Lesson 5: Youth means sweets

The café they visited was a small establishment, painted in pastel colors and smelling of sweets. Large windows kept the locale brightly lit with midday sunlight. Café Maltese was run by a tiny canine woman who had to stand on a stepping stool to see over the counter and take Kazusa's order. Kazusa chatted with the shopkeeper with the casual friendliness of a regular while Ayumu waited patiently at their table along with Rei, who watched the exchange between cat-girl and shopkeeper with what could only be described as rapt curiosity. Soon, Kazusa received her order and joined the others at their table, placing cupcakes for each along with a bag bearing the shop's branding.

"I know it's a bit late to ask, but shouldn't you be in class right now, Kazusa?" Ayumu's tone was only very slightly accusatory. The accused merely shrugged and gave the older student a crooked smile.

"I put in a request to take midday self-study off for a counseling session. Which is why you're here," the cat-eared girl answered easily as she sat down to join the others. She shrugged after taking her seat. "Besides, it's not like anybody's teaching, y'know? It's all blu-rays, reports, and self-study, all day, every day. And I do need the counseling 'cause I got no idea how to handle this on my own."

Ayumu pouted briefly but nodded in agreement and understanding. Rei, meanwhile, stared at the bag that had been placed alongside their ordered sweets. She did not ask about the contents of the bag, but Kazusa caught the younger girl's puzzled look regardless.

"Macarons," Kazusa explained without prompting as she gestured at the box-shaped contents. "I'll be taking these to the clubroom to share with everyone later."

"Oh! Are you in the Baked Goods Club, Kazusa?"

"Nah, nothing so fancy," Kazusa answered Ayumu's question with a small laugh. There was genuine fondness in her voice as she continued. "After-School Sweets Club. We basically hang out and eat sweets and chat. Visit cafés and pop-up shops together. Laid-back normal stuff."

"That sounds nice! Don't you think soooo-" Ayumu turned around to speak to the silent girl who should ostensibly be leading the interview, and her voice caught in her throat as her discomfort towards the halo-less girl rose to the forefront of her thoughts again. "I, uh… it sounds nice. Yep, nice… A-anyways! About your issue…?"

"Yeah, I was getting to that," the black-haired girl replied sourly, a scowl on her face. "Truth is… I was hoping she would've shown up by now. Would've made explaining easier."

Ignoring both the very bewildered and the faintly bewildered looks she received, Kazusa crossed her arms in front of her chest, a look of concentration on her features, quickly replaced by a look of regret, then anger, then frustration, and finally resignation and a sigh. She reached into her schoolbag and pulled out her phone and, after a few taps, placed it on the table between herself and the others.

"Here. Might as well start at the beginning,"

SCHALE's Assistant and SCHALE's Representative both leaned forward to take a better look. After only a cursory glance, Ayumu gasped, her hands moving to cover her mouth, and Rei reacted before Ayumu could finish collecting her senses.

"This is you."

"Yeah, yeah. I know, I was a dumbass," Kazusa replied angrily as she snatched back the phone displaying a picture of herself wearing a too long skirt, rolled up uniform sleeves, a black surgical mask, and a very angry scowl. "I thought I was hot-shit and was hanging out with the wrong crowd back in middle-school. I grew up and changed, though, but Reisa…" Her voice trailed off and the lopsided grin that graced her features was a bitter one.

"Your stalker? Reisa was another delinquent?" Ayumu asked tentatively, worry clear in her green yes. Kazusa shook her head and chuckled, her bitter smile becoming one of genuine amusement.

"Nah, that would have probably made things easier. Could have just sicced the Justice Task Force on her if that were the case," the Trinity student replied with a dissatisfied grunt. "Reisa was the opposite. A wannabe Valkyrie Cadet. A soldier of justice. A hero of the people. Picked fights with all the middle-school gangs. Wore a toy belt and everything. Had beef with me in particular, for some reason."

"I think I see where this is going," the blonde GSC secretary replied with concern tinging her voice and eyes. Rei remained impassive. It was impossible to tell what she thought of Kazusa's plight.

"Yeah, it's not a complicated story," Kazusa laughed, the bitterness returning. "Just an annoying one. I grew past my stupid middle-school phase. Reisa didn't. Instead of going to Valkyrie, she followed me to Trinity and still keeps following me around, shooting first and asking questions never. Can't even come out here without Reisa getting on my case over stuff from middle-school. It's a miracle she hasn't shown up yet."

