Rebellion the Sixth: First Jobs

"Since today's our first real day in town, I think it's best that we come up with a plan for how we're going to spend our time," Yu suggested to the group as everyone sat around the small room they'd purchased the day prior. They hadn't gotten up that long ago and after getting a warm meal inside of each of them the topic moved for their plans to help restore the peace or whatever it was that Marie had called them here to do.

"Yeah, and who put you in charge of that?" Ragna asked. He didn't particularly care nor did he have a problem with it, he just found it sort of odd that Yu would decide to take leadership over this particular part.

"Well I'm a High School student," the silver hair informed. "I have experience in figuring out how to best manage activities, and considering what Marie told us earlier it sounded like the kingdom is already in a poor state, meaning that time is of the essence."

"Hey, I was in High School too; I know a thing or two about managing time," Hyde informed.

"Same here," Ruby told them all. "...Well, technically it was an academy, but same principle."

"...Kay then, moving on," the Grim Reaper said, regretting that he'd brought it up and just ended up wasting time.

"Actually, there um… there was one thing I was wondering…" Hyde asked, trying to keep his tone unawkward, but concern leaked through nonetheless. "How… how did Liza take the news?"

"...She's not stupid, she knew what was going to happen to the kid," Ragna told them seriously. "All things considered, she probably made peace with the fact a long time ago… must've made it easier for when I finally broke the news to her… All the same, I'd give her some space."

"I know… it's just that… at breakfast she was acting like nothing was different, even though I assumed that you'd told her last night like you said to us," Hyde explained. "...She's pretty strong then."

"In that case it's up to us to make sure nothing else like that ever happens again," Yu informed before showing the group four pieces of paper. "I pulled a few jobs from the notice board, along with that bounty for the bandits from yesterday. We can take a look and decide what work's the most important to take now."

"Right," Ragna said before looking over the paper and… "You know, this isn't written in a language I'm familiar with, but at least I can tell what it says."

"I was thinking the same thing," Hyde noted as he looked over the piece of paper he held with suggest some rather vicious looking creatures. "Huh, this one calls for some Goblin extermination. Apparently these things have killed a couple of travelers on the road and even stole a few of the farmer's cows from outside the village. The paper says that they should be in the forest to the east of town… last they checked"

"Meaning if we were going to look for them, we'd have to track 'em down first," Ragna summarized. "Then there's all the spiders that have been showing up lately; for all we know those things could have already done the job for us."

"Doesn't everyone still have a skill point after we leveled up after the traveling?" Yu asked. "...Now that I think of it, aside from Ragna all of us should have three points after all of the fighting we did on the road that put us all at level six."

"Meaning I can put a point into Tracking," Ruby realized and Yu nodded.

"Hold your horses kid, we haven't decided anything yet," Ragna told her as he looked over the papers. "That's just the first job we've looked over, there's plenty more which we could finish quicker or that need to be finished sooner rather than later."

"True, but the one right here is a handy one," Ruby told him. "According to this, any spiders that we bring in and… on second thought what do you have Yu? Something fun and-" Ragna promptly snatched the paper out of her hands. "Hey!"

"...Hmph, apparently they had a bounty out on the spider's fangs, considering they don't expect us to carry the whole damn thing back," Ragna muttered. "Still we'd have to harvest them and…" He glanced at Ruby who was trying her whole innocent eyed technique once again. "...You know that ain't going to work kid."

"It will someday!" Ruby insisted leaving Ragna to groan, Yu to scratch the back of his head, and Hyde to chuckle nervously. "What about you? What's the job on yours ask for?"

"It's not a job; this one's a warning notice," Yu informed. "It says that there's a massive snake that's been seen out in the wilds. No bounty's been posted for slaying it, but they warn that the thing is dangerous; it's already been seen swallowing a rider and his horse whole and even the spiders seem to know enough to keep away from it."

"We'll have to do our best to avoid it then," Ruby told the other three. "At our low levels, I don't think we're ready to take on that thing."

"Other than that I think we're set for the day, we just need to finish before it gets too dark out and we'll be in good shape."

"Then let's quit wasting time and get moving," Ragna told them both as he rose to his feet. Together the four headed downstairs so they could leave the Inn, but Liza caught them as they were heading out.

"Not staying to help with the lunch rush?" Liza asked, seeming rather disappointed. Everyone noticed that she was acting cheerful, but they could tell it was a forced effort.

