Chapter 58 - Bunny Event: Epilogue

...

Ships sailing on the open sea are so peaceful...

BAM CRASH BOOM SHATTER

...at least, when a crazed maid isn't chasing a rabbit troublemaker through it's halls.

Which brings us to now: One Kurosaki Koyuki, narrowly dodging an explosion in one of the hallways of the Golden Fleece, and not a single person can save her.

"Eyaaaaaah! What the hell?!" The White Rabbit shouts, frantic, as she runs. "Freakin' Asuna drew an S in just twenty tries?! This is so unfair! It has to be rigged! I spent so much money and got nothing! How is this possible?!"

The White Rabbit continued to bemoan her bad luck, not realizing she'd fallen into the gacha trap.

"The world of gacha is ruthless." I say, having caught up with her. "I hope you've realized that now."

Koyuki freezes at my sudden appearance, before whining pitifully, tears in her eyes.

"I'm coming for you, brat!" Neru shouts from down the hall.

"?! Eyaaaaah!" The pink haired girl shouts, breaking into another sprint.

The short maid lets out a manic laugh. "Yes! Excellent! Give me more! Let me enjoy making you cry! Then I'll hand you over to the Seminar treasurer!"

Neru blitzes past me, causing my suit and hair to blow by, along with her.

"Oh, dear." Akane says, her and Karin having caught up as well. "I do hope she doesn't go too overboard."

"The last laugh is mine! Mine! Hahahaha!" Neru's sadistic laughter can be heard for miles, at least. "Run, little bunny, run! Can you run while you're crying?! If I catch you too easily, I'll punish you for that, too!"

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" Koyuki's frantic cries can be heard for miles as well.

"Ahahaha! Yes, perfect! Run until your lungs explode!" Neru cackles.

"I-Is this okay, Sensei?" Akane asks.

"I trust she knows not to go too far." I say. "She knows she'll have bigger problems than Yuuka and stealth missions if she does."

"Do... Do you really think so...?" The white-clad maid reiterates.

I can only offer a shrug to the bespectacled maid. "Let's just go after 'em."

On the other side of the ship, Koyuki pants and heaves, exhausted beyond all measure, as she slowly comes to a stop, Neru's mad cackles and explosions have ceased.

At least for the moment.

"U-Ugh... Please... Spare me..." The White Rabbit begs. "Is she even human? She's like a freakin' bloodhound! Not even flashing my bonds and hiring people to block her as I ran helped! She just steamrolled them! Bowled them down like they didn't exist! And how did she blow up all the exits?! I'm trapped!" She whines, pitifuly. "I finally got away from Millennium and I'm still suffering!"

"Heeeeey~ Little Raaaaabbiiiiiiit~" Neru's voice echoes throughout the hallways, like a ghost, or perhaps like a wolf, stalking it's prey. "Do you think you can hide?! Gahahahaha!"

Koyuki freezes up and squeals, revealing her position to the short maid. "Eeyaaaah! B-But...! I'm almost free! Does she think I've been running without a plan? All I have to do is get to the top deck. As long as I can get up there...!" She says to herself, beginning to move, albeit slowly. "And then... I'll be...!" She pants, still exhausted, as she drags her feet across the floor.

Soon, she makes it to the top deck as the sun begins to set over the world.

The top deck lounge's pool water glistens golden like the sun.

"Finally... Finally!" Koyuki shouts happily, having reached her destination. "I did it! I made it to the top deck! I win!"

And just as she says that-

BOOM

-an explosion sends her flying.

"GYAH?!"

The White Rabbit slams onto the floor painfully, before slowly standing herself back up.

From the smoke of the explosion, like Death itself, out walks Neru, grinning like a psycho. "Hehehe. A little rabbit got caught. I was wondering where you got off to. You must be reeeeal tired of running by now. Good job, brat. Thanks to you, I'm feeling all refreshed."

The short maid takes a step forward, causing the other girl to hobble back.

"We've had our fun, so let's wrap this up." The tomboyish maid declares.

"Yoohoo! Don't forget about us, Koyuki!" Asuna shouts ahead of I and the other two maids as we reach the top deck.

"How'd Asuna beat us here?" I ask.

"There's no more running." Karin declares, aiming her massive rifle at Koyuki.

"Heehee~ What fun this was." Akane adds.

