"The genie has been let out of its bottle, and with it…"

"You know the consequences, Kether."

Some things in this world never change. Whether that still applied was questionable, considering this was a completely new world.

Would it be more accurate, then, for him to say that he would never change?

He walked across the streets of the D.U silently, though that silence could not be said of his surroundings.

"Our parasols are now 50% off! Buy now, or lose out!"

"Buy one get one free! There's no time better than now!"

Those were some of the few bellows beckoning to the crowd to curry their attention. Not like that was a problem. The cat and dog people manning the stores had to make a living, after all.

He was one of a kind here, being a normal human.

But in the grand scheme of things, he really wasn't a normal human. With the things he had done, with the amount of introspection he did on the daily not even by his own volition, there was just no way he was.

The voices were easy to ignore, but the words they spoke were true. He was a monster, playing pretend as an innocuous, kind teacher.

He let out a sigh, taking in his surroundings as a whole. The hustle and bustle of the crowd made itself more apparent to his senses.

He couldn't help but give a smile of reminiscence.

Yes, this was what he liked to see. People going about their days as normal. Even if they looked different here. The smiles, though fake to his eyes. The laughter, though grating to his ears.

It reminded him of things long past. Of better times. There simply was just no replacing idle days; there was beauty in them, just as Black Suit had just said. He already knew that, of course, but having a reminder never hurt. He had a tendency to forget.

However, he also had a tendency to worry. He had to hold back a grimace.

Was Arisu okay, dealing with that job? At least she had help from Yuuka. With how tired he was recently, he just wasn't in the right mind. Hell, he didn't even think he was in the right mind ever, but that was a moot point.

He contemplated going down to Millennium after grabbing a bite, but Hoshino would most likely strangle him once she knew (non-lethally), and Shiroko would tie him down. Yeah, he valued his health.

He totally did; that wasn't a good idea. While it was a bit of an exaggeration, he could only place his hopes in Arisu.

But he didn't feel right just leaving it to her. He didn't feel he was doing enough. There was just so much that needed doing. There were things that she needed to be protected from.

She needed to be free from scrutiny, so she could blossom into something far beyond him. It was best not to put her in the limelight for now, considering that she was still in her growth period.

He just didn't know what to do. His heart, however, spoke without hesitation: be a good father.

…But what did that even mean?

He just defaulted to treating her like a special student, one that needed extra guidance and protection.

So the question stood: how does one be a father to a daughter?

There was just simply no way he could be one. He was a monster, after all.

First playing pretend at being a teacher, and now being a faux father.

What poetic irony– that he had to be a father to a false human.

"Take care of her," Black Suit had said.

…How? How? How?!

Maybe being inadequate in all things was the punishment for his sins. He knew that was a stupid notion that didn't even warrant considering, but when it came to Arisu he just… couldn't think straight.

Cold, hard reason was diametrically opposed to these tumultuous emotions.

He was weak. So very weak. Weak in body, spirit and mind.

Truly, it really wasn't any mystery why this was so hard.

Upon that thought, he shook his head, bringing himself back to reality. Perfect timing, considering he had arrived.

The small corner convenience store, Angel 24. He was a frequent customer here, considering that it was so close to Schale. Technically speaking, it was part of the same building. It sold myriad goods that he found plenty of use for in his day-to-day life.

Like his coffee capsules and powder. Disgusting as the instant swill was, it worked.

"Chirp-chirp! Welcome!"

The motion sensor tripped as he walked in, signaling the bell to let out its usual welcome. A bird tweeting, and then a welcome. Did angels make such noises? Why was that their chosen greeting? The world would never grace him with an answer to such a deep question.

Actually, scratch that. Maybe he could get an answer from a Trinity student. Plenty of them had the corresponding wings, so they could totally be angels.

"A-Ah! Welcome to Angel 24, Sensei!"

A very familiar voice called out to him and his ill-begotten title. To be fair, he expected it. The person manning the store wouldn't change; it was a foregone conclusion that human resources would assign her to this location, considering how low-risk it was and of her young age.

Pale blonde hair, with a diminutive stature expected of her, dressed in a white dress shirt and blue apron with the store logo imprinted upon it amidst the many pins of its business partners; this was Sora, the ever so friendly yet panicky shopkeep of this humble convenience store. Her halo floated above, a blue gem amid two concentric circles.

Though if this was a few months ago, she'd have panicked straight out of her shoes to steer clear of him. He couldn't help but laugh internally at that fact. Thankfully, she had gotten more used to him considering how much he frequented the store for food.

"Good afternoon, Sora." Shua let out a minute grin as he walked over to the counter. "Just here to get some food, as usual."