The silence that descended on the small group was uncomfortable and completely at odds with the sunny atmosphere of the café. Surprisingly, it was Rei who spoke up first.

"Why?" the pale girl asked, confusion evident in her voice even as her face remained impassive. "You have changed, but she does not acknowledge it. I do not understand."

Kazusa made a sound like a sputtering engine and sank deeper into her chair, closing her eyes and muttering something unintelligible under her breath before replying. "Because she's an immature idiot? What I said about 'shoots first, asks questions never'? I wasn't exaggerating. I can never get a word in edgewise over her shouting about justice this, justice that. I usually just bail as soon she shows up so others don't get caught in the crossfire."

"If she's that dangerous maybe you really should talk to the Justice Task Force," Ayumu said meekly, suddenly finding the table's wood grain very interesting in order to avoid Kazusa's gaze. "I know they're mostly concerned with stopping gangs and Gehenna skirmishes, but they also step in on bullying cases and… This really sounds like bullying to me."

"Reisa's an idiot, not a bully," Kazusa replied with a roll of her eyes and a long-suffering sigh. "Well, maybe a little, but she's mostly an annoying idiot. And I don't want her to get in trouble with the JTF just for being an idiot. I just want her to stop stalking me before she involves my friends."

"Why?"

"Huh?! You're asking why I would want to keep my friends away from Captain-Idiot-with-a-Shotgun?" Kazusa asked, her eyes narrowing menacingly and anger seeping into her voice as the feline ears atop her head swept back.

"No," Rei shook her head, unmoved by Kazusa's obvious anger. Her expression turned troubled as she searched for the right words and seeing the normally expressionless girl in such a state was enough to slightly dampen Kazusa's rising anger. "I am sorry. I do not know the right words for this situation, but…" She hesitated briefly before continuing. "Friends are… allies? Your comrades. You share a mission… A bond."

"A burden shared is a burden halved?" Ayumu ventured tentatively, trying to make sense of what the halo-less girl was getting at. A determined expression settled on the blonde's normally harried features as she turned to look at Kazusa. "I think Rei might be right. You should tell your friends. If you can't get this Reisa to listen on your own, then maybe together…"

The cat-eared girl's anger left her completely as she deflated and let herself sink further into her chair, looking as if the weight of the entire world was on her slim shoulders. "The last thing I want to do is to drag my friends into this mess I just wanna forget about…" Kazusa straightened again and grabbed her heretofore forgotten cupcake and devoured it in three bites. "Fine, whatever," she spoke up once she was done eating. "I did ask you guys for counseling and it's not like I got any better ideas. Who knows? Maybe seeing me with my clubmates will finally convince Reisa she needs to grow up too."

Ayumu clapped softly, a bright smile on her face. Rei simply nodded at Kazusa's decision, saying nothing more.

"You guys wanna come with when I tell the others?" Kazusa asked as she pushed the other's cupcake laden plates further toward them. "This was your idea and all."

"Yes, that's fine," Ayumu agreed with a small smile and a nod. "This is still SCHALE's responsibility, so we'll be glad to help."

Relief washed over Kazusa's face as she nodded. A clear, if unexpected, path had finally opened before her and the worries that she had kept locked up in her heart seemed to disappear with the arrival of this newfound hope. Most of them, at least. A small part of her worried over how the others would react to the revelations of her past, but she ignored it. They might make fun of her and tease her a little, but the After-School Sweets Club were her friends. They would take the news well once she told them about her past. They would surely understand.

Feeling better than she had in months, Kazusa smiled happily and pointed at the still untouched cupcakes between herself and the others. "You guys gonna eat those?" she asked impishly. "If you don't then I will. An After-School Sweets Club member always has more room for dessert, you know?"

Ayumu's eyes widened in surprise, and she squeaked before nodding and reaching to take the offered cupcake. Rei did the same, minus the surprise and the squeaking. No, it wasn't until she took a small bite out of her cupcake that Rei's eyes widened with surprise.

"Delicious."

"I know, right? Café Maltese is one of my treasures," Kazusa replied with a broad smile. "Oh! If you liked that then you're gonna love this." The girl excitedly reached for the bag, pulled out the box of macarons, and lifted the lid. "Go on! You guys try one!"

"Thank you!"

"Thank you."

Both girls thanked Kazusa for her offer as they each took one of the brightly colored macarons. Ayumu took a bite from hers and the reaction was immediate. She closed her eyes, seemingly overwhelmed, and tapped her feet excitedly as her black wings twitched with barely restrained joy.