"Hmph, so you think you've cornered me?" Koyuki asks, wobbling a bit. "But tough luck C-and-C! You've done well, but now's my time to shine! You should've taken me back when you had the chance! Bleh, I tell you, bleh!" She says, sticking her tongue out. "Yahahaha!"

"...Did she finally lose it?" Neru asks, turning back to us.

"It's entirely possible." Akane says.

"Yes, it is." Karin says, matter of factly. "You went too hard on her, Neru."

"Hey! Don't underestimate me!" Koyuki complains.

"Oh, you've got an ace up yer sleeve?" I ask the pink haired girl.

"That's right, Sensei~!" The White Rabbit confirms in a sing-song voice. "Just in case something like this happened, I spent a lot of money to prepare... my personal escape drone!"

"Personal..." The white-clad maid asks.

"Escape..." The black-clad maid continues.

"...Drone?" The blue-clad maid finishes.

I raise an eyebrow at the three of them.

Koyuki snaps her fingers. "The preparations are already complete."

As she says that-

papapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapa

-the sound of helicopter blades rings out.

Koyuki brags happily. "Yahahaha! You fools! This is the open sea! You can't chase me over water! Now just suck your thumbs and watch me fly away!"

Then, an unmanned helicopter appears overhead, the wind from it's blades staggering us all a bit. A rope descends from the craft, which Koyuki grabs onto.

"Well, I'm a busy little rabbit, so I'm off!" The White Rabbit declares as the craft gains height and turns.

"YAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Koyuki's bratty cackles can be heard from the craft as it leaves.

"Karin." I say, not looking away from the helo.

"On it." The dark skinned maid says, aiming her rifle at the craft.

BANG

BAM

Karin shoots the unmanned helicopter's engine, causing the craft to explode upon impact.

"EYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Koyuki lets out a shrill scream as she falls along with the helo.

SPLASH

SPLASH

She, along with the helicopter slam into the water. The four of us move over to the railing of the top deck, to see Koyuki attempting to swim.

Keyword being 'attempting'.

"Guys!" Koyuki says, frantic, as she manages to keep herself somewhat afloat. "Guys, save me! Th-The water! I can't... I can't swim...! Guyyyyyys!"

"Are y'all gonna help her?" I ask.

"Ugh, I can't believe we treated her as a threat this entire mission." Neru groans. "It's hurting my self-respect a little.

"Well, she DID say this was the open sea." Akane adds.

Seeing the maids just sit there, I shrug and take out the Shittim Chest. "Akane?"

"Yes, Sensei?" The white-clad maid asks.

"Hold this." I hand the Chest to her.

"All right, then." She says, a bit confused, as she takes the tablet from my hands.

Quickly, I pull off my jacket coat and stand up on the railing.

"Eh? Sensei?" Akane asks.

"Are you seriously gonna-?" Neru asks.

"Well, since y'all are just standin' around..." I say, shrugging, as I leap off the railing of the massive ship. My hands outward, my body pointed down, I dive into the ocean.

"Did he seriously just...?" Karin asks, shocked.

"Wow! Look at him go!" Asuna cheers, watching their Sensei swim like a fish.

"Eh? Did Sensei seriously just jump into the water?!" A new voice shouts. The four maids look at the tablet to see Arona, looking on in shock.

"Heh? Who're you?" Neru asks, eyes narrow.

"Ah! I'm Arona, the OS of this tablet, and Sensei's assistant." The tiny AI explains.

"OS?" The bubbly maid asks, tilting her head.

"Yup!" Arona chirps. "Still, Sensei's always doing dumb stuff like this." She pouts.

"Well, it can't be any worse than what our little Neru gets up to." Akane says, teasing.

"Who the hell're you callin' little?!" Neru shouts, indignant.

Swimming through the ocean waters, I pretty quickly reach Koyuki.

"Hel-! Blugh! GYA!" She's still flailing around, frantic.

I try to get close to her, but she's flailing her limbs around. "Dammit, calm down!'" I grab her wrist forcefully, and pull her towards me.

"NO! I- WAAAH" She continues to shout.

Holding the pink haired troublemaker close with one hand, I clasp the other over her mouth. "Shut."

As I say that, she finally stops flailing and screaming, as her eyes widen. I release my grasp on her face. "Now calm down."

"S-Sensei?" She asks, completely dumbfounded by this turn of events. "You... You saved me?"

"Those four were just sittin' around, so I figured I'd do it." I explain. "We were here to capture ya, not let ya die."