He raised a brow as Sora immediately scrambled to hide her flip phone from him. Not like he blamed her for trying to entertain herself, considering just how little traffic this place got.

"No need to be so fidgety, you know I wouldn't mind you using your phone whilst talking to me."

"B-But…" Sora trembled in place, unsure of what to say. "It's disrespectful, isn't it?"

Why was she still so afraid of him, he couldn't help but wonder. Maybe it was just the usual social anxiety speaking. He knew of so many students back in the day who struggled to talk to anyone, getting lost in their thoughts ad infinitum, and never taking a step forward.

Not like he was exempt from such quandaries. He was aware of just how hypocritical he was, though the extent of which he was afflicted with said hypocrisy wasn't that bad, he thought.

Probably.

"It's fine." Shua waved it off in a lackadaisical manner. "Anyway, I'll take my usual order."

"A curry katsu bento, right?" Sora inputted the corresponding keys into the cash register. "Want a drink today?"

"Sure," Shua nodded. "Some sugar-free green tea would be nice. Cold, please."

It would make a good contrast to the spice-filled chai he had just earlier.

"Alright." Sora keyed more buttons, before nodding. "I'll put it on Schale's account, as usual."

"Please do." Upon his approval, Sora immediately got to work in preparing his order.

It was really convenient having being able to just put things on Schale's tab, though he still had to pay for it overall. He neither had a credit card, nor did he ever want to get one considering how troublesome it was, so it was the next best thing. Writing an expense report was a problematic affair, though since he could write this off for his taxes, it wasn't too bad.

Yuuka would get pissed at him if he kept doing stuff like this without noting it down though, so he immediately pulled out his phone to note it down for now.

"Chirp-chirp! Welcome!"

"Hmm?" Shua stopped in his tracks to look at the entryway. "Another customer?"

What a rarity. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her appearance.

It was a similarly blonde… lady to Sora, it seemed, with animal ears of some kind. She wore a blue dress shirt with a pencil skirt, with a dark blue tie. She had black stockings with heeled boots, and to make the entire attire a wrap, she wore a distinctive dark blue KSPD jacket that was only given to the higher echelon of officers.

That was rather alarming, to say the least. She stood rather tall in comparison to many of his other students. Above her head was an azure halo of interconnected squares, interwoven much like a treasure knot. A mildly peculiar sight, especially considering its correlation to the samsara and eternity.

Her face was stern, and he saw a glimpse of a fang sticking out from underneath her lip. This gal was clearly quite important, and he immediately thought it well to not say anything that she could construe as offensive. He put his phone away with haste.

"Ah, it's you." The lady gave a nod to him with some form of deference, with a distinctly gruff and husky voice that despite his expectations, held no animosity. "Schale's one and only Sensei."

So she knew him. But that wasn't out of the ordinary.

"I don't believe we've met before," Shua nodded in response and held out his right hand. "Might I ask who you are?"

She grasped it well in return, with her gloved yet steady and tight grip. Definitely well-trained. He made a quick mental note of it.

"Ogata Kanna, Director of the Public Peace Bureau. 3rd Year." She shook his hand briskly as she listed off her titles. "It's a pleasure to meet the one who's been making my job easier."

"I… see." That was heavy praise from the start, and he didn't really know how to take it. The Public Peace Bureau, huh? That was the main policing force, known for fighting crime and terrorism. How on earth had he been making their job easier?

"You're welcome?" He used his other hand to scratch his head, not knowing what to say. "Could you fill me in on the details?"

"Crime rates have steadily dropped in the D.U. after the policies you've helped implement with regards to housing and work." The now named Kanna let go of his hand, now placing her digits underneath her chin, a look of mild surprise making itself known on her features. "It's been a bit of a miracle, to say the least, to the point that I'm actually even capable of taking a break."

She paused for a brief moment, before shaking her head. "I'm surprised you even had to ask."

He slowly nodded, unsureness taking over his expression. Were his actions really making that much of an impact? He was too caught up in a lot of things recently, and hadn't really thought much of it.

"Just doing what I can, really." After all, he saw that the resources were already present; he was only the one to direct it somewhere. It wasn't really worth praising, in his opinion.

"Hmm…" Kanna muttered to herself, seemingly lost in thought. "Considering all you've done, how you are in person is quite different from what I expected. But honestly, it's quite a relief."

She let out a placated sigh, for reasons unknown to Shua. He felt on edge for some reason, but considering all that had happened recently, it was probably just his nerves being completely and utterly shot.

"Ah, that reminds me." Kanna clapped her hands and gave a nod to Sora, who was now walking back from the microwave in the back, holding Shua's order in her hands. "Can I get a warm coffee? Two shots, please. While we're at it, let's have a chat outside with your food and drink."

