, who was similarly worried, but wordlessly shrugged at the shorter girl as she had no idea how to cheer Natsuru up.

Biting her lip, Mikoto decided to go for broke, and reached for Natsuru's right hand, which had been laying still on her lap. As Natsuru looked down at her in mild interest, still wearing the same frown, Mikoto gently smiled up at her encouragingly. Staring for just a moment, Natsuru returned it with her own, sad smile, before frowning again and looking back up to the stars, though she held onto Mikoto's hand all the same, interlocking her fingers.

Though she had hoped for more of a positive response, Mikoto reasoned that Natsuru at least knew she wasn't alone, and wasn't trying to shut any of them out.

"W-well, we're h-here..." the young man driving the car announced, pulling into a dark, dirt parking lot a short walk from the summit of the mountain Natsuru had chosen.

"Oh, I remember this place! Our families went camping together out here when we were little!" Mikoto exclaimed, smiling gently as Natsuru snapped her fingers and pointed at Mikoto with a wink, smiling a little.

"Sir, would you be able to get our chest out from your trunk?" Shizuku asked him, as she opened the door beside her. Nodding hesitantly, he followed her out as Akane, Mikoto, and Natsuru also exited the vehicle, looking around as they took in the dimly lit forest around them.

"U-um..." the driver mumbled nervously, as the four of them turned to look at him. "Y-y-you're not... gonna kill me, r-right?" he asked them nervously, trembling as they all gave blank stares for a moment.

"Eh? What are you even going on about?" Akane asked him, the first to break the silence, the four girls giving him various dumbfounded looks, with Mikoto hiding a little behind Natsuru as she became very uncomfortable around the driver.

"I mean, this has got to be a dead body, right?!" he exclaimed, heaving on the case as the four of them groaned, Akane rolling her eyes before walking up to him, yanking on the large, grey case. Unlatching the two clips on the front, Akane flipped the lip up and gestured to the inside of the case.

"Take a look, you big baby. Nothing's in there, see?" she snapped at him, the driver becoming confused as the only contents of the case was some thick foam padding lining the edges, bottom, and lid. "Did you seriously think that four high school girls are gonna murder someone and stuff them into a box? This isn't a friggin' video game, you know. If we were gonna go that, I'd like to think we'd be smart enough not to involve someone outside our group."

"Akane, give the man a break. Even you have to admit this is an extremely unorthodox request." Shizuku admonished her, Akane grunting and shrugging, stepping out of the way for Natsuru as she grabbed ahold of both handles on the side of the chest and lifted it effortlessly.

"I... how are you lifting that so easily? Even I had problems with it..." he asked her, going as far as flexing his left arm and pointing to his muscles, clearly defined, though nothing overwhelming.

"I, uh... I work out, too." Natsuru lied weakly, though this seemed to satisfy the driver, who shrugged.

"So, I guess you four want me to wait here?" he asked, shutting the trunk lid as Shizuku nodded.

"We'd appreciate it, otherwise we'd have a long walk ahead of us." Shizuku joked, offering him a friendly smile as Natsuru stepped off towards a walking path, Mikoto flanking her and using the flashlight on her phone to light the way.

"Sure, I guess... definitely the least I could do for assuming the worst of you four." he blushed as Shizuku tittered, covering her mouth.

"I promise we'll explain what's going on when we get back. It's honestly a lot more innocent than you might be thinking."

"... Alright, I guess so." was all he could offer, as Akane and Shizuku walked away. "What strange girls."

"So, where are we headed, exactly, Natsuru?" Mikoto asked her, the pair of them having stopped for the other two to catch up.

"I remember there being a ravine with loose boulders just off the path right before the path started going uphill towards the summit. I was thinking of moving some rocks around and carefully putting the case in a gap between some of the boulders." she explained, having waited for the other two.

"Aren't you worried about crushing the case and the tablet if the rocks slip?" Akane asked her, her gaze snapping towards the distant sound of something rustling in the trees to their right.

"Don't worry, it sounds like it's a small animal." Natsuru assured her. "As for crushing this thing... to be honest, I'm finding It hard to care all that much. This damn thing has caused us so much grief, I wouldn't lose sleep if that actually happened."

"Up until it potentially causes the tablet to go off again. And knowing our luck, it would happen right in the middle of class." Mikoto rebutted, looking a bit ill. "I don't want to think about what would happen if I transformed in front of my class, but I can't help but shiver at what you would go through, when it sounds like half your class is drooling over this you."

"Okay, change of plans! We find an outcropping that we can block off with the boulders, instead!" Natsuru exclaimed hastily, fighting back a gag as she recalled the 'new' Nakazawa, and his club lackeys in 2-4. "Hang on… do any of you think we even can return to the school? I mean… they obviously know our identities for sure, and we did just steal from a government facility…"

"I don't believe so, no… this is the exact reason I wanted to do this myself, so the three of you could hopefully continue to attend." Shizuku sighed, groaning and putting a hand to her head.

"Hey, that's right, you're still messed up… how're you not collapsing?" Akane asked her, gently holding onto Shizuku's arm in case she started to collapse again.

"I'm maintaining my transformation… see?" she explained, holding up a lock of her hair and showing off the mix of white and dark-purple. "Honestly, it's a struggle in of itself, and the majority of my effort at this point is being put into standing upright and walking…"

"Shizuku…" Natsuru sighed, giving her a look of disapproval before glancing around the area. "Look there," Natsuru began, noticing a bench and gesturing to it with an elbow, "take a seat there and rest. Akane, you think you could stay with her?"

"Yeah, sure." Akane nodded, tugging on Shizuku's arm gently. "Come on, Boss Lady, let's go sit and wait."

Temporarily bidding them farewell, Mikoto and Natsuru continued walking forward, eventually finding the path down to the ravine, the darkness inside that the moonlight wouldn't reach completely swallowing the light cast from Mikoto's phone. As they continued, they began hearing the sounds of a river flowing through the area.

"I don't remember a river here… sounds kind of violent, so watch your step, okay, Mikoto?" Natsuru asked her, as Mikoto glanced nervously over the edge.

"Y-yeah, sure…" she stammered, clinging tightly to Natsuru as the continued into the ravine. After close to another five minutes of walking in silence, the duo had reached the bottom of the ravine, the two sides split apart by a fast-flowing river. Moving along the cliff face after wrapping around the path into the ravine, Natsuru spotted the perfect hiding place.

"Hey, Mikoto, how about there?" she asked, placing the chest on the ground and pointing towards a small divot in the rock face. Lighting the area with her phone, Mikoto clambered over the rocks and boulders on the way in, taking a quick look before nodding.

"Yeah, this should work! Doesn't look like a lot of rain gets in too far." Mikoto agreed, glancing around the area before transforming and quickly hopping back to Natsuru. Unlatching the case, Natsuru kneeled so that Mikoto could carefully remove the tablet from the knapsack on her back. Carefully pulling it out, Mikoto whistled as she took in the sight of the tablet.

"Wow, the Greeks sure went all out with this one… the Japanese Rising Sun, that's weird… these are Greek characters, as well, but the words are utter gibberish." Mikoto commented idly, examining the artifact.

"Actually, I was a bit curious about that. I wouldn't have thought that the ancient Greeks would have ever known of Japan, considering how far away it was?" she asked Mikoto, who looked at her for a moment before returning to the tablet.

"Well, it's certainly possible they did, but it depends on when this was made. I mean, around 150 AD, there was an explorer by the name of Ptolemy who spoke of China. Since we're so close geographically, it's entirely possible they knew of us, but I don't recall seeing anything about it."

"Wow, we've been using the rising sun since then?" Natsuru commented, impressed. Looking back up at Mikoto, she found her friend completely shocked. "Hey, you okay?"

"Natsuru, this is… this is spooky." She replied, her face shaking a bit, as it was clear she was nervous. "Japan didn't start using the rising sun as a symbol until the beginning of the 17th century." She explained, as Natsuru looked a little lost. "Nat, Hellenism, the religion that the Ancient Greeks practiced? It was pretty much eradicated in the 9th century, and only small pockets, which were nowhere near where the tablet was found, survived until the 12th century, at the latest." Mikoto pointed out, staring at the rising sun symbol. "So, unless they were referring to something else, and we're misinterpreting… the Greeks who made this tablet somehow knew of a symbol eight-hundred years in the making that we would easily connect with a country they may not have even heard of at the time."

"U-uh… well, just remember, since it is something that affects Kämpfer, maybe these Greeks did know about Japan?" Natsuru offered, to which Mikoto shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe? But that still doesn't change the fact that they knew about a symbol that wouldn't actually appear until very nearly an entire millennium later!" she exclaimed, before looking troubled as she pulled her right hand back and began rubbing something between her fingertips. "What's this?" she asked, giving it a sniff before recoiling. "…Blood? What?" she whispered, turning the tablet over and discovering a partially dried splotch of blood on the back of the tablet.

"Huh… I guess we found where I cut myself." Natsuru commented, taking a look as Mikoto grimaced at the sensation of Natsuru's blood all over her fingers. Spying something on the back of the tablet, under the blood. "Hey, let's get you and this thing washed off." She suggested, the pair of them quietly leaving the chest in the dark as they carefully approached the river. Though it was cold, the water quickly washed away the blood from Mikoto's hand, as well as the majority of it off the tablet, though Natsuru had quickly noticed some of it absolutely refused to come off. "Ugh, come on…"

"Hey, Natsuru, stop… I think that's another image." Mikoto urged her, as Natsuru sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, I saw it, too. I was trying to get my blood out of it… it's weird, though. Nothing here is that sharp, so I don't know how my hand got cut on this… unless I cut it before I touched it." She commented, running over the area gently with her fingers as Mikoto brought her phone back up to get a better look at the design on the back.

"It's a bunch of crudely chiseled female figures… they look like women in togas…?" Mikoto mumbled, looking over the bloodstained outlines, as Natsuru ran her fingers over the strange, immensely crude objects they were holding.

"I… Mikoto, I think they're holding weapons."

"Heeyyy, I think you're right, Nat! That one looks like she's holding a sword!" Mikoto exclaimed, pointing out one figure that was shorter than most of the rest. The object it held did, in fact, look like a sword. It also appeared to be a slightly curved one at that…

"Oh, look! That one is holding what looks like daggers!" Mikoto exclaimed again, her interest in the historical significance pushing any worries from her mind.

"Y-yeah, uh…" Natsuru mumbled, looking at the shortest of the four, who was holding a very strange object, like an L, down and out to her right. "Oh my God, Mikoto…" Natsuru trailed off as she took a handful of her own hair with a free hand. "T-this is s-supposed to be us!"

"… What?" Mikoto asked, looking at the figures again as she tried to understand.