The pink haired girl's face burns a bright crimson, almost unnoticeable with the bright, golden rays of the sunset.

"Now, hold on. We're going back to the ship, then you're going back home." I order.

"Aww." She whines. "But-"

"No buts." I interrupt. "You gotta learn your actions have consequences, Koyuki." I say, staring into her eyes.

"All right..." Koyuki says pitifully, wilting.

And so, I swam the two of us back to shore. When I arrived, I surprised to find the maids talking happily with Arona, who's on the Shittim Chest's screen.

I couldn't help but smile at the scene.

And so I, the four maids, and a sopping wet Koyuki were flown back to Millennium via another helicopter. I swapped my wet clothes with ones in the Shittim Chest, thankfully.

Koyuki was quickly apprehended by officials as Akane began recounting our tale to Yuuka, who was in another building, via comms.

"...And that is how we managed to execute our plan." Akane explains, proud. "So... does anyone have any questions?"

"Many. Firstly, what is Sensei doing to Asuna?" Yuuka asks, a bit concerned.

"Shenshei! I'm sowwy! Pwease!" Asuna cries, tears forming in her eyes as I pull on her admittedly soft cheeks.

"Not until you realize what you did wrong!" I deny. "This was supposed to be a stealth mission, not an 'announce your presence to our target via a big screen' mission! Next time, stick to the plan and don't run off!"

"I'M SOWWY!" She cries, as I continue.

"That figures." Yuuka says, sighing. "And what, might I add, I ended up causing the utter chaos in there?"

"Thankfully, you don't have to worry about that." I answer as Asuna still struggles in my grasp. "Like Akane said, there ain't gonna be any trouble between schools. Fortunately, since you oughta be able to get those bonds back, you'll need to use some of that to pay off the damages."

"Seriously...?!" The treasurer growls.

"Hey, I still managed to keep the damages less than they would've been had they gone with Neru's plan." I defend. "Unfortunately, being smart was a bit too much for these clowns."

"Oi!" Neru shouts, indignant.

"Shenshei!" Asuna continues to complain.

Yuuka merely lets out yet another tired sigh. "I trust you, Sensei. I'm sure they... they d-did their... b-b-best." She forces out, almost looking sick from medley saying that.

"What happened with Koyuki?" I ask.

"Well, I suppose it's okay to tell you." The purple haired girl relents. "White Rabbit has been returned to confinement, where she'll remain for the foreseeable future. And she DEFINITELY won't be able to escape again."

"You sure?" I voice my doubt, eyebrow raised.

"Absolutely." Yuuka replies, immediately. "She's confined in a glass room ten meters across with no electronic devices of any kind, at all. All security surrounding her is paperwork and manpower with no mobile phones allowed on the premises. It's a bit old fashioned, but necessary for keeping her confined. Come to think of it, I believe it's nearly her mealtime, and- I see that look in your eyes!"

"What look?" I ask, idly pulling Asuna back towards me as she had pulled away a bit.

"That look. Please don't waste your pity on her." Yuuka says. "This is rather lenient considering the damage she's done to Millennium." She says, letting out another sigh.

"Well, the best I can do is wish you luck. If anyone can fix yer school's money-relayed problems, it's you." I praise, earning a blush and flinch from my smarty-pants girlfriend.

"Th-That's...!" The purple haired girl stammers, before calming herself. "Still, I'm sorry you had to see this side of me again."

"It's no big deal." I wave her off.

"I hope next time we can meet in more..." Yuuka pauses, remembering the maids are still here. "...pleasant circumstances. Well, that concludes our business. If you'll excuse me." She presses a button on her desk and the hologram of her disappears from Akane's phone.

"Oh dear. I suppose we should let Seminar do what they do best and handle this themselves." Akane suggests. "And perhaps turn off all communications for a while."

As she says that, I let go of Asuna as she pulls away rather harshly, causing the poor bunny-maid to land on her butt. "Oww..." She whines, rubbing her butt and face. "Sens- Er, I mean Master's mean."

"Have you learned your lesson?" I ask.

"Yes. Sorry, Master. I'll work harder to not mess up our missions." Asuna says, rather pitifully.

"Good." I say, bending down. "Here's your reward." I say, patting the girl's head.

The bubbly maid preens as she runs her head against my hand.

"D-Did Sensei just...?!" Karin asks, wide eyed.

"I do believe so." Akane adds, breathless. "I can scarcely believe it."

