Thrice days passed and Xavier's patience was pushed to its limits. A painful sentence of sweat and fanservice occurred on the first, with his nurses acting as his personal trainer he was forced to go through military-like training which was Mine's idea of sabotage. A morning where he used to sip the dawn coffee before looking over paperwork (pretending he was working) was replaced by Mine shaking him out of his futon and pushing him to run a lap around the building before he could even have breakfast.
Next was leg stretches, and while both Hanae and Serina could lift their legs parallel to their body, Xavier couldn't lift past his waist. Only when he pulled a muscle did it occur to him that he was supposed to be teaching them, but that thought left his mind when he caught a glimpse of where Hanae's shorts tore from below exposing a peek of her white panties. He rolled over to face dirt to hide a rising boner and cursed himself afterwards for thinking of his students in such a wayーand during this preparation of sabotage. Thankfully both girls didn't see it, or maybe they did and didn't acknowledge it as afterwards Xavier had to visit the Problem Solvers that afternoon.
"Eh? Who is this gal?" Mutsuki would eye him, the crossdresser, strangely.
"Why I'm Sariel." Xavier then proclaimed himself to be. Sticking to a nickname to add onto his fake student identity. Mutsuki fell for it, not sensing the grudge Sariel held for their first encounter. She turned her back towards him often and it took every nerve in his body to not assault her there in front of Aru and the rest of the Problem Solvers which strangely Kayoko was not a part of.
Faustian Bargain Bin led this group of misfits no longer misfortunate to be led by a stammering Aru, no, she was reduced to lacky status. A mob behind the mob boss and Faust was a boss competent at her hired mission.
"Here's a map of Millennium." Faust handed Sariel a pen drawn map on blue paper, a top down view of the campus layout added with circles, Xs, and lines in red marker detailing the two part sabotage plan.
Surprised was too easy a word to describe how Sariel didn't expect her of all people to scope the premises in a day without arousing suspicion. Well, Rio probably knew but the other students certainly didn't if the time of quiet that passed was any indication.
Whereas his squad were able to study and analyze their roles in the mission, Sariel was stuck doing more paperwork since he was Sensei and still had to teach, even at the school that disliked him the most, Millennium. It was a blessing he wasn't put into Noa's class that day but the glares from Utaha and Hibiki, oh why…
He wished to cry.
The subjects he had to teach were even an enigma to himself. Funny how the teacher needed to be taught, he thought then sighed and slammed his head on his desk, alone in his Schale Office because he was alone in this world as Sensei.
Stress that reached a boiling point, causing him to fall down the last step down to a plaza when he was on his way to Trinity Campus. Sariel, formerly Xavier, had reached his limits.
"I need a long nap." Sariel thought as he remained on the ground. Usually whenever he was distracted or needed to be alarmed, Arona would vibrate the phone she housed in to get his attention. She didn't do that now which probably meant she was asleep, or was finally cutting him some slack for all his hard work.
Nonetheless he got up and took a deep breath, brushing his clothing off but before he moved he heard a new voice screaming to him.
"Uwaaa! Hide me!" A faceless generic student circled around to hide behind his back. To be more specific, a Justice Committee club member. But this blunt bangs girl had slight curls to her black hair. Usually the generic Justice Committee club member had straightened hair. The next student that approached did have straightened hair but her hair color was a light blue instead of platinum blonde.
"Oh Midare, where are you?" A mob student in the Tea Party uniform said with a laugh after. How unexpected for the mobs to have names beyond their titles. Both girls circled around Sariel several times before Midare got away and the Tea Party mob stopped behind Sariel to catch her breath.
Sariel folded his arms. "What are you doing?"
A third mob student approached with the explanation. "Playing tag of course."
A student he had never seen before as there wasn't a girl that matched her description nor her uniform. Her hair bangs hid her Blue eyes, the silvery hair was cut at shoulder length and she was tiny like Shun's sister. Eyeing her up and down he got a good look at her navy blazer and buttoned shirt tucked into her plaid navy blue skirt, and a beret covered her head. But she inched two fingers then jabbed his eyes as he was making his way to the white rifle tucked well into her backpack.
"You have the eyes of a pervert! Gross!" She smugly grinned.
"Ow!" Sariel reeled away to rub his eyes. A game of tag though? That really brought back some nostalgic memories of his youth. There wasn't anything particularly special about it, just the concept of fun and recess was foreign after he entered college and got a job. There wasn't any time to really be youthful after highschool, a fair tradeoff for adulthood, but even when being sent to what would be any person's dream paradiseーyoung girls as far as the eye could see, unrequited love as in you could do anything to these girls and they'll still harbor feelings for you as their sensei, guns and lots of them to keep life from being stale. Even though he had all of these things he still was subjected to a job, not a very bureaucratic one either.