"I'll point them out, h-hang on." Natsuru sniffed, beginning to become fearful of the tablet as she pointed at the leftmost figure. "There… this one is the shortest, and it looks like she's holding a handgun in her right hand, that's Akane." Natsuru explained, continuing on. "Next is the second tallest with the daggers, it's clearly Shizuku. After that is the second shortest, holding a curved sword… that's you." Natsuru paused, before placing her finger on the final figure. "And then… the tallest one, and it sort of looks like she has fire in her hand… th-that's m-m-me."

"I—" Mikoto had begun to refute the find, only to pause and gawk, whimpering as Natsuru joined her when a horrible scraping and scratching sound emanated from the marble tablet, as a fifth, uncolored figure around 'Akane's' height began to form to 'Natsuru's' left, holding a strange, long, stick-like object.

"Je-suuus!" Natsuru shrieked, running and tossing the tablet into the waiting chest, promptly locking it as she scrambled backwards from it. Mikoto was pacing and hyperventilating, shaking her hands as she tried to explain what she had just witnessed to herself before Natsuru ran to her and clung on tightly to her. As the pair of them hugged each other, keeping the crate at a distance, they screamed in terror when a voice called out to them from above. When they began to calm down, they clung to each other even more tightly when someone landed on the rocks beside them with a grunt.

"Holy shit, are you two okay? What's gotten into you?" Akane's voice floated out to them from behind the glow of a light.

"Uh… w-well, I'm… I'm not sure I…" Natsuru struggled, Akane following her intense stare cast towards the chest, Natsuru's gaze not moving an inch.

"Th-the back of the tablet… was m-modifying itself…" Mikoto whispered in a shaky voice, appearing very pale as Natsuru tucked herself further into Mikoto's chest.

"Was it a gh-ghost…?" Natsuru finally managed to get out, still casting a wary gaze to the chest.

"H-hey! Wh-why are you so s-scared! I remember you g-g-going through the h-haunted halls with Sakura during the summer festival just f-fine!" Mikoto stammered, also not turning her eyes away from it.

"Ah, n-not scared, more just really, really freaked out and unnerved!" Natsuru exclaimed, blanching when Akane wandered over to the chest and began to open it. The two of them watched her as she pulled the tablet out and took a good look at it."

"You said something about the back of it?" she asked, as the pair of them nodded. Shrugging, Akane flipped the tablet over. "Oh, THAT'S not creepy. Kind of cool, though." She commented, pulling her phone closer as she tried to take pictures. "Oh, damn, it's recording a video—" Akane began to mumbled, jumping and dropping the tablet into the chest and jumping back herself when it suddenly made a loud, intense scraping noise. "Nope, nope, fucking hell no! Fuck this shit!"

"What did it do now, I wonder…" Natsuru mumbled nervously as Akane retreated towards the other two. Curiosity getting the better of her, Natsuru let go of Mikoto, who nervously switched to Akane. Stepping closer, Natsuru summoned a small fireball in her left hand to get a better view of the tablet. Looking down at it, she realized the sound was the fifth figure being colored in, her stick now being completely black. Shaking her head, she closed the lid once more, latching it, and picked it up before making her way to the little cave.

The other two watched nervously as Natsuru quickly selected decently sized boulders and strained against them, rolling them towards the cave, and sealing the chest inside.

"... Do you think it's already been triggered? Just from us touching it?" Akane whispered to Mikoto, who shrugged nervously, the pair of them slowly making their way towards the path back up As Natsuru finished. Looking back at where the girls were previously, Natsuru scowled when she noticed she had been left behind.

"Seriously?"

---

Upon returning to the path, the trio quickly found Shizuku sleeping soundly on the bench, unaware that she had been left alone. After chewing Akane out for not waking her before setting off to check on Natsuru and Mikoto, Shizuku began trudging ahead of them, the odd yawn here or there until they returned to the parking lot.

"Oh, there you four are... I, uhh... I was about to go looking for you. You were out there for a while..." He mumbled, scratching his neck as he gestured to the car "Should we get going?"

"Yeah, let's uh... let's get going." Natsuru sighed, feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over her as her thoughts rushed back to the tablet. All of the chaos that had occurred just to whisk it out of reach of Kaede and the Whites, as well as the massive sacrifices of their futures that all three of her friends had given freely to ensure her male identity was safe weighed heavily on her. Stepping into the car after Mikoto quietly, Natsuru hung off of the door again, her mind elsewhere as Shizuku and Akane bickered by the front passenger door. A moment later, Akane rolled her eyes and walked around the back of the car, getting into the free seat behind the driver as Shizuku sat up front.

"Right, let's head back to where you picked us up. Is that alright?" Shizuku asked the driver, who nodded.

"Sure, I can do that, but I could always take you somewhere else, too, you know." He pointed out. Shizuku had started to turn the offer down, but when the car was filled with the sound of Natsuru's stomach growling, she changed her mind.

"I... suppose we could go to a restaurant."

"No." was all Natsuru said, tearing herself away from the sky for a moment. "You're absolutely exhausted, Shizuku. I can get food just about anywhere, so let's find somewhere to sleep."

"… You recall why that might be a bit difficult, right?" Shizuku asked her, curious as Natsuru nodded.

"Hey, mister, do you think you could take us near Seitetsu Gakuin? We're going to meet with a friend there."

The driver nodded, a bit mystified by their conversation and behavior, but he complied. Silently, he drove along the highway, eventually reaching the city proper again. As he went about his route, the driver had tuned his radio at one point, having seen numerous Police vehicles strewn about the city, lights flashing. The station he landed on was running a special report on the events at the research facility. While the program ran, the four girls were clearly uncomfortable, but thankfully the driver was distracted and didn't notice.

"… take you now to the impromptu press conference with the Brigade General:" a woman's voice announced, the four girls paying close attention ed as they heard an older man beginning to speak.

"I'll be keeping this brief. Approximately one hour and thirty minutes ago, this facility triggered its emergency alarm upon detecting the presence of a pair of intruders. After a brief scuffle, the intruders managed to breach a highly secure area of the facility, before taking a highly intriguing historical artifact and attempting to leave with it.

"It was at this point that a highly-trained, friendly agent made contact with them and managed to hold them for questioning. After a brief interrogation, our agent was interrupted when a hostile third party engaged them in combat, unfortunately allowing the intruders the opportunity to slip away and rendezvous with backup. Upon surfacing, they met with our forces that you can see here, but unfortunately, they came prepared, dousing the area in a thick smoke before slipping away. Initial searches have come up empty, and they are considered at large at this time. Questions?"

"Sir! Sir, who exactly were the intruders?" another voice asked him, barely audible.

"Our agent was able to confirm that the intruders were Kämpfer. While stopping them would have been preferred, this situation had given us a positive identification on three previously suspected young women." He answered them, a chill flowing through the girls are they felt the targets on their backs.

"Sir, can you tell us who they are?!" yet another voice asked, the question heightening the already elevated tension.

"No, we will not be releasing their identities at this time. Though they are powerful, we do not wish for any harm to come to them should any misguided fools attempt to attack them."

"Sir, if you'll forgive the question, it sounds like you're protecting what can only be described as a criminal group at this point. Could you explain this?" a woman's voice asked the Brigade General, who was silent for a moment before answering.

"Yes. To put it simply our agent… discovered from the Kämpfer during their impromptu interrogation that they were protecting not only themselves, but other Kämpfer around the world, as well as any innocent people that might have been caught in the middle of a later attempt to steal the artifact by the parasites calling themselves 'Moderators'. They didn't provide any details, only that the artifact was ripe for abuse by those who wish to do humanity harm, so they sought to pull it away from their grasp."

At this, the reporters exploded with questions, the entire broadcast devolved into nothing but a cacophony of voices shouting over one another in an effort to be heard. It took a few minutes, but eventually order was brought back into being.

"Brigade General, could you speculate on why these young girls took it upon themselves to do something about this as opposed to informing the Authorities?" a particularly snooty sounding reported asked him, the question sounding as if it made the Military leader uncomfortable.

"Yes, well, if I had to guess… these young ladies had come into possession of some knowledge that the artifact was being targeted, as well as what it could do to them. I'm sure the idea had crossed their minds, but I suspect they may be having a perfectly, understandably difficult time trusting us after the failure from a few days ago where we turned our weapons on them and fired upon one of their number. After that, they probably felt wanting after debating on whether or not they should try speaking to us." He sighed, pausing for a moment before continuing. "Be that as it may… if those young ladies are watching or listening… please, contact us. Our utmost concern is ensuring that none of you are critically injured and in need of medical attention. A secondary concern is that we make sure we are all on the same page; we can't help anyone if we're being left in the dark.

"We would greatly appreciate it if you would come forward, if not to share information, then to at least confirm your health. There are neutral parties involved that are outside of the jurisdiction of the Government or the Self Defense Force, and you should be aware of who… they are..." he trailed off, sounding as if he were leaning away from the microphone. "Right, any other questions?"

"Huh, talk about intense, huh?" their driver suddenly cut in, causing them to jump as they had all been invested in the press conference, just as the reporters began asking about the presence of the Moderators in the city. "Right, well… here we are: Seitetsu Gakuin high school. Not sure why you girls want to come here so late…"

"We're going to stay at a friend's house who lives nearby, so thanks for driving us!" Natsuru lied to him, seemingly perking up with a wide smile as she exited the vehicle. Mikoto shared a look with Akane, who shrugged, but looked worried herself.

"Yes, thank you for putting up with our strange behavior tonight, sir. You see, the case is meant to hold a gift for her Father." Shizuku pointed out to Mikoto, who was exiting after Akane. "He's a big time Archeologist, so we thought it might be fun to have him hunt for it. The reason it was empty was we didn't want to risk someone coming across it and stealing from it before his Birthday Party."

"Oh... that's actually kind of clever!" the driver chuckled, Shizuku smiling as she fought back another yawn.

"Yes, well... thank you, again, for your help." she said before stepping out of the car. "My card should have already paid, so you have yourself a wonderful evening."

"You as well, ma'am!" he bid them farewell as Shizuku closed the door. "I said it before, I'll say it again: those girls are strange. Something's off about them..." he grumbled to himself as he pulled away.

"Right, so... Natsuru, want to explain what we're doing here?" Mikoto asked her, rubbing her arms to warm them up.

"Oh, I wasn't lying when I said a friend was nearby." Natsuru replied, cracking her neck as it had stiffened up after staring at the sky for so long. "But, er... I actually have no idea if she can, or even will help us..."

"Who? I'm getting antsy just standing out here. We're sitting ducks!" Akane complained, looking around the area nervously. Putting her hand on Akane's shoulder and surprising her, Natsuru smiled sheepishly.

"You think you could give Nishino a call? I mean, she did say she'd help us out whenever she could... right?"

"Are you serious right now? That's your great plan? A sleepover with Masumi?" Akane fumed, giving Natsuru a shove. "We're bein' hunted by the Military, and you wanna have a fuckin' sleepover?!"

"It's the best I could think of, given the circumstances! Do you have any ideas?!" Natsuru retorted, getting into her face as she scowled.

"Gee, maybe we could have gotten a fuckin' hotel?!" Akane snapped back, and snarling back.

