As they waited for class to begin, Tomo was holding a charm and concentrating, her eyes closed.
"Tomo, ah really need ya to charge this charm with your smartness."
"Forget it Osaka, she's charging mine up, you'll have to wait" said Kagura.
"But ah have a big test next period."
"Miss Osaka, I can charge it up for you."
"No offense Chiyo but this test is really important and Tomo's smartness is backed up by science."
Chiyo frowned and muttered something under her breath.
Yukari finally made her appearance, looking angry.
"Morning class. Today you're going to learn a very valuable lesson, about how to deal with bad customer service!"
"Uh, excuse me, Miss Yukari...?"
"Hmm?"
Standing beside her was a nervous looking male student with bright blonde hair.
"Oh right, class we have a new transfer student. Say hello to Sion…hmm, no last name listed here."
"Hello" he said as he bowed.
"So where do you come from? Hope you like the name of it, for your sake."
"Hubb- I mean, Tokyo. I was schooled at my house."
"Yeah, that tracks. Well why don't you take a seat, please don't be afraid to ask for help if you need to blah blah blah. Now, say you want to pick up a new video game on your way to work. Should be simple, right? Well if we were living in a society that worked..."
Home room ended late, as Yukari insisted to stay to hear the end, saying it would be more useful to their life than whatever their next class had to teach them.
The group could not help but look at the new student. Sion was reviewing his papers as he walked out; alone among the class, he had taken detailed notes on Yukari's rant.
Kagura leaned over to Sakaki.
"Man that new guy seems spacey enough to make Osaka look normal" she whispered.
"Aw, thanks Kagura, whatta nice thing to say."
"Uh, you're welcome."
"It is odd he doesn't have a last name" said Sakaki.
"I don't think it's right to make assumptions about Sion, we don't even know him" said Chiyo.
"I suppose you're right" said Yomi. She checked her watch. "Damn, Yukari Really kept us overtime, we better get going or we'll be late for class."
"Oh big deal if we're late for some dumb - wait, that's right, I'm a genius now, so class is just another opportunity to show how great I am! Come on, everyone! Hey, I'll race you, Kagura!"
"You're on!"
The two took off. At first, they were about even, but soon Tomo started to lag. Then she stopped completely, holding her knees while breathing heavily.
Yomi frowned. Normally she was always up to see Tomo eat shit, but while Tomo always lost to Kagura, she never sputtered out this quickly. Was she sick?
"Giving up already Tomo?" yelled Kagura as she looked back.
As such, she didn't see the janitor mopping or the wet floor sign. When she stepped on the wet soapy floor, she started to slip, and found herself sliding towards the stairs, as her friends looked on in horror.
"Oh, ah can't watch!"
Suddenly, the janitor dropped his mop, jumped on the wall and started running on it at an incredible speed.
Kagura closed her eyes and braced for a long and painful fall, only to find herself stopped.
She opened her eyes to see her dangling over the stairs, a hand holding the back of her shirt. It guided her back to solid ground.
She turned to look at her savior. It was a janitor, but not one she had seen before. He was young, in his early 20s, and handsome to boot. His face had a calm, disinterested look.
She looked down to see his name tag read AYASE.
"Tha-thank you" she said.
"Be sure to be more careful and watch where you're going in the future" he said in a tone neither sympathetic nor scolding.
"Uh...sure thing."
Ayase then went back to mopping.
Her friends came up to her.
"Wow, I admit I was looking forward to seeing you fall but that was cool too" said Tomo.
"Glad you weren't disappointed" grumbled Kagura.
As they moved on, Chiyo noticed Osaka just standing, looking sad.
"Miss Osaka? What's wrong?"
"Ah thought being a janitor might be ah nice career for me, but if that fancy footwork what's required of the job nowadays..."
The class lined up for the start of PE. But their teacher Nyamo wasn't alone today.
"Class, before we start I have someone to introduce you to. He's training to be a physical education teacher, and he'll be with us for awhile. Meet Mr. Domon."
A tall smiling men stepped beside her, wearing an orange jacket, camo shorts, and a white beanie.
"Hey kids! Looking forward to working with your! I know we're going to have lots of fun!"
