Chapter 9 - Problem Solver's Attack

...

After that nice lunch break and the end of Serika's shift, the six of us returned to Abydos. I sat around, digesting my food, while helping them with paperwork and the like.

Ayane, lookng on her laptop interrupts the peace as she alerts us. "Everyone! I'm reading a large armed group fifteen kilometers south of the campus!"

"Coming this way?" I ask, standing quickly.

"Right for us." Ayane says, typing quickly.

"Is it the Helmet Gang again?" Shiroko asks.

"Couldn't be, unless that have a bunch more of those hideouts, stocked with lots of ammo." I point out.

"Sensei's right, it's not them. They look like... mercenaries?! Someone must have hired them to attack?" Ayane concludes.

"Like the ones that hired the Helmet Gang?" I conclude, drawing five wide sets of eyes to me. "I had a feeling they were hyper-focused on you guys. When we beat 'em back, whoever hired them, hired these guys."

"Looks like we had the same idea, Sensei." Hoshino says. "Haah, what a mess." She looks at the laptop. "Geez, that's a lot. What'd they do, pick them up from the Thugs Depot at the crack of dawn? It must have cost a fortune to hire this many."

"We can't allow them to get any closer!" Ayane shouts.

"Agreed." I say. "Get ready, girls." I say, holstering my pistol and grabbing a spare assault rifle.

After the last fight, when we rescued Serika, I realized most girls around here stick to a single, or paired guns. Fuck that. I'm not gonna bring a gun, I'm bringing the fuckin' armory!

"I've got eyes on a squad leading those goons up ahead!" Ayane tells us over the comms, as we near our enemies, far away from the school. Soon, they come into sight and... guess my assessment of them was correct. They're fixers.

"Wait." Nonomi draws our attention. "Aren't those the girls we met at the ramen shop."

"U-Ugh..." Indeed, right there's Aru, who's letting out a groan of sorts. The four girls are standing in front of a veritable horde of goons.

"You guys are the ones attacking us?! After Sensei paid for your ramen?! You ungrateful pricks!" Serika shouts. Good lord, she's pissed.

Mutsuki giggles. "I really did appreciate that, but it doesn't matter. This is business, not personal."

"Agreed. It's regrettable, but business is business. We have to uphold our contract." Kayoko agrees.

A memory flashes as she says that...

No hard feelings, man. We just want that bounty.

It pisses me off just remembering those assholes...

"So you're fixers, then." Shiroko concludes.

"What kind of job is that for girls your age?! Shouldn't you be working normal part-time jobs?" Nonomi asks them. I would agree with her, but I did worse jobs a few years back.

"It's not a part-time job!" Aru argues. "This is a real, respectable business! With titles and everything." Okay, I really am starting to take her less seriously... "And I'm the boss!"

"She's the Chief of Staff." Aru motions to Mutsuki. "And this here is the department head." She motions to Kayoko, who has a blush on her face.

"Please." Kayoko says. "The title isn't nearly as impressive as you make it out to be."

"Lemme guess, you ain't gonna tell who hired you girls?" I ask.

"Correct, Sensei!" Aru says, proudly. "Problem Solver 68 is a respectable business, with absolute client confidentiality!"

"I see." I say.

"Well, I guess we should do this, get them girls!" Aru shouts, pointing at us.

"Spread out!" I shout, as the goons march at us. The four girls and I distance ourselves from one another, as we are beset by goons. All of us quickly take cover, as I draw my AR. I look to Shiroko, crouching next to me. "Got any grenades?"

"A few." She says, handing two to me.

"Thanks. I'm gonna flank 'em." I say to Hoshino, on the other side of me, as I hook one to my belt. "You gals distract them towards that'a way." I point to the left of the group of goons.

"Got it, Sensei!" Nonomi, hidden behind another piece of rubble past Shiroko says.

"On it! Serika, past Nonomi says, as she dashes to the left of the group and fires, drawing their attention. Nonomi goes over that way too, as she fires her gatling gun, also drawing their fire.

"Stay safe, Sensei." Hoshino says, seriously as I begin to move.