"Sorry, but I'm a fighter first and a cook second," the Reaper told her with a shrug. "Looks like you'll have to manage without me for now."

"Eh, we'll be fine , but you really surprised my folks with your cooking Even though they hate the name, the customers couldn't get enough of that 'rat' stew."

"R-Rat stew!?" Hyde exclaimed. "You were cooking rats!?"

"It's not rat stew dammit, it's Ratatouille and it doesn't even have any meat in it," Ragna groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose,before turning his back to Liza. "We'll be back this evening, I can help you with the dinner rush then."

"Don't feel like you need to, but we'd love the help," Liza told him with a bright smile. Ragna didn't say anything in response, only nodding as he headed out the door with his group following close behind.

"...Come to think of it, I might have to make rat if we run out of food," Ragna informed the three teens, whose faces blanched at his words as they walked through town. "Parts of those spiders we caught might be a good start even."

"You-! You want us to eat the spiders that we've killed!?" a clearly mortified Ruby demanded.

"What? They're edible aren't they? Beggars can't be choosers," Ragna told her before chuckling with confidence. "Sides, give me enough practice and I'll show you that it won't even matter what I use; you'll get a great meal all the same."

"Yeah… but... spiders…" Hyde tried to say to convince him otherwise.

"As long as the meal won't poison me, I'll give it a try," Yu submitted… with a bit of a darker tone (not Ragna levels, but dark). 'As long as he doesn't make a new iteration of Mystery Food X, I won't complain.'

"I'm still against the idea," the blonde member of their team tried to protest, but Ragna's serious scowl deterred the effort. "...Just don't make a point to let us know when Spider's on the menu."

'Which means that I'm going to need to take the time and effort to cover the taste and texture of any of those ingredients. That 'Substitute Ingredient' skill is going to work wonders for me here and…' Ragna paused in his thoughts as he came upon a startling realization. 'Am… Am I thinking like a parent?' Shaking the thought out of his head, he gave a short groan as the group headed for the woods. 'Tch, what a pain…'

Later -Forest Edge-

"Doesn't look that dangerous of a place, but if I've learned anything it's not to judge anything as harmless at first glance," Hyde said as he looked over the forest. "Got the Tracker skill ready, Ruby?"

"I've put the point in and I've got the first ability," she told him. "Trail Seeker says I can I can have an easier time of finding out where a query is headed by checking signs in the wilds, but there's nothing telling me how to activate it."

"You may just have to look until you find something that can lead us to the goblins," Yu told her as he kept his guard up. "You're only at first rank, so I doubt this will be easy."

"Hmm…" the Huntress-In-Training hummed to herself as she looked over the bushes leading into the woods. Taking her time, Ruby saw that she was starting to notice some details that she'd normally have missed; a line of unnaturally bent branches or a collection of slight indents on the ground that resembles footsteps. "Hey guys! I think I might be onto something over-!"

Her cry of excitement was deafened as a collection of erratic snaps sounded from within the forest, heading straight towards the group. Forcing himself to the front, Ragna stood in front of Ruby as the frontline of defense. The rest of the group then prepared for battle as quickly as they could; Yu throwing his sheath to the side and summoning Izanagi, Hyde pulling out the blood red Insulator, and Ruby setting her Crescent Rose to scythe form. The breaking of branches got louder yet, escalating until a massive jade bulk emerged from the forest.

(Cue BlazBlue Gluttony Fang)

The serpent was was taller than Ragna as it slid through the ground and even raising just its front part was enough for it to tower over the group and cast them in its shadow. Its tongue was long enough to lasso the group with ease and as it opened its mouth it showed a mouth full of 16 viciously sharp teeth that were dripping with yellow venom. Its yellow eyes glared at them, almost with a form of vile intellect.

"It's the first thing we run into!?" Ruby whispered as the monster glared down at the four .

"Just make sure it ain't the last," Ragna grumbled, knowing that the three of them were clearly putting the blame this at his feet.

"This seems like something we should fight later… preferably after we've arranged those stat points," Hyde tried to suggest, only for the serpent to lunge forward with surprising speed. "Okay then; surprise boss fight it is."

Luckily, everyone was fast enough to avoid the monster's initial lunge at them, but when Hyde tried to fire off a Black Orbiter, the attack barely left an impact mark on the creature's scales. Seeing this and becoming frustrated, Hyde then went of a more direct slash with sword at least managed to break through the scales due to the weapon's ability.