"Oh, why didn't I think of that? Oh, wait, it's because they're obviously watching our debit and credit cards, genius!" The pair of them bickered loudly in front of the school, Shizuku groaning as she tried to build up the energy to stop the pair of them. Looking to the side, she noticed that Mikoto was staring down at her phone with a depressed expression.

"That's still off, right?" she asked her, watching as Mikoto looked up in surprise, before looking back at it sadly and nodding.

"Y-yeah, it's been off since we all shut them off before changing out of the costumes." Mikoto assured Shizuku, sighing as she ran a finger over the black screen. "I'm just… well…"

"Mikoto?" Shizuku called to her, ignoring her body crying out in protest over how utterly exhausted she was.

"This is it, huh? Our lives are totally ruined, now… we won't even be able to finish school…" she mumbled, sniffling as she wiped a tear away from the corner of her eye. "Everything we've worked for up until now… gone, just like that." She sniffed, snapping her fingers in emphasis. "The only saving grace we have is that Natsuru can breathe a sigh of relief that the tablet won't be able to be used against him, now."

"… Not necessarily, you know." Shizuku pointed out to her, Mikoto looking up in confusion. "You heard the Brigade General. If you believe their words, they might be willing to look the other way, and we will be able to live our lives."

"Okay, maybe, but what about Natsuru? They've got to know that he's both Natsurus. How could he continue to attend school as either one once they inform everyone involved?" Mikoto asked her, sighing as she leaned against the wall surrounding the school. "He'll be treated like some sort of creep, or predator, maybe even cause the Police to arrest him for voyeurism, since he's changed with his female classmates, before..."

"You raise a point, but... that would be the case if everyone knew the exact, unfiltered truth, right?"

"What do you mean...?" Mikoto questioned her, slipping her phone away as she squinted up at Shizuku.

"Well, the entire world 'knows' that boys cannot be Kämpfer, since the transformation process kills them. That lie, courtesy of Kaede and the Whites, could potentially help us cover up that one last little nugget of truth."

"I thought one of you three were eventually going to bring that up..." they heard Natsuru sigh, Akane and her having ceased their bickering only moments ago. Looking at her, Mikoto and Shizuku grimaced when they saw just how utterly miserable she was.

"Well, I... I know it's far from ideal, or what you want... honestly, even I'd rather not parade around claiming you were a girl the entire time, but..." Shizuku muttered, unable to look her in the eye any longer.

"No, no way! There's got to be another option here, right?" Akane exclaimed, looking between the other three frantically. "There has to be something we're overlooking. Like, uh... maybe we can say it's split personalities! Like, in the extreme sense, as in. Um... two people are sharing one body!"

"No offense, Akane, but I'd rather not use what's a legitimate issue for some as an excuse for my ability to switch genders..." Natsuru sighed, kneeling down and sitting on the sidewalk.

"Oh, and pretending to be a girl who felt that she was meant to be a guy is any different?" Akane debated, Natsuru propping her arms on her knees before resting her forehead on them.

"Well, you're not wrong, there... but it's an easier lie to manage. The only people who could reliably shoot that one down would be Mikoto and my own parents, so..." Natsuru groaned, looking back up. "My Parents... what are they going to think of me? Surely, they're going to disown me. My Father doing that, I could handle easily, but my Mom..." she sniffed, growing silent as she rubbed at her eyes. "What's that American saying? We won the battle, but lost the war?"

"A 'Pyrrhic victory'..." Akane sighed, sitting beside Natsuru as she patted her arm soothingly.

"That's an amazingly thematic thing to say, based on all of this Ancient Greece stuff that's been cropping up." Mikoto chuckled humorlessly. Seeing Shizuku, Akane, and Natsuru looking up at her in confusion, Mikoto sighed to waved it off. "Just a dumb comment, I'll explain some other time..." she commented, sighing as the four of them went silent. As they sat in the dark, dimly lit street, time seemed to come to a crawl as they tried to think of what their next move should be.

"Girls, can I... make a request? And please, hear me out before saying anything." Shizuku broke the silence, as the three of them looked to her with depressed expressions, Mikoto and Akane having begun fidgeting with their cell phones during the silence. "I'd like to get in touch with Tremblay and negotiate through her."

"Fuck off with that, Shizuku, you're not sacrificing yourself for us." Akane blurted out, as Shizuku glared at her.

"Listen, it's taking all of my remaining strength, even transformed, to not collapse from exhaustion. If you hadn't noticed, I'm shaking a little bit from the strain." she warned them, Natsuru squinting slightly and noticing the odd, miniscule tremor in her clothes as she stood there, beside the wall. "I'm not going to be able to keep up, very soon, should we decide to simply flee the city. I'd very quickly become a liability, because I think I'm going to need a few days bedrest to recover properly." Shizuku groaned, looking incredibly exhausted suddenly as she leaned against the wall to brace herself. "At least by having me speak with Tremblay, we should be able to ascertain the Government's true intentions. If it's a trap, well... I may be able to buy you three some time to get away. If it isn't a trap, and they are being true to their word... then we don't have to keep wearing ourselves out by stressing out over what they're going to do, or when they may make a move. And the meeting will be on our terms, not theirs."

"Still begs the question about what they plan to do with me..." Natsuru mumbled, though still clearly worried about Shizuku as the senior student groaned, getting up off the wall.

"I suspect we'd be able to get them to spill what they know and what their intentions are if I spoke to her. If they really do want to be on the same team, they should be willing to divulge that information." Shizuku countered, silence settling over the group once again as they mulled the idea over. Mikoto and Akane were both appearing incredibly conflicted, occasionally glancing at their phones as the thought of potentially being able to stay with their families clashed with the terrifying thought of Shizuku being captured in a blaze of sacrificial glory.

"... As long as they don't try and hurt you, or intend to make a mockery of me... I'm willing to go along with this and at least reach out. For the sake of you three." Natsuru declared, breaking the silence that had settled amongst the group again. Standing up, she looked at Shizuku for a moment, before glancing between Akane and Mikoto. "What do you two think? I feel like this is something we all need to agree on."

"W-well... I don't want to have Shizuku hurt herself just for us, but... to leave Dad all alone..." Mikoto sighed, sniffling as she wiped a tear from her cheek. "We don't really have much of a choice, unless we want to run for the rest of our lives."

"If my Parents were willing to accept the real me, and put up with the fact that I'm a Kämpfer... it would be insulting to run away now, I guess. So, sure... let's at least talk to them." Akane added coughing as her voice wavered slightly. "But you'd better not ask me to speak with her, or I'mma blow a hole into that bitch for that shit she pulled in the basement!"

"What, where she caught us off guard, fair and square?" Natsuru asked her, smirking slightly as Akane stomped her foot.

"Yes! It wasn't fair, though! She cheated and convinced Shizuku to give her that damn ring!"

"To be fair, I doubt she really needed it. We could only tell something was off with her when she was nearly on top of us when our sense was heightened, or touching us directly when we weren't paying much attention." Shizuku pointed out, yawning widely before stumbling slightly as Mikoto caught her. "Right, well... We'd best get into the school. I need to get Tremblay's number from her student file."

"I thought it would be locked at night?" Mikoto asked her, letting go of her arm as Shizuku held herself up again. Fishing something from her pocket, Shizuku smirked as she dangled a keyring before them.

"Master key, one of the perks of being Student Council President."

---

"... Huh." Amelia grunted, washing her hands in a bathroom sink as she eyed her phone, which laid beside it. She had been examining the hair, later determined to be synthetic extensions, that Senou had been force to slice away after getting it caught in the barbed wire atop the wall earlier. While touching it, Amelia had been grossed out when she got her hands covered in blood, recalling that Senou had somehow injured herself while in the building. After the forensic technicians had taken samples of the blood from her hands (and given her an earful for touching evidence without gloves), Amelia had finally been given the go ahead to clean it from her hands.

While doing so, a strange message had appeared on her phone from an unknown number. All it did was ask if the number did, in fact, belong to Amelia Tremblay, and if she was the one reading it. Suspicious and curious of Its origins, she quickly dried her hands with some paper towel before exiting the bathroom, and began examining the text as she wandered the hallways of the facility's basement. Looking up, she noticed the water pooling slightly on the floor thanks to the sprinklers reacting to whatever it was that Senou had done to trigger them. Also, in her line of sight, was exactly what Senou had done: vaporized nearly the entire security gate protecting sensitive artifacts and relics, mostly from around Japan. Thankfully, according to Mr. Kondou, nothing beyond the building itself was damaged by the explosion, and the only thing taken was their newest addition: that peculiar tablet.

Sighing as she went over Senou's warning to her that the tablet was incredibly dangerous, Amelia looked back down at her phone as she debated replying to the message again. Shrugging, she finally relented and confirmed her identity. Almost the instant she responded; Amelia noticed that the unknown sender was writing a response.

'Wonderful, good to know you didn't lie about your phonenumber, at least.' the sender had replied, causing Amelia to scowl and squint her eyes as she began to wonder just who she was texting with. 'This is Shizuku Sangou, if you hadn't realized yet. Color me surprised to hear that none of your technicians have raised the alarm that my phone turned on moments ago... assuming that they haven't, that is.'

"Sang—!" Amelia began to blurt out, looking around for Major Anderson. Not finding him, Amelia wandered around for a moment before catching sight of Colonel Smith. Rolling her eyes, Amelia sighed before catching his eye. Discretely patting the top of her head to relay the message 'on me' to him, Amelia wandered back down the hallway slightly and found an empty room. She only had to wait about a minute until he found her.

"What's this about?" he inquired, as she silently showed him the messages. "She's typing again."

'Is it too much to ask for a response? I'm beginning to wonder if you're busy trying to coordinate a team to capture us, in contrast to the message sent by the Brigade General on the radio.' Shizuku admonished Amelia, causing Amelia to cringe as she typed a response.

'Sorry, I was trying to find a private location to respond without attracting attention.' Amelia hastily punched in, sending the message before starting another. 'You wanted to talk? Before we do, someone was bleeding down here. Are they alright?'

'Natsuru cut her right palm on something, though she isn't sure what. Also claims that it's painless. But before you ask, she's fine right now. She is having a bandage applied as I type this.' Shizuku responded, not wasting any time in waiting for a reply from Amelia. 'I'd like to speak with you, rather than text. May I call?'

'Yes.' was all Amelia responded with, before placing the phone down on a counter between herself and Adrian. A moment later, the phone began to ring, with Amelia answering it and quickly flicking the loudspeaker on. "Sangou?"

"Tremblay." Shizuku replied curtly, clearly irritated. "Awfully resourceful of you, if not a little underhanded, to trick me while I'm suffering from exhaustion for a ring of your own. I'd be impressed with you if I wasn't so damn angry at myself that it caused the other three to become scared and paranoid."

"Yes, well... in all honesty, I didn't actually expect you to just hand me one. I was prepared to have to attempt to break into your office."