Sora made a strangled noise of surprise and fear at seeing Kanna, which was quite funny in retrospect, but Shua hoped to not make a habit of schadenfreude. It wouldn't reflect well upon him and the example he was hoping to set.

She jittered in place, nodding as she placed Shua's order upon the counter, before scrambling to the back to presumably grab the coffee that was Kanna's order.

"I guess so. Sora will probably come outside with your drink later." He absentmindedly picked up his drink and meal. A duet of hot and cold, one in each hand. It reminded him of something. "What are we chatting about?"

It couldn't be that serious of a matter, considering how amicable she had been.

So, he just went with it. No harm in it, right?

"Chirp-chirp! See you again!"

He followed her outside, where she suddenly stopped and turned to him.

"Simple." Kanna gave a grin that was nearly all teeth—no, those were clearly the jagged fangs of a hunter. "I want to talk about what happened at the scrapyard in the Abydos Autonomous District."

Shua froze in place.

That, he soon would know, was an error.

Her grin widened further.

"Fancy a chat about thermobaric artillery and just how Schale got their hands on such banned weaponry?"

He really should've trusted his instincts.


"So, let us begin our weekly meeting…" The glasses-clad girl placed a stack of papers upon the table, with her elf ears twitching as she spoke.

Her eyes took a glance at the other two, who sat on opposite ends of the table.

"We're missing two heads, as expected." The girl with cat ears and black hair shrugged, shaking her head as she pulled out her prepared papers and pen to take down meeting minutes; a symptom of Sensei's influence. "Those two are currently on a 'fishing trip', as they call it."

"Hoshino always uses that excuse when she's off doing something on her own," The pale blonde haired girl smiled, though her green eyes didn't shine with tacit agreement. "I'm surprised she brought Shiroko along this time though."

For the Foreclosure Task Force to be reduced to just the three of them was an oddity. It felt strangely empty without Hoshino taking a nap within the club room, or Shiroko cleaning up her rifle.

But it was to be expected. Hoshino had a tendency to handle plenty of things on her own, unbeknownst to the other girls. Shiroko looked up to her, and so she would follow without hesitation.

It was no wonder how Shiroko ended up so headstrong, with Hoshino as her role model. Nonomi was thoroughly aware of that. That was Hoshino's influence, through and through.

'It's my responsibility', she had said as she handled another stack of documents to keep Abydos running.

'The girls don't need to worry about it for now', said with a soft smile and bright mismatched eyes that held hardened darkness behind them.

If only the other two here knew of her reasons for pushing on with Abydos. They'd be surprised to no end about just how tenacious and protective Hoshino could be.

Nonomi knew just what kind of person Hoshino was, considering how long they'd been around one another. At first, she had come to Abydos as part of her penance for expediting its downfall, but she now had a vested interest in protecting what little they had left. The two other girls around the desk in front of her were part of the reason.

It was strange, knowing of Hoshino's notoriety in her first year. A serious, taciturn girl who never laughed, smiled, or cried.

The Iridum Falcon, who cared only for two things: striking down enemies with utmost efficiency and protecting the Abydos Autonomous District. Back in the day, that name struck fear into the hearts of all who would dare tread upon Abydos with bad intentions.

Those were bygone days, now. Nonomi couldn't help but wonder just how that girl two years ago would react to how she was now, but she knew that how Hoshino behaved now was a mere facade, a homage to something long gone.

That protective yet destructive girl was still within her. Though, now tempered by loss and time.

"Whatever the case," Ayane smiled widely, picking up one of the papers. "I'm glad to see them taking some time off, considering all that's happened so far."

"They did clear up the district's hoodlums and troublemakers by themselves before leaving on their trip." Serika sagely nodded. "I'm not surprised about Shiroko doing something like that, but I'm surprised Hoshino even mustered the energy to go on such an escapade."

"It was definitely surprising." Nonomi's comforting smile didn't reach her eyes at all as she looked at Ayane. "So what's on the agenda, Ayane?"

Ayane, in response, grasped a stapled document from the stack she brought in.

"Mostly regarding the recent situation in the scrapyard. Schale covered the repair costs, much to the thanks of the owner." Ayane placed the balance sheet in the middle of the table, flipping through it slowly for the sake of the others. "We wouldn't have been able to cover it and meet our debt payments otherwise."

The numbers that Nonomi saw written upon the paper weren't mind-boggling to say the least; she could easily cover it with her card. However, it was definitely out of the means of Abydos especially considering their debt. There was a balance they had to meet, after all.

