Such a vile plan lingered on his mind. Just what was Rio thinking about inciting total genocide? To get back at Hyakkiyako Sensei, did it require a war waged by students while the perpetrators sat in the background; the entire thought left a sour taste in Sariel's mouth. He wished he hadn't peeked curiously into Noa's records, but a student's safety was a teacher's concern.

Punching her wasn't the smartest decision, and he bore a frown on the entire trip to Hyakkiyako. Dressed in a kimono along with the new team, Faux Tea Party, he took the lead going into a mixed oriental and futuristic Japanese style city. They took a bus from the city to here, arriving when the sun set and night engulfed the sky. Whereas most campuses were the school and a few buildings, Hyakkiyako seemed to have expanded to accommodate both it and Shanhaijing. Neon signs and advertisements all in kanji lined the open door shops; towering skyscrapers loomed over the students and mechanical civilians giving the impression of Hyakkiyako Sensei's overwhelming rule. Lanterns lining the pathway seemed to lead somewhere. Sariel could make out the roof of a castle above the smaller buildings but as he walked further into Hyakkiyako, the city would cover more and more of the sky.

Upon noticing the lack of a fourth footstep, Sariel turned around; and though her eyes were shut, Kaya shook and tilted her head, stroking her chin and contemplating whether she should continue or advise Sariel against his stakeout. He moved back to drag her along.

Having her arm pulled, she cried. "This is no way to treat me!"

"Your fault for choosing to wear GSC's uniform." He retorted.

Though she wore a brown trenchcoat over the uniform, she still felt unsafe in the ninja's domain. The two fox bodyguards were afraid as well, their eyes darted around glancing at every alleyway and unlit dark corner. Yukino's hand was stuck to her shoulder strap and Niko's ears twitched at every sound that passed.

"C-can we hurry this up? What are you looking for anyway?" Niko's brow twisted after realizing her stutter made her fright obvious. She gave up trying to appear confident.

"I'm paying someone a visit." Having Gehenna Sensei in mind but going to see the layout of Hyakkiyako to prepare for sabotage. Kaya's hand tightened around his as they continued walking around the city maze, following the lanterns that illuminated their path. Eventually, they arrived at a moat and a bridge that led to the castle. The city block surrounding the castle seemed to shrink in comparison to its grandeur, as it towered over them dominating the sky. Sariel looked up in awe at the many floors of the castle that stretched high above them, starting from the bottom staircase.

Niko leaned on the railings by the edge of the rampart. "It's so pretty." She remarked, amazed by the neon lights that emphasized the angular rooftops. A bright orange line flashed on, followed by a sequence of green, blue, pink, yellow, then white at the top, before switching off. Then all at once they flashed on together thrice.
A spectacle for sure but when did both schools have time to paint this canvas?

Yukino's fox ear twitched, her eyes darted to the corner where she could see a marching crowd moving towards the bridge. "Approaching at six o'clock. We'll move to the snack stand over there."

Quickly the group moved to a wooden cart selling sample takoyaki. The man, or mechanation, behind the stand said the usual shtick exaggerating his home cooked snack. Niko took the tray and stabbed the meat ball with a toothpick to toss into her mouth. But she would be the only one taking delight. The others kept their glances on the marching group composed of a busty panda girl, her shorter big boned companion, and a girl that looked similar to the short haired panda but had horns on her head instead of ears. They were all fat in the right places which their sleeveless kimonos exposed. Faceless students followed behind them as they ascended the stairway into the castle.

"I wonder if that's him…" Sariel muttered out loud. Niya of the Yin-Yang Club seemed a likely candidate for Hyakkiyako Sensei to disguise himself as. Though there was no one leader in charge of this school, Niya had a certain flair that made many believe she alone was the representative, and like Kaya, behind her closed eyes were sinister plans.

Whether it was a coincidence or fate, a certain student returned to the stand, holding a potted weed to put on the stand's shelf for decoration. Sariel exclaimed "Haruka!" But wanted to smack himself for getting too excited.

"Y-you're alive..?"