"CLEAVE!" Yu Narukami called out, ordering his persona to attack the monster with its sword/spear in a powerful cut. The impact did little more than scratch the creature's, but it was enough to make the beast aggravated. Turning its massive body, the snake extended its jars to snap Yu in half, only to be barely held back by Izanagi's weapon. The Persona User grimaced as his other self struggled to keep the snake back; even coating the weapon in lightning at its contact did little but anger it.

"Coming in fast!" came a battle call from Ruby as she fired several rounds off from her scythe. Despite striking the creature directly in its face, it didn't do much save for annoy it further… and distract it.

The snake didn't realize Ragna's shadow was covering it until it was too late. Bringing his fist down had upon its head, a wicked Crack was heard as he blasted the creature wis enough force that it lost one if its venomous fangs. The monster's head reeled back as it was forced to let go of Izanagi. The Persona quickly floated back behind its apparently winded user, having lost energy in focusing upon the clash. The snake then looked at the four in sheer rage as Ragna spun his body and-

Whack!

Delivered a roundhouse kick to the blunt end of the fang he'd knocked out as it came into range. He sent the makeshift projectile flying off into the tree line where it ricocheted off of one of the trees, bounced off a rock, and impaled itself squarely into the snake's left eye. It gave a shrill scream as it flailed its body a round in its pain.

"Good move," Yu commended as he held his sword ready. "Lucky that fang didn't hit any of us."

"Luck couldn't have been a part of that, remember?" the Reaper questioned seriously as the monster continued to flail. "Dammit, even my attacks are barely getting through."

"I can't do a lot of damage like this, but my sword can still get you an opening," Hyde promised as he aimed the Insulator it at the writhing snake. "Just under his head, got a problem with that?"

"Just give us our shot and we'll take it," Ruby said, giving a serious and solid nod to Ragna who was glad she was taking this seriously.

"Alright, just don't get yourself killed out there," Ragna said as he noticed that the snake was struggling to control itself now it had shaken its fang free from its bloody eye. "Yu, give him whatever cover you can with Izanagi; whatever happens don't let that thing score a direct hit on either of you."

"Understood!" Yu said as the team readied their charge. "Now…"

"LET'S GO!" the four shouted as one as they sprang forward.

Like they had planned, Yu and Hyde took the first strike at the wounded beast. Even if it wasn't Yu's job to damage the monster, the Zio bolt he had Izanagi send straight into its damaged eye was more than enough to cause it considerable pain. While its attention was focused on the Persona, Hyde leaped at the creature and unleashed three Vacant Shift slashes, each of the creating another opening. The snake reeled its head back to snap at the blonde, but was once more interrupted by several gunshots.

"Over here!" Ruby said as a distraction, using her weapon's gun capability to not only shoot at the beast, but to also make her as evasive as possible. The giant snake missed as it snapped its massive jaws where she'd been just a moment ago… then came in Ragna.

"Hell's Fang!" the Grim Reaper shouted as he sailed forward, his darkness covered fist slamming into the weak point that Hyde had created earlier. The monster screamed as it was forced back, blood slowly seeping out of the wound. He was about to go for a follow up strike, but that was when the creature was surrounded by a brown casting circle. "EVERYONE GET BACK!"

Ruby and Hyde were barely able to leap out of the was as razor sharp spikes of rock burst from the ground. Yu still had Izanagi out and tried to cut them away, but it wasn't enough and his Persona was destroyed. Yu grunted as his mind flared with a sharp and overwhelming pain, only to notice the rock spikes that were about to impale him… right before a shadow covered him.

Shunk!

"...Tch…I ain't going through that a second time," Ragna promised cockily, though it was clear to Yu that he'd been stabbed several times over with several of the spikes hitting vital organs.

"R-Ragna-san?" the teen asked with worry, the Reaper's only response was to smash off the spikes with his bear hands blood seeping out of his own wounds. The other two members then approached the two to regroup a look of terror on both of their faces at the severity of Ragna's wounds.

"I'll be fine; focus on putting that damn thing down," he ordered, watching as the snake readied its second spell, this one glowing a baleful crimson.

Though the mental stress made him wince harshly, Yu managed to bring his Persona out through the sheer force of his own willpower. Nodding to Hyde the two rushed forward with Ragna and Ruby following closely behind. The snake then expelled a massive fireball from it mouth leaving the group to narrowly dodge it. The spell exploded behind them with enough force to them off of their feet, but the four stood strong.