I stop and nod. "Shiroko, you've got range. Cover me." The wolf girl nods as the two girls begin to fire just after I begin to move. I scuttle behind broken things scattered here and there. This area hasn't been fixed since a previous attack, I surmise. Fortunately, the four girls keep the goons distracted. Unfortunately, they don't keep the Problem Solver girls distracted. Kayoko's eyes dart to me, as she readies her pistol. I quickly pull the pin and toss the grenade at a large group of goons, while quickly ducking behind cover, narrowly missing Kayoko's bullet.

The grenade explodes, causing multiple cries to ring out. "Now! Rush 'em!" I shout, as Hoshino jumps out with her riot shield right into the crowd. The hail of bullets avoid her as her shield casts a translucent barrier around her whole body, repelling the shots. She rushes forward, taking out a few with quick smacks of the shield, surprisingly powerful kicks, despite her short legs, and short range blasts from her shotgun.

Shiroko and Serika unload their rifles into the smaller groups. Nonomi unloads into the larger groups. I can't do much, for fear of Kayoko shooting at me again.

This though is interrupted by a ringing sound. One of a cellphone, coming from multiple sources. I peek over the debris I'm hiding behind and notice the sound is coming from all of the goons. The hell?

"Phew. It's quittin' time." One goon says. The hell?

"It sure is." Another agrees. "That's all you get for the money you paid us today. You can handle the rest on your own. Let's go ladies." She says, motioning the others to follow her as she begins to leave. THE HELL?!

"Wh-What?! W-Wait a second!" Aru shouts, seemingly just as shocked at this development as I.

"Time to clock out." Another says, as they as one, begin to leave.

"Wanna grab a bowl of soba on the way back?" Yet another asks.

"Hey! What the heck is this?!" Aru shouts desperately. "Don't just leave!" Kayoko cringes at Aru's pleading.

"Lady, it's 1:00. You only paid for six hours, and time's up." One says to Aru as she, like the others, walks away.

"Welp. We're boned." Mustuki surmises. "I kind of thought we would have wrapped up by now." She turns to her boss. "What now, Aru? Should we run for it?"

"Ughhh..." The boss groans. She eventually does reach a conclusion. "Y-You haven't seen the last of us, Abydos!" Aru shouts.

"What's with that cheesy line?" I ask, hopping over the rubble.

"He's right!" Mutsuki says with an impish giggle. "You sound like a corny third-rate villain, Aru."

"Sh-Shut up!" Aru snaps back.

"Besides, what makes you think these gals'll just let you run away?" I ask, pointing my thumb at the Abydos girls.

"W-Well, uh... Everyone, retreat!" She shouts, beginning to turn and run.

'Not gonna let that happen.' I rush them quickly. The imp girl fires her AR at me, but I dodge the bullets, all the while closing in on her. Haruka, who's been shyly staying quiet while hugging her shotgun, and Kayoko step back a bit with their eyes wide as they see my quick approach. Aru looks more shocked than the others, though.

"Sensei!" One, or maybe more of the Abydos girls shout. To late though, as I've reached Mutsuki. The imp girl blocks my assault rifle from smacking her with her own. I flip my rifle around to point at her, as she kicks me in the stomach, knocking me back. Unfortunately for her, as she does, I unclip the remaining grenade, letting it fall to the ground. As I gain my footing, I shoot the grenade, causing it to explode. It knocks the four girls back, causing them to cry out. Kayoko and Haruka take most of the blast, and are downed. Mutsuki and Aru catch their footing.

I notice the imp girl throwing her bag at me and aiming her rifle at it. Great minds think alike, huh? Unfortunately for her, I'm faster, as I jump up and grab the bag from the air, causing her shot to miss. Spinning around, I fire my rifle at her feet with one hand, while throwing the bag at the two downed girls as one would throw a shot put. Mutsuki gets hit in the leg, causing her to lose balance. At this time, Mutsuki falls, having been hit in the leg while I notice the two downed girls' eyes widen as I fire at the bag, causing it to explode in their faces.

"Holy crap! He's a badass!" Aru says in glee, as Mutsuki gets back up and rushes me. Too bad for her, she's much slower than I am. She goes for a kick to the left of my head, which I block with my left arm. I drop my rifle and use my now free right hand, as well as my left to grab her ankle. Her eyes widen as I spin around, throwing her at Aru. The two girls collide and fall.