"That Arisu sure is scary despite her cute looks and general… awkwardness." Serika looked up from her writing, and couldn't hold back a shudder at the thought of the devastation the named girl wrought with her bare hands and a piece of currency. "Can't really put those two together mentally. That coin-punch was like an artillery strike, wasn't it?"

"Mm. Quite so." Ayane nodded, pulling another paper out of the stack with uncanny efficiency, placing it too in the middle of the desk. "The damage done was akin to a thermobaric detonation, what with the blast wave, and it knocking all of the thugs out at the same time. It wouldn't surprise me if Sensei got a call from Valkyrie regarding it after their lengthy investigation."

Serika scratched her head as she skimmed through the details of the document, taking note of the damages that Ayane had thoughtfully and thoroughly compiled. "I'd hope he has a reason prepared just in case for that, considering he swore us to secrecy. Not that he'd really need to; who'd believe it was just a girl punching a coin really, really hard?"

Not long after stating so, her cat ears twitched minutely as if a thought passed through them, and burrowed straight into her brain.

She soon furrowed her brows. "Thermobaric explosives are banned weapons under the GSC Conventions, aren't they?"

"They are." Nonomi replied without hesitation. This was admittedly under her purview; law was no stranger to her, considering who she was. "They were banned since they starve the area of oxygen, resulting in instant suffocation for students, especially in enclosed spaces. The damage they deal is secondary to that fact."

Serika raised an eyebrow at her words, surprised that Nonomi knew that off-handedly. But she shrugged in response, not delving further, before motioning for Ayane to continue with the meeting with her held pen.

"He didn't seem to want people to know of Arisu's capabilities." Ayane folded her arms, making a noise in thought. "It's understandable why, but it'll make it out eventually that Schale has strategic-tier weapons at their disposal in some form or fashion."

They paused for a moment to ponder the ramifications.

Soon after, Serika let out a groan, smacking her paper and pen on the desk.

"Blergh. Sounds like a hassle." Serika disgruntledly let out a sigh, laying her hands behind her head and leaning back in her chair. "Schale from what I understand has the capability to do what they want, whenever they want, doesn't it? That can't be a good look if Schale having such destructive capabilities comes out to the press. I can see demands for sanctions happening. There'd even be riots."

"That does sound like a logical conclusion, even if Sensei isn't the type of person to partake in acts of wanton oppression." Ayane unfolded her arms and pushed up her glasses. "Schale, and by extension, Sensei, does seem to have a good reputation amongst the citizens of the D.U. at least, so I'd hope such riots would be mitigated somewhat."

"I'm afraid that's not good enough."

Nonomi interjected, her rebuttal coming at a surprise to the other two.

"A good reputation can be easily overturned." Nonomi motioned with her arms, a knowing grimace forming on her face. "Anyone can ruin their reputation overnight, just with one minor error. The populace can easily turn against someone they once looked up to."

She knew that all too well.

"Nephthys didn't fall for no reason. Don't ever forget that, Nonomi."

Ayane gazed at Nonomi wordlessly, though it was clear that she was somewhat worried about how she was behaving. In retrospect, it was out of character for her to reply so negatively.

But this was a bit of a sore spot for her; Hoshino had been behaving out of the ordinary as well, so she was feeling down in the dumps just a teensy bit.

After all, weren't they close enough that Hoshino could easily confide in her? She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she felt mildly betrayed.

"...I see. So, should we plan for anything if Valkyrie comes knocking at our door?" Serika's bemused expression seemed to grow reflective as she put her fingers underneath her chin. "I mean, I'd bet that they'd go to Sensei first, and that he'd warn us about it, but we should probably have something prepped as well."

"...I'd think so—BZZZZZZZZZ—"

Ayane's words were immediately cut off by a loud vibration from her pocket.

"Sorry, please give me a second." She raised her index finger, looking apologetically at the other two in the room. A noncommittal shrug came from one as she folded her arms, and the other just smiled understandingly in response.

Ayane pulled out her phone, pressing upon the side to glance upon whatever notification she had received.

"...We have visitors?" Ayane muttered out after a brief moment, nonplussed. "Seems to be two people, judging from the picture my drone took. Wait, what the goodness?!"

She put the picture on her phone on display to everyone around the desk so quickly, one wouldn't be blamed thinking that it was a hot potato.

"A white haired girl… in a wheelchair? And a… wait, what the heck is that girl wearing?" Serika's eyebrows seem to raise all the way above her forehead.

Indeed, it was a photo of a smiling white haired girl in a wheelchair they didn't recognize with elf ears, with her gloved hand having two fingers stretched out in a peace symbol. She was next to another pink-haired girl whose expression remained blank whilst staring directly at the drone's camera, dressed in a black jacket strewn across her shoulders along with a dress shirt that was barely hanging off her sides.