"Mhm!" She nodded frantically. "A-are you a stalker? Have you been following me all day?"

"Why are you here and not in Gehenna?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Did the Problem Solvers send you? Hyakkiyako doesn't take kindly to Gehenna students." Haruka bore a nervous frown. "Besides, I like it here. Everyone is nice to me and my weeds. There's no explosions and bullies… and violence!"

Sariel crossed his arms casually and Kaya retreated behind his back. "I came here to find Satsuki sensei and I was sent by Satsuki sensei."

Haruka's frown straightened into a poker face. "That doesn't make any sense. He's dead and was dead a long time ago."

"And I've come to retrieve his corpse."

"What are you… saying…" She paused in between words, surprised how he knew where Satsuki's body was taken. After that sensei's death, his body was stolen but it was never said who did it or where it went. Eventually Haruka pieced together that they were infiltrators of another school and panic painted her face. "Wh-what are you saying..!?" She said slightly louder.

Kaya interjected, "Listen girl, we just want to verify his cause of death. There are many rumors about his suicide that are unclear, and for the GSC's records we have to close the case for all."

Haruka pursed her lips before coming to a conclusion. "Okay… but you better promise this isn't a Gehenna plot." She lead the way but Kaya and Sariel stayed behind to share a dialogue, that is–

"Is your head screwed on straight? Your sabotage may have worked on me, but do not forget you're in the demon's domain." Kaya hissed.

With a nervous chuckle, Sariel scratched his head and declared, "I'm not gonna lose to the likes of this sensei. He embodies death and I embody life. Everyone is counting on me, including you."

Unfortunately…

Circling the castle perimeter, they were taken to a flat field of grass separated from the looming city. Once Sariel descended the steps under the sakura trees, his eyes widened at the sight of sprawling gravestones written with the names of students caught in the crossfire when Gehenna attacked Shanhaijing.

It was an elementary school wasn't it? The genocide of children who had nothing to do with the conflict between senseisーpolitical at its core just like real life. The senseis truly didn't belong in this world, including Sariel despite being on a righteous quest.

Haruka stopped at a particular grave made of cardboard and Satsuki's name written with a sharpie. However her attention was focused on the girl that had arrived there before them, the criminal masked fox in black. She wore a cloak over her kimono uniform as if to veil something underneath. As for the grave, the excuse was that they ran out of gravestones.

"Y-you!" Haruka stammered. "You're not supposed to be here!"

Sariel wanted to say the same thing. Especially since she of all people didn't seem like the type to be friendly with Gehenna Sensei. He moved his eyes towards the cardboard cutout of a gravestone then gasped having read the name. "Makoto… He was Japanese?"

"There's a lot of things he was. A teacher, a chef, a friend…" Wakamo said with what sounded like a voice filter behind the mask deepening her tone.

She didn't seem like she'd have any connection towards this sensei since her love was for Nagisa, stuck in his own castle. Sariel hovered his hand over his waist holstered. "Why are you here?"

"Why else but to pay my respects? If I could, I would put Rio together with him. But his body seemed to have vanished. I wonder if you'll join them." Wakamo looked at Sariel then raised her rifle.

Sariel's party hesitated when she shot. The bullet whizzed past his face and hit a sakura tree spying from afar. She fired the entire clip and ejected the last casing; it clattered on the ground in the silence between her and her target. As she pulled the knob at the base of the rifle to load another clip, the group turned towards the sakura tree hunched over after taking several bullets. The textured paper covering the face cutout fell revealing the rabbit girl in disguise, her eyes spiraled and she stumbled forward in a dizzy manner.

"A-ah… You…" She slurred her sentence too much to say anything coherent and fell to the side. Standing behind her was an unlikely faceーthe profiteer maid-like girl who was strapped with a shotgun; Shizuko. She stepped over the rabbit's body, holding her narrowed eyes towards the group.

"You've gotten lax if I'm able to see you Wakamo."