Aru begins to pull herself up. "Crap! He's way stronger than I thought!" She says in alarm. "Kayoko! Use the fear shot!" She shouts at the punk rock girl.

'Hang on, the what shot?' I don't have time to ask, as Kayoko, still picking herself up, points her pistol into the air. The gun glows purple as she fires into the air, sending a purple shockwave around us.

"Come on, girls!" I vaguely hear Aru shout, as my vision blurs. At least, I think Aru said that. I barely make out four figures slowly fade away as I realize what that shot did.

It made me feel an emotion.

I know this emotion...

I HATE THIS FUCKING EMOTION!

Nowhere to run, Birkin!

...this is your end. Stop resisting.

Sorry to do this, Mr. Birkin.

...the new CEO of Galveston Enterprises has placed a ten-billion dollar bounty on the...

Various memories flash in my eyes.

This feeling... fear...

"-ei!"

I thought it was one I threw away.

"Sen-!"

One I thought I had overcome.

"-nsei!"

...I guess I was wrong, huh?

"Sensei!" I hear a shout as my vision clears. Standing in front of me are the four Abydos girls, faces full of concern and worry. Shiroko, whose arms are on my shoulders speaks while letting me go. "Are you okay?"

"Now? Yeah. What happened?" I ask, rubbing my eyes.

"That Kayoko girl shot a special bullet into the air, causing us all to be afraid." Hoshino explains. "Those things are really hard to come by, and even trickier to use."

"We all froze up for just long enough for them to run." Serika says, annoyed. "But you wouldn't budge."

"Shiroko tried calling out your name a bunch, too." Nonomi said, in a worry-filled voice, which surprised me, as she's always happy-go-lucky. "She even shouted louder then I've ever heard her!"

Said wolf girl averts her eyes and blushes. "Hehe. Usually, Shiroko's pretty quiet." Hoshino says with a giggle. "It's weird hearing her speak at a normal volume, let alone scream. Guess you really worried her."

"Hush." Shiroko says quietly.

I smile. "Thanks for being so worried for me, girls." I say, fully truthful. "I'm fine now."

"Are you sure?" Nonomi asks.

"Yeah. That shot just brang up some nasty memories, is all. I'm fine, promise." I say, hoping to placate them.

Hoshino looks at me with a look, not so much one of worry, but of... empathy? What has she been through?

The other girls breathe a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're all right, Sensei." Ayane says over the comms.

"You really had us worried, you know?" Serika asks.

"Yeah. I'm sorry." I say, looking in the distance. "They got away, huh? Oh well. Let's head back."

"Oh, right! It was super cool how you handled them, Sensei!" Nonomi cheers, returning to her happy tone of voice as we begin to walk back. "You were like 'Wha!' and 'Wham!' "

I chuckle. "I suppose it was pretty cool, huh?"

"You were like those guys in action movies!" The blonde chirps.

"I'll admit, I didn't know you could pull that stuff off, Sensei." The cat girl agrees.

"You didn't see what he did when we saved you." The wolf girl adds.

"Why, what did he do?" Serika asks, as the others begin describing my actions before.

As we walk back, I no longer feel that damn emotion. Fear...

Now, it's just happiness.

I just hope it lasts longer this time.

After everything settled down, I returned to Schale in the afternoon, or perhaps the evening, kind hard to tell with just the sun. I was surprised to see Rin waiting for me in the building's lobby along with a shorter girl.

The shorter girl has bright pink hair, done in high twintails and sea green eyes. She has two, small horns and pointed ears protruding from her hair. She wears a big white hoodie with gold zippers, held up by one of her shoulders. She wears a white sleeveless 'shirt' more akin to a tight tank top that has a collar and a blue tie, that ends in a skirt. She has high heeled, black shoes with a white tongue, and white socks. From her skirt, is a long, black tail that turns into a fishhook and fades to pink. Her halo is made of six, four-pointed stars, each of which's horizontal points connect and the vertical ones are much longer, causing the whole thing to resemble a crown. Each 'star' is white, with a pink outline. She also is holding a bag of chips.