"It's pretty shockin', huh?" Neru agrees.

After a moment, I stand back up, helping Asuna up as well. Her face is still red, though I can't tell if it's from a blush or the cheek-pulling.

"There may have been a few petty issues, but overall I think this could be a success." The white-clad maid says.

"Well, naturally." The black-clad maid agrees. "And thank you, Sensei. For keeping the president in check on top of everything else."

"Kept who in check?!" The red-clad maid growls.

Akane giggles. "Truly though, thank you, Sensei. While it was a mission, it was the most fun I've had in quite some time. I don't know if you'll feel similarly, but I'll remember this fondly."

"No problems. Call me if y'all need any help, anytime." I respond with a smile.

"Master can be a meanie, but he sure is nice!" The blue-clad maid says, bubbly as ever.

"Oh, d-dear..." Akane says, taken aback with a bright blush. "I'm glad to hear that." She then mutters to herself, in a voice no one, save me could hear. "I don't think my heart can handle him saying something so honest like that."

Akane, recomposing herself, clears her throat. "Anyway, let's finally relax a little and change back into our... maid... outfits?"

"Akane?" Karin asks, a tad concerned.

The bespectacled maid speaks, looking rather nervous. "Come to think of it, who... packed our maid uniforms?"

"Huh?" Asuna asks.

"I definitely didn't." Karin answers.

"Me neither." I add.

"Packed what now?" Neru asks.

"Now that you mention it..." I muse. "Did y'all just leave them in that empty cabin, along with the tied-up guard?"

"Gah! Are you seriously saying we have to go back there?!" Neru screams.

"Go back? Y'all don't have spares?" I ask, worried for them.

"Regrettably, no." Akane says, downtrodden.

"Oh yay! Are we going back?" Asuna asks, excitedly. "I had lots of fun!"

"I-It's okay, Neru. This time, things will be different." The dark skinned maid says. "Asuna has he VIP membership, so there's no need to infiltrate anything. As long as we have that, we can come and go as we please."

"Huh?" The bubbly maid asks. "VIP membership? That old thing? Was I supposed to keep it?"

"Asuna..." I sigh, disbelieving.

"Did you, by some crazy, impossible, chance, throw it away...?" Karin asks, slowly.

"Yeah!" The blue-clad maid says, proud.

"Y-You... That..." Karin's brain seems to have shut down. "Some people drain their entire life saving for a chance to get that membership, but you...!"

"We should've expected as much of our dear Asuna." Akane chimes in. "Well, I guess that means we're essentially back to square one. Our maid outfits are in a locker aboard the Golden Fleece, and we've lost our only means to simply walk in and claim them."

"But we need the uniforms for our missions." Karin stresses.

"Correct. So that means..." Akane says, looking at me expectantly.

"Oh, hell no." I shut down. "I ain't getting on another ship for a long time." I say, walking away quickly. "Good luck, girls."

As I briskly walk away, I hear Neru shout to the heavens.

"ARRGHHHHHH! I FUCKING HATE INFILTRATIONS! THIS IS THE FUCKING WORST!!!!"

Hang in there, shorty. Hang in there.

The four maids would then re-infiltrate the ship to find the guard that was previously tied up, along with three others trying on their maid outfits, laughing all the while.

That is, until Neru curb stomped them.

BUNNY CHASER ON BOARD: END

"Ah, it seems that Koyuki being added to our group has finally paid off." A girl wearing a suit muses, leaning back into her office chair. "She certainly spent quite a lot with her gambling, but not nearly enough to be a problem to Millennium. Thankfully, she became the perfect scapegoat for acquiring the funds necessary for our ark."

The suit-clad girl stands up and walks over the the windows of her office, staring out into the night sky of Millennium.

"Toki."

"Yes, ma'am?" A maid with blonde hair tied into a bun asks, emotionlessly and dutifully.

"Contact our construction group. We have the proper funds, so project Eridu can now move forward." The similarly emotionless suited girl orders.

"As you wish." The maid says, bowing slightly, before leaving the large office.

AN

Don't mind me, just jamming to RE Aoharu while writing this at record pace.

God, I hope there aren't any typos.

It wasn't until I stared writing this chapter that I realized just how short this event is. Even shorter considering there really weren't any fights to write, save the one after Asuna botches the mission.

So, yeah. That's it for this event.

Next time... Down Time.

Maybe? Maybe not.

I dunno. We'll see.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next!