Carefully controlling his Persona, Yu guided Izanagi though the air and stabbed its weapon into the snakes wounded eye. While it screamed and focused its attention on the Persona, Hyde rushed forward and delivered another slash close to the weak point he'd created. This attack made the snake recoil and slammed its body into the blonde, but he managed to land on his feet close to Yu. As they recovered, Ragna and Ruby passed them by.

Using her Speed Semblance to get a quick attack in at the beast, Ruby leapt into the air where she was right in front of the monster's goodeye. She wasn't sure how to activate her Silver Eyes ability just yet, so she settled for swinging her scythe at its remaining eye. Unfortunately, that was when the monster had decided to close its eye and shield it with a scaly eyelid. With her knocked off balance in midair, the boss would have had its opening if not for Ragna's Dead Spike that slammed into the creature as sent it sprawling back.

"SWING ME!" Ruby shouted at him as she kept her scythe extended. Acting on instinct, Ragna grabbed the airborne young huntress by her feet as readied himself with a wicked attack, but then he noticed the snake was channeling another earth spell.

"BLACK ORBITER!

"ZIO!"

Yu and Hyde's projectiles flew at the giant snake at high speed, both attacks aiming for a similar part on the creature so they began to intersect… and then seemed to fuse in their flight. The combined move carried a mass of swirling energy much like Hyde's attack, but cackled with violent sparks of electricity similar to Yu's. The attack hit the creature dead on and managed to deal intense damage while interrupting the spell to give Ragna and Ruby enough time to finish their own attack.

Using the short advantage he'd been given, the Grim Reaper roared as he swung Ruby and he extended scythe in a deadly arc, feeling each pulse as Ruby fired off shot after shot to increase their speed. The sickle screamed through air as it cut through the serpent without resistance, sending its head flying in the air.

(End Theme)

"That… was something I wouldn't want to repeat for at least a week," Hyde sighed as he stabbed his sword into the ground to stay standing while Ragna let Ruby's feet return to their natural place on the earth. "Are we still hunting goblins today?"

"Not without dealing with this thing first we're not," Ragna muttered as he glanced at Ruby before gesturing with his head towards to larger half of the snakes body. "Get started, we're not finished here." Ruby didn't move, in fact it looked like she couldn't stop staring at the Reaper. It took Ragna a moment, but he then realized that he was still covered in blood as his heading factor was still working on his wounds. "...Look I'm fine… It's just taking longer to heal than I'm used to."

"...Okay," Ruby said, though it was clear that there was something about this she didn't like.

"I'll go help her," Hyde volunteered as he hefted the Insulator over his shoulder and followed Ruby to the snake. "Mine's the only weapon that can cut the damn thing." While those two were busy looking at the larger part of the Serpent's body, Ragna headed over to the head that he'd just helped to cleave off, followed closely behind by Yu.

"Now what the hell are we supposed to do with this thing?" Ragna groaned as he scratched the back of his head.

"...I might have an idea," Yu decided, explaining to Ragna what he intended to do.

"That… that seems pretty morbid," Ragna told him as he looked at the monster. "Like… really morbid, especially coming with you."

"That may be true, but weren't you the one that told us Different World; Different Rules?" Ragna hated to admit it, but Yu had him there. "Besides, this will send the message that we need it to… even if it is a little early."

"Right, right," Ragna groaned before opening up his menu. "Eh? Looks like I hit level twelve. I mean I never leveled up on the roads, but two levels?"

"You're serious?" Yu asked as he went into his own menu. "And it appears I've gained four levels and made it to level ten. Apparently this monster was worth a lot of experience."

"Meaning we've got a lot of stat points to use up," Hyde said to the group as he and Ruby joined after they'd finished carving up the snake. "...We… we should probably invest a few of those, yeah?"

"No kidding, if it wasn't for our special abilities, our weapons, and Ragna's abnormal stats then we'd have died as soon as that thing came out," Ruby said with a sigh before looking at Ragna. "Speaking of which, how are the wounds healing?"

"Slowly, but that must be because I've got a low Spirit stat and got hit by magic," Ragna told them with a groan. "Oh well, I guess I might as well balance myself as best as I can with the points I can use… aside from my god awful luck of course."

