Hina slammed a pile of finished paperwork on her desk, laid back, and groaned.

That's the last of the paperwork for tonight. What a long week, my goodness.

Hina leaned back in her chair and took out her phone, intent on relaxing the rest of the night until sleep came back over her.

"Excuse me!"

Hina looked out from her phone to see Ako walking towards her with a bottle of water.

"You look exhausted."

Hina leaned forward and took the bottle from Ako's hand.

"Yeah. A lot's happened tonight. But now that I'm done, I think it's about time for me to pack up and go home. I think I might even sleep in tomorrow."

"Sleep in!?"

Hina yawned.

"Yup. I think I've earned about this much rest."

Ako was slightly taken aback by how seriously Hina seemed to be taking slacking off tomorrow, but she didn't complain about it.

"Of course! Everyone needs a break every now and then! Especially with how crazy things have been lately!"

Hina got up from her chair and took a sip of water.

"By the way, how's Mutsuki?"

"Chinatsu said she'll be out of commission for about a month. Personally, I think that's wonderful. That girl was always one of the worst troublemakers we've had."

Hina closed her eyes and groaned to herself.

"Wonderful," she said sarcastically. "Any word from the other Problem Solvers?"

Ako shook her head. "Not yet," she said.

"I'm hoping for some good news from them by tomorrow. But if they haven't called back, then that's that. I won't lose sleep over it."

Hina and Ako walked around the office and turned off all the lights. When they were done, they exited the room and started making their way to the Prefect Team HQ exit.

Hina's phone started ringing.

Ako commented, "Calling your phone this late? How rude."

I hope it's Aru.

Hina took her phone out and looked at the screen. When she saw the name, she stopped walking.

"What's wrong?" Ako asked.

Hina didn't respond to Ako, but she did answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, it's Hoshino. Hina, right?"

"...Yes, I'm Hina."

"So this is your phone number! Okay, okay, just making sure. Not the first time I've dialed the wrong number, that's for sure. Hey listen, we found some kids from Gehenna causing trouble at our school, would you happen to know anything about that?"

Hina felt her knees get shaky.

"About Gehenna kids? Students from Gehenna cause trouble all over the place, and if they've inconvenienced you, I'm sorry."

"Ah okay. I see. Well, since you're in charge of handling criminals from Gehenna, I just thought I'd touch base with you!"

"Could you maybe give me a description of them?"

"Can't tell you much. All I could make out were their uniforms. It was dark out, you see. But they were definitely from Gehenna!"

"That sure is troublesome."

"Well Hina, I was wondering if you could get some contacts in Gehenna to hook us up with some repair bills. They caused quite a scene at Abydos."

Hina bit her lip.

"I'd have to confirm this myself, but I'm sure neither the Prefect Team or Gehenna itself can be held responsible for the acts individual students perform."

"Right. That seems a bit… Nevermind. Hold on a sec."

Hoshino's voice through the phone got a little quieter, but Hina could still faintly make out, "Hey Shiroko! It didn't work! I knew it wasn't gonna work!"

Shiroko's quiet-whisper-like voice barely made it to Hina's ear. "Where are we gonna get the cash then?"

"Should I blackmail her?"

Blackmail!? Hina thought. Her eyes expanded with fear. What dirt does she have on me?

Hoshino returned to the phone to talk to Hina. "Sorry about that. Well, I'll have to keep a watchful eye for any other Gehenna students trespassing."

Just how much does she know? What happened tonight?

Hina was not enjoying this conversation at all, and Ako could pick up that something very bad was going on.

Hoshino said, "No offense intended, but I think the Prefect Team is doing quite a bad job at keeping your students in line. Seems like stuff like this is a recurring issue. That is to say, I expected better from you, Hina."

Hina grit her teeth, and refrained from responding.

Hoshino added, "Point I'm trying to make is, if I catch more Gehenna students in Abydos, I might just come straight to you to, uh, help you out. My friendly gesture! I understand all too well the hardships of being a third-year!"

Hina shut her eyes closed to imagine the possible meanings behind Hoshino's words.

Given the context of everything, it can't be that friendly. But if that's the case l, then this might be a threat instead…

"Um… thanks. I appreciate the offer, but I don't think you have to go that far for me. I'll crack down on the troublemakers, so don't worry about that."

"Thanks, I knew I could count on you! Well, I'm sure you're busy right now, and it's pretty late, so I won't take up more of your time. Oh, holy ca-ho-lays! It's REALLY late! Sorry about that! Ok see you around! Byyyee~"

The phone conversation was terminated there.

Ako looked at Hina with visible concern.

"What happened?" she asked. "You look terrible!"

"Aru and Kayoko got busted," Hina said. She resumed walking, and Ako trailed behind her. "At least, that's what I'm assuming. It was Hoshino, and she didn't directly tell me much. But I can take a guess at what she was trying to say."