"Ah, Sensei. There you are." Rin greets me. "I'd like to introduce you to an associate of mine, Yuragi Momoka, a fellow member of the General Student Council."

"Hey there, Sensei." She greets, while popping a chip into her mouth.

"Nice to meetcha." I greet.

"Momoka is going to be in charge of assigning Schale commissions." Rin explains.

"I didn't know we were taking commissions?" I ask.

"Since you've got some students working for you, you can get them to deal with small things we, and Schale, are tasked with." Momoka says, between chips.

"Ah. So basically you're dumping your extra work on me." I summarize.

"No, no." The short girl denies. "Just making sure you don't shirk your duties or anything." She says smugly.

Rin sighs. "I'm sorry about her, Sensei."

"No worries. I'll keep an eye out for ya, Momoka." I say.

"Thanks, Sensei. Later." She begins to walk off.

"Have a nice evening, Sensei." Rin says as she begins to leave.

"You too." I say, walking to the elevator.

A few moments later, as I step out of the elevator and into the Schale office, Arona greets me. "Welcome back, Sensei!"

"Thanks, Arona." I say, sitting down my guns and such.

"What for?" She asks.

"For always sayin' 'Welcome back' when I come back. It means a lot." I say, as I sit at my desk.

"W-Well... You're welcome, Sensei." She says awkwardly, with a blush.

I let out a hum as I smile. "Okay, then. To work. Arona, I need you to help me get more info." I say, spinning my chair to face my desk.

"On what?" She tilts her head.

"Problem Solver 68. A group of Gehenna students working as fixers." I say, rapidly pressing keys on m keyboard.

"On it, Sensei!"

"Thanks, Arona."

Arona and I dug up as much as we could on the Problem Solver girls. They work as fixers, taking any job and generally causing headaches for those in charge. Especially the Gehenna Prefects, whose job it is to deal with troublemakers.

Their office is out of the way, in between Gehenna and Abydos, but still is quite far from either school. Makes sense that they haven't got caught.

Anyways, I found their office's location and am on my way to meet 'em this morning. As I walk through the Abydos district, I run into Ayane. "Yo, Ayane!" I say, catching her attention.

"Oh? Good morning, Sensei." She greets politely.

"Mornin'." I say simply.

"Are you walking to our school?" She asks.

"No, I've got some plans nearby. I might swing by later, though." I explain. "Still, I thought you girls didn't have school for another hour or two."

"Oh. We have an interest payment on the school's debt due today. There's a lot of prep work involved." She explains. "I have to get to school ahead of time to take care of it and to do some planning for how we'll move forward."

"You girls are a damn inspiration with how hard you work." I say with a smile.

"Oh! W-Well, thank you, Sensei." She says with a blush. "Oh, that's right. I also compiled some intel on the students we ran into yesterday. I'd appreciate it if you could take a look at it later."

"Provin' my point about being a hard worker right here." I say with a chuckle. "Alright, I'll compare with mine."

"Huh? Did you gather info on them as well?" She asks, surprised.

"Yeah, Arona helped me with it last night. Matter of fact, I'm going to meet 'em right now." I explain to the elf girl.

"Really?"

"Yeah, apparently their office is near the Abydos district and-" My explanation is cut off by a new arrival.

"Wow! If tit isn't Sensei! Hey there!" Out of seemingly nowhere, Mutsuki greets me, shoving Ayane out of the way.

"What the...?!" The elf girl says.

"Oh? Hey, Mutsuki." I greet.

"Oh, you remembered my name?" She asks. "That's sweet. How ya doin'?" She asks, getting close to my face. Or rather, trying to, due to her being much shorter than me. "Wow, what a coincidence running into you this morning." Suddenly, the small girl jumps up and latches onto my torso with her arms and legs.

"Wah?!" I shout, shocked at her action.

"Hmm? I'm not too heavy, am I?" She asks with a smug grin, her face now right in front of mine.

"Nah, I lift weights heavier than two of you." I say, truthfully.

"Seriously?" She asks, surprised.