But what was truly eye-catching was her bizarre black bra with zippers and… large, covered appendages, out on display. Her shotgun was slung behind her shoulder in a lackadaisical manner.

"How bold, wearing something like that…" Ayane couldn't help but let out an embarrassed blush upon seeing the state of wear a certain girl in the image had. "W-Whatever the case, should we welcome them in? They're at the gates."

Nonomi clapped her hands in clear agreement, though some tenseness made itself felt in her bones. "Well, let's consider this meeting adjourned temporarily. Let's welcome our fine guests; I'll prepare some tea."

It seemed that what the other girl wore distracted them entirely from the finer details of the wheelchair and even the girl sitting upon it herself, but Nonomi noticed nonetheless.

While she didn't recognise the girl, there was a logo proudly displayed upon the sides of the wheelchair, one Nonomi most definitely recognized.

"Millennium Science School, huh?"

Nonomi muttered to nobody in particular as the three of them left the room.


So this would be his first time getting interrogated in this world. At least it wasn't happening in a dark, dimly lit room, and it was happening in a largely casual setting, that being the sidewalk outside Angel 24.

The gentle breeze melded seamlessly with the heat of the afternoon sun out here. In his usual suit, it was mildly uncomfortable, but not anything too terrible that he couldn't deal with. He'd been through worse.

So what did he know? What was the goal of this interrogation, and what evidence was to be levied against him?

This time, he didn't have much clue. What was he being charged with, anyway?

A banned weapon? Thermobarics?

Kivotos had such conventions, when they sold incendiary grenades in vending machines? Really?

He slowly ate his lunch, bite by bite. His drink, sip by sip.

It was a way to buy time, to think through questions as she asked them. She sure was putting on the pressure, but this wasn't something he hadn't done before. In retrospect, this was pretty tame.

The last time he was in such a situation, he had his face wrapped in a cloth and had water poured down over, and over, and over. It was particularly painful to have his body think that it was drowning, but it was something he could bear.

When that didn't work, a cocktail of drugs was used to heighten his sensitivity, and they ripped out his nails one by one, both slowly and quickly. To an extent, he was thankful for that. It made plenty of the voices in his head go away, with only pain taking over his senses. That wasn't likely to have been their intention, though.

Strangely enough, that entire situation felt nostalgic to him, even though it was quite a tortuous affair. It took a while for his nails to grow back too, which was mildly disconcerting. It made washing his hands and walking really annoying after he was rescued by the organization.

Maybe there really was something wrong with him.

Maybe.

He gulped down his bite, taking a sip of his tea as he did.

The best option, he surmised, was to deny, deny and deny.

"At the site, we found evidence of thermobaric weapons being utilized." Kanna held a clipboard out with a document latched upon it showing details of the damage, all of Arisu's work.

He raised an eyebrow intentionally, as if he were surprised at the notion. Having seen the damage firsthand, the report really wasn't anything that he didn't know already.

The entire place had been leveled, with basically nothing left.

Kanna then continued, pointing at the clipboard. "Including this, we found that all of those arrested said the same thing: a bright light, then they were knocked out. Answer me this: how did Schale get their hands on such a weapon?"

"I assure you, Schale does not have such weaponry." Shua took another sip of his tea, steeling his expression. So thermobaric weapons really were banned in Kivotos. That was completely new to him.

Vacuum bombs, huh? He couldn't really figure out why they were banned here. They utilized the surrounding oxygen to fuel the continual explosion. If one didn't die from the initial explosion, they could suffocate and or die from resultant complications very easily. But considering the hardiness of students imposed by their halos, he didn't think that was an issue.

That aside, he'd never gotten his hands on them, mostly utilizing HMX with plastic explosives, looted from military surplus.

There weren't any sort of regulations regarding such weaponry back in his world, though considering what he was back in the day, regulations didn't matter.

He had been a terrorist, after all.

But that was the life he left behind that day when that bomb fell, and the fires raged on upon the mountainous pile of corpses left in its wake.

He involuntarily narrowed his eyes at that thought. A slight misstep on his part considering he saw her expression shift in suspicion at the sight, but he could make use of it to make her think he was genuinely concerned about the nature of the allegations.

"I genuinely don't know what you mean. I've never ever used such weaponry. You can check with the GSC; they stock everything we have. I can provide records as well."

It was best to be somewhat forthcoming to stave off some suspicion.

"Then how do you explain the blast wave and the aftermath?!" Kanna slammed the clipboard onto the granite sidewalk with a loud thud, though considering it wasn't an interrogation table, it didn't have the same impact she most likely hoped. "All of the evidence points towards Schale carrying such arms. Unless you mean to tell me there is an alternative explanation? Was it Abydos?"

This felt like an abridged Reid interrogation technique. Shua couldn't help but feel even more nostalgia. The proper response to that was–

"I don't know what to tell you. Schale does not carry such weaponry. Abydos lacks the funds to even buy artillery, as they have to continually pay their cascading debt." Shua sighed loudly, placing down his meal on the sidewalk in faux exasperation.

It was mere theatrics that would serve his purposes: to sell a truth to facilitate his falsehoods.

"They at most have small arms and ammunition for those small arms. Schale's the same, only that we have some transport helicopters granted by the GSC that are too not armed with any bombardment capabilities."

Another sip. This was getting somewhere he liked, and he was mostly in control of the situation so far.

"So then, do you mean to tell me you had no involvement with that explosion?" Kanna stared directly at his eyes with great severity, with her index finger pointing at him in accusation. "Then, pray tell, how did this happen and how did you happen upon this situation that you would call for Valkyrie? It seems all-too-convenient."

Shua stared right back with a poker face. Best to mix the truth with the lies.

"We were actually going over there to clear out the thugs, considering how much trouble they've been making for people recently." He rubbed the back of his head with his now free hand. It was in line with his reputation as a 'problem-solver', so it was alright to admit that.

He then scrunched his face into a grimace. "However, whilst on the way there, the area suddenly exploded, knocking everyone there out."

Abydos didn't really have security in the form of cameras or anything of the sort; it was what made it a haven, a 'dark zone' for plenty of delinquents. It would be hard to prove anything he said wrong as the projectile also moved so quickly and with such force that it would be nigh impossible to track with a CCTV camera, or to launch from just a helicopter.

They would have needed absurd R&D to even get something like that. There simply wasn't a case where they could've launched it conventionally, which was precisely what happened– it was launched by a punch. That wasn't conventional by any means.

Off the top of his head, he was aware that the GSC monitored such developments with great scrutiny, to the point where they'd have to go through several steps of appraisals in order to gain approval.

Beyond that, he knew that only Millennium's Engineering Club really had the certifications to handle such things, and he hadn't had any contact with them so far, which was a shame. He'd love to meet those Meisters sometime.

So there weren't any loose ends, considering basically everything there had been destroyed, confirmed ever more so by the official damage report she showed. It was a problematic situation for the owner of the scrapyard, but it worked out in his favor. Even if there had been a camera, what kind of data recovery could they get from mere cinders?

Covering all of the damages and repairs made it certain that there would be no qualms from the owner; it'd even be viewed as humanitarian reparations from their perspective. The disturbed launch site of the coin could also be explained away easily by the strong winds from the blast wave.

This was covered up, through and through. There was no real need to worry, then.

He just needed to make sure the Foreclosure Task Force was on the same page afterward.

"When we arrived, we found them knocked out. Since our goal was achieved, albeit unintentionally, I considered it a success, and thus called Valkyrie for assistance in rounding them up. Abydos just doesn't have the means to hold them with a skeleton crew."

Kanna looked shell-shocked at his statement, though he didn't really understand why. Proceeding in such a way was merely logical.

"So it's a freak accident? Somehow, a sudden blast wave similar to a thermobaric explosion leads to a bunch of criminals being arrested?" The clipboard now rested upon her lap, with her eyes staring blankly upon the document laid upon it, as if she were trying to glean more information where possible.

Shua placed down his drink on the sidewalk and nodded. "Seems to be so. Heck, maybe it was a small meteor that came from behind the glare of the sun. I'd foresee similar damage in that case."

Kanna, hearing that, folded her arms, now glaring at him with great intensity.

"Then why did you react like that when I asked you?"

Shua smiled and shrugged, his eyes looking side to side as he did.

"Well, I wasn't expecting to be questioned on such a fine afternoon. You're also pretty scary, y'know? Lighten up a bit."

Truth be told, she was quite cute, just as with all of his students. But he'd never say that to her face.

Maybe sometime down in the future, when they got to know each other better. If that ever happened.

Whatever the case, she seemed very taken aback by his words, judging by her bewildered expression.

There was, however, one more thing he could use to make the lie more concrete in her mind.

"Besides, most of Abydos isn't under control of the Abydos Student Council… what's left of it, that is. There's only a single person in it." Shua looked at her with faux disappointment.

Her eyes widened at his words.

This was hook, line and sinker. "Most of it is owned by Kaiser Corporation. Perhaps you can find your answers there; maybe they were testing weapons? Just a hunch. They've been doing some strange things in the district, from what I hear."

He made a mental apology to Hoshino and the rest of the 'gang'. That was most definitely a sore spot, and he hoped she never found out about him saying so.

Kanna closed her eyes, slightly gritting her teeth and clenching her fist. It was most likely a physical response from the disappointment at being unable to pin him down.

Bigger fish had tried before. He had evaded them all, one after the other.

It seemed to him that her overzealousness at making a groundbreaking case against Schale had her overlook plenty of things. After all, who wouldn't be suspicious of a largely autonomous organization that could do whatever it wanted? Confirmation bias led to her tripping over in this instance.

If only she had more evidence and greater corroboration from witnesses, if there were any, maybe something could have come out from this.

Nevertheless, there was a prevailing question: who'd believe that explosion was just from a girl punching a coin really, really hard?

In Kivotos, it could happen. In fact, it did. So he'd take no chances.

Not when it came to Arisu.

"I… see." Kanna gave a displeased sigh and slowly stood up, picking up her clipboard as she did.

She gave a bow. "Thank you very much for your cooperation, Sensei. Enjoy your meal."

As she was getting prepared to walk away, a sound played.

"Chirp-chirp! See you again!"

"A-Ah… here's your drink, Miss Kanna."

Sora had just walked out of the store with her drink in hand. What perfect timing.

"...Thank you." Kanna grasped the cyan coffee cup with Angel 24's logo plastered upon it in her free, gloved hand, staring at it silently without a discernible expression.

She then shook her head, before stopping to look at Sora.

"I've already sent the payment. Thank you very much."

When did she even do that? Shua had to wonder. Perhaps…

Perhaps… this entire battlefield had been laid from the beginning, and he had luckily dodged every landmine set upon it.

As Shua watched her retreating back and azure halo slowly grow ever more indistinct in the distance, he knew one thing to be a fact.

This would not be the last time he'd see her.

…Growl…

…Well, it was back to eating, then.


The walk back was a mostly silent affair, Arisu absentmindedly noted.

Yuuka led the way from the front, Shiroko was behind her just following silently, most likely with thoughts rampantly flowing through her head considering how much her ears were twitching, and finally, herself.

It was all-in-all, strange. She had expected at least some form of conversation, but that didn't seem to be the case. After that discussion about Sensei's thoughts on how Shiroko was behaving, the mentioned girl seemed to be stewing in her contemplation.

"What could I have done better?"

"What should I have done?"

"What can I do to make things right?"

Those were the thoughts that Arisu supposed were going through Shiroko's head. After all, those were the exact thoughts she now had.

Yuuka seemed to look back once in a while, with slight discomfort passing through her face. Perhaps she hadn't been expecting this either, but from what Arisu knew of Shiroko, she wasn't the type to talk much.

Maybe she was more open with her words with Sensei. That seemed like a great possibility.

Maybe she herself could be that close to her too where they could talk easily without much issues.

Because right now, this really, really was an awkward situation. There was a strange feeling boiling up from within her that just seemed… uncomfortable. Something about it just didn't settle right with her.

What could she do? How could she try her best in this situation? She didn't know what that truly meant, only that it popped in her neural circuits as a random thought.

"Ah, that's your bike, isn't it?" Yuuka suddenly spoke out loud, startling Arisu slightly. "You've got good taste, though, was that model a two-seater?"

A small silence settled between them.

"...I modified the frame." Shiroko finally broke her silence, deciding to stare blankly at her cerulean, two-seater bike that was latched onto the fence with several locks, all of which were trapped. "I had planned to ride it with Sensei, but circumstances indicated that I can't do that just yet."

Some disappointment could be garnered from her slightly narrowed eyes, but there was a hint of pride from her intonation.

"You modified it by yourself?" Yuuka raised her eyebrows, surprised. "You've got some skill there. Maybe you really can be of some help for the second commission."

"Hmm?" Shiroko turned her attention back to Yuuka, tilting her head. "...What exactly were we doing, anyway?"

"...Were you just following me? Were you not paying attention at all?" Yuuka looked flabbergasted, scratching the back of her head with disgruntledness. "Sigh. We're going over to the Engineering Club to discuss some matters of design for a product they were developing. Noa would usually be the one handling this, but she's currently doing something else."

Hearing that, Arisu decided to raise her hand.

"Yes, Arisu?" Yuuka looked kindly at her, a far-cry from whatever expression she had been showing Shiroko. "What is it?"

"...You never once mentioned what we were doing. You only mentioned that we had a 'next assignment'." Arisu looked questioningly at Yuuka, lowering her hand as she did.

She genuinely was confused as to where they were going, and had only been following since Yuuka was clearly the one in charge here.

"...Oops." Yuuka palmed her face, hiding the slightest inkling of a blush. "Sorry. Must've been the stress."

"...Sorry." Arisu looked apologetically at Yuuka.

She had been part of the problem, after all.

"Don't be." Yuuka took her hand off her face, side-eying Shiroko with mild irritation. "It wasn't your fault."

Shiroko didn't seem to mind the slight, however. She just walked onwards to her bike, grasping the frame gently. A small smile formed on her face that was far removed from the blank expression Arisu had grown accustomed to seeing.

Somehow, that expression looked much more… right. Another feeling welled up from within her, one similarly unfamiliar but this time, it didn't feel uncomfortable at all. In fact, it felt almost akin to the feeling she got when she cleared a stage for the first time.

Was she happy, seeing Shiroko happy? Was that what she was feeling?

She had no clue, but she wanted to find out.

Upon that thought, Arisu paced over to where Shiroko stood.

"You really like Sensei, huh?" Arisu asked, her hands shifting behind her back.

"..." Shiroko said nothing, but her smile grew just a little bit.

That was all the confirmation she needed.

"I see." Arisu couldn't help but smile too.

Maybe seeing a friend, if she could even call Shiroko that, being happy…

Made her happy as well.

However…

Shiroko's wolf ears suddenly twitched, and Arisu felt a chill, causing her to pause in her step.

Somehow, the place just started to feel a lot less safe.

"Get back!" Shiroko shouted, pushing Arisu out of the way with all the force she could muster.

"Wha–?!" Yuuka looked on from further away, startled at the motion. "What are you–?!"

And there it was. Arisu's visual receptors saw it all in slow motion, as gunfire suddenly rained upon where Shiroko stood.

"BOOOOOOOM!"

Smoke billowed from her position, a white impermeable cloud that rendered all within unseeable.

Shiroko's status was now a complete unknown.

That white cloud was mixed with the tear gas. It spread out from the scene, all of it sourced from the locks that had been broken by the gunfire and resultant explosions.

Thankfully, Arisu was completely unaffected by it whilst she laid upon the floor, staring at where Shiroko had been. She didn't particularly need to breathe, and none of the gas would react with her cells, not that she had any.

The explosion did hurt a bit, but it was something she could bear.

"What the–?!" Yuuka had been standing further away, and thus hadn't been hit whatsoever. The tear gas wouldn't reach her position either, which was a small miracle. "An attack on Millennium grounds?!"

An unfamiliar, brash voice suddenly interjected.

"I dunno why the council prez put me up to this, but a job's a job. Yuuka, you stand clear or you'll be in my way."

An orange haired girl was now standing between Yuuka and where Shiroko had been. She was rather short, but there was an intimidating feeling pervading the air where she stood.

She wore a customized maid outfit, with a flowery bomber jacket over her shoulders. Alongside that, was a white maid headdress, red sneakers and two submachine guns with gold fittings and a dragon motif that according to her database were MPXs, connected to one another by a large metal chain.

Her halo was a black circle that had dashed edges; merged inside of another circle with a yellow triangle within.

"Neru?!" Yuuka blurted out, surprised to no end. "What the heck are you doing?! Those girls are from Schale!"

"...Just following orders." The now named Neru turned and pointedly stared at Yuuka. "Asuna, could you get her out of here?"

"Roger that, fearless leader!" Another maid came out of nowhere; she was far taller and… voluptuous, and dragged Yuuka along easily despite her panicked resistance. She had beige hair and an almost similar halo to Neru, albeit completely blue and without a triangle.

She soon became an indistinct blob in the distance.

What was going on? Arisu didn't understand one bit. Considering their familiarity with Yuuka, they had to be Millennium students, but why were they attacking them?

"...Why are you attacking us?" Arisu slowly stood up, looking straight at Neru's eyes. It was best to try and garner information in this unfamiliar situation.

"Like I said, just following orders." Neru pointed her guns at Arisu, a wicked smile forming on her face. "So, are you going to fight, or are you going to come along willingly?"

What was she supposed to do in this situation?

Was the right option… to fight?

Or was it to just go along with her?

Before she could make a decision, one was made.

"I'm fighting."

From within the smoke, a voice called out with great determination.

Shiroko walked out of the cloud, her mismatched pupils both glaring at Neru with scorn. Her uniform was slightly tattered, though her scarf was completely untarnished.

Somehow, she too was completely unaffected by the tear gas.

"You broke my bike." Shiroko pulled her rifle out from its sling, now pointing it directly at Neru's head. "I'll make sure you pay for it."

Well, if she was to do her best…

Then there was only one thing to do here.

Arisu pulled her pistol from its holster, putting her hands over the indents she had made.

She aimed it, just as Shiroko did.

"Game on, then." Neru smirked, now aiming her guns at them.

"Make it interesting, would ya?"