"Eeee! It's so good, Kazusa-chan! I must get some of these for Rin and Momoka! They're gonna love them so much, I-"

Ayumu's excitement was abruptly curtailed by Kazusa's shushing motion. She watched as the cat-eared girl motioned slightly with her head and followed the motion to see Rei covering her mouth with a dainty hand.

A small smile was clearly visible beyond the edges of her fingers.


The After-School Sweets Club, sadly, did not take Kazusa's news well. Fingers were pointed, teeth were gnashed, and accusations of betrayal and dishonesty most foul were shouted.

"Traitor! Deceiver! How could you?! How could you come here and lie to our faces like this?!" Ibaragi Yoshimi, the club leader, was a tiny girl with blonde hair tied in twin-tails. Her halo consisted of two concentric circles of a yellow so bright that it almost seemed white, along with two drop-like shapes extending from the top of the outer circle as if they were tiny wings. Her childish face was contorted in fury verging on tears as she shouted. "How could you say you brought macarons when you already gave away my favorites?!"

"Yoshimi, cut that out! You're freaking out our guests!" Kazusa shouted right back at the diminutive girl. The cat ears flat against her head once more, and she seemed to be torn between trying to make placating gestures at the snarling, angry, tiny creature in front of her and trying to interpose herself between two very confused SCHALE girls and said growling, furious, tiny creature.

"Kazusa, is it true?" Kurimura Airi's green eyes were shining with unshed tears and her lips were trembling. Her halo was a mint-green laurel wreath with a single circle in the center. Taller than the other club members, her prim and dignified air was only slightly ruined by her childish expression of sadness and the forgotten ice cream cone freely melting in her hands as she stared at Kazusa with a miserable expression. "Are you really replacing us with the fancy new Federal Investigation Club?"

"Airi, not you too! It was a counseling session! Counseling! Aren't you guys focusing on the wrong thing here?! I used to be a delinquent?!" Kazusa was shrieking now even as Yoshimi continued ranting angrily at her about treason and insubordination, getting redder in the face with each new synonym.

"No, Kazusa, you are wrong. We are focusing on exactly the right thing. A box of macarons that advertised twenty-four confections only had twenty-two. This is chocolate without milk. Do you understand this, Kyoyama Kazusa? Your heart is blacker than the bitterest chocolate. You lack the romance of milk and sugar," Yutori Natsu nodded sagely to herself, her light pink side ponytail bobbing up and down with the motion. Her uniform, while worn properly, gave off an air of apathetic lethargy which was reflected by her sullen expression. Her halo was a light pink circle with a crosshair of the same color within.

"What are you even saying, Natsu?!" Kazusa wailed now on the verge of tears herself. Yoshimi was now shouting about Kazusa not paying any attention to her.

"Reparations must be made, Kazusa. You must invite us all to a complete box of macarons now."

"Like hell I will! That box is practically complete, you gluttonous harpies!"

"Airi, get her!" Natsu commanded with an imperious wave of her hand.

"Kazusa, pleeeeeaaaase!"

"Hey! Quit ignoring me!"

"That's not fair! You know I can't say no to Airi!"

"Hahaha! Wrong again, Kazusa! NOBODY can say no to Airi!"

"Pleeeeeaaaase!"

"Stop that, Airi!"

"Don't ignore meee…"

"They are very good friends, aren't they?" Ayumu leaned down slightly to whisper to Rei. Rei did not answer Ayumu's question, only looking at the scene before her with an expression of mounting confusion. "I'm glad that they accepted her past so easily."

"I did not know," Rei responded in a voice barely above a whisper, "that friends were so loud."

"Oh? Are your friends not like this?" the blonde asked in a bemused tone. She imagined a room full of expressionless girls sitting quietly, reading, and tapping away at their phones. The taller girl giggled softly to herself at the mental image.

"No," the response was instantaneous and devoid of all sentiment. "I do not have friends."

The mental image shattered violently.

"What?"

"I was not ordered to make friends."

Kazusa was successfully bullied into buying everyone a new box of macarons before Ayumu could ask another question.


It was late afternoon as the group finally stepped outside from the Club Hall building and into the surrounding gardens were other students milled about, moving towards their dorms or other afternoon activities. The friendly banter between the After-School Sweets Club contrasted with the awkward silence between SCHALE. Ayumu looked like she wanted to speak up but could not find the right words to voice her concerns. It soon became moot, however, as their path beyond the gate was barred by a trembling student holding a shotgun pointed downwards in a shaky grip.

"You left me with no choice, Kyoyama Kazusa," Uzawa Reisa spoke in a quavering tone. A childish looking First Year with pastel purple and pink hair, her halo consisted of a pink five-pointed star within a larger five-pointed star. Her purple eyes darted frantically between the After-School Sweets Club and SCHALE, stopping briefly on Rei with a shudder before focusing on Kazusa. "I, Uzawa Reisa, member of Trinity's Vigilante Crew, Trinity's Apostle of Justice, had hoped to put an end to your evil ways outside of school grounds, but I see now that such consideration is impossible! Not only have you summoned a halo-less monster from the abyss, but even now you recruit from the innocent and unsuspecting to bolster your delinquent army! Unforgivable! Fiendish! Utterly evil!"

The stragglers that had remained milling about in the gardens scattered as Reisa's speech dragged on, hoping to avoid the brewing clash. Kazusa had a pained expression on her face while the others looked clearly bewildered.

"Really, Reisa? Right at school? I thought you had better sense than this," the dark-haired girl's voice was full of regret as she stepped to interpose herself between the trembling Apostle of Justice and her friends. "I guess I should at least be grateful that you didn't shoot first this time, but…"

"You have left me with no choice, Demon Cat! You cavort with m-monstrosities! Cath Palug, I challenge you to a d-duel!" Reisa loudly interrupted Kazusa's words. She looked as if she would rather be anywhere else as her eyes darted back and forth between Kazusa and Rei.

"Not another stupid nickname," Kazusa groaned miserably, as the members of her club stepped forward to stand beside their friend.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Apostle of Justice, but you're not allowed to give our club member new nicknames," Natsu nodded stoically. "An ice cream float is an ice cream float regardless of soda, and so our Danger Kitty is our own to label regardless of your wishes."

"Danger Kitty?!" Kazusa screamed, horrified.

"Don't bully Kazusa, Ms. Vigilante! She hasn't done anything wrong!" Airi pleaded, clenching her hands in a pleading gesture.

"I don't get what your beef is with my club-member, but buzz-off, justice runt," Yoshimi snorted derisively.

"Runt?! I'm taller than you, you tiny imp!"

"Don't call me tiny, you loudmouth!"

"Who's a loudmouth, you yappy chihuahua?!"

"Chihuahua?!"

"They completely forgot we're here, didn't they?" Ayumu finally found her voice while watching the incongruous scene unfold in front of her. Rei could only nod in reply as she watched the shouting match get increasingly louder. For a moment it seemed that everyone had forgotten to point guns at each other while trying to come up with increasingly colorful insults. A shouting match was, at least, better than the alternative.

The shouting match was not to last, however, as a new, larger, group arrived to replace the crowd that had fled at the first sign of trouble. Three girls clothed in purest white and bearing a unique badge of office had arrived unnoticed during the shouting match, along with their armed escort and entourage, numbering three dozen in total.

"Troublesome. The waking world is nothing but trouble. This is meaningless meddling."

"Oh? Hush you and your cryptic nonsense. Doesn't this look like fun?"

"Ahem! As we were heading to our dorms, we heard that an inelegant and disorderly brawl was brewing in front of the Club Hall. Imagine our surprise and disappointment at finding those rumors to be true. The students of Trinity General must hold themselves to a higher standard than this. Explain yourselves promptly. The Tea Party shall judge and punish accordingly."

The unspoken command resulted in three dozen rifles immediately being pointed at the frightened After-School Sweets Club, at the mortified Vigilante Crew member, and at one nervous and one impassive SCHALE representative.

"Pater, Spiritus, and the host, Filius, command you," Kirifuji Nagisa, the host of the Tea Party, intoned ritualistically. "State your defense."


Lesson 5: End

What did we learn today, class?

Yes, that's correct!

Sweets taste better when shared!

Join us again next time for Lesson 6: Tea Party with Sweets. We'll have: More talking, lots of talking, maybe some forgiveness? Some… friendship, perhaps? And the start of something new! Afterall, youth means many things!

Don't be late!


AN: I was worried about this chapter as I was writing it since it was so dialogue heavy and focusing characters not normally used by other fics. Things ended up pretty different from the "Sweet Secrets and Shootouts" event while only barely acknowledging the main plot of the event, but hopefully it works for you guys. The next chapter wraps up this mini-arc and then I will take my first stab at "canon". For now, I go back to freaking out over the PMMM Walpurgisnacht Rising trailer. -Kero