"You know... my mind was telling me that it was awfully strange for someone to be transferring in right as many students were transferring out. But I ignored it, since I had more pressing matters on my mind, at the time. And by the time Mikoto warned me that giving the ring out was a bad idea, I was already so exhausted that I was having trouble thinking straight."

"If it helps, it worked towards the sole purpose of ensuring you four weren't slaughtered by your Moderator for bucking the system, in the end." she replied, as Shizuku sighed in frustration.

"I'm assuming the strange echo in your voice means the phone is on speaker mode? Who else is with you?"

"Just myself, Miss Sangou." Adrian replied for Amelia, as Shizuku chuckled.

"Yes, of course it's you." she commented bitterly. "Are you pleased with the result of your investigation? One bleeding with a terrible gash in her hand, believing her life is ruined, two are heartbroken and anxious that they will need to flee the country and leave their families behind forever, and one that's been pushed to a level of exhaustion that even being transformed she can hardly stand. All of that, after Akane asked you all twice to leave us alone."

"It wasn't the intention of anyone involved in this investigation to harm any of you." Adrian replied calmly, knowing full well that Shizuku was making things personal because she was simply stressed out, scared, and tired.

"Or so you say. But this is the end result of it, all the same, correct?" she spat back, sighing as Amelia and Adrian remained silent, letting her vent. "Well, this has been a lovely phone call, but it's time for me to hang up. Assuming you haven't already pinged my phone for my location, I'd love for you to join me, alone, in a face-to-face discussion at the school, Tremblay. You'll find me in my office, if you're interested. We have much to discuss. And you had better be alone, or the four of us disappear, forever." Shizuku vowed, ending the call as Amelia and Adrian looked at one-another.

"This could be a trap, you know." Adrian commented, watching as Amelia sighed.

"For what, like, revenge? I'm aware of the possibility, but... if we want to win their trust, I'm going to have to chance it. They've totally had so many opportunities to harm others if they wanted to, and they've actively gone out of their way to try their hardest to minimize how much they affect people around them." Amelia pointed out, shaking her head as she summoned her shotgun. "I'll load this up with beanbag cartridges, all the same, but I don't plan on summoning it unless I absolutely need to."

"You want any backup?" Adrian asked, not wanting to argue with her as she shook her head.

"Non, that would risk scaring them off like they promised, and that school boasts some impressive security camera counts. They'd see backup coming from the horizon, well before I could get into position." Amelia sighed, dismissing her shotgun after she finished loading the less-lethal ammunition.

"... Can all Kämpfer change ammunition type?" he asked her, watching her as the question surprised her.

"Er, o-oui,with enough practice. Even Mishima would totally be able to begin fighting with rubber bullets if she chose to."

"Right, bad timing for that, sorry. You should get moving. I'll let your Major know where you've gone off to, and we'll hold back the Japanese. I know they're keen on ensuring the Kämpfer understand that they mean well, but they're also chomping at the bit for answers that the girls might be able to answer for them."

"Yes, I'll leave that to you then, Colonel." Amelia nodded, quickly leaving the room and jogging down the hallway. Ignoring the looks of surprise and interest as she moved through the building, Amelia sighed and shook her head. 'The man is a fantastic soldier to work with, but, like, he's a bit of an old-fashioned 'knight-in-shining-armor' type. If he could drop that shit, I'd totally grab a beer with him sometime.~'

---

Though it had easily been about forty minutes since Shizuku hung up on her, the time it had taken Amelia to reach the high-school had felt much shorter. She had spent most of the time riding on the buses, hopping between routes as required, to ensure she attracted as little attention as possible. She would have preferred making her way by sprinting at high speed across the rooftops, but during the first few minutes of her trip, she noticed that she had been spotted by civilians, causing them to panic and flee. She had admonished herself for not cluing in that the populace of Hiroshima would be hyper vigilant for any possible signs of Kämpfer or Moderator activity, and with no way to tell the two apart, everything would terrify them.

Stepping up to the school's front gate, Amelia pursed her lips as she noticed they were unlocked and slightly ajar, allowing her entry and implying that the girls had come in this way themselves. Stepping in nervously, Amelia glanced around warily, watching for any potential ambushes. It took her some time, but she eventually stepped through the front doors of the female side.

"I can't blame you for being cautious. I am pleased, though, that you kept your promise and came alone." Shizuku's voice rung out over the school's intercom, startling Amelia into a defensive stance. "Sorry about that, I guess I could have warned you with a text I'd be greeting you with the intercom. I'm awfully tired, actually... if you could hurry to my office, that'd be nice. I'd really like to get to bed to sleep the sleep of the dead, and I'm sure Mikoto and Akane would appreciate being able to tell their parents that they are safe."

'Mmh... well, if she's being honest about being exhausted, then she probably won't pose as much of a threat if things get violent... though I'd still have to watch for the other three, assuming Senou doesn't outright flatten me. But still... it's sounding like they'd like to move on from the cloak and dagger act and return to a semi-normal life.' Amelia thought to herself, quickly making haste towards Shizuku's office.

It only took her a couple of minutes, but she reached and entered the fancy lobby holding the elevator door. Walking past the fountain and calling for it, the doors slid open immediately, catching her by surprise as she narrowed her eyes and glanced around the lobby.

'That means either they sent it down ahead of time, or someone left her office at some point.' Amelia puzzled about the unanticipated development.

"The girls all hid elsewhere within the school, if you were wondering. I asked them to, just in case you lied about wanting to talk and planned on trapping us. It gives them the chance to escape, this way. Now, please, step into the elevator." Shizuku sighed, sounding quite tired as Amelia frowned. Steeling herself, and convincing herself that if the girls had planned on attacking her, they either would have by now, or they would in just a moments time. Amelia cautiously entered the elevator, pressing the button for the top floor. A silent ride later, the elevator slowed to a stop, and she found herself standing in the dark, empty secretary's room, right before Shizuku's office. As she approached the door, she wasn't surprised to hear Shizuku call out to her.

"Just go ahead and enter, no need to knock." her voice floated out from behind the door. Not wasting any more time, Amelia turned the handle and pushed the door open.

"Sangou." Amelia greeted her, nodding as she stepped into the office, closing the door behind her slowly as she took a good look around the room.

"Tremblay." Shizuku returned the greeting, gesturing to the chairs. "Please, take a seat."

"If it's all the same to you, I'd prefer to stand." Amelia replied, keeping her distance and staying near the door.

"Don't trust me?" Shizuku asked her, to which the pink-hair Kämpfer shook her head. "How come?"

"You dragged me all the way out to the school, far from any Military forces, and brought me into a location that only has one exit available, depending on if there is a fire or blackout, or not."

"Tremblay, please. I would have preferred somewhere public if I had the energy to move at all. I'm struggling not to nod off, here, so it would be nice if you would accept my invitation politely." Shizuku huffed, clearly irritated as Amelia rolled her eyes, and against her better judgement she relented, sitting in a chair across the desk from Shizuku.

"Are you honestly seventeen? You act like you're older than that." Amelia commented, stunned when Shizuku started laughing.

"You'd be a good judge of that, wouldn't you?" Shizuku rebutted, continuing to laugh as Amelia's expression became indignant. "No, trust me, I have my moments of immaturity, still."

"I noticed..." Amelia grumbled, glaring at the Student Council President.

"Oh my, how rude of me, laughing at your expense right after I asked you to be polite."

"Is there a point to all of this?" Amelia asked her, watching Shizuku closely as the younger Kämpfer interlaced her fingers and rested her chin on them.

"Mostly to stall for time as I watched the monitors for uninvited guests." Shizuku admitted, pointing out towards a series of monitors on the wall to Amelia's right. Cocking an eyebrow, Amelia turned back to see Shizuku staring at her unflinchingly.

"And? Was I lying?"

"No, you kept up your end of the bargain... so far." Shizuku admitted, sitting up and lifting some kind of remote. Pressing a button on it, the monitors sunk back into the wall with a machine-like hum, before a panel slid into their place almost seamlessly. "Now, to the actual discussion that I asked you here for... Natsuru and Akane told me that you said, forgive my paraphrasing, 'surrender yourselves to me, and I can protect you'. Did you?"

"Of course, I meant every last word of it. I wasn't ever here to hurt or kill anyone." Amelia swore, returning Shizuku's intense stare with one of her own.

"And this is in relation to what the Brigade General promised during the Press Conference, correct?"

"If you mean the part where he pleaded for you four to at least talk to us, and let us know what was going on? That you'd be guaranteed clemency? Yes, absolutely. That was the plan from the very beginning, before those fools that called themselves officers completely disregarded their escalation of force and immediately treated you all like villains."

"Listen, I understand that your joint task force would like to distance itself from the actions taken against Akane. I can also respect your desire to stress that point, however you need to understand that Akane is still immensely bitter over it, considering she absolutely abhors being emotional, and their actions pushed her to tears after she tried to extend her hand in peace." Shizuku advised her, watching as Amelia nodded slowly. "She understands that she injured some American soldiers when she was first spotted here, at the school, but she was shot at first, here, as well. Most of her experiences with soldiers as a Kämpfer have ended with her being shot at, including when she ran into you at the research facility, so surely you can understand why she's very untrusting and against this entire meeting."

"Y-yes, I can see where that would cause problems, but I already explained to them—"

"I know you did; I wasn't asking about that. I was simply explaining part of my group's dynamic." Shizuku interrupted Amelia, causing the soldier to scowl. She honestly wasn't used to someone younger than her being so commanding. It was going to take some getting used to.

"Yes, Akane is somewhat of a wild-card. But though they bicker often, Akane is very dear to Natsuru, and she'll nearly always side with her, and jump to her defense in a heartbeat. And Mikoto, while she does have a mind of her own, tends to usually follow along with what Natsuru does. I'm about the only thing that keeps the entire group from regularly making complete fools of themselves, or worse still having Natsuru captured and brainwashed by the Moderator with the other two being slaughtered. Which is why I'm so damn exhausted right now, since it's been damn near a full-time job. One that, admittedly, I'm been too arrogant at times to notice I'm making more difficult for myself until it's too late."

"So that's why those two were in there instead of you..." Amelia responded quietly. "I thought it odd that you remained at the house, leaving a sensitive operation like this to them. If you had the energy, I'm sure you'd have gotten in and out without raising the alarm first."

"Oh, you praise me too much. I honestly doubt that I'd escape undetected. In fact, I fully expected to be spotted at the very least on the way out, so I had made specific instructions for them that would have led them to where they could find the tablet after I hid it somewhere specific in the city before being arrested." Shizuku chuckled, waving off Amelia's comments as the older Kämpfer scrutinized her.

"Why go through all that trouble, why risk losing your freedom?" Amelia asked her, curious. Looking at her silently for a moment, Shizuku pressed a button on her desk, flicking something off as she did so.