"This guy seems like a real doofus" one student said to another.
"Doofus?! Who said that!? Was it you, four eyes? How about you, tubby? We're not doing anything until someone fesses up! I'll keep you here as long as I have to!"
A sweat drop formed on the back of Nyamo's head.
"Leave me alone!"
"Kaorin, if you would only look at my drawings you'd realize this outfit will make you the most popular girl in school!" said the teacher, holding a piece of paper with a skimpy dominatrix outfit drawn on it.
Kaorin was trying her best to not break into tears. Bad enough she was late for PE and missing precious Sakaki wearing gym shorts time she'd never get back, but Kimura was being particularly determined at getting her attention.
She looked out at all the others watching, seeing the familiar looks of sympathy and pity. Of course they all felt sorry for her, but none of them, student or teacher, ever tried to stop it. Everyone in school just accepted it. No one would ever do anything-
Before Kaorin could fully process it, a young woman wearing a maroon jacket grabbed Kimura and smashed his face into a locker with such a force that his face dented the metal, to the astonishment of everyone present.
"Who is she?" asked one student.
"That's Miss Yuri, the new history teacher" said another.
"Miss Yuri? This is most irregula-AAH!"
Yuuri twisted his arm.
"From now on you will not talk to any student outside the role of teacher. Do we understand each other?"
"What do you mea-"
SNAP!
Kimura screamed in pain.
"Your arm will heal. Next time it won't. Do we understand each other?"
"Y-yes, m'am."
"Good. Go to the nurse's office, and tell them you had a fall."
"Y-yes. I had a bad fall."
Kimura slinked away, as everyone looked on stunned.
Yuri walked over to Kaorin and put her hand on her should as she smiled. Kaorin stared at her face and realized how beautiful she was.
"I know how difficult it is to be a woman in this time. Believe me, it won't be like that forever. Until then, remember, you're stronger than you think. Okay?"
Kaorin tried to answer, but couldn't form any words. Instead, she just slowly nodded.
Still smiling, Yuri left. Kaorin remained standing as if in a daze. Eventually, another student approached her.
"Are you okay, Kaorin?"
"Did...did that just happen?"
"So she's always been like that?"
"As long as we've known her, yeah" said Chihiro. "I heard it's because her family was murdered right in front of her, and she dissociated to deal with the trauma-"
"Uh that's all right, go back to what you were doing."
Damn, thought Domon. He was sure that Osaka girl must have been mind probed or something by the Londerz, but apparently she had been like that for at least almost a year before they had arrived in this time period (if the Psyma Family did that to her, then she was those GoGo dorks' problem.) As such, he was back at square one.
Domon sent down on a bench, trying to think of what to do next. It was then he turned to see someone else was sitting down as well, that little pigtailed girl, looking glum.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
The girl looked at him with wide, watery eyes.
"We're playing basketball, but I can't make any baskets cause of how small I am."
"Oh size has nothing to do with it! It's just about confidence and crap."
"Really?"
"Sure, here."
Chiyo squealed in surprise as Domon picked her up and headed to the court.
"Hey you other brats, clear way, the little girl's going to take a shot!"
"My name is Chiyo..."
The other students did as they were told, and Domon plopped Chiyo down in the middle of the court.
Domon grabbed a ball and tossed it to her, inadvertently hitting her in the head.
"That's all right, Chiyo, you can do it!" said Domon, who in his mind was trying to think of what to tell her if this didn't work out.
Chiyo looked up at the intimidatingly tall hoop.
"Don't worry" yelled Domon. "Just visualize it, and you can do it!"
Chiyo concentrated, imagining the throwing the ball and it going through the hoop.
With all her might, she threw it.
By now, the whole class was watching, as the ball managed to reach it. Everyone waited in anticipation as it rolled on the rim.
Finally, it went through.
The class broke out in applause.
"I did it! I did it!" Chiyo shouted while jumping up and down in victory.
"You're damn right you did" said Domon as patted her on the head.
Nyamo smiled from a distance. Maybe this guy wouldn't be so bad. He was kinda cute too...