Strength: 50

Dexterity: 50

Constitution: 44

Magic: 44

Spirit: 44

Luck: -100

"A balance build sounds appropriate for me and my persona as well," Yu agreed as he invested his sixty points. "There we go…"

Strength: 20

Dexterity: 20

Constitution: 20

Magic: 20

Spirit: 20

Luck: 20

"I'll… probably try to tinker around a bit," Hyde said as he looked around his stats and started playing around. "Hmm… This should work. This way I'll keep my slight boost to the offensive, which suits my style just fine."

Strength: 24

Dexterity: 23

Constitution: 17

Magic: 25

Spirit: 15

Luck: 16

"Guess that just leaves me…" Ruby noted as she looked over her option before smirking. Everyone watched, curious at what she'd do… using the classic anime sweatdrop effect in disbelief as she poured 40 of her points into dexterity.

Strength: 15

Dexterity: 56

Constitution: 13

Magic: 10

Spirit: 12

Luck: 14

"Dammit, you're putting your Dex even higher than Ragna's," Hyde muttered with surprise as Ruby gave him a goofy smile.

"Yeah, combine that with her Speed Semblance and she'd be next to impossible to catch," Ragna muttered with his arms crossed as he started to understand her reasoning. "Still, say you do get hit; any attack on you is going to mean trouble."

"Guess that just means I'll have to count on you to keep me out of trouble," Ruby told him. "At the same time, I'll be there to make sure you're not doing anything to reckless and letting yourself get stabbed."

"So that's your game… You're a schemer, aintcha kid?"

"I am not a crook!" Ruby said with twin peaces signs, leaving Hyde and Yu confused why she was quoting American President Nixon and Ragna just regular confused.

"That does bring up a good point though," Yu admitted. "When we're not directly fighting in a group of four or doing our own fighting I think smaller groups of two would work for the best, like those tag team attacks that we pulled off in the fight."

"Yeah, what would you even call that?" Hyde asked as he went into his menu.. "Whoa! There's a new subsection called Team Techniques! I've got one called Hallowed Void!"

"The same is true with mine, meaning we managed to create that technique on our own without the need of leveling up… I think," Yu said, scratching his head as he realized that he didn't have that firm of a grasp of the functions of this world. "What about the two of you? You used the final move that finished the monster."

"Ours is called Crimson Executioner," Ruby noted with a smirk. "Looks like we've already got our teams decided then!"

"I'd tell you not to slow me down… but considering who I'm talking to, I might have to yell for you to take it easy," Ragna decided with a chuckle. "Alright, anything we're missing?"

"Just one thing," Ruby told him as she took a small glowing orb out of her pocket. "This was inside that giant snake, right next to its heart. I don't have any idea what it is though… maybe we could find someone in town that knows about it?"

"Save that for the later list; we've got goblins to hunt," Ragna muttered, before noticing that everyone had an… odd smile on their faces. "...Alright, what the hell's going on?"

"Nothing, just that you're taking this whole leader thing pretty seriously, aren't you?" Ruby asked with a giggle as Ragna's face slowly started to heat up.

"...Not like I'm doing it intentionally," he muttered as he turned away so that the rest of his group couldn't see how red his face was getting. "Think you can pick up a new set of tracks? Whatever was around here was blown away pretty thoroughly."

"Leave it to me!" Ruby said with a happy smile.

That Night -Governor's Manor-

"You're serious?" a man in well made cotton clothing asked as he sat behind his desk, a small mug of tea grasped in both of his hands. He had well kept blonde hair that was slightly on the shorter side and a thin beard that only covered the immediate area around his mouth. His baby blue eyes were looking at the woman before him in slight suspicion while he took a small sip from the mug.

"Indeed, I settled their accounts personally my lord Governor," she said. The woman had simple brown hair that was cut short to keep in our of her eyes and wore a less frilly version of a maid's uniform. She was currently looking at the board she held before her as she read aloud the information she had collected. "Along with the massive snake head, they've also brought in proof of completing the bounty on both a group of bandits and the one on the Goblins… though they admitted that the spiders had already dealt with the later at the time of discover."

"Hmph, how honest of them," the man muttered to himself.

"I did, however, pay them half of the bounty for their discovery of the Goblins' fate," she continued as she looked through papers. "Along with that, the four of them also brought in no less than thirty sets of spider fangs; all of which were confirmed to be real."