The weight of the world mostly rested on him. To kill the few to save the massesーsure Kivotos was a paradise but was it truly if he couldn't spend it with someone genuine?
Then a pen jabbed his back and he folded backwards. "Ouch! Quit that!"
The Tea Party mob giggled. "She has funny reactions."
"She is Santa, and Santa always has gifts for good girls, right?" The silver haired girl warped around Sariel's arm.
"Yes, likely so!" The Tea Party mob warped around his other arm.
He was being extorted by brats. "No! I am not Santa!" He burst free from their trappings.
Midare returned, their game of tag long forgotten, she brought a new idea to the table. Lightly smacking a fist in hand she said, "Let's play a game of rock, paper, scissors. The loser has to buy the other a parfait."
"Yay! Rock, paper, scissors!" The Tea Party mob cheered.
"I'll go first." The silver haired girl smirked behind her hand then held out a fist.
Sariel didn't like the idea but he could spare a solid game or two. Teacher's break and all. He was a lot more skilled than a couple of children at this game. Back in his school the stakes were high. If you lost to rock, you'd get a rock thrown at you. Lost to scissors? Say goodbye to one of your fingers.
Kidding of course.
Sariel held out his fist. "Ready?"
Both he and the Silver Haired Girl counted down. "Rock, paper, scissors…"
"Shoot!" Sariel threw out paper, the most unexpected choice as on average scissors and rock were chosen before paper was on the second round. A dichotomy of the strong and muscle headed (rock) and the more calculating and calm (scissors). Paper didn't fit either archetype, unconsciously it was seen as the middleman choice but alsoー
"Shoot!" The Silver Haired Girl threw out scissors. "Look that way!" She pointed left.
He did, instinctively, then a smack came his way leaving a solid red hand mark on his cheek. Why did he look..? Went through his mind.
"Why the hell did I look?" He thought in the split second after being hit.
The three girls initially giggled but fell silent watching his hunched over body. Now it was his turn to laugh maniacally. "Hahaha… you girls…"
"Uh oh…"
"Did you hit her too hard?"
"R-run!"
Sariel shouted to the skies. "I'll teach you a lesson!" He broke out into a chase and the game of tag resumed.
He lost the last game but he wouldn't lose this one. Unfortunately he had to keep his end of the deal and buy all three girls a parfait in the city. A date if you will, Midare joked. Before he could ask their names, the Silver Haired Girl had to leave, else she'd miss the last train home.
"Last train home huh." Sariel took a sip of his black coffee. Strange that in a world populated by solely young girls and humanoid shaped machines, adult-like beverages still existed. He chuckled at the thought of the male shaped robots needing beer to power themselves.
Midare nodded towards Sariel across the table. "Her school is far but she comes to visit us often."
A school far away? The schools were all pretty distant from the inner city. Sariel took the spoon out his mug to twirl around. "I see. So… what about you? I thought the Tea Party and Justice Task Force was made up of a few members."
"There's training classes for those clubs." Harriet, the Tea Party mob replied. "Justice is needed everywhere so the JTF has a lot of trainees."
Kinda like SRT, except the JTF's jurisdiction wasn't as limited.
"As for us Tea Party recruits, we do a lot of behind the scenes activities. It's mostly preparing ceremonies like the Eden Treaty." Harriet took a bite of the creamy blueberry and strawberry delicious sweet. She clasped her cheek just to contain her excitement and swallow. "Bad things almost happened but a brave teacher came to our rescue! He was so kind and noble, he even made Mika's knees weak."
Too bad her fantasies were just that. Sariel frowned and stared down at his dark drink as reality reared back into his head.
"Sounds like a swell guy." He forced a grin.
Late in the evening, when all his work was done he could finally relax. He tossed himself on his couch and stretched his arms, sitting by himself in his office, Mine just having left after reporting to him the current situation and future plans.
"Let's see what's happenin'. " Sariel looked through Momosocial on his phone and scrolled through an endless stream of unfiltered thoughts. He amassed a few wuvwuv followers, those being the girls in the club and the girls he just met, but no traction. Probably for the best he didn't put himself in the spotlight immediately. He looked through Rio's account hoping for a new post but like last time, no new news.
A knock on the door drew his attention and entering was Serina using crutches to assist with walking. "Hello Sensei..!"
"Hey wait—what are you doing?" Sariel dropped his phone aside and ran over to catch Serina before she fell. "You're not fully recovered yet."