Ako scowled. "I knew from the start that trusting Kayoko to get something done wouldn't work. We should have just sent in someone else?"

"Send in who, exactly? Last time I checked, there's no one else in Gehenna we can trust."

"You trust the Problem Solvers?"

"I trust them to not immediately backstab us, unlike every other student here, yes." Hina rested her chin on her hand in thought. "But of course, Hoshino went out of her way to call me this late in the night…"

Ako sneered. "Those snakes probably sold us out. I told you this would happen!"

"It's certainly possible. But that's why we've prepared those lies, right? A contingency in case things went wrong. I've memorized my lines, how about you?"

Ako looked down at the ground.

"Of course I have. But we shouldn't need to use them!"

"Don't worry too much about it, Ako. Those girls can't do much to us. That would mean going against both the Prefect Team and the Pandemonium Society. There's no way they would be able to beat both of us without Sensei's assistance. Not even Hoshino could do it. Let's just face the facts. Problem Solver 68 was probably compromised, but it's not like either of us expected them to do this successfully, right?"

"But we still need to do something about Yuuka!"

Hina stopped and looked at Ako.

"Why are you so obsessed with her? This whole thing with Yuuka was your idea. It's just a shot in the dark anyway, what if she doesn't actually know anything? There's definitely more effective ways of getting up-to-date intel on Millennium."

"An unknown variable like her? Think about it. Why does she get to transfer out of Millennium despite the school not letting anyone in or out? When she was on the student council, no less? What makes her so special? We need to know!"

Hina resumed walking. Ako followed closely behind and opened her mouth to explain further, but realized that Hina was no longer paying attention and sighed. They kept walking in silence for a few more minutes.

Suddenly, Hina felt her phone buzz. She took out her phone to look at it, expecting a message from Hoshino. But it wasn't Hoshino.

The sender paradoxically gave Hina both delight and fear. Delight, as it was from someone she didn't expect to ever text her. And fear because it was from someone she didn't expect to ever text her. The sender was Ushio Noa.

Noa: Hi!

Noa: I hope you're doing okay!

Noa: I'm sorry for bothering you so late, but could I ask you how Yuuka's doing?

Yuzu: She came over to my new job with her classmates and had ramen

Yuzu: She looked like she was having fun

Noa: That's great!

Noa: I was worried that she'd have some trouble adjusting to her new school

Noa: I did ask her, but she told me everything was great

Noa: I just wanted to get a second opinion, just to make sure, that's all!

Noa: And what about her classmates?

Noa: Are they good people?

Noa: I believe one of them is your coworker

Yuzu: Oh, she's really nice to me

Yuzu: Even when I make mistakes

Noa: That's good to hear

Noa: Has she talked about Yuuka at all?

Yuzu: No, we haven't

Noa: Could you ask her how she's doing at school?

Noa: I'd just like a few more opinions on my friend!

Yuzu: Okay

Noa: And could you try to convince her that keeping Yuuka around is worth it?

Yuzu was utterly puzzled by Noa's sudden request. Especially considering how late it is. Yuzu just finished her shift at her part time job at Shiba Seki Ramen and was chowing down on a bowl of lukewarm noodles. She took a look over at Serika, who was still wiping down the tables. Yuzu clenched her eyes shut and groaned to herself.

This is going to be tough.

Making small talk with other people isn't exactly something Yuzu is good at, and she dreaded the thought of initiating a conversation with someone, even if it is her coworker. Still, she owed Noa an obligation for setting her up with this job.

Yuzu slurped down the last of her noodles and stood up. She walked behind Serika and softly said, "I can still help out."

Serika looked behind her at Yuzu, but still continued wiping down the tables. "Sure you can, but you don't have to. Take it easy will ya? You're still a F.N.G. after all. Today was busy as heck and you look exhausted."

Taking the work approach failed. What other options does Yuzu have?

…

No, if she just blurted out something out of the blue, it would be strange.

Strange!

Nobody talks like that!

Yuzu wanted to drop her bowl off in the dishwasher and make a break for it, but it wasn't like Noa to just randomly text her for no reason. No, she wanted Yuzu to do something.

Yuzu mustered up her courage to try again.

"So, how was school today?"

Classic small talk opening when talking to a student! Although, it is a little strange to hear that line coming from another fellow student. Ah, but Yuzu's not a student! Not anymore at least. So it still counts.

"Oh, it was fine," Serika responded. "We onboarded Yuuka into the Foreclosure Task Force. Oh, did we ever tell you about our club?"

"Your club?"

"Ah. So the Foreclosure Task Force is a club that we made to finance Abydos's debt problem. We have a bit of a debt problem, yeah. It's nothing major! Nothing we can't work our way out of! But since our school is still really small, we thought adding the new girl to our club made a lot of sense. I can tell that Yuuka's pretty smart, and my other classmates are pretty happy!"

