What was next after for the sabotage club after their leader seemingly disappeared and their mission resulted in a pyrrhic victory? Noa took to Sensei's office to atone for her own misguided mistakes after tearfully working alone in Rio and Yuuka's place, not on Alter Code Fーshe had no idea what those plans entailed, existing in the plan merely as a bodyguard for Rio and being told last minute before she failed to do her one job. The reason for taking Alice was to be the boss of Yuuka and noa while Rio worked. She was an android and the youngest child Noa's seen in Kivotos, easily programmable and swayed by anything an older peer said to her. She followed Noa to and fro and while it wasn't technically true the managing girl wasn't alone, she felt alone and as long as she had that feeling her depression would never go away. Yuuka was her best friend. All of her playful teasing and bickering was all love. Rio oversaw it, sometimes joining in, and when it looked like she and Yuuka were going to fight, Rio stepped in and talked one on one so Yuuka could understand her feelings and vice versa.
Rio learned hypnosis from Gehenna Sensei and crossed the line mind controlling Yuuka who wavered at the thought of hurting the new sensei that stumbled into the world. Yuuka personally worked alongside him, she pleaded that he meant no harm but Rio argued that a fool in a place he doesn't belong will cause change. He was too dangerous to be left alive much like Gehenna Sensei and unfairly Rio thought to pit him against his friend to deter him from acting. Noa had no say in preventing her best friend being used as a tool! That's what Rio thought of everyone at the end of the day.
Again Noa's eyes welled up thinking about the fight over and over replaying possible scenarios in her head where she could rebel against what Rio wanted. It made looking at the computer screen harder than it needed to be. She pushed herself away while taking an abacus beside her and counted the numbers rapidly with bated breath.
Alice approached her with a stress ball noticing her anxiety. "Ushio-san, you seem to be in distress again. Would you like to play catch?" said in a monotone and robotic like tone. She threw the stress ball weakly, not used to its specific weight and it fell by Noa's foot.
Noa stared down at the ball and placed aside the abacus with a new idea. She got up fast and commanded Alice to stay put while she left to recruit new members for sabotage.
Returning to Millennium she wouldn't venture into any buildings, none of the above ground students were willing to assist. Instead she lifted up a manhole and delved down the ladder into the campus dank sewers. Often unvisited and unclean, this school's lower levels had the worst smell of them all. Her nose eventually adjusted but not without terrible resistance. She drew her handgun and sprinted down the path noticing footsteps over the small puddles of mud. Throwing the unfortunate club down here was entirely Rio's choice out of necessity; she claimed to keep them out of her hair. Following these footsteps lead to a rusted door by a metal barricade and a sign poorly attached to that metal fence that read 'Game Dev Dept'.
She holstered her gun and knocked twice on the door. No response. She knocked harder and still no response. "Open up please!" she knocked until her fist bruised and the door cracked open a few seconds afterward. Her eyes laid on a pink haired and once starry eyed misfit. Her dirty buttoned shirt was loosely thrown on clearly in a rush to get dressed for the once in a blue moon visitor. Often it was Rio telling them there's been a change in club rooms then proceeding to force them further into unfavorable places left to fend for themselves to put together a club room or be expelled.
"Rio's dead." Noa said the news bluntly and got no reaction from the girl. She then added, "Yuuka's dead."
Then the girl opened the door completely, finally asking, "What do you want?"
Noa took a hold of her shoulders. "I need your help. Even though Rio's dead, his plan is still alive and a new sensei appeared to put a stop to everything wrong in this world. Haven't you heard, or does news not come down here?"
The girl shook her head slowly, upset at the loss of Yuuka, but already decided on her decision. "Noa, you and Seminar took everything away from us and threw us away. Now that you lost everything, why are you coming to us for help?"
"Kyouki, I…"
"You… were just following orders?" Kyouki then broke free from her hold and retreated behind the metal door. "Deal with your own mistakes and I'll think about it."
Slam! Though she closed it gently, the metal door still shut and locked loudly. Sighing, she walked the rest of the way back to Sensei's office. Going to the game club was the only plan she had to immobilize a group to strike back at Hyakkiyako's assassination group. Feeling like killing Izuna was the only way she could redeem herself for Xavier, and if she died in the process trying to fight the unmatched ninja then her sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. This idea of hers was full of holes. She wasn't as calculating as Yuuka.
Her hand bumped into another when she reached for the door handle. "O-oh, sorry—"
"Oh my?"
Noa froze in place seeing the woman's Schale uniform. Her eyes were always left closed yet she always walked as if she could see every little thing. Carrying herself in a demeanor Noa used to have, that of aloofness. If she wore a sailor uniform she would certainly look aloof with the ahoge bouncing on her pink hair and her halo angled much lower than students normally had. Noa knew deep down in her memories she saw glimpses of her here and there, whenever Rio took her and Yuuka to Schale to prepare documents. She always remained in the background of her eyes, never stepping up to introduce herself or say hello. Never even waving towards Rio Sensei. There was no reason to be afraid of meeting an acquaintance but Noa had a radar for determining people's intent and in this instance it malfunctioned.
"Are you coming to see Sensei? What a coincidence since I am too." She smiled.
Noa darted her eyes away, put off by whatever that smile was hiding. "Sensei isn't in there…"
"Is that so?" She automatically replied and pushed open the door to his office letting the door slam against the wall it was attached to. The only person present in the room was Alice resting on the couch and tossing the stress ball up and down. The woman in Schale stepped in and her eyes squinted open. Without moving her head, her eyes darted from place to place, violating every nook and cranny in the office.
"Um…" Noa raised her hand about to tap the woman but she turned heel and swiftly moved past.
"I see…" She remarked. "I apologize for the intrusion. If it isn't too much to ask, can you inform me if you find Sensei again?"
"Yes." Noa kept the exchange brief. When she left, the tension finally lifted but Noa was nervous of what was to come. She needed to find Sensei first before this woman did.
A/N: im pretty excited to write about Kaya here. her plot's been rather neglected in game (as of writing this) and since this AU is a rather twisted world i wanted to include her in some capacity. im going to work really hard on part 2 of this story. i hoped to answer some questions readers might have but i dont get many commenters. this is likely the last time i can sway the narrative slightly to show other aspects of this world as everything will snowball soon after. maybe ill do some side stories about other students, but it depends if you want to see that or not.