I nod. "Still, what are you, part spider monkey?" I joke.

Ayane, who's gotten a massive blush on her face, snaps back to reality and begins to pull the imp girl off of me. "Wh-What do you think you're doing? Let go of Sensei this instant!"

"Hey, quit pulling!" Mutsuki pouts, as she's ripped from her grasp on my torso. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Little Miss Four-Eyes from Abydos. You really like to stick your nose in other people's business, don't you?" She asks rhetorically. "You seemed a lot more polite when we ran into each other at the ramen place yesterday. Remember?"

"That was before you tried to assault our school!" Ayane snaps. "What are you up to? Why are you trying to be so buddy-buddy all of a sudden? And my name's not 'Little Miss Four-Eyes', it's Ayane!"

"What? It's not like we have anything against you guys." Mutsuki points out, confused at the other girls' anger. "We told you it was just business. We can make nice when we're not fighting."

This shocks Ayane quite a bit, causing her glasses to tilt on her face. "A-Are you actually trying to tell me to not take things personally after what you've done?!"

"Why not? It's not like Schale's sensei exclusively belongs to you guys." She says, before turning to me. "Isn't that right, Sensei?"

"All right, all right. Just calm down you two. Can't you just get along?" I chide.

Mutsuki lets out a bark of laughter. "Good one! Fat chance of that, we have a business to run. Aru isn't going to let us go unemployed or anything. Oh, well." She walks up to me and grins. "Stop by the office anytime you want, Sensei. I bet Aru and the others would be thrilled to have you there."

I chuckle, she doesn't know I'm heading there right now. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Well, bye-bye!" She says, beginning to walk away. "See you next time, Miss Ayane."

Ayane fixes her glasses and yells at the retreating girl. "There will be no next time! I'll shoot on sight if I catch you in our district again!"

"Whatever you say!" Mustuki yells back.

Ayane lets out a deep sigh. "The nerve of that girl!"

I just chuckle at her annoyance. "Well, it was nice running into you Ayane, but I've gotta go. I suppose you do as well, huh?"

"Oh, right!" She says, remembering her plans. "I'll see you later, Sensei!" She says, running off.

"Later! I'll swing by this afternoon!" I say back. As I begin to walk the the Problem Solver office, I feel something in my pocket. Pulling it out, I find a piece of paper with an address. Specifically, the one to Problem Solver's office. Did that damn kusogaki slip this into my pocket when she jumped me?

Sighing, while shaking my head and pocketing the paper, I continue toward my destination.

A bit later, I reach the office. It's in a small building, not a single other office being leased by anyone else. Smart thinking, huh?

I knock on the door to their office. It opens, revealing Mutsuki, whose face instantly light up as she glomps me again. "You do this to all your visitors?" I ask jokingly.

"Nope! Just you!" She says, happily. She lets me go, but grabs my hand and pulls me into the room. "Hey girls, Sensei came to visit!"

As I enter the room, I take a look around. Aru is sitting in a black business chair, at a grey wood desk. Kayoko and Haruka sit on either of the two couches on either side of the room, a small table in between them. There are filing cabinets and a safe in the corner, two rifles hung above Aru's chair, along with various other things here and there.

Aru and Kayoko are surprised by my presence. Haruka, on the other hand, is frightened. "Wah! Have you come back to finish me off?!" She shouts.

"What? No!" I shut her train of thought down quick. I walk over to the shy girl and give her a pat on the head, which seems to calm her. "Sorry if I hurt ya'll to bad yesterday, but I'm just here to talk with your boss."

"Oh? And what could Schale's sensei want with us?" Aru asks, trying to be cool. "We've already got a job in progress, so you'll just have to wait."

"You mean the one you guys failed at yesterday?" I ask, causing her facade to drop.

"W-Well..."

"Besides I ain't looking for a job with you girls, I'm looking for something else." I say, pulling out a contract Arona and I whipped up last night. I sit it down on the table to let Aru see it.

She and the other girls look over the contract. "This is..."

"A simple contract, getting you guys to work with Schale, not for us like other students. You'll get a monthly stipend along with one of the many, currently empty, offices in the Schale building." I explain.

"I don't know..." Aru seems hesitant.