"Because those girls mean everything to me." Shizuku replied calmly, Amelia taken aback slightly at how obvious her tone made it sound. "Beyond only one other person in this school... those four are the only people I'd ever consider calling friends. And I've not had many of those in my life since I tend to come off as cold and emotionless most of the time. So, theft isn't but a drop in the bucket to me... I'd go as far as killing and dying for them." Shizuku finished, her stare growing very intense, as if she were staring right through Amelia.

"... Was that supposed to be a threat?" Amelia asked her, not at all cowed, but getting ready to move as her body tensed up.

"No, not a threat. A promise, I'd call it, though not directed at any one person or entity." Shizuku asserted, shifting back in her seat with a sigh. "Listen: we're extremely nervous about this decision, but… we'd like to take the Government up on their offer to talk."

"Really? After a comment like that, promising to kill anyone who harms your friends, you turn around and state that you'd like to try to work together?" Amelia stared in disbelief, shaking her head.

"Hm? Well, for the record, the four of us are still partially convinced that you're all going to turn around and either try to kill us in our sleep, or whisk us away in the middle of the night to do God knows what to us at a black site, for us to never to be seen again." Shizuku commented, pausing as she grabbed a pen and jotted something down. "So, if anything like that does happen... well, not to imply that I'm some kind of unstoppable demon, but it wouldn't be a wise move. And between my friends and myself, I have the most experience and endurance as a Kämpfer, so I have the strength to get the message across. That... is my promise. You can think of it as a fair warning."

"You're aware that the task force isn't going to appreciate being threatened?" Amelia sighed, as Shizuku smirked and chuckled before responding.

"Goodness, I just explained that if they're come to this offer of clemency honestly, then they have nothing to worry about! Honestly, it's like you're not even listening."

"... I'm, like, beginning to think I don't like you."

"I don't enjoy being made out as a simpleton, either, so I suppose we're even, hm?"

"Anyways..." Amelia growled, rolling her eyes as she tried to move the conversation forward. "Can I take this to be a formal acceptance from your team of your Government's offer?" Amelia asked her, looking concerned as Shizuku suddenly seemed incredibly dazed before gripping her head and sucking air through her clenched teeth. "Sangou, are you alright?"

"Y-yes, I'll be fine, d-don't mind me... I'm a bit under the weather..." Shizuku trailed off, opening a drawer and pulling a bottle of water out. Opening it and gulping down a large amount of water, Shizuku sighed, temporarily satiated as she placed the cap back onto the bottle. "Now, for your first question... that depends on a few things, and how you answer."

"Oh? What other conditions do you have, then?" Amelia grumbled, watching Shizuku closely. The younger Kämpfer was clearly in a sorry state. The odd tremor here and there, and the half-dead look in her eyes said as much, but her mind was still fairly sharp. All-in-all, Amelia wasn't entirely worried about Shizuku being a physical threat, in the case that the two of them disagreed on whatever she was about to bring up.

"It's about Natsuru's identity." Shizuku sighed, clearly quite antsy about the subject. "What precisely... do you know of it?"

"Uh, which one?" Amelia, the question catching her off-guard attempted to misdirect Shizuku, failing miserably based on the look she was receiving. "Right, wasn't expecting that question, so I wasn't... here, then." she grumbled, pulling out her phone and playing back the recording she had taken earlier that night, showing Natsuru in his male form, wearing female clothes and doing a silly pose that the girls laughed at, before switching back to his Kämpfer form.

"Of course, Natsuru was right. She always has seemed to have moments of strong clarity... she suspected that you'd have seen that, I mean. We debated over what caused you to reveal yourself tonight, of all nights, in the manner that you did, and she recounted hearing someone knock something over on the rooftops while they were on their way to the research facility. That lead her to thinking back on what she'd done back in Mikoto's room, so she's been unbelievably scared that you knew."

"Well, I did see that," Amelia pointed to the video, "But that sound wasn't made by me. I caught a strange girl with a white bracelet on the rooftops right before I recorded this video. I suspect that it was her, since she showed up in the basement and we fought one another."

"Mmh, they did mention one of them showed up..."

"One of them? So, there's more?" Amelia asked her, her interest piqued as Shizuku nodded.

"Yes, there is four White Kämpfer in total, and then the Moderator makes five." Shizuku explained, before waving her hand. "Now, we're getting off-topic. We can explain more to you once we're comfortable that you're not about to kill us all." Shizuku grumbled, appearing very drowsy. "I'm assuming it's too late to request that you delete the video?"

"Y-yes, I sent it into headquarters nearly the moment I finished recording it." Amelia admitted, hoping that this didn't burn any bridges.

"So, there's no telling who knows, now..." Shizuku sighed, taking another drink from her bottle of water.

"No, no, only those in the 'need to know' group connected to this ongoing operation have seen it, or will have even heard of the video's existence." Amelia appealed to her, holding up her hands placatingly. "And those of us who do know... none of us are judging her for her life choices."

"... Her life choices?" Shizuku asked her, as Amelia nodded quickly, hoping that she was on the right path with getting them to trust her.

"Y-yes! It's her body, and if she feels like she was meant to be a boy, then her being transgender is perfectly fine. You won't find myself judging her, nor should the rest of the administration of this joint task force." Amelia assured her, smiling gently as Shizuku stared, mouth slightly agape. Silence reigned for only a short moment before Shizuku burst out laughing again.

"Sorry, sorry, I just wasn't expecting you to figure it out so quickly for some reason. And then I realized that, of course you would. Males can't be Kämpfer, and we all just found out that the bracelets kill them, so..." Shizuku giggled, wiping a tear from her eye and sniffling as she explained herself. "Now..."

"...Yes?" Amelia asked her nervously, her body tensing up slightly as Shizuku gave her yet another intense stare.

"This information on Natsuru... you promise it's not going to leak out? Or be released purposefully?"

"Of course not. It's not a safety risk to the public, so there's no reason it would be released. And because of the nature of this crisis, information is being tightly controlled to begin with, so any of the elements that might leak info are far from it." Amelia pointed out, feeling hopeful as Shizuku nodded in acceptance.

"Right, okay, so..." she trailed off, furrowing her brow, once again interlacing her fingers and resting her chin on them. "Listen, Tremblay. I may have my differences of opinion with you, but I do want to trust you. I'm just feeling hung up with conflicting thoughts and worries."

"What can I do to alleviate your concerns?" Amelia asked her, doing her best to show just how genuine she was being.

"... I honestly don't know. After Akane was targeted the way she was, it's very difficult to move past that hostility we were shown, without some sort of show of good faith. I don't want to place the others in harm's way, since they are leaving their fates in my hands." Shizuku admitted, clenching her eyes shut as she tried to think of a way to find common ground. The two of them remained silent as Amelia pondered the issue herself, before thinking about how she had prepared for their meeting. Snapping her fingers, Amelia grinned for a moment.

"Here." she grunted; the familiar sound of a weapon being summoned startling Shizuku as her eyes shot open. Looking at the soldier, Shizuku saw that Amelia was offering her shotgun to her, making sure to hold it by the barrel with the trigger away from herself. As Shizuku looked between the weapon and Amelia in confusion, the shotgun's owner shook it slightly, prompting Shizuku to gently grab it from her. Standing up, Amelia stood with her arms splayed out to her sides. "I know this is going to sound insane, but... shoot me."

"What?!" Shizuku gasped, shocked at the instruction as Amelia nodded.

"Yes, seriously, point my shotgun at me and pull the trigger. It'll show you that I never aim to kill anyone. It'll be fine, trust me!" Amelia instructed her. Shizuku grimaced, pointing the weapon towards Amelia. With one final nod of encouragement, Amelia cringed as the loud retort of the shotgun sounded off, with its owner feeling a rush of air shoot between her left arm and her hip, the beanbag slamming violently into the wall behind her. "You... didn't aim it at me." Amelia commented flatly, turning back to stare at the deformed drywall.

"I didn't want to hurt you unless I had to. I had figuredthat it was non-lethal ammunition, once you urged me it would be fine, but..." Shizuku commented, handing the shotgun back to Amelia. "But I still don't understand, why...?"

"I wanted you to see that even when I was preparing to come here, uncertain if this was a trap or not, I never had any intentions of killing you or your friends. I only brought enough to incapacitateanyone who attacked me, first." Amelia avowed, smiling and showing off a lone bean bag shell from her pocket as Shizuku eyed her critically.

"Why, though? Why give us that benefit of the doubt? It's not as if we've demonstrated our morals all that well, recently."

"Because that's what any decent soldier should do, given your circumstances. Look, I can't speak for the Japanese Self Defense Force, even though I suspect they operate with the same ethos. But, the Canadian Armed Forces… we're trained to protect the innocent from those who seek to harm or abuse them. And even though you technically did steal from a Government facility... you were just trying to do what you could to protect yourselves, and other Kämpfer, from the Moderators."

"Getting shot by your own weapon is an extremely strange way to demonstrate that..." Shizuku mumbled, looking at Amelia as if she were sick.

"Was I wrong to give you the benefit of the doubt, though? You couldn't actually fire my weapon at me, after all." Amelia rebutted, smiling as Shizuku continued to give her a weird look before breaking, smiling gently herself.

"You're just as insane as the other three can be, at times, you know that?" Shizuku mumbled, suddenly appearing extremely ill as she reached to her desk and flicked the button from earlier again. "Alright, well... I think I'm... about as convinced as I'm going to be..." she said weakly, swaying in her seat. "Girls? If you can hear this, you can come out of hiding... I'm going to... sleep now…" she trailed off, slumping over and falling from her seat as she did so.

"Sangou!" Amelia shouted, rushing over to her and checking her pulse. Finding it easily, she quickly pulled out her phone and dialed into headquarters. "I need a medical bus at Seitetsu Gakuin for an injured Kämpfer, now!"

"Local ambulance is being dispatched to your location; Military escort is en route. Standby for further information as it comes in." the person on the other end answered robotically, before Amelia ended the call. Shuffling off her cloak, she balled it up and gently placed it under Shizuku's head, anxiously grabbing for her phone again as she waited for more information.

The door to her office suddenly slammed open with a loud bang, as her friends all came running in, Akane leading the pack.

"Y-you—!" Akane began to shout, summoning her handgun as she moved to fire upon Amelia. Before she could aim properly, however, Natsuru had restrained her, causing the redhead to thrash and flail against her. "Let me fucking go, she hurt Shizuku!"

"You know full well that Shizuku was running on borrowed time, Akane! Stop blaming her for something she didn't do, and calm the hell down!" Natsuru yelled back, grimacing as she felt Akane slam an elbow into her chest.

"I-I know, okay?! I'm just..." Akane, grimaced, relaxing as she hung her head. After a moment of silence, she shook herself free of Natsuru's grip. "Whatever, I'm making it known that I still feel like she's going to fuck us over. Have fun." she growled, storming towards the office door as she fumed, with both Natsuru and Mikoto torn between following her and staying with Shizuku.

"I am not! I'm just trying to make sure everyone can be friends, in this situation!"