Yuuka! That's the segway Yuzu was looking for!

"How's Yuuka doing by the way? Does she like the school?"

Serika finished wiping up the table and walked over to the next one, not stopping to make eye contact with Yuzu, oblivious to any grand ambitions this tiny conversation has to Yuzu.

"Uh, sure I guess. She hasn't transferred out yet, even after hearing about the debt. That's usually the first thing Abydos students do when they first find out the actual amount we owe."

"Is it that bad?"

Moments passed as Serika wiped down that table.

"...Maybe?"

"Maybe?"

"Still, we laid it out pretty clear to Yuuka the state the school is in, so anything that happens to her is on her as far as I'm concerned."

Yuzu touched her two pointer fingers together.

"Is, uh, is she getting along with everyone?"

"Uh, sure, I guess. We've only known her for like two days, but she seems pretty friendly, why do you ask?"

"Just wondering."

Serika nodded then went back to work. The conversation was beginning to run away. Yuzu turned her head to look for any inspiration to continue it on, but she didn't see anything to go off of. So she said the first thing to come to her mind.

"She was kind of mean to us back in Millennium."

Serika raised an eyebrow and giggled. "Mean? Ha, girls can be like that sometimes. Do you not like her?"

"What? No, I like her… she was always trying to push us to do better. It was a little overwhelming at times, but I know deep down she was looking out for us."

Serika nodded and smiled. "Someone to push you forward even if you don't want it. Tough love, huh? I think we could use someone like that, right?"

Yuzu continued, "It's just that she always complained about how our club managed its budget. Looking back, we did some pretty stupid stuff with our money."

"You guys have a budget? Wish I could say the same!" Serika chuckled.

"Yeah. She managed all of our school's finances; that must have been stressful for her."

Serika stopped cleaning.

"All of your school's finances?"

"Yes, she was the treasurer of our student council."

"Huh!?"

Yuzu jumped at Serika's outburst.

"She didn't tell me that!" Serika said. "Holy crap! Treasurer of Millennium! I'm the treasurer of my school! But I can't imagine doing that for Millennium! How smart is she? We really lucked out snagging her then!"

Yuzu said, "Sensei keeps talking about how good Yuuka is with math. And how she does all the paperwork for both Millennium and Schale."

"Schale too?"

"Yes, she went there every day to help Sensei out."

"Help Sensei?" Serika looked off in the distance and furrowed her brows. "Help Sensei…" she whispered to herself.

Serika looked at Yuzu and smiled. "Hey, I'm gonna go get my stuff really quick, is that good?"

Yuzu nodded.

Serika rushed off, once she got that confirmation.

Yuzu looked down at the floor, not understanding why and how the longest conversation she had since the incident ended so abruptly.

Wondering what else she could do, she habitually reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.

Yuzu: I think they like her! :)

Serika, on the other hand, almost collapsed once she left Yuzu's sight, as if her entire world view just turned upside down. Not only was Yuuka smarter than her, Serika could accept that, but she was even competent enough to assist Sensei. HER Sensei!

The entire time that Serika has known Sensei, they've relied on him for help and guidance. Serika often bothered Sensei to get his help on various odd jobs that she picked up with next to no notice. It had to have been a nuisance! She was just a taskmaster ordering her teacher to do mundane jobs with her.

But Yuuka? Yuuka was doing the opposite. She was assisting Sensei with his workload. Serika wasn't dense enough to not realize that Sensei was busy. But she never even thought about trying to help him with his own problems. And this made her shudder.

How could she not have realized this? Was she just inconsiderate? A monster that didn't care for how others felt? She was so preoccupied with her own problems that she never even considered how others might feel. Serika knew that wasn't a good excuse for her behavior, but it was the only excuse she had.

Serika couldn't help but seethe at this revelation. Compared to Yuuka, she was inferior in every way. She was smarter than her. She was more responsible than her. She spent more time with Sensei than her. It seemed like she had more friends than her. Yuuka even had the same damn title as her! But the difference between them is that Serika managed the finances of a tiny school with no prestige, Yuuka not only attended the most prestigious school in all of Kivotos, but was its treasurer.

Serika hated it. Serika hated Yuuka.

How could she not? Sure, Yuuka might be easy to get along with for now, but how about in a week? A month? A year? All that time spent alongside her would just constantly remind Serika of her own insecurities, and she just couldn't accept that. The only solace she could take is that Yuuka was a year older than her, which meant she'd graduate sooner and leave her alone.

Serika crouched down and screamed into her lap.

How can she think like this? It's not Yuuka's fault that she's like this. Serika was being too harsh on her.