"You can still keep doing contracts and the like, just like before. I won't place any limitations on that. You'll still be your own business, just one that's partners with Schale." I explain. "Plus, you'll get the Prefects off your backs." This catches her interest.

"It's a good deal, all in all." Kayoko points out.

"Yeah, especially since it helps us deal with the Prefects." Mutsuki agrees.

"Th-That's enough money for ramen, r-right?" Haruka asks shyly.

"St-Still, I don't think it's such a good idea." Aru says.

"Ae you worried about the contract you've got being mad at you?" I ask. She stills, seems I hit the nail on the head. "Well like I said, don't worry about them. Don't let 'em influence your decision." She still looks skeptical, causing me to let out a sigh. "You don't have to sign it today if you don't want to. Just think it over."

"No!" Aru shouts. "I-I mean, I don't need to think." She says, quickly composing herself. "This is quite a good deal you've given us, Sensei. I'd be happy to agree to it."

I smile. "Glad to hear it."

After leaving the Problem Solver office, signed contract in hand, I decided to stop by Gehenna, to give the Prefects the info about my contract with Problem Solver. I could've texted Chinatsu, but I figured telling them directly might be better. As I reached the campus, I found Iori doing her rounds about the school.

"Yo, Iori!" I call out to her, catching her attention as I walk to her.

"Sensei?" She says, walking to me, causing us to meet each other halfway. "What are you doing here?"

"Long story short, I got somethin' I wanted to pass to your Head Prefect. She here?" I cut to the chase.

"No, Head Prefect Hina isn't at her office this morning. What do you need to give her anyways?" Iori asks, skeptical of me. "It isn't something perverted, is it?"

"Where the hell did that conclusion come from? No, just that she won't have to worry about Problem Solver anymore." This causes the tan-skinned girls' eyes, or rather her visible eye, to widen. "I signed a contract with 'em earlier."

"Really?" Iori asks, skeptical. I nod in response. "Still, I'll pass it along to the Head Prefect."

"Pass what along?" A semi-monotonous female voice asks, causing Iori to jump. I turn and look... down and see the voice's origin.

I see a girl, much shorter than myself and even Iori, with long, white hair that reaches her stomach, at least. Her bangs are parted, revealing not only her entire face and forehead, but also her vibrant, purple eyes. Protruding from her hair are four black horns with purple cracks, the same shade as her eyes, all along them. A red and black bow slightly appears from her hair, holding a small ponytail in place. She wears a dark blue military uniform, adorned with various golden buttons and badges. The left side of her hair is held by a extravagant, golden hairclip, connected to a chain, connected to one of the buttons of her uniform. On her hands are black gloves, and on her shoulders hangs a large, black coat. The coat's inside is white, one of it's sleeves bearing the Prefect's red banner, just like Iori and Chinatsu. She has on a small, black skirt and black thighhigs. Her feet, and everything to just below her knee, are covered by black boots. The boots have grey soles and are held by not just black laces, but also three small belts. Two belts are at the top of each boot, and one on the flat of her foot. Each belt are black with golden trim, as are the parts of the boot that hold the belts in place.

Above her head is by far the most unique halo I've seen yet. Said halo is not just a nearly flat design, no, it's three-dimensional. The lowest part of the halo is a small, purple diamond, the shade of her eyes, in the center of the entire thing. Above that is a small, not very tall, purple ring, and above that is a larger, black ring, just as vertically thin as the lower. The largest ring is also about ten times thicker than the previous two. The ring is a perfect black ring, with spikes on the top, which point clockwise. The ring has purple cracks on it, similar to her horns. On either side of the large ring are two black diamonds, one half of each much longer than the other half, both adorned with purple cracks.

Around her waist is a SUPER long rifle. It's black with purple trim and glowing purple parts, making it resemble her halo. It also has a single gold chain around the back of it.

"Head Prefect?!" Iori shouts.

"What needed to be passed along?" The short girl asks again, in the same tone of voice.

"This." I say, handing her the contract. "Simply put, you don't have to worry about the Problem Solver girls anymore."