She snapped out of her thoughts when Yomi ran up to her.
"Miss Kurosawa, Osaka got hit in the back of the head with a ball and swallowed her tongue again."
Nyamo sighed.
"All right, I'll be right over."
Tatsuya sighed as another pile of papers was dropped in front of him. That made five in addition to the one he was sorting currently. He had thought he was getting off easy compared to the others with an administrative job, but he had been busy all day, and there was no letup in sight. He hoped his friends had the chance to investigate, cause he wasn't getting any done.
"Harder work than you thought, isn't it?"
Tatsuya turned to see an older, distinguished white haired man wearing glasses.
Tatsuya smiled and got up to greet him.
"Mr. Goto, I'd like to thank you again for getting the school to give me and my colleagues positions here."
"Well, it did take a lot of convincing. But you were a good student, Tatsuya, you never got into any mischief like some I could mention. I believe you when you say the matter is urgent. Plus, the Asagi name carries a lot of weight."
Tatsuya frowned at that. He hated relying on his family name, even when for a good cause.
"Still, I hope you're worried over nothing."
"Believe me, Mr. Goto, so do I."
Nyamo and Domon walked out of the gym.
"You know, I wasn't exactly thrilled when they told me I'd be getting an assistant couch. But you did alright today. You were really good with Chiyo."
"Oh I've always liked kids. When I was a pro they were the best fans, always so excited to see you."
"Wait, you were a pro? In what?"
Oh crap. C'mon, what's a name of one of those 20th century sports?
"...Croquet. But I had to leave because of politics, you know."
"Really? You don't see the type."
"Oh, I'm full of surprises."
"That I can believe."
"Domon!" a voice called out.
Nyamo looked to see it was that new transfer student.
"Oh, coming! Sorry Miss Kurosawa, I have to go."
"It's no problem. Oh, and call me Minamo."
"All right. See you later - Minamo."
Domon ran up to Sion and the two walked off.
"Wow, he must be a pretty big loser, hanging out with a student."
Nyamo looked to see a grinning Yukari.
"Yukari, we spent our past two summer vacations at Chiyo-Chan's summer home."
"That's different, we were taking advantage of her wealth and naivety."
Nyamo sighed.
"Just give him a break, would you? Domon is a good guy."
"Ooooh, he's a "good guy" is he?"
"What are you getting at?"
"Just that maybe you think you can finally put that neck tie practice to good use..."
"First off, that's none of your business! Secondly, I just think he'd be good to have around here. God knows the boys could use a role model other than Kimura."
"Oh, I can't believe I forgot, that's why I was looking for you in the first place! Did you hear what that new history teacher did..."
Neither the teachers, or Domon and Sion, noticed in the distance a man observing them with a wide smile.
The hallway was mostly clear as Domon and Sion walked down it.
"So you learn anything today, Sion?"
Sion took out his notes.
"'If a salesperson, after telling you they don't have what you want in stock, asks if there's anything else they can do for you, tell them they can go jump up their own ass.'"
"Huh, that is a good lesson. Maybe 20th century schools aren't as backward as we were told."
They approached the janitor's closet, where Yuri and Ayase were waiting for them.
Without speaking, Ayase unlocked the door and the four walked in.
Closing the door, the four found themselves crammed into the tight space.
"Sion, you're stepping on my foot" said Ayase.
"Oh, sorry."
"Why are we meeting in here anyway?" asked Domon.
"It's the only place we can talk without anyone else overhearing" said Yuri.
"Where's Tatsuya?" asked Sion.
"Busy" said Yuuri, "he says he hasn't had any time to investigate so he'd have nothing to report anyway."
"Just as well, I don't know if we could fit another person in here" said Domon.
"How about you?" asked Yuri. "Have any of you noticed anything unusual?"
"There's certainly some weird things at this school" said Ayase, "but nothing that makes me think the Londerz are involved. Maybe we're mistaken."
"You heard what Tac said. He's been detecting regular emissions of yadridian radiation, something which won't be discovered until 300 years from now."
"For all we know it was discovered by accident by someone who never knew what they did."
"Once, maybe. But this is consistent."