But at the same time, Yuuka chose to transfer into Abydos despite knowing all about its financial troubles. Why would she do that? What could she possibly hope to gain from transferring? Was it just to show off to Serika and her dumb classmates? That she could take her knowledge from Millennium and apply it to Abydos, proving to everyone that she's a better treasurer than Serika?

Nothing was adding up. The only reason Serika could think of for Yuuka transferring was just to show off and make her feel bad. But why would she do that? Serika and Yuuka didn't know each other before. Maybe it really was just to feed Yuuka's ego. Does Yuuka have an ego?

Serika wiped her face and was surprised to find there was moisture on her hand.

"Why?" she asked herself.

It wasn't like her at all to ball up in tears like Nonomi or Ayane, but that is an unmistakable sign of tears in her eyes. Serika scoffed at the idea of crying over something as mundane as a little drama that she started. No, that she didn't even start YET. There was no reason to! So she didn't.

Serika grabbed her school bag from the back of the stand and walked out. She spotted Yuzu and waved goodbye to her, and Yuzu waved back.

Serika walked faster to get to a nearby public restroom. Like hell she was gonna let Yuzu or Master Shiba see her like this. Arriving at her destination, she tossed her bag onto the floor and quickly closed and locked the door. She leaned her back against the door and allowed herself to slide down onto the floor in a fetal position, where she grit her teeth.

She couldn't see much in front of her- her vision was too blurry for that. Instead she cupped her face in her hands and allowed the dam in her eyes to burst.

Stupid. This was stupid.

Why was she crying? She had nothing to cry over. So WHY?

Serika was powerless to stop the tears from flowing out of her eyes. She tried to stop it, but it simply didn't work. She truly was helpless.

Serika was reduced to a crying mess on the floor of a public restroom. Snot was flowing down her face. It was shameful. If anyone else saw Serika like this… she couldn't think of what would happen. She didn't want to think of what would happen.

How could she be so pathetic? No wonder Sensei never asked her for help if Yuuka could just do everything she could but better.

Yuuka! Yuuka!

It's all about Yuuka isn't it?

That's all the talk of the town is nowadays, Yuuka!

Why's Yuuka here? What's she doing here?

None of that matters.

What about Serika, huh?

…What about her?

Yes, what about her?

That's the whole problem isn't it? That poor little Serika-chan is only going to be compared against her hotter and smarter senpai.

It's not fair!

Serika hated Yuuka.

She despised her.

And yet…

Serika knew that's not the real reason for this mess. Because who Serika hated the most, and who her tears were dedicated to… was herself.

Serika was weak. And this little show was proof of that. Serika wasn't lying when she thought she was crying over nothing. But just because she was right, it didn't make the truth hurt any less.

Serika tried to slow her breathing down and laid herself back against the door.

What was she gonna do now? If what Yuzu said was true, then In time, Abydos would rely less on her and more on Yuuka. Serika didn't like that idea at all. She was selfish. She wanted the attention. But it was all about to be snatched away from her. Her friends. Her beloved sensei. If they saw her like this, then surely they would abandon her.

And more than anything else, Serika did not want that to happen.

Serika got up, walked over to the sink, and washed her face. The cold water both cooled her down and woke her back up. She stifled a sniffle and looked at herself in the mirror. Her makeup was still running down her face. She looked at herself with anger and affirmed to herself, again, that she was crying over nothing. She wet a paper towel and worked to clear off the makeup.

Once Serika was finished, she took one more look at herself in the mirror. The girl she saw in the reflection was not dejected, but determined.

Serika thought of something Yuzu said earlier: "What? No, I like her… she was always trying to push us to do better. It was a little overwhelming at times, but I know deep down she was looking out for us."

"Push me to do better?" Serika said out loud. "Well, I'll at least try to catch up. Just you watch."

Serika took her school uniform out of her bag and changed outfits. She stuffed her work uniform back in her bag and took out her phone. She was surprised to see a lot of notifications on her phone from her friends.

"That's strange…"

She unlocked her phone to check it out, but once she did her heart froze.

Hoshino: Hey everyone! Wassup?

Hoshino: New group chat

Hoshino: Everyone's still awake right?

Hoshino: I know Serika's still working…

Ayane: I'm awake

Nonomi: So am I!

Hoshino: Ok great

Hoshino: I know it's kind of late, but can everyone come meet up with me in person at the Desert Train Station?

Hoshino: Shiroko's here with me

Ayane: Ok?

Shiroko: Yes I'm here

Nonomi: Sure

Hoshino: And don't tell Yuuka

Ayane: Oh, Yuuka's not here

Hoshino: This is actually about her…

Nonomi: I'm coming

Ayane: Yes, I'll go too

Shiroko: Serika, are you coming? You should be off work now, right?

Serika: Oh jeez, I didn't see the notifications!

Serika: I'll be there in a sec!

Serika put her phone away and tried to guess what this secret meeting about Yuuka was all about.

And she hated that she liked the possibilities.