I live! *Dodges tomatoes* Okay, okay, I know, I haven't updated my other stories. This is mostly because…well, I looked at them, and the cringe stared back. That, along with school being a pain in the ass, I have made the decision to give these works a thorough comb-through, rewrite, and replan. Basically, they're gonna be on hiatus for a while…well, longer than they've technically been on. So while that happens, I'll give you something that's been floating through my head for a while.

I do not own Worm or Blue Archive. Claiming otherwise would probably see me sued to high heaven.

—(X)—

Sofia was bored. And annoyed, couldn't forget about annoyed. The reason for this? The teacher – Mr. Gladly, who was annoying in his own right, a complete pushover, and a bit of a creep with his whole "I'm-the-cool-teacher" thing (though not a pedo, at least. She'd checked) – was late. While normally she wouldn't really care, she was already in a bad mood due to having to deal with Director Piggot after patrol. It wasn't her fault that that mugger broke his two legs! Who knew a girl that small could make a grown man squeal like the pig they were? By the time Shadow Stalker went down to arrest him, he was practically crying for her to arrest him. Although, she supposed that Piggot was more pissed about the fact that the little girl had "escaped". Well, fat hag could go suck it. Some kid who revealed a pretend predator his true form as prey deserved a fucking medal, in her opinion.

While she reminisced on the memory of the mugger's face, Gladly finally walked in. "Sorry I'm late!" he said, a stupid smile on his face like he was one of the "cool kids", although it seemed a bit more strained than usual. "Principal Blackwell was introducing me to our new staff member. Ms. Hebert-"

"I believe I can handle it from here, Arthur, thank you." Mr. Gladly flinched a little at that, his smile getting just that little bit more strained. He then fled – because if that wasn't fleeing, Sofia would kiss Mr. White-Knight-on-his-high-horse Gallant – over to his desk, and sat down.

Well, colour her fucking surprised. Sophia's eyebrow raised in interest. While it wasn't strictly a rule, per say, from what she'd seen, it was heavily encouraged for teachers to greet each other by their last names. The teachers weren't targets of the gangs or anything like that, nor would such measures actually help, considering the information was more-or-less public, but Blackwell was pretty strict, as much as one could be in a shithole like Winslow. Also, from what she'd heard, the voice was young. Like, not early-twenties or thirties young, but young. Then the owner of the too-young voice came in.

When she came into view, multiple disbelieving snorts and small gasps greeted the new "teacher", which was almost a fucking joke considering the fact she looked to be only a bit older than Sofia. She was tall, tall enough that if Sofia had simply glanced at her, she could've mistaken her to be a few years older. Those legs practically went all the way up, and while Sofia didn't swing that way, she knew that Madison was probably salivating right now. She had curly black hair, and with the slightly flat chest and the glasses, she would've looked like the stereotypical teacher in one of those private schools. Emphasis on the "would".

The uniform was the first giveaway. Most of the staff at Winslow wore casual clothes, with only Principal Blackwell wearing something that looked even slightly purely professional (although the skinny hag dressed like a family member had died, in her opinion), the girl wore something that looked almost military, for lack of a better word.

It was mainly white, with blue and black (she wouldn't know what that weird blending effect was, fashion was more Emma's thing. Speaking of, why did Emma look like she couldn't decide wether to laugh or sink into her chair? Meh, she'd ask later) accents, mostly on the inside of her long coat and what looked to be a second layer under the pencil dress. Her bottom half was covered in dark leggings, with her upper legs, waist and upper body covered by the short pencil dress, which flared into something resembling the bottom of a skirt. She also wore a belt that went across at a slight slant. At the top, her dress was covered by what resembled a dress shirt cut like a tank top, with a blue tie with the same weird effect on it on the tank-dress shirt. At the ends of her arms, which were covered by long sleeves and further covered by the coat she wore like a cape, she wore fingerless black gloves.

What really caught Sofia's attention though, and most of the class as well, was the gun in the holster at her hip. While she knew that many of the gang members in the school had knives and brass knuckles which they hid – the teachers knew as well, but they didn't care enough to try and confiscate them – along with some non-gang members who brought pepper spray and the like, no one brought a gun. The last guy who tried, a rookie skinhead, went to jail so fast that he probably didn't know what was happening until he was in cell. The E88, the resident Nazis, didn't pay for bail, either, because the school was unofficial "neutral" ground. Sure, there were fights every now and again, and gang members gave each other trash talk and dirty looks all the time, but Winslow was the premier recruiting farm for the various gangs in the city, and anyone who was stupid enough to break the "truce" through any means, even accidentally, was basically guaranteed to be kicked out of their respective gangs. Hell, even the Merchants weren't that stupid, seeing as they'd be wiped off the face of the Earth if they even so much as tried to escalate. But while it was one thing for a gang member to bring a firearm to school, for a complete unknown to bring a handgun to the school? A possible upstart, no less?

Suddenly, Sophia knew that things were going to get both interesting and possibly really, really bad.

Anyways, the girl had walked in front of the blackboard with all the confidence in the world – no, that was not sarcasm, she actually did walk like she could own the world if she really wanted to – and pivoted on her heel to face the class. She had a slight smile on her face, but her eyes looked at everyone like a hawk, looking just as severe as one. A guy at the front ogled her until she switched her gaze to him. The idiot looked like Lung himself was sizing him up for breakfast. Sophia actually felt a little sorry for him. It wasn't that the look would kill if looks could, well, kill. It was the steel, the sheer will that was somehow conveyed through those eyes. 'Those…those are the eyes of a predator,' Sofia thought, shivering a little in excitement and anticipation for what the supposed teacher could bring.

"Hello, I am the representative of Kivotos, and my name is-"

"Kivotos? Who the hell is that?" another idiot in the back said. He flinched when the teacher's laser gaze locked onto him.

"Kivotos," the teacher started speaking again, her gaze never leaving the kid in the back. "Is a…union of sorts, dedicated to learning and defence. I was sent here because I know how to deal with unruly children best, and I actually have the patience for it." She gave a small laugh at that, not noticing or caring for the sheer irony in her words. Sophia made a mental note to ask about this to the Director. Whatever she thought of the woman, she had to admit that whenever something caught the interest of Piggot, something was sure to be revealed.

"Anyways, let me get back to my introduction. I represent Kivotos, specifically the organization known as SCHALE, and I was sent here as a supervisor of sorts. Throughout the rest of the school year, you may see my colleagues and other students around the school, either from SCHALE or another organization. My name is Taylor Hebert. I hope we can get along."

—(X)—

So? What do you think? Did I hit the mark, or did I flop and die a horrible death? Please, comment, review, and criticize. All is welcome!