"By asking us to fucking surrender like common criminals?!" Akane snapped, spinning on the spot to face her with a look of fury. "Fuck you! You should know better than anyone we never asked for this!"

"I know you didn't. Just like you, I've never enjoyed being a Kämpfer, and I'm honestly sorry for not choosing my earlier words more carefully." Amelia replied calmly, moving slowly and keeping her hands visible. "I'd be willing to listen to you more, but my concern right now is with Sangou's health…"

"I'm sure she'll be fine, she mentioned earlier only getting about four hours of sleep over the past few days. She just needs rest." Natsuru suddenly interjected, cutting Akane off as the redhead was about to launch into a rant as she approached Amelia and knelt down beside Shizuku and her. Looking back towards Akane, Natsuru frowned. "Look, Akane, you need to calm down. I get you're upset, but none of this is helping anything. We told Shizuku to decide for us, and she did, now we have to live with it, for better or for worse."

"Natsuru, seriously, if you think they aren't looking to get something out of this, you're being naive." Akane sighed, sending a bitter glare towards Amelia before returning to Natsuru. "And if she disagrees, then she's just as naïve."

"Look, I'm willing to put up with the hostility, and the name calling, just... please don't get too stressed out. You're all making the right decision, here." Amelia reminded them, looking between the three of them before returning her attention to Shizuku. "You said that Sangou was like this because of exhaustion?"

"Y-yeah... she collapsed earlier tonight, as well. But she wasn't transformed, then. I guess it managed to finally catch up to her again." Natsuru mumbled, brushing a lock of Shizuku's hair out of her face as she rested silently on the floor. The four girls heard Amelia's phone vibrate suddenly, causing the older Kämpfer to stand and move away, so as not to disturb Shizuku.

"Tremblay." she answered quickly, staring off into space as she listened to the person on the other end. "... Oui, Monsieur, les trois autres sont avec moi." she began to speak with the other end in French, Akane becoming very nervous as Amelia turned to see why she was grumbling. Seeing that Akane, Mikoto, and Natsuru were clearly becoming uncomfortable, being unable to understand her, Amelia cringed and held a hand out placatingly. "Er, Major, if you don't mind, I'll continue in English? The girls can't understand me, and I'd rather not upset them. Their continued cooperation is very... fragile, at the moment." she asked him, Mikoto and Natsuru sharing a look and shrugging, before Mikoto joined her at Shizuku's side, dismissing her blade that Amelia hadn't even noticed was in her hand. Akane, however, continued to glare with narrowed eyes as Amelia sighed.

"Shizuku Sangou, sir... No outwardly visible trauma, I was advised by the others she is suffering from extreme exhaustion." she explained to the unheard voice on the other end. Shaking her head, though keeping a close eye on Amelia, Akane moved closer to her friends as they fretted over Shizuku.

"I'm telling you; this is trouble. I don't like this." Akane muttered under her breath, as Amelia continued apprising her superior of the events that had transpired.

"Akane, you agreed with both of us to let Shizuku make to final decision over this. And she made the decision to trust them. We made our bed, now we have to lie in it." Natsuru muttered back, smiling weakly as Amelia cast a quick glance back at the three of them before returning to her call.

"Yeah, sure, but by her own admission, she said that she was having trouble thinking straight. I do trust Shizuku, as much as she pisses me off, but if she's like this can we really trust her judgement?"

"Hey, I have..." Natsuru trailed off, glancing back to Amelia and seeing that she had her other ear left open. Standing up, Natsuru quietly pulled a notepad and pen from Shizuku's desk, scribbling into it. A moment later, she held it up to give Akane her response.

'I have my concerns, also, but I'm also trusting the Government with the knowledge that I'm not only a Kämpfer, but also actually a guy. Well, in their eyes it sounds like they think I'm actually transgender, but still.'

"What's your point...?" Akane asked her, confused. Watching as Natsuru scribbled into the notebook some more, she leaned in with Mikoto when Natsuru held up the notepad again.

'I'm scared as much as you are, but I have a vestedinterest in making this work. If it doesn't, for whatever reason, they might decide that me being both 'Me's' is knowledge that the public should know about. After that, I won't get a chance to explain my side anymore, instantly becoming a degenerate and a predator. I'd never be able to pick up the pieces, even if we could patch things up after the fact.'

"So, you're stuck between a rock and a hard place..." Mikoto mumbled, as Natsuru nodded.

"Yeah, exactly. I'm basically forced to follow Shizuku's call, for better or for worse, if I want a chance at keeping things from completely falling apart on me..." Natsuru groaned, looking absolutely miserable. Hearing Amelia finishing her call, Natsuru quickly ripped out the page that the messages were on, and a few following it for good measure. Crumpling them up tightly, Natsuru crushed them in her hand, which quickly began to smoke. A second later, she opened her hand up and blew a bunch of soot and charcoal away.

"What... what was that?" Amelia asked her, concerned as Akane sneered at her.

"A private discussion, butt out."

"Akane..." Natsuru warned her again, giving her a look as Amelia rolled her eyes, preparing for another barrage of accusations from the redhead. Instead of that, Amelia was surprised when Akane grimaced, huffing and looking away from everyone as she muttered under her breath. Deciding to let it go for the sake of avoiding any further ill-will, Amelia cleared her throat.

"Right, so, like, an ambulance is on its way for Sangou, here. We've been asked to carefully bring her down to the front gate of the school, since she isn't physically injured. Would you three, like, be willing to do that? I tooootally doubt you'd let me lay a finger on her, so..." Amelia asked them, gesturing to Akane as the redhead snorted, looking up at her derisively.

"Why the hell are you still talking like some kind of preppy girl? You can drop the friggin' act, already."

"Oi, fille, it's not like I enjoy my verbal ticks! I've, like, tried to stop using them, but it's neeeever left me alone, no matter what language I speak in! Best I can do is cut down on how often they, like, show up!" Amelia snapped, already finding Akane's behavior difficult to handle.

'Esti de câlice de tabarnak, and here I thought I was only going to dislike Sangou! This girl is on another level!'

"The fuck does 'fee' even mean? You trying to start shit, here?" Akane growled, getting to her feet as Amelia returned her glare. "Stop speaking in fucking code, unless you want us to think you're planning on ambushing us!"

"C-code?! How totally fucking rude! I'm speaking in my Mother tongue, you rude little shit!" Amelia shrieked, not at all pleased when she felt that Akane was beginning to attack her heritage.

"Then why not fill us in about what you told the other end of the phone call, huh?!" Akane shouted back at her, as Amelia snarled.

"All I told my Major was that you three were with me! Fucking code, vous stupide japonais chienne!" Amelia berated her, her face growing red as Akane was confused, but had the sense to feel offended. "Tu ne peux pas être aussi stupide si tu as survécu aussi longtemps!"

"You keep askin' us to trust you, but you keep talkin' in a language we can't understand! What the fuck are you sayin'?! Because it kinda sounds like you're insulting us!"

"I'm insulting you, for letting yourself be thisstupid!" Amelia raged, stomping up to Akane as the pair of them nearly came to blows. Before the argument could continue, a Katana swung down with incredible speed between the two of them, buffeting the both of them with a blast of air as they turned to witness Mikoto glaring furiously at the pair of them.

"That is enough!" she screamed at them, Akane and Amelia looking surprised as they each took a step back. "Akane, Natsuru already asked you to knock it off! If you don't want to be a part of this, then just leave before you ruin it for the rest of us!" she shouted at her friend, Akane grimacing as she glanced down at Natsuru, who was similarly unimpressed, but dealing with a now awakened and delirious Shizuku as the older girl tried to figure out what was so loud. "And you!" Mikoto rounded on Amelia, who snapped to attention as Mikoto snarled. "You're a grown woman! Act like it!"

"Just relax, Shizuku... we need to move you downstairs to the front gate; we'll carry you, okay? You'll be able to rest soon." Natsuru spoke softly, as Shizuku groaned, rubbing her forehead in discomfort.

---

The three girls managed to carefully bring Shizuku down to the front of the school, where she promptly lay herself back down on a nearby bench as Amelia hovered nearby. After they made sure Shizuku was still somewhat comfortable, the three of them sighed as they let their minds wander.

"So... we're really turning ourselves in to the Military, huh?" Mikoto mumbled, slouching over slightly as she glanced between Natsuru and Akane.

"Yeah... they sure seemed to know a lot about us, though." Natsuru commented, looking up at the night sky and finding a sense of calm in it. "I wonder just how much she's told them..." she finished by casting a glance over to Amelia, the other two doing the same.

"Oi, soldier girl." Akane called out to Amelia, who rolled her eyes as she regarded them, a hand on her hip. "How much does the Military even know about Kämpfer?"

"Well, they already, like, had a very good grasp on the subject thanks to their experts speaking with them in Greece. But once I got involved, I tooootally filled in the gaps for them." she explained, moving a bit closer as the others listened carefully.

"They had Kämpfer experts? Must have had a lot of theories and information to correct, then." Mikoto commented, curious as to who would consider themselves experts in something that had only been present in the public eye for little more than a week.

"No, actually... like, they even knew a few things I didn't, such as the fact that what we pick up on when we sense other Kämpfer's presence, as well as what the Military's scanners are detecting, has been called an 'aura' for centuries.~"

"What? An aura, really?" Natsuru thought aloud, just as surprised as Akane and Mikoto that someone could know more than a Kämpfer who had obviously been in the scene for quite a few years. "I wonder who it is..."

"Wait, you haven't even guessed who it is? For reeeeaaaal?~" Amelia asked her, taken aback when Natsuru shook her head. "Wow, like, you'd think their own kid would have read their books..."

"Hoooold the phone, are you saying Natsuru's parents are the Kämpfer experts?!" Mikoto yelled at her in shock, as Natsuru's jaw dropped.

"You're telling me that asshole of a father is the one who made it easier to catch me?!" Natsuru shrieked, her comments catching Amelia off guard as the older Kämpfer nodded gently. "Oh, oh God! D-do they k-know? Oh no, they're going to..." Natsuru began to panic, hyperventilating as she became weak-kneed, quickly sitting herself on the ground.

"N-no, they don't know who the Kämpfer here are, just that there is some... what's got you so worried about them finding out about you, though?"

"... Can we tell you something, in complete honesty, that you absolutely won't share with anyone else?" Akane interjected, Natsuru growing pale as she knew immediately what Akane was going to tell her.

"Akane, please don't..."

"Natsuru, she's gotta know if she's going to be able to help keep this a secret... and besides, she knows something's up, anyways." Akane pointed out to her, Natsuru eventually relenting and tucking into herself as Mikoto held her steady. Turning back to Amelia with a frown, she continued. "Seriously, when I say 'keep it to yourself', I mean it. This is just between us five, er... girls. I won't hesitate to hunt you down and install some air-conditioning into that head of yours."

"... Yes, I think I could do that. Unless it poses a massive danger to people." Amelia promised, motioning an X over her heart. Rolling her own eyes, Akane continued.

