It was dark when Carolina and Washington returned, bringing gifts of their own.
"Here guys." Wash says as he plops a pile of casual clothes on the table.
"We figure they'll help us move around easier." Carolina says.
"But it will leave us unguarded!" Sarge exclaims. "No thanks. Red team only wears their armour."
"Aw, they're pretty plain." Donut complains as he holds up a pink T-shirt.
"But, they're nondescript. Just hurry up and put he fucking clothes on guys." Church appears.
"Church! You're back!" Caboose exclaims.
"Yeah, what were you up to?" Simmons asks.
"I was combing through the data of when we were transported here." Church explains.
"Anything we didn't know?" Carolina asks.
"I wish. I can't make heads or tails of that ball that sent us here." Church says.
"There's a small glowy man here." Yuka whispers. The soldiers were then made aware again of the presence of the civilians with them.
"Yeah, that's Church." Kaede says to her. "The guy I was talking about earlier today.
"Okay, well nice to meet you... Church." Kouta greets.
"Yeah, Yeah, greetings and all that." Church brushes off.
"So, what now?" Tucker asks.
"We're draining Kouta's supplies low, and I think it's time we start helping him around here." Wash says.
"What are you saying?" Grif asks.
"I'm saying we should all search for jobs while we search for a way home." Wash clarifies.
"I had to ask." Grif sighs to himself.
"You three just focus on your school work. We'll take care of everything else as thanks for letting us stay." Carolina says
"Oh, thank you Carolina." Kouta says.
The next morning, Kouta, Yuka, and Kaede headed off to school, just like yesterday. Meanwhile, Simmons and Tucker were out, roaming the streets for a place that would hire. Both wore dark blue jeans and a T-shirt the same colour as their armour.
"I know I'm treading dangerous territory agreeing with Donut, but couldn't Wash and Carolina find something a bit more interesting?" Tucker voices. "I feel like a cartoon character."
"Really? I find that awesome." Simmons says.
"Well, not everyone is a nerd Simmons." Tucker reprimands. "Some of us got better things to do than watch cartoons."
"... you watch cartoons." Simmons says.
"Not my point! Anyway, where are we going?" Tucker asks.
"Eh, I thought I'd take a look at that school Kaede and her friends are going to." Simmons says. "I wonder how good it is."
"Your gonna die a nerd... you know that, right?" Tucker says as he follows along.
Meanwhile, science class had once again started. Kouta, Yuka, and Kaede all sat together again, along with that girl Yuka helped yesterday, they noticed. After a few minutes, professor Kakuzawa had come in.
True to the student attendance forum, "Kaede Church" was here. The professor never could have imagined this, the Queen came right to him. 'This proves destiny favours me, and turns its back on my father.' He thought. He didn't know what the Queen's plan was, so he figured he'd proceed as normal, then call her out as soon as the period ended to reveal himself. And thus, science class proceeds as normal, well... mostly.
"Hey, is it me, or does the professor seem to be a bit more lively today?" Kouta whispers.
"I dunno. Maybe todays just been a good day for him." Kaede suggests. And thus, science continues as normal until the end of the day. The bell rung, signalling the end of the day.
"Church, would you please come see me in my office." At first, Kaede was confused, looking around for the blue A.I. 'Oh, right. I put my last name down as Church.' She would have used Tucker's name, but 'Kaede Tucker' didn't have a nice ring to it.
"What would professor Kakuzawa want with me?" Kaede asks.
"Maybe it's just to verify something. After all, you are a last minute student." Yuka explains.
"We'll wait for you outside." Kouta says. With that, Kaede leaves the two to see the professor.
Tucker and Simmons arrive just in time to see the students being let out.
"Hmm. Not bad. Not bad at all." Simmons says.
"Yeah... its a nice... building?" Tucker questions.
"Oh, you don't know anything." Simmons dismisses him.
"Look dude, I don't go looking at schools like a creep. In fact, why don't we get out of here before someone gets the wrong idea and calls the cops." Tucker says.
"I wonder what it's got inside." Simmons says.
"Dude, that's not what I said we should do." Tucker deadpans.
"Wonder if their layout is any good." Simmons mutters as he slowly walks along.
"Fuck. Well, if we're gonna be creeping around this place, might as well commit to it." Tucker says.
"What's that mean?" Simmons asks.
"I'm gonna look at all the hotties that go here. Asking them out should be out of the question because of age and all that, but lookings free." Tucker says before walking off on his own.
"What a hypocrite." Simmons sighs. "I'll remember him when he's in prison." With that, Simmons goes off on his own.