She quickly reads the contract, her vibrant purple eyes darting back and forth. "I see. This is good, they've been quite a thorn in our hide for sometime." She says, handing the contract back.

Pocketing the contract, I decide to do something. "Right, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Joshua, a teacher at Schale. Nice to meet ya, Miss Head Prefect."

The smaller girl blushes a bit. "You don't have to call me that. My name is Sorasaki Hina, a third-year and the chairwoman of the Prefect Team. It's nice to meet you as well, Sensei." She says with a small nod.

"Is that all you came for, Sensei?" Iori asks.

"Yup, just needed tell Hina about this." I explain.

"Well, if that's all, I'll be leaving now!" She shouts, clearly upset I didn't show up for her.

"If you want to hang out, just ask anytime, Iori." I say, hoping to placate her.

"W-Who would want to hang out with you?!" She shouts, storming off.

I shake my head while chuckling. "Second time I've met the girl, and I can already tell she ain't honest with herself."

"Indeed." Hina says, a small smile on her face. "It can be quite a bother sometimes."

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Hina." I say holding my hand out to her. She grabs it with her smaller hand.

"Likewise." She says, shaking my hand. "Feel free to return anytime, Sensei." She says, letting go of my hand.

"Thanks, bye now." I say, walking away.

"Goodbye, Sensei." She says.

Heh, nice girl. Though I wasn't expecting her to be a third-year, with her height and all. Though, I'd never say that to her face.

Walking back to Abydos, I stopped for some lunch at Shiba Seki. Nothing interesting happened. However, when I returned to Abydos in the afternoon, I found out something interesting certainly did happen to the Abydos girls.

"Oh, Sensei!" Nonomi greets me at the Foreclosure Task Force club room's door. "You decided to show up today?"

"Yeah. I had something to do this morning. Mind if I come in?" I ask.

"Of course!" She chirps, letting me in. When I enter, I'm surprised to see a new face among the group.

The new girl gives off that sort-of 'girl nextdoor' vibe. She has brownish-blonde hair tied in low twintails with a yellow, white and black ribbon each, and honey colored eyes. She wears a puffy, white hoodie with a blue collar and yellow bow tie. The 'tongue' I suppose you could call it, of her collar, the part that sticks up, has Trinity's logo emblazoned on it. Below is a dark blue skirt with white trim, and dark leggings. On her feet are white tennis shoes with pink trim. Slung over one of her shoulders is a backpack resembling some sort of chicken, must be a mascot here in Kivotos. Her halo is a pale gold comprised of two rings. The outer ring has two wing shapes emerging from either horizontal side, where they connect, they for a small circle, each has a hole in it. Around her waist is a pink and white assault rifle with a black clip.

"Oh? You guys made a new friend?" I ask, as they notice me.

"Yes, I suppose you could say that." Ayane says, sheepishly.

"Ah!" The girl from Trinity realizes something. "I-I'm Ajitani Hifumi, a student a Trinity. It's nice to meet you." She introduces herself with a small bow.

"I'm Joshua, a teacher at Schale. Pleased to meet ya." I say with a nod and a smile.

"A real teacher?" Hifumi says, surprised.

"Yup." I say simply. Noticing the awkward and somewhat tense atmosphere, I address the room. "So what happened to you girls this morning?"

"Well, uh..." Serika trails off.

"You see, Sensei..." Ayane begins.

"Ehehe~" Hoshino chuckles awkwardly.

"We robbed a bank." Shiroko says simply, causing my eyes to widen.

"SHIROKO!" Serika snaps.

I just sigh at their antics. "Okay, first things first." I say, sitting down. "Explain, please."

Just how in the hell did they end up robbing a bank?!

AN

A betrayal, albeit a minor one, and a contract. Bet you weren't expecting that! I got the contract idea from 'Pilot and Angels', a Blue Archive x Titanfall story on Wattpad. It's really damn good, go check it out.

Anyway, Josh didn't go to the Black Market with the Abydos girls, but he DID meet Hina, so I say that's a fair trade off.

Next time, explanations and stuff.

Edit: September 28, 2022: Changed chain gun to gatling gun.

Edit: November 1, 2022: Added girls' weapon descriptions.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and look forward to the next!