"You best leave." Wakamo said to Sariel while punching in the clip and pulling the rifle's knob back into place. "She's after me, not you. You still have time to turn back and live comfortably like Rio tried to."

"Not at all! I've been entrusted with a holy order. You wouldn't understand that I'm trying to prevent more graves from being planted here." Sariel replied loudly. Yukino reached for her gun while Niko watched carefully, scanning their surroundings aiming to catch others hidden in plain sight.

"You are doing a disservice to yourself if you came here to put Hyakkiyako Sensei in his place."

The fox's response made him flinch, realizing his slight error.

Haruka would freak out, looking back and forth between the opponents. "A fight?!"

"No…" Shizuko sighed and turned her body to the side. "Tsukuyo came on Sensei's orders, I just wanted to see my friend again. You there!"

She called out Sariel specifically. "Hyakkiyako is putting on a masquerade festival in three days. If your order is truly holy then I expect to see you there as my adversary. It's likely the only time you'll see Sensei before he sees you."

Wakamo lowered her rifle. "I suggest going elsewhere if you value living. You don't know what kind of person you are dealing with."

Two opposing opinions from his enemies. That really got Sariel's mind going haywire stuck at a crossroads of choices he couldn't recover from. Both Wakamo and Shizuko parted ways, letting the decision be entirely his to make and he wouldn't come to a conclusion just yet. With the night getting late he spent his dream lingering on the thought and Arona wouldn't help make the choice easier. She had no idea what to do since she wasn't as good a thinker. In that case, it could be assumed she took Wakamo's side on the matter.


Gehenna's side of the story would tip the scales and thus he went there escorted by vice saboteur, Serina, who was happy to be back by his side after so long. It felt like they spent years apart but Sariel couldn't relax, focusing more on his plans to flip the rug from under Hyakkiyako Sensei than recapping his homeless experience to his nurse. They returned to the familiar cafeteria where it seemingly all began, the downfall of Sariel's fun Blue Archive journey.

He looked around the seemingly empty cafeteria and even checked the back where he first met the Pandemonium Society and Rio. "Uh… Did I arrive too late."

He then heard the shifting of a coat and turned to a red haired girl who stood up from behind the counter. She carried a bored look, wearing a casualized military uniform and peaked cap over her fluffy hair that extended beyond her back. In contrast to her overly red accents, her halo was blue with spikes extending from it like horns. Her fingers were in a bind of yarn. "You're pretty early." she said plainly.

"Ir–" Sariel caught himself before he said her name. "I… am looking for information."

"On what? Make it quick, I'm quite busy."

From below the counter, Sariel heard a soft voice. "Iroha..? Who is it?"

Iroha placed her arm on her hip. "Stand up and see for yourself, Fuuka."

The dark haired student peeked over the counter and her changes in this world were obvious the moment Sariel saw only one of her horns. The other was cut short and wrapped in bandages. When they laid eyes on each other, she ducked back under the counter and whimpered like a dog. Serina turned him around so they could whisper.

"Why are you staring at her like that? You could at least put on a smile." Serina poked the corners of his mouth trying to lighten him up but how could he be happy with so much weighing on his mind?

He brushed aside her arms. "I'm thinking about a lot right now, okay?"

She added. "Don't mention Gehenna Sensei or Hyakkiyako around her okay?"

He never got the chance to ask why as Iroha interrupted their brief private conversation by clearing her throat. They turned back around to face her as she awaited, "Well..? If some student put you up to this then there will be consequences."

"He's here for information." Serina would make a gesture and Iroha nodded slowly in response. They moved and switched places in the cafeteria so Iroha could drag Sariel by the sleeve close to the door where Fuuka couldn't hear them.

She leaned on the door with crossed arms. "Haven't we met before? Why do you want to know about him?"

Sariel stood firmly. "I'm aiming to end Hyakkiyako Sensei forever. To do that I need to know everything about him and why he killed Satsuki. I need to know his attack strategies, the students he employs, everything so I can end this fight for the sake of everyone."

Iroha narrowed her eyes. "Sounds like a whole lotta wants to me. You don't need to know anything other than to keep your guard up around ninjas."

"Makoto, Japanese. Drug addict and friends with Rio Sensei. Both are involved in Alter Code:F which is still ongoing even after their deaths."

"So then you already know it all?"

Sariel relaxed his shoulders. "There's still so many holes. Alter Code: F is supposedly the end of Kivotos right? Why wouldn't you want people to know that?"

Iroha's eyes drifted towards Fuuka, though she couldn't see anything other than her headscarf behind the counter. "This school already has enough baggage as is. Ninjas took so much from us and in return left many with a diseased sense, not to mention the Eden Treaty and its aftermath. We don't want another battle after falsely blowing up Shanhaijing. Since Rio and Satsuki are dead, Alter Code: F can't be prevented. We chose to live the rest of our days in peace so when fate comes, we won't resist."

Sariel grabbed her shoulders and shook her madly. "It doesn't have to be this way! The GSC president gave me the goal to stop all of this, all of this suffering abstracting the world she loves. Rio believes in me, and though I've never met him, I wear Satsuki's crown therefore I am him. I am destined to change the world!"

Iroha eyed him weirdly. "What kind of student are you…"

"I'mー"

"Not a student at all!" A swift punch cut his words short. He didn't expect Iroha's small fist to break his nose and make him keel over. "You don't get it! You're in over your head trying to fix problems that aren't yours to begin with. Maybe Hyakkiyako should take something from you, that oughta knock the audacity out of you."

"Haaa…" Sariel covered his nostrils feeling too light headed to react properly.

Iroha pulled a bundle of tissues from her pocket. "Here. Don't let Fuuka see blood on your way out."

He snatched them and covered his nose. "Serina!" He would yell as he made his way towards the exit. Serina peeked up then said her last parting words to Fuuka.

The one horn girl grabbed her track jacket. "Serina… Can you come by more often..?" She said like a child to her mother. Sariel heard the innocent softness, she had regressed. She was broken.


Once outside Serina scolded him for his pushy behavior and he rolled his eyes at the irony of a student lecturing a teacher. She didn't know what he knew, and what feelings being the leader of sabotage entailed. One screw up and the lust for destruction could completely take over.

He closed in on Prefect Team's HQ, a tall skyscraper eclipsing the campus' other buildings. Cutting into Serina's rant, he pointed to the top of the tower. "Unlike Iroha, Hina and I are on good terms. She'll tell me what I need to know and I'll recruit her on this sabotage."

"You're just full of plans…"

He nodded. "This will be my toughest battle yet. I cannot afford to screw up like I did against Rio."

"You didn't screw up! I underestimated Noa an–"

"It's not your fault." Sariel cut her off. "I was naive. I was thinking that everything would go well and that we'd shake hands and be friends after it was all done. That can't be the future, the GSC president probably knew it too."

When they approached the automatically opening doors, All she could do was pout. Suddenly Serina grabbed and pulled her sensei away from the doors. The sudden move made him stiffen his stance for a moment. Serina knelt down by the doors and motioned towards a tripwire that glimmered under the sunlight. A trap bomb set by the Prefect Team, likely to deter pranksters from bringing anarchy directly to them.

Serina exhaled a breath of relief and turned to Sariel. "Maybe we should schedule an appointment and visit another day."

Likely the safest course of action. Sariel itched his forehead, having a slight paranoiac feeling that the world was out for his head. He would chuckle about it, albeit, nervously.

All of a sudden a bullet snapped the wire. Following a click, a massive explosion blew both Serina and Sariel away. He hit the ground and his ringing ears deafened any other sound that weren't his inner thoughts but his inner thoughts were completely blank. Perhaps he had died, it felt like it since everything hurt. Everything was blurry too. Sariel could hardly make out a single thing with his face against the pavement.

Black uniformed students dawning the Prefect Team's red armband rolled out of the building single file before circling and surrounding him and Serina with old fashioned rifles aimed at the ready. The leader of this squadron was a faceless student with shoulder length black hair.

She raised a cane towards Sariel. "Head Prefect's judgment has passed, and the court finds you guilty. Your execution is in order, by due process you will be put down like a dog for your sabotage actions against the public of Kivotos."

What court? There wasn't even a trial. The pain was killing him so badly that being shot with a thousand bullets would be painless in comparison. Just get it over with, if he was going to die now then he wanted it when he was at his weakest.

"..." His heart skipped a beat and something switched inside of him. Live. That is what Rio wanted him to do. Live!

Fueled by determination he mustered enough strength to stand back up on his own, but his arms remained limp by his side. Serina saw him stand and picked herself up as well, moving to lean her back on his.

"What am I guilty of?" Sariel said to the commander in charge. He had to buy time.

The commanding student tapped the cane over her palm, impatiently catching it in rapid succession. "I just said, you're guilty of disrupting order. You made the mistake of walking within our jurisdiction so we're free to conduct the trial, judgment, and execution all at once. That's how Gehenna works."

Why did Hina betray him like this? Surely someone was going to pitch in and save him right? Serina grabbed her rifle strap. "I won't lose this time. I'll clear a way for your escape. Awaiting your orders…" She wasn't in any condition to do that. Shrapnel left cuts on the side of her face, blood was intermixed with her pink hair and spilled down her cheek. Being the closest to the explosion, she took the brunt of it for Sariel so he could live.

The commanding student wanted to make this overly dramatic, having raised her cane. "On my mark!"

The student's fingers all brushed their gun's trigger. Serina nudged Sariel with her elbow waiting for his plan, or trump card to get them out of this situation. He didn't have anything that could flip this around.

"This is the howl of a tiger!"

GAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

How a gun could make such a terrifyingly loud sound was a mystery to Sariel. He didn't waste time wondering however, using this chance while the students were stunned by the echoing howl to retreat behind bushes near a smaller building beside Prefect HQ. All of the attention heated on him switched onto the leader of Prefect Team; A white haired student with dyed black hair sectioning the middle bangs. Like Hina, she wore a fancy lolita dress with shoulder cutouts that contrasted the dark outfit well with her nearly pale white skin. A top hat covered the horns on the back of her long hair and a single small wing wrapped around the side of her skirt.

Joining her side was Hina, effortlessly carrying her huge machine gun with one hand. Then Chinatsu, the sharp eared girl's lolita dress was colored with pinks and whites rather than the dark coloring of her peers. The skirt wasn't as big to make way for the duffle bag she hauled around.

The sharp elf shifted up her glasses with a smirk. "Type 100 submachine guns. I can see how ninjas could fool someone who doesn't know. And those armbands are old fashioned. Why don't you drop your weapons and surrender to the real deal."

The commanding student swiped her arm, tossing her cane aside. "We almost had that bastard if it weren't for you. Why are you letting that saboteur get away with his crimes? Don't you know what'll happen if he continues killing?"

Chinatsu rose her gun high then lowered it to the student. "I know what'll happen if we let ninjas continue roaming free."

Head prefect lowered Chinatsu's arm. "Chinatsu, please. There's no need to add to the pile of death."

Chinatsu narrowed her glare. "Are you sure about that, Kayoko? They have quite the nerve to infiltrate on our turf and wear our names like it's a Halloween costume. Everything Hyakkiyako has done, and we still let them get away with it!"

"I'll deal with this myself, Hina, Chinatsu. Stand back." Kayoko slipped the magazine out of her suppressed pistol and loaded in another. "So what will it be, assassin?"

The commanding student wanted to put a bullet between her eyes so badly. Kayoko's spunk was insulting on par with being spat on. She collected her grief, letting out a frustrated groan as she turned around and lowered her arm. "We'll leave. You survive this time, Gehenna…"

The students returned to a line formation and marched off. Once they were out of sight, Kayoko turned her attention to the bushes where lead and vice saboteur hid. They emerged out and joined with the new leader of the Prefect Team. Kayoko leading this team was strange to say the least, she didn't seem like the type to take command, especially command over anarchy.

She was smiling too, just like Hina. But why? When the school lost their beloved leader and was comfortable sinking into death, to smile despite it all…

The group, having noticed Sariel's halo, all looked with widened eyes. He closed his eyes and tensed up expecting another punch.

"Did sensei return to us..?" Chinatsu said quietly. Unfortunately Hina had to spoil the image. "This is Sariel. She's a new student affiliated with Schale."

"Oh…" Her disappointment was a punch in itself. Still, she and Kayoko were confused as to why their halos were the same. Sariel made up some excuse like it being a coincidence for the meantime. Right now, he just wanted a place to sit and rest his nerves after nearly dying again. Hina gestured her finger to the horizon cliff where their new HQ was moved to. Choosing to use the closed Gehenna institute, an old school building refurbished into an office, as their bases of operation.

But it wasn't just their HQ.

Hina took them to the waiting lobby and Sariel caught his eye on Aru. The timid girl was looking at her reflection on the window speaking to herself about some bruise on her forehead. Judging by the pajamas she wore, this was probably Problem Solver's HQ as well.

"Come with me. I'll treat that wound of yours." Chinatsu led Serina elsewhere leaving Sariel to discuss with Hina and Kayoko around a circular table. Particularly a table they were at before since Kayoko's tea cup was left undisturbed.

She brought the cup to her lips first asking, "It isn't common to find ninjas on our school grounds. By the way they spoke to you I have to guess you did something that really pissed them off."

"It's complicated." He left it vague so she could chalk it up to something having to do with his halo. "You're… Kayoko, correct?"

She nodded then he continued. "I need the Prefect Team's assistance. I'm going to assassinate the assassins to bring their killing to an end on orders from Schale. Specifically orders from the GSC president."

She nearly choked on her tea, swallowing it down then leaning forward over the table. "She's alive?!"

Sariel waved his hands. "No, you seeー"

"Then how can you speak with the dead?"

"I cannot. It was her parting plans."

"Oh." Kayoko sat back in her cushioned seat. Her leg jittered up and down rapidly as she thought of other things to say.

"In order to succeed, I need to know about Alter Code: F." Sariel said in their silence.

"One thing has nothing to do with the other." Kayoko's response was immediate.

Sariel decided to flip this trump card of his, hiding a smirk behind his hand. "How about we do a little bargaining then? Satsuki and the President are gone but Haruka is still alive. I saw her alive and well in Hyakkiyako where she's being taken care of. If you give me information on Alter Code: F, I'll guarantee her survival when I sabotage Hyakkiyako Sensei."

He was thankful Serina wasn't around to see him like this. The way Hina and Kayoko stared at him, horrified, said it all. However, before she had a chance to refuse, Hifumi entered the scene upon hearing Haruka's name. "Where is she in Hyakkiyako? I'll go and retrieve her myself."

"It's too dangerous to go alone. Agh, forget about Alter Code: F." Sariel got up from his seat to grasp everyone's attention. "That assassin is out for my head and I'm out for his. If we're to succeed in defeating him then we need everyone to work together. Hifumi, I can't command alone and I may need Nagisa's help."

"Nagisa… sensei…"

Sariel crossed his arms casually but his words were firm. "He won't move from the Tea Party Terrance until you return. I think you know what you have to do."

"Yeah…" She simply nodded.

Hina tugged on his sleeve. "How are you going to defeat Hyakkiyako Sensei?"

"I'll tell you my plan tomorrow, after Nagisa comes to a decision." Sariel frowned. "If he refuses then you might have to take leadership Hina."

"Me..? hm…"


A/N: pacing has always been a complaint with my stories and i dont entirely understand it. the way it is written should fit the thematic scene, never drawn out long enough to be obnoxious for both the reader and i. my mind is quick but my words mean a lot and i dont advise glossing over the top layer of details. there is the narrative conflict and the thematic conflict, but the thematic conflict takes precedence when there is drama. maybe thats why im difficult to understand, but likewise i find commonalities hard to enjoy. i will try my best to make myself easier to understand. (old)