"Well, I definitely believe it's our duty to remain here until we're sure there's no danger, no matter how long it takes" said Domon.
"Since when have you been so concerned with our duty?" asked Ayase. "More likely there's a girl here you like. Hopefully not one of the students..."
"Hey!" said a now angry Domon, getting up in Ayase's face and raising his fist, in the process accidentally elbowing Sion in the face.
Yuri stepped in and pushed the two away from each other.
"Stop acting like children!" she said. "The fact is, Domon is right that we have to make sure. If the Londerz are operating in this school, then everyone here is in grave danger."
The school day was at an end, and the group was getting ready to head home.
"Doesn't it seem weird to you?" said Yomi. "In one day, we get a new transfer student, two new teachers, and a new janitor."
"Ah reckon the economy's on an upswing."
"Hey you guys want to see that new horror movie?" asked Kagura.
"Oh, the one about that virus that makes pets go crazy and attack their owners and drink their blood? Yeah that sounds awesome!" said Tomo.
Both Chiyo and Sakaki look scared shitless already.
"Uh that's all right. Sakaki and I are going to the library, we're going to look up some pictures of cute animals on the Internet."
"Ah, sounds fun. Well, seeya tomorrow then."
Chiyo and Sakaki said goodbye to their friends and headed for the school library, having a chat along the way. So engaged in talking to her friend she was, Chiyo didn't notice someone walking right in front of her, something whose vision was obscured by the massive stack of papers he was carrying.
"UWAAAAH!"
Chiyo found herself buried under a pile of papers.
"Oh God I'm so sorry" said Tatsuya as he began to dig the unfortunate victim out of the wreckage, soon joined by Sakaki. When they finally excavated the girl, Tatsuya had a look of surprise on his face.
"Chiyo?"
When the dazed Chiyo regained her senses, she looked up with familiarity.
"Tatsuya?"
Tatsuya burst into a wide smile as he helped the small girl up.
"My mother told me you were in high school now, but not that it was my alma matter."
"You know this man, Chiyo?"
"Oh yes. This is Tatsuya Asagi, Sakaki. Our fathers have worked together."
At this, Sakaki's eyes went wide.
"You...know her father?"
"Yes, I've met him several times."
She starred at his red plaid shirt.
"Does...does he approve of your shirt?"
"Pardon?"
"Oh don't mind her, she says funny stuff like that sometimes."
"It's no problem. It's nice to be on the other side of this for once."
Akayama was reviewing his notes when the door opened, and a smiling man walked in.
"What's the meaning of this? I gave strict instructions no one was to come in here unannounced!"
The smiling man laughed.
"Well Iesnes, I see why you're known for your genius and not your manners."
Akayama gasped, recognizing the voice.
The man shifted and transformed. He was a now a tall golden robot with a cape, his head adorned with a long, horned visor atop bright yellow eyes and a permanent malevolent grin.
"Gien!"
"Still, I'd think you'd show more gratitude. Were it not for me, you'd still be frozen, after all."
"Of - of course. But, your appearance - you should change back. School's only just ended, there's still many students and faculty here, if one of them should walk in and see you-"
"Ooh, that would be bad. I suppose we'd have to kill them to keep them from talking, wouldn't we? HAHA!"
At that, Gien's eyes turned red and popped out, as his mouth opened to emit his short, manic laugh.
"I-I think that should be something we try to avoid at this point. Why have you come?"
"To warn you. The Timerangers are here."
Gien raised his arm and shot a bolt of energy at the computer. On screen various shots taken by Iesnes' cameras came up, showing the five newcomers.
"What!? But - that's impossible. I've made sure to keep this unknown to the media, how could they have found-"
"I would have thought someone as smart as you would know yadridian radiation won't be discovered for another 300 years. They must have detected it."
The stunned Akayama grabbed the table to steady himself.
"No, this can't be. This was supposed to be my triumph! It was destiny…"
"Now, don't panic. Obviously they don't know you're who they're looking for yet. You simply have to eliminate them before they do."
"Yes, yes you're right. But how?"
"Oh, I'm sure you'll think of something. I'm actually quite interested to see you apply your renowned intellect to killing."