"Hehe! when you say that it sounds like myself." Serina leaned back up. "I was worried about you but Mine wouldn't let me leave. So I snuck out but I couldn't sneak my way into your office because… well I think it's plain simple as you can see."
"You'll hurt yourself more doing that. Here," Sariel assisted her to the couch then sat by her side. He tapped his thighs "Since you helped me when I first was injured, I think it's time for me to return the favor. Lay in my lap and talk with me. I'll be your nurse for today."
Her face lit up red and she slipped off her boots and took the once in a lifetime opportunity to lay her head in Sensei's lap.
"Tell me about… About yourself." She said.
"There's nothing special about myself." And truly there wasn't. Back in his world he was ordinary and lived day by day. Always he looked up at the night sky outside his window and wondered if he could ever do more like characters would in an anime. His friends in school never appealed to the excitement he yearned for and as he grew older they grew more distant. He was alone and the only company he truly had was Blue Archive. As much as he complained about his work, the companionship with the girls around him was the best thing to ever happen.
"Sensei…" Serina paused but was blunt about the truth. "So, you didn't have friends?"
"I-I had friends!" Sariel tapped his cheek. "But all good things come to an end. That's all there is to it. I'm just some Sensei. Nagisa is probably more interesting and meaningful than I am."
Serina lowered her eyelids. "Nagisa… Hmm…"
"..?" Sariel was interested in that Sensei's backstory the most. The cause of his cowardice, how Trinity managed with him too weak willed to act, and if other Senseis took advantage of his weakness.
Serina sighed. "He's weak… Yes… But the things he says and wants to inspire towards are grand."
Like a politician.
"He beats himself up over not being able to lead. But all that results from it is him beating himself up more. I had to stop him from committing suicide a few times, and other times he'd cut himself or asks one of the students to kill him. Even Hifumi…"
But why was he never able to act?
"I suspect it's severe trauma that always resurfaces every time he messes up. Inner emotional issues that grow with each mistake. First Mika separates from the Tea Party, many believed she was sabotaging the treaty. Nagisa couldn't find the right words to defend her, so Rio stepped in. Then Seia departs after becoming ill from her secret power. She would say that in her visions, she saw Nagisa burning on a cross and so he never visited her in the infirmary and later never visited anyone at all."
And again, Rio would be the one to resolve it.
"Lastly, Hifumi left. This was the breaking point for him since he loved her so much. He permitted that she was the only one who could visit him. The fight between Arius Squad and her made her come to a realization that she had to mature on her own path. She hoped leaving would make Nagisa change but all it did was further the woes he tries to hide. Hanako and Koharu joined the Tea Party for a time to have command when helping Rio and Saori save Atsuko but after witnessing his pathetic cowardice in person, they didn't stay."
Rio took all of his accomplishments, everything that was supposed to be his and his journey was stolen from him because he was too thin boned to do anything when it mattered. So why did Sariel and Rio have to fight, he wondered if there was a chance to mend things seeing as Rio was helpful enough to step in where Nagisa couldn't. Were they friends at all? Judging by the story told, it sounded like they never met face to face. However Serina claimed they have, and the reason Rio had to be stopped was,
"He's a dirty schemer. There was nothing just about what he did to save the Eden Treaty, it was all schemes. Everything from Hifumi's speech to Arius Squad nearly dying and begging for his help was in his plans. It was all not real and genuine."
Rio was a Sensei and knew the outcome of that story. To everyone else It'd look like a coincidence he was in the right place at the right time but in actuality he had already seen the events before and stuck to their play and script. The story of youth just being another movie in the theater rather than birthed out of any genuine care about the students. At the end of it all he got to reap the rewards and put the pieces where he wanted. Hifumi transferring to Gehenna, Arius Squad seemingly absent likewise with Seia and Mika, probably Rin and Momoka turning a blind eye to it all too. He got rid of the power pieces that could stop him from enacting his plan.
"Brilliant aren't I?" Rio turned his chair after telling Noa the story. "And are you going to stop me?"
Noa shook her head and once again looked at the two girls standing beside his desk in Millennium Tower. Yuuka, with a cold endless stare at the beyond. Her mindーwiped of all contrivances so she could focus solely on the mission and kill effectively. Standing beside her was the newest member of Seminar replacing Koyuki. An android girl with long blue hair that touched the ground, square halos layered over each other, and a terrifying glare from magenta colored eyes. She carried a large railgun cannon with ease, the sword of light, Rio liked to call it, and the key to the future.
"We will begin Alter Code: F."