The Professors office was down a long narrow hall pretty removed from the rest of the rooms. Must be where all the professors offices were. Finding the one with Kakuzawa's name, she walked inside and there he was, starring at her intently.
Kaede feels an uneasiness creep up her spine. She was never called out of class back when she was in the orphanage, and so didn't know what to do in this type of situation. To add onto that, the professors creepiness vibe just went up a whole lot.
"Uh, y-you wanted to see me?" Kaede hesitantly begins.
"Don't worry. I'm on your side." Kakuzawa responds.
"My... side?" Kaede questions. Yuka said he was weird, but she didn't expect this. Kaede didn't know how to process what happened next. The professor threw off his wig (that was a wig?!) exposing two horns on his bald head.
Kaede's hands immediately went to her bow. Still on. His horns were like hers but much smaller and they seemed to be covered in skin almost as if they weren't big enough to break through it.
"See! These horns mark me as a Diclonius, just like you!" Kakuzawa exclaims.
'Diclonius?' Kaede thought. The word seemed familiar, but she couldn't remember where she last heard it.
"Unfortunately all I have to show for my genetics is the pair of horns on my head. But it's different for you! You're the pure one I've been searching for!" Kakuzawa explains. "Together you and I can cleanse the earth of mankind and replace it with Diclonius!"
"Now hold on-" Kaede is interrupted by a smashing sound. Looking to the window, she gets a sense of deja-vu as she see's Tucker come through the window. He sits up, rubbing his bleeding head.
"Damn kids..." He mutters. "Almost like they were deliberately trying to break through the window." He then notices his company. "Oh.. this looks bad doesn't it..."
"I'll handle this quietly and with less blood. No one will find his body." Kakuzawa says as he takes out silenced pistol.
"Woah woah! Isn't that stuff illegal here!" Kaede exclaims at the sight of the pistol.
"Guns are illegal here?" Tucker questions. "Good thing I got this." Tucker ignites his energy sword.
"Hey hey! No need to start killing each other!" Kaede exclaims. 'How did this fight even start again?'
"Fuck if I know! This guy just pulled a gun on me!" Tucker exclaims. The two continue to stare each other down.
"That sword..." Kakuzawa starts. "Its similar to the description of technology Kurama reported a year ago... who are you?" Kakuzawa asks.
"Lavernius Tucker's the name and picking up chicks are the game." Tucker announces. 'Wait, that doesn't sound right considering where I am.'
"Okay... I'm just going to leave you two to talk this out." Kaede silently leaves the office.
"Wait!" The professor exclaims.
"Hey, whats that you said about similar technology?" Tucker asks him.
"Your one of those soldiers, just out of your armour aren't you? Like the pink one that appeared a year ago." Kakuzawa states.
"Donut came here a year ago?" Tucker questions.
As Kaede came out of the office, she noticed the girl who sat beside the group waiting there.
"He's busy. You might need to come back later." Kaede says to the girl.
"Damn. And I'm having real trouble with this." The girl curses.
"With the homework?" Kaede questions, to which the girl nods.
"I'm not particularly that good when it comes to science. I'm more into art." The girl says.
"I'm also kinda into art. I'm only so good at science cause my teacher before I came here was also real good at it as well as explaining it." Kaede explains.
"Maybe we should have him teach the class. I can barely follow along with Kakuzawa's explanations." The girl smiles.
"I'm Kaede." Kaede offers her hand.
"Aiko." The girl shakes it.
"So, I take it your really good at drawing or something of the sort?" Kaede asks.
"You could say that." Aiko says as the two continue to walk together.
"I guess this place could be worse." Simmons says as he looks around campus. The place was so early 2000's, but even taking that into consideration, the facility's seemed decent enough. "I wonder where Tucker ran off to now?" He mutters to himself. Someone then bumps him from behind so hard, as if they were running at full speed, knocking them both to the ground. "Ow."
"So sorry." A feminine voice apologizes. Looking to the speaker, Simmons finds an attractive young woman with glasses wearing a lab coat over a yellow shirt and green skirt as well as having her long brown hair tied behind her. Finally noticing their position, the woman quickly gets off the maroon soldier. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?" She asks again.
"J-j-just Fine!" Simmons squeaks. The woman seems to pay his voice cracks no mind.
"Sorry. I just heard some glass smash near Professor Kakuzawa's office and thought to check it out." The woman says.
"Y-yeah." Simmons says.
"You can call me Arakawa." The woman introduces.
"S-s-Simmons." Simmons stutters.
"Nice to meet you. I have to go check on the professor. He can be quite eccentric at times." Arakawa says.