"Yeah, no one is gonna get hurt over this. Anyways, you know how you all think Natsuru is transgender when she isn't transformed?" Akane started, with Amelia nodding slowly, narrowing her eyes slightly as she was curious as to where this was going. "She isn't. Natsuru is one hundred percent male when she's not transformed."

"... What." Amelia deadpanned, not sure if she was willing to believe what she had just heard.

"It's true. I've been friends with Natsuru since childhood, and I remember taking baths with him when we were super little. He's got male plumbing when he isn't transformed." Mikoto added, patting Natsuru's shoulder soothingly as the back of her neck glowed red.

"I... how is that even... What?" Amelia's head spun, as she tried to take in what she was hearing. "And? What about right now?"

"The change is so complete that I'm fully capable of getting pregnant..." Natsuru mumbled, her voice muffled slightly since she was hiding her face in her knees.

"Mon dieu..." was all Amelia could say, sitting down on the bench beside Shizuku and placing a hand to her head as she processed the information. "Like, how is that even possible? The news story that Nishino released said that Bracelets of Servitude kills male hosts."

"Bracelets of Servitude?" Akane asked her, Amelia waving her hand as she sighed.

"It's what we call them in Quebec, I believe that the article called them Bracelets of Oath here, right? Totally the same thing, just a different name."

"Actually, I think your name for them is a bit more accurate..." Akane replied, muttering as she glared down at her blue bracelet.

"Anyways, um... we're pretty sure it's a lie. That males die to the transformation." Mikoto began to explain, with Natsuru looking as if she wanted to say something but kept her mouth shut. "We guessed that they did that because the Moderator plans on outing Natsuru as a Kämpfer at some point, and it wouldn't disrupt his school life as badly if they all suspected that Natsuru was secretly a girl the entire time." Mikoto added, getting back on topic as Amelia frowned and nodded, crossing her arms.

"Mm, a technique for them to, like, more readily accept Senou as a misunderstood girl, rather than a creepy, peeping tom in their eyes..." Amelia intoned, tapping her foot as she sighed. "Oh, not that I think you are, Senou! I'm just, you know, er..." she stammered, realizing she may have insulted Natsuru.

"No, I get it... it would look bad to an outside observer, it's something I've already mentioned to the others..." Natsuru admitted, sighing as she looked up at Amelia with a miserable expression.

"Yeesh, what an awful thing to do to a guy who's not looking for it..." Amelia grumbled, shaking her head again. "Why on Earth did she do such a thing? I... oh. Oh my." Amelia pondered, cutting herself off as her mind connected the dots with information she had received from the White Kämpfer. "That's why you removed the tablet and said the Moderator wanted to abuse it. Because she plans to force you to be like this forever, because she's in love with this you. Am I right?"

"How did you know that...?" Natsuru whispered, having shot her head up and stared directly at Amelia in shock.

"That silly Moderator agent basically told me that I was in deep trouble for attacking you, since the Moderator was apparently in love with you. Considering that artifact has this nasty little habit of forcing transformations, once you explained Natsuru's true nature I looked at it like two, plus two, plus two, equals six." Amelia explained, scratching her head a little as the girls listened closely. "The part that I'm missing that rounds it up to an even eight is how she expects it to be able to hold you in that state indefinitely."

"Er, well... Natsuru?" Akane began to explain, stopping herself when she looked over at the girl in question.

"It's because, for some reason, the last time that stupid thing sent out a blast of energy... I was stuck transformed as a girl for the better part of a week." she sighed, as Amelia blinked in surprise. "It's also how we figured out that the longer I stay transformed, the more like a girl I'll behave. Something about hormones..."

"It's also how we learned you actually need tampons, too." Akane interjected, trying to be helpful.

"I could've gone without being reminded about that, thanks." scowled Natsuru, her voice sounding very dry as she glared up at the redhead.

"That's the last plus two, then..." Amelia groaned, shaking her head before pulling her phone up to examine a text message.

"Gosh, that ambulance sure is taking a long time..." Mikoto commented as Amelia pointed towards her.

"They're meeting up with the Military escort, first, since Sangou's not really wounded, just incapacitated." she explained quickly, before looking back to Natsuru. "So, um, on a lighter note... I suppose that means that, for a guy, you've gotten to see some totally spectacular things, no?" she joked, as Natsuru blushed and got to her feet.

"Absolutely not! I mean, at first it might have been like being an explorer in forbidden lands when I first wandered around the girl's side, but once I realized that I was not only going to have to change and see myself naked, but that I was going to have to be around other nude girls like some kind of pervert... it was mortifying!"

"Eh?" Amelia cocked an eyebrow, turning her gaze to look at Akane. "Is she some kind of prude? I totally thought all guys would have been drooling over the chance to be in that position, like sneaking into some kind of Garden of Eden." she asked her, Akane snorting and chuckling under her breath as Natsuru sputtered in embarrassment.

"Stop that! I'm not a prude, but it's just all wrong! I feel like some kind of awful wolf in sheep's clothing! I spend basically my entire time averting my gaze or simply keeping my eyes shut!"

"Ah, well. At least I know you're not some kind of creep." Amelia smiled, getting to her feet as the three of them looked at her in confusion. "Like I said, I believe most boys would be drooling at the chance to be in your shoes. At least you're trying to be respectful of your position while around girls who are in vulnerable positions."

"... Thanks?" Natsuru commented, unsure of what to say as Amelia nodded, scratching her nose.

"Yeah, I'll keep this between us five, and I'll even do what I can to ensure that your parents don't find out, but..." Amelia trailed off, turning one end of her lips down as she regarded Natsuru. "They're going to find out, eventually. And sooner, rather than later. Either by the rest of the task force letting it slip to them once they stop being mildly suspicious of them, or by them simply noticing your bracelet."

"I... I know, but... if I can at least have even a bit of time with Mom before they throw me out like some kind of degenerate..." Natsuru trailed off, a sad, desperate tone in her voice as she sighed in depression.

"Well... I can't speak for them, but at least you'll find out what their response will be soon and won't have this hanging over your head for much longer. I'm not sure if you knew, but they are flying back from Greece later this month. They'll be back in Japan the first day of the Fall Festival." Amelia passed on, the three of them growing silent as Natsuru stared, her right eye twitching as she stared off into space. "Senou?"

"Ahh..." Natsuru wheezed out, before crumpling into a dazed heap between Akane and Mikoto, who began to panic and shout her name.

"Oh, Christ, let me just..." Amelia scrambled, pulling her phone out and calling the last number she had phoned before. "Yeah, can you hurry them the hell up?! I just had another one go down out here from stress!"

---

"Natsuru, PICK UP!" Kaede wailed, tears rolling down her face as she sniffled, once again dialing the number for Natsuru's cell as she panicked, having been made aware of what was happening by Ryouka. Not getting an answer, she shivered with a nervous huff, dropping the phone on her kitchen counter as Rika hugged her, rubbing her arm in a soothing manner.

"It'll be okay, Kaede. It's Natsuru, she's resourceful, right? She'll get away from the Military."

"It's not just that, Rika… it's also the fact that she took the tablet!" Kaede shouted, dropping her head into her hands as she braced her elbows on the counter, fretting silently as the clock on the wall could be heard ticking away faintly. Before anything else could be said, a commotion began in the doorway of Kaede's apartment, which quickly entered as a girl could be heard groaning in pain.

"Rika, get a first aid kit over here!" Hitomi could be heard hissing from the entrance. As Rika and Kaede ran out from the kitchen, the pair of them laid eyes on the mess of bodies that was Sayaka, Hitomi, and an injured and bleeding Ryouka.

"Ahhh… Hitomi, relax, I—!" Ryouka began to say quietly, moving to pat Hitomi's shoulder and quickly finding her left side burning in pain, causing her to hiss and groan. Growling, Hitomi grabbed Ryouka's shirt and ripped the hole in it wider, staining her hands red with blood.

"Rika, that first aid kit, please!" Hitomi snapped, ripping the pack from Rika's hands as the younger girl stepped forward. Pulling out some padding, Hitomi dabbed at the blood surrounding the injury as she examined it. "Jeez, I know you said you were in a gun duel with that Canadian bitch, but what was she using?"

"Sh-shotgun... I'm not too sure what make or model—AH! A-anyways, she ended up having to reload right near the start. After I punched her, she fired her last shell, which caught my side..." Ryouka explained, wincing when Hitomi dabbed directly onto her injury.

"Well, good news is whatever tagged you, really only grazed you..." Hitomi sighed, opening up a packet of coagulant, applying it to a fresh bandage before. "This might sting a bit." she deadpanned before giving Ryouka a chance to prepare, causing the girl to gasp in surprise and pain.

"Here..." Kaede mumbled, having already prepped a length of medical tape. Applying it to the bandage, Kaede finished by pressing the ends onto Ryouka's skin. Stepping back, she let Sayaka and Hitomi lift her up to her feet, helping her to the couch as Kaede furrowed her brow.

"Did you want your favorite soup, Ryouka?" Sayaka asked her, the injured girl nodded pitifully, groaning as she sat on the edge of the couch where Hitomi and Sayaka rested her. As Sayaka wandered towards the kitchen Rika silently approached her, offering some wet napkins and a fresh shirt, of which Ryouka accepted gratefully.

"Here, let me help with that, just raise your arms, okay?" Hitomi instructed her, watching as Ryouka raised her arms. Carefully raising the bloodied, ripped shirt up, Hitomi frowned as Ryouka winced, quickly frowning herself.

"Allow me..." Kaede grabbed the wet napkins, insisting on cleaning up Ryouka herself. Nodding, Hitomi moved away, taking the bloody shirt with her down the hallway, towards their shared room. "Rika, please go look for and clean any bloody out in the hallway. We don't want any one questioning anything leading into here." Kaede instructed her, Rika saluting like a soldier before dashing off to find some peroxide and rags.

"I'm sorry... Kaede..." Ryouka whispered nervously, as Kaede gently dabbed at her left side, clearing away any blood she could with the wet napkins.

"What for?" Kaede asked her in a stern tone, still pursing her lips as she discarded a used wipe before moving to a fresh one, ignoring the blood building up on her own fingers.

"F-for getting h-hurt after I promised not to... engage the new Kämpfer..." Ryouka whispered again, her face filled with shame as Kaede glanced at her for a second before moving back to tending to her side.

"You had a reason; I recall you explaining that when you called for help." Kaede said nonchalantly, looking her side over for any missed blood before moving onto cleaning her own hands.

"W-well, y-yes, but still..."

"You were protecting Natsuru from her. This was exactly what my orders to you were: Avoid her, unless she threatens Natsuru." Kaede sighed, looking up to meet her gaze, only to find Ryouka unable to look her in the eye. Grabbing her chin, Kaede lifted it until Ryouka returned her look, though nervously. "Don't apologize. If there was a mistake there, it would be mine. In fact,... that whole pathetic error with giving those girls a fifth ring was completely my own fault." Kaede sighed, holding her gaze as Ryouka's nerves settled. "While I won't lie and pretend this girl wouldn't have been unable to tail them without them knowing, thanks to her unknown level of experience, it still did not help the situation. I also should have paid more attention to the disturbance I felt once this girl appeared."