"That many… honestly, where are those damnable creatures coming from?" the man swore to himself. "What did you pay them for the snake we've warned about? I take it they thought they deserved some coin for that one in particular… even I'd say they'd have earned it."

"No actually," the woman told him. The Governor had been about to take another sip, but he stopped in surprise, quickly setting the mug on his desk so he didn't spill it. "I had even made the offer to the group, but they had insisted that it wasn't necessary. They still have severed the head on them… but I was unable to discover what they planned to do with it."

"Unusual… highly unusual," the Governor thought to himself as he mulled it over. "Any other time I'd be happy to have them with our lack of a town guard or any other force, but this feels like too big a stroke of luck, especially in these times. Almost like a bless-" He paused, a collection of thoughts forming in his mind. "Did they ever say where they journeyed from?"

"I am afraid I don't have an answer presently, but I am sure I can ascertain that information," his servant promised him. "Shall I?"

"If you wish, but mind their privacy; I don't want them to feel unwelcome or accused," the Governor said, a small smile starting to form on his lips.

"My lord, is something wrong? You seem… different." The servant couldn't remember the last time the governor had reason to smile so naturally, not since his son had been sent off to serve in the capital's guard.

"...I do feel different," the governor said as he stood from his desk, pushing out his seat as he walked over to his office's window and looking out into the bright moonlit sky with his hands behind his back. "Like the winds of change are approaching."

"I… I am afraid I don't follow, but I hope that this change continues to please you," the servant said before bowing. "By your leave then." At her master's nod, she exited his office and prepared to find the four before the night had ended. After she had left, the governor chuckled to himself.

"To think that the prophecy in those dusty tomes would actually bear any fruit, or that anyone would be crazed enough to attempt the challenge a risk summoning demons," he said with a chuckle. "You play a dangerous game Princess… a very dangerous game."

Author's Note

Phew! This one took longer than I thought it would. I didn't update last week since I was in North Carolina last week… for anyone who don't know why that matters, I live on the other side of the US in Seattle.

A decent length chapter with some humor, action, and a bit of set up for future instalments. I'll take that as a win. Thanks to everyone who read my request and PM'd me the ideas instead of posting them. I know it's a hassle, but it makes things easier on my end (plus, a FanFiction account is REALLY convenient to have).

I'm currently in the process of moving this chapter to a new selection I'm trying to get the FanFiction devs to build; our own BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle section. At the time of writing this I've yet to see it's construction, but I'll try to find some way to let you all know.

Now for the review responses from the last chapter.

Kaiser Ultima: Considering this is (anime) Yu we're talking about, we may never know the answer.

EpicLinkSam: I swear, Ruby's battle quote burn on Hyde is one of the best intro… next to the adorkable interaction with her an Ragna of course.

Akasui: Possibly… maybe an intense boost if Ragna finds another version of the spectacles of Eros.

Wlyman2009: I hadn't planned on it, but now that you mention it…

The Unplanner: You got the PM I sent, but the system I've made for now is based on the points put into it, not the ranks you have. A good idea all the same though.

Raider301: I did, and I don't know why everyone says it leaves no impact, I loved pulling it of once in a match.

Mugen7: A lot of good points, and I'm trying to get them slowly used to the idea.

Freefall622: Thanks, I really think those four would really interact like that in their own apartment.

Heikitsune: You don't say.

The esper add: I wouldn't say I'm struggling, in fact this has been a lot of fun for me.

Now for the Omake. This one a little more on the tame and goofy side, but I feel it's fun to do.

Cross Tag… Apartment? Part 2: Lunch

"Finally, we get our lunch break," Hyde sighed with relief before laying his head on his desk. "So… damn… tired…"

"I know right!?" Chie Satonaka exclaimed from behind him. "How on earth did Kashiwagi think that we could write five whole pages on the section by the end of the period! The stuff we needed to report on was only seven pages long!"

"Maybe it's cause of this rumor I've heard," a certain Captain Resentment suggested from behind them. "I've heard that her boyfriend dumped her over the weekend, so she's been taking it out on all of the students."

"Come on Yosuke, I don't even think she had a boyfriend," Chie said back to him with doubt.

"Either way, we should probably head up to the roof," Orie suggested as she lifted her school bag. "Everyone else is probably waiting up there.

"To think she even dismissed us to lunch late," Weiss Schnee shook her head. "Even I'm starting to feel infuriated with this woman's unethical punishments."

"...Starting to?" Yu questioned aloud, as he glanced over to Weiss's desk where two pencils snapped roughly in half lay. "By the way, where's Yukiko?"

"I think she got called out back to the Amagi Inn to help out… Kashiwagi didn't like that much," Chie said with a grimace.

"And it's only Monday…" Yosuke groaned. "Man, this week's gonna suuuuuuuuck."

Heading upstairs to the roof level, they found their other group members waiting for them including the fourth year students Noel, Makoto, and Linne, and the second year students Kanji, Naoto (Shirogane), Rise, and of course Ruby.

"Senpai, you made it! I was so worried you wouldn't show!" Rise said with her usual bright smile at Yu. While everyone knew that the former Idol would never treat anyone poorly, her favoritism for Narukami was partially apparent. Giving a small groan at his friend's luck, Yosuke took a seat followed by everyone else.

"What's with you guys? You're acting like you just came from a funeral," Kanji noted.

"More like an execution! Our homeroom teacher has assigned so much homework I don't know how I'm going to find the time to do it after work!" Yosuke complained. "Seriously, doesn't she know we have, I don't know lives?"

"Are you making this seem larger than it actually is like usual?" the calm and calculated Naoto asked.

"I doubt it, I accidentally passed by Kashiwagi in the hall and boy if looks could killlll," Makoto noted before considering. "...Though when she passed by Noel, she let out this weird dark chuckle. Like a Mwahahaha! one and junk."

'I think I know why, but they'd kick my ass if I said anything,' Hyde thought to himself as he glance between Makoto's chest and Noel's… cutting board.

"How petty," Linne said, as usual being a woman of few words.

"We don't have a whole lot of time, so we should probably dig in," Ruby said before opening her lunch box and pulling out the cookie.

"Aren't you supposed to save that for last?" Weiss asked Ruby quite seriously.

"If we don't have a lot of time, I'm eating this first so I can enjoy it," Ruby told her with a smirk as she began eating.

"Honestly…" Weiss groaned.

"Back to the subject of work I think we should try and pull a study session tonight," Orie suggested to them, before hearing the entire groups groan. Even if some of them were in different classes, they all tried to stick together. "You don't approve?"

"Nah, the study sessions are fine, it's just that we've have to do 'em so much lately," Hyde groaned. "It's only the fourteenth and we've had to meet ten times this month already just on homework assignments and projects. Not even King Moron had us doing this much work!"

Kinshiro Morooka (unaffectionately named King Moron by the students), had previous taught the second year class now run by Kashiwagi. He'd been a crass, rude, and sadistic teacher to all of the students, even those on the honor roll. He'd been killed by a former student some time ago in a rather grotesque fashion. Even though he was gone, he'd introduced several back breaking and confidence sapping projects that were still planned to be carried out to this day, leading students to believe that he was smiting them (or at least spiting them) from beyond the grave.

"Well as long as we're stuck like this, we might as well make the best of things," Chie said sounding oddly cheerful "I know! Let's study at Narukami-san's apartment, I feel like we made a ton of progress the last time we studied there."

"Like hell we did; you just want to go there so Ragna can make you dinner!" Hyde accused. The last time the group had met was when Ragna had somehow managed to get a decent bonus at his job along with a permanent raise. He'd gotten steaks for the four of them to celebrate… but he hadn't counted on the other's stopping by for dinner, especially the carnivorous Chie.

"It wouldn't really matter either way, he's not going to be there tonight," Yu told her. "The restaurant he works at got a call last night asking for a private event so Ragna-san's going to be working late." Yu then gave a sigh. "And this isn't out of the ordinary either; in fact it's slowly starting to become the status quo for him."

"I had no idea, poor guy," Chie sighed with a grimace as she realized that she'd just been about to push more work onto an already stressed man.

"Oh ho ho!" came Yusuke's sudden chuckle. Yu suddenly felt his blood go cold; this wasn't going to end well.

"Okay, what's with that creepy laugh Hanamura?" Linne demanded.

"Nothing, just thinking that maybe Chie doesn't only want to head over for the steak," he teased with his classic wink. "So are older guys your type or-?"

"TRIAL OF THE DRAGON!"

"AUGH!" Yosuke screamed as he was blasted into the the roof's chain link fence.

"Just had to open your damn mouth, didn't you?" Kanji sighed at Yosuke's behavior.

"Of course he did; he's Yosuke," Weiss said with a dignified sigh as she continued to eat her lunch.