"Yea- yeah. I g-gotta go s- SEARCH for my f-friend." Simmons says. "He just k-kinda w-w-wandered in here."
"Okay. Good luck finding your friend." Arakawa says before running off. Once she's out of sight, Simmons mentally kicks himself.
'Damn it! She probably thinks I'm weird or something. She's so cute, it like high school all over again!'
Kouta and Yuka converse amongst themselves until they see Kaede come along with the girl Yuka helped earlier.
"Your going to have to show me some of those later." They hear Kaede say once shes in earshot.
"Yeah. We should talk more. I'll see you later then." Aiko responds.
"Yeah. See you." The two wave at each other as Aiko leaves.
"Make a new friend?" Kouta asks.
"Yeah. You'd like her. Shes into art and stuff of the sort, just like you." Kaede says.
"You'll have to introduce her sometime." Yuka smiles. 'Please no, not another rival.' "So, why did Professor Kakuzawa call you?"
"Hell if I know. I know you said he was weird but I didn't think he was that weird. I didn't understand anything of what he was saying!" Kaede rants in an irritated tone. But one thing still bothers her. 'Where did I hear that word before? What is a Diclonius?'
"So... what did you do?" Kouta asks.
"Tucker smashed into his window and the two started to fight. I just decided to quietly leave at that point." Kaede explains.
"Tucker what! Why would he do that. Why would he be here?!" Yuka exclaims.
"It seemed like someone did that to him. Threw him through the window or something. As for that second thing, I don't know." Kaede says.
"Hey, is that, Simmons?" Kouta points to a brown haired man in a maroon shirt, trying (and failing) to leave the premises quietly.
"I think that is. I guess the answer to your question, Yuka, is that they're hear to do their regular shenanigans." Kaede explains. "At least they're out of their armour."
"I think we should go before they blow something up and we get roped into the mess." Yuka suggests.
"Good idea." Kaede agrees.
The professor and teal soldier out of armour continued to stare each other down, each watching to see who would make the first move. Kakuzawa pulls the trigger but by pure luck, Tucker stops it with his sword before cutting the pistol in half. He then holds the professor at sword point.
"What the fuck is going on here? First, some kids get me from behind with a soccer ball, somehow sending me through a window, then a teacher pulls a gun on me?!" Tucker demands. Kakuzawa see's this as an out for his predicament, and so decides to talk his way out.
"Sorry, a man crashes through my window while I'm about to talk to a student? Forgive me for being a little on the defensive." Kakuzawa states.
"Hardly sounds like an apology." Tucker spat.
"I really am sorry. Guess I'm just a little high strung these days to say the least." The professor says in a light hearted town.
"Whats going on up there?" Tucker asks. Right, He took his wig off.
"Its, um, a genetic defect. Very embarrassing." Kakuzawa finds his wig on the ground and puts it on. "I guess my disguise was knocked off when you came through the window. Honestly, those boys have been terrorizing the neighbourhood for so long, its a miracle that no one has done anything about it."
"Guess Grif isn't the only one prone to siting around during a situation." Tucker mutters. He then pits his sword away. "Sorry dude. Guess the only one at fault was those guys playing ball."
"My apologies as well for pulling a gun on you." Kakuzawa apologizes.
"Yeah. I better go now. Before I create another misunderstanding." With that, Tucker crawls out through the window and runs away, almost too quickly.
"Strange." Kakuzawa mutters to himself at the mans demeanour before he exhales in relief. His cover wasn't blown, but his talk with queen was delayed. And on that note, she seemed... confused for a lack of a better word. He can't sense the presence of other diclonii and in turn, can't be sensed so that must have been what spurred her confusion. In that case, he would have to rethink his approach. He was lucky the queen seemed to be very cautious and not blow her cover and kill them even when almost being outed. Smart. If she would have killed the two of them, the institute would get word of it and be on her in a matter of hours.
Quite frankly, the queen... Kaede, if that even is her real name, is quite the smart one for her age as to be expected of the queen of diclonius. Not long... not long before she would be his.
Just then, his assistant Arakawa, bursts into his office.
"Professor! Are you alright!" She exclaims.
"Don't worry. I'm fine. Those boys just got another of our windows." Kakuzawa says.
"How awful. I keep reporting them to the police, but still they're roaming around." Arakawa growls.
"I'll grab a broom and clean this mess up. In the meantime, why don't you get started on todays work downstairs." Kakuzawa suggests.
"Okay. He's hopping for a break through." Arakawa says.
"Don't worry. I've got a good feeling about the future." Kakuzawa smirks.