"Kaede... you're allowed to make mistake, you know—" Ryouka began to say quietly, but found herself interrupted when Kaede suddenly got to her feet.

"No, I'm not. If I make a mistake, that's time and resources lost by having one of you killed or captured... at best. At worst, it's exactly like what nearly happened tonight: Natsuru being killed before one of us can get her to safety." Kaede explained bitterly, looking at her phone after pulling it from her pocket and feeling a wave of horror again since she still hadn't gotten ahold of her. "Actually, there's still no guarantee she's safe, either, so it's entirely still possible my own failure to properly do my job cost us everything..."

"Kaede." Ryouka called to her, snapping Kaede out of her self-pity with a stern tone. "Firstly, you're not omnipotent. Stop acting like you should be able to foresee everything." she lectured her boss, Kaede finding herself wanting to laugh at the absurdity but managed to hold her tongue. "Secondly, I'm confident that Natsuru is safe. We would have definitely heard by now if she'd been captured, killed, or injured. It would have been all over the news."

"But she hasn't called me back..." Kaede whispered, wanting to believe Ryouka's words, but found a lingering doubt.

"She's probably just keeping it off to avoid being tracked..." Ryouka spoke softly, her tone having quickly relaxed once she realized that Kaede was already beginning to pull out of her funk. "T-try turning on the TV. I remember hearing them talking about it on the radio... a-at the train platform when I was waiting for Hitomi and Sayaka."

"Okay." Kaede nodded, reaching for her TV remote as Ryouka gingerly slipped her fresh shirt on. Flicking the TV to a local news station, she watched as they spoke non-stop about the situation at the facility.

"This just in... the Military is reporting that the Kämpfer involved in tonight's incident having approached them! Reportedly, one of them was rushed to hospital for an unknown cause, as of yet, and another suffered a minor injury. They are currently being examined, and reportedly reprimanded, but the Government has surprisingly vowed to keep to their promises of allowing them to retain their secrecy and live amongst everyone."

"Th-they captured her... they captured Natsuru...! They..." Kaede spoke breathlessly, collapsing onto the couch beside Ryouka, who grabbed for her hand and interlaced their fingers. "I'll... I'll kill them. I'll kill them all if they lay a single finger on my Natsuru...!" she finished, her face contorting into immeasurable rage as the air around her suddenly went cold.

---

"I'll ask again: where is the tablet?" a man sighed, sitting back in his chair as Akane snorted, having propped her feet up on the table before her and placing her hands behind her head.

"Go ahead and keep asking, fed boy. I'm not telling you, and I don't doubt that the others are keeping it secret as well." she chuckled, as the man groaned, dropping his head in his hands. Initially, when the ambulance had arrived, they had obviously fretted over Shizuku, as well as Natsuru, since she still hadn't collected herself since hearing the news her parents would be home soon.

Very quickly, the paramedics realized that they were treating Kämpfer, and not ordinary people. However, keeping professional, they pushed on and determined that Shizuku needed rest at the hospital, and after rousing Natsuru before giving her a quick checkup, they released the three of them to the Military escort.

Though initially hesitant to part from Shizuku, Amelia had ensured that they were promised the chance to visit her later once things had simmered down, and once she had a chance to rest. Akane had wanted to bicker some more, but she stopped to consider how much she had already upset Natsuru and Mikoto, so she kept her misgivings to herself.

All things considered, they had actually been quite gentle with the three of them... as far as Akane could tell, that is. They had separated the three of them to interrogate them, which was something they had all expected. And, though she had also expected them to try the 'Good Cop, Bad Cop' routine with them, they seemed to stick with just the former. Again, at least when it came to her, they did. Akane had no idea if the other two were getting the same treatment, but she assumed they were, since no one was getting thrown through a wall quite yet.

"Look, Miss Mishima, we understand that there is a serious risk to the safety of all Kämpfer in the world if the Moderators get their hands on it. But, don't you honestly think that the Military can keep it safer than having it sit around, unattended, somewhere in Japan?"

"... You guys let a pair of High School girls sneak in and steal it. Why the hell would I believe anything like what you just said?" Akane asked him, cocking an eyebrow as the Military detective frowned.

"You're also Kämpfer, so that point is moot."

"Hardly. The only times we used our abilities to get in there was literally to sprint across the grass and leap up into the loading dock." Akane pointed out, rolling her eyes when he gave her a look of disbelief. "Okay, fiiiine... I also used mine to reach the camera and disable it before we were spotted."

"Not going to include the fact that Miss Senou had to use her magic to blow apart the security gate, or to ignite the smoke bombs?"

"Nope. We kinda just got screwed over by crappy luck, honestly, so if we hadn't, there's a good chance we might have been able to get in and out, possibly without using our abilities at all, if Tremblay hadn't followed us. For real... you guys just got outsmarted by high school girls, so why would I trust you with the tablet again when it comes to a group of people who have no qualms with killing anyone in their way? They'd be in and out even faster than us, probably before any of you guys even showed up." she replied, snorting again as her interrogator seemed to silently scream before pounding a balled-up fist on the table and leaving the room. "Wow, and here I thought I was short-tempered!"

The Detective ignored her jab as the door closed behind him, though he fumed as he wandered through the hallway. A few doors down, he stepped into another room, filled with a table and chairs, and a fridge, vending machine, and free coffee dispenser. Standing just inside the room, he pinched the bridge of his nose as he groaned.

"No luck on your end, either, hm?" another voice asked him. Looking down at the table, he found one of his juniors looking up at him tiredly, nursing a warm coffee as he offered a miserable smile.

"Yeah, she's not budging... she's got one hell of a mouth on her, too." he grumbled, stepping towards the coffee machine and slipping a cup underneath the spot. "It's pretty obvious she's looking for a fight, with how much she's bad-mouthing us all. Not sure why she'd give herself up if that's what she was after."

"Yeah, Miss Senou did warn me about her; she said something like that would happen."

"Oh? You think you can get anywhere with her? Maybe if we tell her that Miss Mishima is acting out the more we try to get information—"

"Nope, definitely not." his Junior cut him off, rankling him a bit as he frowned and turned back after selecting 'espresso' on the machine. "She told me in no uncertain terms she'd never give up the tablet. She went on to explain that she would rather die than do anything sexualwith a male, but that I'd still have an easier time convincing her to strip naked and throw herself at me, as opposed to getting that tablet out of her."

"Good grief..." the senior detective grumbled, pulling his mug out from under the machine once it had finished dispensing his chosen product. "You hear anything from your partner about Miss Kondou?"

"Nothing really, other than her father having a panic attack when he found out that Miss Senou wasn't a boy in the first place."

"The man didn't know, hm? Interesting..." the senior commented, taking a sip of his drink before pursing his lips as the bitter taste filled his mouth. "I recall hearing rumblings from higher up that Miss Senou's parents are being investigated, and very discreetly. Someone used their grey matter and realized how weird it was for essentially only two people on the entire planet to have this much knowledge on Kämpfers and not be involved in this entire international conspiracy in some capacity. So, they think it might be some of the same magic that Kämpfers use that managed to fool even doctors into believing their kid was male."

"Yeah, I think I heard something about that, too. Actually, I also got word that, under no circumstance, are we to inform Miss Senou's parents of her status as a Kämpfer. Something about protecting the integrity of their investigation into them?"

"Makes sense. If we told them about her, they'd know we know they were full of garbage. If they're involved in the wrong way, they might take off and leave the poor kid to fend for herself... assuming they're doing anything wrong, that is."

"I come bearing news!" another detective announced, the Junior's partner, who stepped into the break room as the other two watched her walk up to the coffee machine.

"... And?" the senior detective asked from beside the machine.

"The tablet is resting safely in an artifact container! It's not just resting on the ground by itself somewhere." she explained, selecting the option for a mocha, the machine quickly getting to work on filling her cup.

"Is... is that it?" her partner asked her, looking on in anticipation as she waited for her drink. Taking a quick sip of it, she sighed in contentment.

"Yup. She refused to budge, even when her dad threatened to ground her."

"Did either of you expect that to hold water...? She can summon a god damn Katana whenever she wants, and swing it around like it was as light as a feather, for Christ's sake." the senior detective's tone incredulous as she shook her head.

"I sure didn't, but I think Mr. Kondou is getting desperate to recover the artifact, honestly." she explained, looking just as tired as the other three. "I'm going to be honest, here. I'm certain the only way we might get through to them would be to send them to prison, but with the current orders from above saying we only have until 1 AM to get an answer until we have to let them go peacefully and try again later..."

"Jail wouldn't even hold those ladies back. Miss Mishima would likely have the entire facility under her thumb before the day was over, assuming the three of them didn't just walk out the front gate." the senior detective sighed, taking a sip of his drink as the other two groaned and nodded as well.

"Any news on Miss Sangou?" the junior male detective asked, his senior nodding as he finished gulping down some more coffee.

"Mmh! Yes, the Doctor who examined her told us he wasn't happy with her physical condition or her numbers, so they're keeping her overnight for observation." he explained, as the other two nodded. Silence filled the break room as the three of them let their minds wander, trying to think of ways to get the girls to spill the location of the tablet.

"This isn't right, forcing young women to fight to the death for some cause that has nothing to do with Earth..." the female junior detective spat bitterly, crossing her arms as she sat at the table beside her partner.

"You're telling me. The top brass is going nuts trying to figure out if we're at risk for some sort of fully-fledged invasion. Other countries are trying our approach, while some are sounding like they're being quite a bit violent over it..." the senior detective sighed, finishing his drink as his two juniors sighed, depressed. Slipping his mug back into the sink behind him, he took a deep breath as he prepared to step into the fray once more. "Time to switch our interviewees."

"Right, so, I'm moving on to Ms. Kondou, you're moving to Ms. Senou..." the male junior recited, turning to look at his partner, who appeared displeased. "And you're getting... Ms. Mishima."

"Pray for me that I don't rise to her goading and try to strangle her, just to die miserably..." she groaned, getting up from her seat as the three of them exited the break room, wandering down the hallway back to the interview rooms. As the three of them nodded to one another, they quickly approached the respective rooms. The senior detective pursed his lips as he opened the door, seeing Ms. Senou look up from her phone's black screen.

"Expecting a call from someone?" he asked her, as Natsuru looked on in confusion, surprised to see him instead of the younger male detective.

"No, just, um... just debating if I should call one of my friends who isn't involved. She's always worrying about me, and I've been staying at her place to... avoid you all." Natsuru explained, putting her phone away. "Who are you supposed to be? Is this the Good Cop, Bad Cap thing I've always heard about?"

"No, just shaking things up a bit. Could you perhaps explain why you girls won't tell us where the tablet is?"

"Here we go again..." Natsuru sighed, rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms.