The ME Corporation Attack, as the news agencies were calling it, was what everyone was talking about the morning following the night in which the megapower corporation had taken a major blow. It was the breaking news of every news agency, local and national. It even got some international coverage as well.

You could not find a single soul in Nagazora who wasn't talking about the fatal attack. No matter where you went you would find someone talking about the attack in some sort of way.

Whether it be gossip of how they had been awoken by the police sirens, or how their loved ones had been one of the injured guards, or the possible reasons why someone would so brazenly attack the corporation.

"Vultures," My grandmother sighed as she poured me a cup of coffee as we watched the news anchors discuss the events of what had transpired yesterday night. "The moment ME Corp messes up once they descend upon it like a wake of vultures."

I still had an hour or so until I had to leave for school so I was able to watch the news coverage of the attack. No one knew who exactly had managed to sneak into the heavily guarded corporation but it was apparent they were skilled enough to avoid detection and that they were incredibly dangerous.

Authorities urged anyone with any sort of information to come forward and if they should spot the intruders then they would need to exercise extreme caution when around them.

There also happened to be a massive cash prize should anyone find who the intruders were, courtesy of ME Corp.

But my mind wasn't on the attack of ME Corp or the cash prize but rather on a certain heiress who I knew was feeling much worse than I was right now. Looking down on my phone I stared at the message that I had sent Mei asking how she was.

And to the fact that she had yet to respond back to my message.

Which would be concerning but I knew she must've been dealing with a lot of things right now to which she probably wasn't able to respond to my message. Still I couldn't help but pray that she was doing all right.

"What's got our resident feline looking like that?" My grandmother asked as she pointed to Kuro who was fast asleep on her playset's perch. The black feline was somehow able to sleep through the loud volume of the television.

"Oh you know, I dropped one of our glasses when Kuro was around me and one of the shards slashed her leg." I lied as I took a look at the white bandage that was wrapped around Kuro's left leg.

After seeing the police swarm ME Corp I wasn't able to go to sleep yesterday night without knowing where the hell Kuro was. I had to admit that the cat grew on me and I did not want the black feline to be dead because of her little late night adventure.

When I first laid eyes on Kuro on that fateful street I had a feeling that she was more than an ordinary cat and when she walked into my room with a slightly bleeding leg my suspicions were confirmed.

The black feline was a piece in the ancient game that was played in the shadows. A game that I had no idea on how to even enter let alone survive long enough to do something meaningful.

It was the whole keep your friends close and your enemies closer sort of deal. If Kuro really was somehow instrumental to the Third Honkai Impact then having her as my 'pet' could be beneficial.

Though that was a long shot as I wasn't 100% how I was supposed to get her to cooperate. For all I know I could accidentally piss her off if I was too pushy and meet a very early death by her claws.

There was now way that a normal cat could sneak into the most heavily guarded building in the city without some serious upgrades. Upgrades I did not want to be on the receiving end.

"How's that Mei girl holding up?" My grandmother asked as she stood up to get a refill of her coffee. "God knows the amount of reporters that are swarming her house right now."

I just shrugged my shoulders as I had yet to receive any notifications that she had responded to my message. "I'll go ask her how she's doing when I get to school, I do sit next to her after all." Looking up from my breakfast I noted the time on the clock.

"Well I'll be going now Obasan," I stood up from my seat and removed my bag from the back of it. "The school is probably swarming with reporters right now and I don't want to have to deal with that when a bunch of other students are trying to get inside."

"Have fun then," She absently said as her entire focus was on the TV as the news anchors were currently recounting how the authorities were notified of the night attack.

Walking up to Kuro, I softly stroked the top of the sleeping feline; careful not to wake her up. "Sleep tight buddy, We can grab you some fatty tuna for dinner later today." I promised before I left the apartment.

The atmosphere in Nagazora was tense compared to the lax feeling that I had gotten used to. Every block had at least some kind of police cruiser cruising through the streets while patrols of officers made their way through the streets, asking people if they knew anything about the attack on ME Corp.

It was understandable why everyone would be on edge. ME Corp was the king of corporations that called Nagazora home and for someone to attack them in their headquarters while escaping without being caught had everyone doubting the power the corporation really had.

I had been stopped at least 3 times by different police patrols on my way to school and each time I would provide the answer that I did not know anything regarding the attack.

Even if I did say that I knew something, I doubt that they'd believe a teenager telling them that their cat was responsible for thousands of dollars of property damage, trespassing, the injuring of at least a dozen men, and the death of three guards.

As I arrived at the front gates of Chiba Academy, I noticed a lone figure surrounded by a sea of reporters. I gently pushed my way through the crowd to get a closer look, but when I got close enough my eyes widened in recognition before I renewed my effort to push through the crowd.

"Mei Raiden! What does your father have to say about the attack on ME Corp!" A reporter asked as they shoved their microphone uncomfortably close to the heiress.

"I-" The heiress tried to say something but was cut short when another reporter butted in, and it all spiraled out of control.

"Is this a message to your father?!"

"Has this any connection to the rumors of your father blackmailing rival corporations?!"

"What was stolen in last night's attack?!"

"What do you think of this attack as the heiress of ME Corp?!"

Mei looked frantically around as she wished for the ground to simply swallow her up and get her as far away as possible from this situation. She wished that she took her father's offer of having bodyguards accompany her to school.

She didn't think that she would have to deal with this sort of press, maybe like five reporters but not what seemed like every single news agency in Nagazora wanting answers to their questions.

"I'm sure that Mei Raiden would love to answer all of your questions but we have to get to class now." I said as I broke through the crowd surrounding Mei, being mindful that I didn't accidentally elbow a reporter in the face.

Grabbing onto her arm, I began to lead her through the crowd and to the gates of Chiba Academy. "Besides I'm sure you all have better places to be at than interrogating the heiress when you could all go bother the CEO himself." If I stopped now then the crowd would simply reform around us and then we'd both be trapped.

"But-" A reporter tried to say something but I quickly interrupted him. You give reporters a chance to complete their sentence and you would never hear the end of it.

"No buts," I chided as we got close enough to the academy gates that I believed that we could run the last bit if the reporters decided that they weren't going to take no as an answer. "I'm sure Ryoma-sama can answer all the questions you've been dying to ask."

"Yes he can, your colleagues knew better than to come here and harass a little girl for answers she doesn't know." Akira Ishigami cut in as he approached us from the school gates, still dressed in his infamous lab coat.

"Every one of you better be gone by the time the majority of the students start trickling in." The black haired teacher warned as he looked each and every reporter in the eye, making sure his point was made and that they understood that. "And none of you better be thinking of following Raiden-san inside the academy grounds."

"Or what?" A reporter smugly asked as he stepped forward boldly. "You gonna call the police on us?"

"Actually yes," Ishigami admitted as he stared down the reporter. "Chiba Academy is private property so I could have you all arrested for trespassing."

I wasn't so sure that he could have everyone here arrested for trespassing but the threat of it had all the reporters quickly back off and leave the premises. The smug reporter left soon after everyone else did but not without muttering some not so professional words.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I turned to the teacher. "Thank you Ishigami-sensei for getting them to leave. I thought they were about to swarm us."

"You have nothing to thank me for Nakamura-san, I was simply doing my job as a teacher and ensuring my students are taken care of." The brown eyed chess grandmaster looked back towards the entrance of the academy, his brow furrowing when he saw some reporters still sticking close to the vicinity of the gate.

They might not be able to enter the school but they sure as hell interrogate any student that happened to cross their paths.

"You two should hurry inside, if my years with reporters have taught me anything. It is that they are a persistent bunch." He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "I will stay out here and make sure no one gets any ideas about sneaking in."

With that Ishigami walked to the academy gates to stand guard, leaving me and Mei alone.

"That was crazy huh?" I asked as I turned to face Mei. "I don't exactly envy you right now heiress of ME Corp." I joked to which she laughed in return.

"Most of the time reporters are pretty okay to deal with, it's times like these that they can become unbearable. This was a first for me to deal with so many reporters at once though." She gave me a grateful smile.

"And I want to thank you for your help back there, I wouldn't have had the courage to be that rude to them even if I wanted to."

I just waved her off, "Ah it was nothing, I just did what any sensible human being would've done if they saw how uncomfortable you were. God knows I would want someone to save me from something like that."

"Though Haruto-san?"

"Yes Mei-san?"

"Could you…" The dark purple haired heiress looked down to where I was still holding her arm. "Could you let go of my arm now." She pleaded with a tinge of red on her cheeks.

A similar tinge of red found their way on my cheeks as I quickly let go of my hold on her arm. "I-I'm sorry!" I quickly apologized.

Mei laughed at my reaction, our little conversation taking away from the situation that the two of us just experienced. Seeing how uncomfortable Mei was when she was surrounded by the reporters made me feel quite...guilty.

Guilty at the fact that if I hadn't taken Kuro in, there was a chance that this wouldn't be happening to her right now. Was it a small chance? Yes because for all I know the black feline would've broken into the ME Corp one way or another.

But that was the game that I was playing, a game that relied on the smallest of chances for victory. After all…

I still had to worry about the looming Third Honkai Impact and I had a feeling that whatever Kuro did had set the wheels in motion.

"Shall we head inside then?" I asked Mei, mentally pushing away the tinge of guilt that I was feeling for putting Mei in such a position. "I'd rather not have to deal with any more reporters than I would like to."

Mei nodded her head as the two of us began to walk towards our shared classroom. As we made our way to the classroom every student that we passed striked a conversation up with Mei, asking if she was alright and if there was anything that they could do to help her out.

Mei, being the saint she was, kindly thanked everyone for their concern and promised that she was feeling alright. I just stood respectfully silent as people began to talk with her, not wanting to impede Mei's bonds with the people in this school.

For all I knew she could have known some of these people for years.

I've only known her for a whole week.

"How's your father holding up?" I asked her as we neared our classroom. "I can't imagine the stress he must be feeling right now having his company attacked."

"I've actually not seen him since the events of yesterday night." Mei confessed as she checked her phone to see if her father had texted her back. Her face fell a bit when nothing had changed but she didn't let it stay for too long. "I imagine that he's back at the corporation making sure that everything is okay."

She had woken up to see a note from her father detailing that an emergency had happened at the corporation and that it required his full attention. The heiress did not think it was anything too serious until she opened the television to see the news coverage of the attack.

And the 3 dead guards who had died defending the corporation from whoever broke in.

"Your father is a very admirable person," I admitted as my impressions of the CEO were very favorable when I saw a news anchor following Ryoma Raiden personally visiting the hospital where the guards that had been injured in the attack were taken to.

The CEO had every right to be furious that his company had been attacked, attacked in such a way that it was like he had been attacked himself but he cared more for the wellbeing of his employees than getting revenge.

Though judging by how ramped up security was getting in ME Corp and throughout the city, I had a feeling that he wasn't going to let this transgression lying down without a fight.

"I'd like to meet him one day and thank him for letting me attend this academy." I told her as we walked into our classroom. It seems that the two of us were the only ones who decided to come here early so the room was practically empty.

After all, if it wasn't for him then I would have never met Kuro, Mei, Keji, and Ishigami-sensei. Sure he was responsible for the fact that I was now involved in the Honkai universe but I'd rather be involved now where I could somehow make a change than on the receiving end of a honkai eruption.

"I think my otou-san would love to meet you Haruto-san," Mei and I took our respective seats as we waited for everyone else to arrive and for the school day to officially begin. "He's been waiting to meet you in person."

"Then I hope that we get to meet soon," I smiled at her before our classmates slowly began to fill the classroom, our conversation ending as students began to swarm Mei's desk and ask her an endless barrage of questions.

I simply remained silent as Mei chatted with her friends the entirety of the time that we had before school started. As our first teacher of the day walked into the class and began to get ready for the lecture of the day, I directed my attention to the windows as I let my mind drift.

It felt like things were picking up now, and the previous week was just the calm before the storm.

"You're getting distracted Nakamura-san," Ishigami's stern voice brought me out of my daydreaming and back to reality as I refocused on the chess match that we were having. "Rook to E4," He commanded

I bit back a curse as his white rook took out one of my knights and had effectively broken my little formation that I had going. Scanning the chess board I took a second to look for the best course of action before acting. "Bishop to A5."

Ishigami gave a hum of appreciation as my bishop took out one of his pawns, but more importantly endangered his queen that was on that side of the board. "Nice move, putting pressure on my queen is a good way to attack your opponent. Nothing is more terrifying than having your strongest unit in danger."

"However you've left yourself wide open, knight to C3. Check."

I frowned when I saw that his knight had cut deep into my formation and was within striking distance of my king. Luckily I was able to use my queen that I had kept behind to take out the knight and save me from an early defeat.

The teacher simply moved his pawn forward after losing his knight before he spoke. "How was your match with Akihiro? I hope that he didn't crush you too badly."

So that was the true reason why he wanted us to go to the plaza that Saturday morning. "I had an inkling that was the case when he offered to play chess with me but a heads up would've been nice." I said as I moved a pawn forward.

"A player should always be ready to play at a moment's notice, if I had told you beforehand then you would've spent the entire morning preparing for your match." He wisely said as he moved his queen to take out one of my pawns. "A chess player is defined by their ability to be able to adapt, the ability to get yourself out of a hard situation. You could memorize every strategy out there in existence and still that would not be enough to help you."

"Besides, if I wanted to teach you I felt the both of you should've started the same way that I did."

I raised a brow at that, "Akihiro-san taught you how to play chess?" I asked in disbelief.

"Every elder here is a great chess player, but it was him that impacted me the most. I knew the game long before I met the fiery player but he taught me that chess was more than a game of moving pieces back and forth." The lab coat wearing teacher moved his head towards the windows of the clubroom, a reminiscent look in his eyes.

"He helped me when I was at a very low point in my life, I didn't think that there was much purpose to it but he showed me otherwise and raised me up to become the man I am today."

That was...surprising to say the least. I never expected a person like Ishigami-sensei to be one to talk about his life in the middle of a chess game. He always struck me as someone who kept to himself.

"If you wish to become proficient in chess then I suggest that you play a game with Akihiro Hata every week." My teacher said as he moved his rook to take my queen out. Internally cursing the fact that I had just lost my best piece, I moved my own rook to take out his rook.

"You can learn alot by playing with different players on a regular basis." He said as he moved his queen right next to my cornered King. "By playing with different players you never get used to their playstyles to the point that your own style is affected, also checkmate by the way."

I sighed in defeat as I tallied another defeat for Haruto Nakamura. I was a bit proud that I had been able to last a bit longer than last time but a loss was still a loss.

"Moving on," The chess teacher looked at me as the both of us began to set the table for another game. "What is your opinion on the ME Corp attack?"

The ME Corp attack? I twirled the king piece in my hand as I contemplated what I wanted to say. I was still wary of my teacher, my whole theory of him being something more and more realistic as I spent more time with him.

Akira Ishigami felt...familiar. I knew for a fact that there was no character in the Honkai Impact Universe with his name but he looked so familiar that I knew he had to be somehow connected to the universe.

The way his eyes seemed to pick apart anything that he focused on, as if he was analyzing every aspect of it. From its color to the molecules that made it up.

It was unnerving to say the least so I needed to be careful what I said, but at the same time... "I think someone is planning something and the attack on the ME Corp was just a prelude to what is to come." I truthfully said as I had a feeling that Ishigami had the ability to tell the difference between the truth and a lie.

If he was surprised by my honesty, he didn't show it. "An interesting observation Nakamura-san." He moved one of his pawns forward as the second game between us began. "And what do you think they accomplished with this attack? After all, the break in was reported before the intruder could do anything."

I thought back to Kuro when she had limped back into my room. She was in pain from having her leg injured but the glow she had on her face said it all. Sure she might've been injured but she was able to complete whatever she had left for.

"Call it a gut instinct," I said as I moved one of my pawns forward.

"Is that so?" The teacher said as we began to play our second game of chess. Keji was nowhere to be seen as it was 'my first one on one meeting' with our teacher. Ishigami wanted to get to know us more personally so having one on one chess matches was his way of doing it.

He moved his knight slightly forward as if to taunt me into taking the bait. "And if we were to go off of your observation, what do you think the intruder's next move would be then?"

Not falling for his bluff I got my own knight out to tease his defenses, not too close to my side to call it a defense but neither was it too far to be considered an attack. It could be either depending on how I wanted to approach him. "I would think that they would lie down for a while and wait for a new opportunity. It's obvious that they failed in getting by undetected."

After all, ME Corp was not the leading corporation in electronics without the power to back it up. They were probably being very aggressive in scouring the entire city for the intruders.

Too bad I was caring for one of them under the guise of a house pet.

"That is a very logical thing to do but it does not come without its own share of problems," The lab coat wearing teacher explained as he got his queen out in the front. I winced knowing that he wasn't planning to play cautiously in this game. "This will in no doubt draw in other players to Nagazora."

"Players?" I inquisitively asked as I moved another one my pawns forward so I could get the rest of my pieces out on the field.

"You don't get to the top without making a few enemies and Ryoma Raiden certainly has his fair share of enemies who have bided their time to take a shot at him." He explained.

"And when someone hits the king without consequences, it inspires others to follow their lead." He ominously said as he began to move his pieces forward, the Queen spearheading the attack. "And that breeds the most dangerous kind of future."

"How so?" I inquisitively asked as I moved my queen to the front of my pieces.

"Let us just say that I have seen this situation play out once before, and it did not turn out pretty in the end." He said mysteriously.

Not sure how I was meant to respond to that, I said nothing as the two of us played the rest of our game in silence.

The end of the day came rolling by as we finished our game. I lost, unsurprisingly, as an aggressive Ishigami was impossible to beat. No matter what defense I tried to muster up would be useless as his Queen made quick work of my pieces.

But I wasn't as disheartened as I thought I would be. Walking out the gates of Chiba Academy I thought back to his words as we discussed the events of the ME Corp attack. I couldn't help but think back to what he had said about how others would be inspired to follow what Kuro had done.

It almost felt as if he was trying to warn me about what was to come. With every conversation that I had with my lab coat wearing teacher my suspicions towards him would only grow. But that didn't take away from the fact that as I made my way back home, I had to wonder...

What the hell was going to happen next?

"See you tomorrow Aki-san!" Midori Aki waved back at Mei Raiden who was making her way towards the limo that would take her home. Usually it would just be the sleek black limo by itself but this time it was accompanied by two additional black painted vehicles filled to the brim with her new security detail.

It seems that Ryoma Raiden was more shaken up than she realized.

The kendo club member continued to smile as she watched Mei being driven away in her little convoy as it pulled into traffic. As the vehicles soon turned the corner and were no longer in her eyesight, she dropped the smile before she sighed tiredly.

This double life of hers was getting more tiresome as the days rolled by.

Checking her watch she saw that she still had half an hour before her next report was due and while she was confident that she could get back to her home in half of that time, she didn't want to risk it with all the extra security that was now roaming the city.

Her phone buzzed as a message notification popped up on her screen. Looking around to make sure no one was around before she opened the message to see the grinning visages of her squad. The familiar faces caused her to softly smile as she knew what they were all smiling about.

The Honkai Beast that they stood upon was something impressive to behold, killing it must've been something else.

For 'Midori Aki' was no regular highschool student, she was much more different than her peers realized.

She was actually Midori Aki, a B-Rank Valkyrie of Schicksal.

Most Valkyries never worked alone, the rare exception was with certain A ranked Valkyries and S ranked Valkyries. Even after graduating you were expected to stick with the team you trained with until the very end.

So you must imagine her shock when the head of Schicksal's Intelligence Department came up to her and said that they had a mission that only she could complete.

There were sparkles in her eyes when she heard those words. Was it time?! Time for her to cement herself as an A-ranked Valkyrie?! Had she impressed the higher-ups so much that they wanted to see if she had the skills to be one?

The truth was much different when the black haired girl realized that she had all the perfect skills to be… a regular highschool student.

The assignment was to pose as a regular highschooler in Chiba Academy and get close to her target, which was Mei Raiden. She had no idea what her higher ups had to gain from her getting close to the heiress but she wasn't about to disobey orders and she just rolled with it.

Midori had to admit that it sorta stung when she was basically chosen because of her looks but she wasn't going to refuse an assignment from Schicksal. If she did a good job then she would be trusted for future missions.

And maybe even one day she would get to fight alongside Durandal herself!

But dreams would have to wait as the valkyrie was left to ponder what she was meant to gather intel on, after all her orders were just to get close to the Raiden. No further orders of asking for information on certain things or that she would be kidnapping her or such.

As she walked through the streets of Nagazora back to the apartment complex that she called her temporary home, the spy in disguise looked up at the towering building of ME Corp.

She had scouted its defenses when she had first arrived at Nagazora and they were nothing more than the best that money could buy. Whoever had broken in was a very skilled and experienced infiltrator.

At least this time her report was going to be interesting compared to her previous reports which were only about Mei's behavior. The report was most often how the heiress was feeling on certain days and if they had any correlations to anything or points of interest that she felt were important enough to write about.

As she approached her apartment complex, she did not know what to think of Mei Raiden. Even if her whole objective was to gather intel and get closer to the girl, Midori in a way did care about the heiress.

She knew that it was wrong as getting that close to a target would end up tragically but the way the heiress's smile seemed to be infectious to any who saw it made it hard for her not to get attached.

Ascending the stairs to her level, Midori noted the fact that the blinds on her window were open. She knew for a fact that she had left them closed when she left for school this morning so that meant someone had entered when she was gone.

But she wasn't concerned about the fact that someone had broken into her home. She was a B-rank Valkyrie for crying out loud! She could break through solid stone with her fist if she tried and the poor fool that broke into her home would be leaving with more than one broken bone.

Besides it wasn't uncommon to see a sight like these on days when a report was due. Sometimes her superior prefered to hear the report than having to read a written report because in her words, 'paperwork is stupid'.

She didn't know how her superior had managed to become an A-ranked Valkyrie with that sort of attitude but there had to be a reason why her superior had gotten to the place she was now.

Opening the door, she took off her shoes and slid into her more comfortable slippers. "Wraith-sama, I swear if you finished all of the cookies I will-!" Whatever she was saying died in her throat when she walked into her living room and saw someone that was most definitely not Wraith.

Midori was about to demand who this stranger was and what she was doing in her house until she got a better look at who she was about to speak to. Her eyes widened as she recognized who exactly was in her home.

After all...there was only Valkyrie that was known for wearing a maid outfit.

"Rita-sama!" She exclaimed as she got on one knee. Normally you were supposed to salute to your higherup but the sheer surprise of having the Vice Captain of the Immortal Blades in her house wasn't letting her think straight.

"Oh?" Rita raised her brow in amusement before a smile bloomed on her face. "Please do stand Midori-sama, after all I am the one who came in uninvited. If anything it should be me getting on one knee to offer my forgiveness."

"No you don't have to do any of that!" The highschooler was quick to get to her feet as she shook her hands so that the S-Rank Valkyrie did not do that. "Oh my god I didn't think I would have the Vice Captain in my apartment today!" She exclaimed as she ran her hands through her hair.

"Are you hungry Rita-sama? I'm sure I kept some tea leaves somewhere. Oh but what about food! I haven't gone grocery shopping this week and I…" Midori began to run-off as she realized her house was anything but ready to have a guest like Rita over.

Wraith was the person that usually came by for the debriefings and even then the A-ranked Valkyrie was never on her good side anyway. Her whole attitude was cracking jokes and trying to get a rise out of people.

How unbefitting of a Valkyrie of her rank.

But Rita was someone different! She was everything that Midori aspired to be as a Valkyrie. Loyal, strong, charismatic, she was what every Valkyrie aspired to be.

Oh god she was making such a bad first impression of herself already.

"Please do not fret Midori-sama, you are too kind to this maid." Rita reassuringly smiled. "And do not worry if I have eaten yet. I've already eaten before coming over here from our base in Tokyo."

"I-I see," She said before motioning to sit, which the maid thankfully accepted as the two sat in the living room. "I-If you don't mind me asking Rita-sama, why have you come instead of Wraith-san? Is she indisposed of at the moment?"

"Nothing like that," Folding her hands over her lap, Rita began to explain her situation. "You see Otto-sama is personally interested in what has happened to ME Corp and has sent me to investigate."

"A-And what about Durandal-sama...if you don't mind me asking." She really hoped her idol was in Nagazora. Definitely not because she wanted to hug her and ask for an autograph! Definitely not!

"Durandal-sama is currently leading the Immortal Blades in eliminating a Honkai Incursion that's been giving the Korean government some trouble for the past month. Besides, our fearless leader doesn't do well in situations where stealth is imperative." Rita knew personally that her captain was not the best in situations that required a delicate touch. But when it comes to strength…

Durandal was rivaled by none.

"Valkyrie Midori Aki," Rita's tone got serious as she let go of her maid persona. Now it was Vice Captain of The Immortal Blades Rita standing before Midori.

Straightening her back as much as possible, the B-rank Valkyrie saluted, "Reporting for duty ma'am!"

"Are there any new developments on the attack? Have the authorities managed to apprehend any of the intruders?" The vice captain asked as she brought out a notebook with a pen ready to write.

"As of this moment the intruders have not been caught." The highschooler relayed as she thought back to the information that she had planned to write in the report. "The ME Corp Security Department reported two intruders but gave no further details on what they looked like.

"However after I had contacted the Schicksal Intel Department for permission to hack into the archives I was able to find that the two intruders were not human. Unfortunately since ME's Corp mainframe had been breached their firewalls were much stronger than before so I could not figure out what they looked like." She finished as Rita wrote the most important details down in her notebook.

"And what do you think that they are doing right now Midori-san?" Rita asked as she set down her notebook and pen. "Do you think they have fled the city?"

She paused as she began to think what they would be doing right now. Leaving the city was impossible right now. Every possible way out had been shut off with enough security that anything trying to leave without permission would have the biggest fight of their life.

"I would lay low for a while, wait for the heat to die down before leaving the city." Midori decided as she looked to Rita to see if her answer was satisfactory.

"A great observation you have made Midori-san, I came to the same conclusion." The vice captain smiled as she stood up from her chair. "And that is precisely why I am here."

The black haired Valkyrie tilted her head in confusion at what she meant when the sound of her door opening diverted her attention to the door. She ashamedly yelped when a black steel mechanical dog with green lights casually strode into her living room.

"Have you found what I asked you to find?" Rita asked as she kneeled and stroked the smooth metal surface of her canine. Stalker Carbon was in no way a real dog, it was an autonomous weapon control system but that did not stop the maid from treating it like a real dog.

She was always more of a dog person than a cat person after all.

A small grin wormed its way onto her face when the dog nodded its head. The newly ramped up security surrounding the city would be problematic for the intruders. The increased security would make an escape without getting detected difficult so the next best path was to lay low.

The problem with that plan was that staying in Nagazora meant that they would be trapped here with nowhere else to go. The city was essentially a cage that they could not break free from.

Before Rita had come to this apartment complex she had done a little investigation of her own on the grounds of ME Corp. It was official of course since Schicksal did have some investments in the corporation so it was easy for Rita to be a representative and not garner any suspicions.

As she strolled through the site where the attack had taken place and noted that while the security guards had mostly missed hitting the fleeing suspects, some bullets were fortunate enough to graze them.

Unfortunately the droplets of blood on the ground from said grazes were too miniscule for her to get a sample from and she couldn't bring in Stalker Carbon without arousing suspicion from the people present.

However, that also meant others could potentially track her targets if they found the tiny blood droplets on the ground so she made sure that no trace of it was left on the premises of the corporation.

Fortunately their injuries would have deepened further as they left the grounds and sought refuge into the dark alleys of Nagazora, which would leave enough blood for Stalker Carbon to get a sample of.

And the autonomous weapon control system had a knack for finding and tracking honkai infused blood in even the most obscurest of places.

"Continue your current mission Midori-san, you have done well here. I will handle this part now." She commanded as the other valkyrie quickly nodded her head. With a bow, the maid left the apartment room with Stalker Carbon in tow.

Now all Rita needed to do was wait for the cover of night to continue her mission. It had been awhile since she and Stalker Carbon had gone hunting together.

And she was sure that her beloved dog was just as anxious as she was to finally have some good prey to hunt.

DUN DUN DUN! You probably didn't expect Rita of all people to be introduced, and neither did I! I was writing the last part of this chapter and I originally planned for it to just reveal that Midori was a Valkyrie but the idea of Rita getting introduced just hit me...and I liked it so much that it's now here.

I don't think I need to tell you guys what the next chapter will be about, or the next two as I don't want Rita's chapter to be short and I want to stretch it out so the final part of it will be meaningful. It will be fun to see what happens to poor Haruto and Kuro.

I forgot to mention this in the last chapter but Kuro's second form and Phalanx are based off of Ravage and that strange insect transformer from Transformer Revenge of The Fallen. I was watching that scene and was like that'd be a cool idea and just rolled with it.

Aside from Rita finally being introduced and Midori's true identity, this chapter had some further interactions with Mei and Ishigami. Ishigami will play a bigger role later on in the story so I'm setting him up for his role, no hint on what that is.

Welp that's all for this chapter. If you enjoyed it, drop a fav/follow/kudos as they really help me out with creating great chapters. Reviews are deeply appreciated and if you have a question or a really interesting theory I am more than happy to reply. Please be patient if I don't respond to you super fast.

Peace!