The five kids would be on the rooftop of the school the next day, all with cleaning gear in hand. It was decided that they'd be tasked with cleaning up the mess they had made the day prior, scrubbing away at the paint on the ground and on the fence of the roof. While it was a tedious task as the paint was more runny than they had anticipated, the only silver lining was that they were allowed to skip class to clean up. Even then, they would still be held responsible for assignments they'd miss while cleaning, encouraging them to not take too long and fall behind. They'd also be adorned in ponchos, not because it'd be raining, but the fire department offered to assist in cleaning the side of the building with one of their Rescue Labors. As a result of this, sometimes they'd be doused with small amounts of water every now and then.
"...It's been a pretty crazy week hasn't it?" Mochizuki said as he was scrubbing paint from the creases in the ground.
Akio would be using a wet dry vacuum to collect all the paint that'd be running across the ground in the water, "Worst part is, high chance this isn't the end of it."
"Heh, my parents already wrung me out, so I've already been through the worst of it." Mochizuki responded Snarkily.
"My Mom talked my ear off with a long lecture and told me about this one guy who used labors irresponsibly, something about Grau Bears, I dunno."
"My Dad just told me to use those kinds of calculations for something more beneficial for my future." Taira said.
"My Dad said he didn't believe me when I told him how fast I picked the lock." Said Sakamoto.
Satomi directed her attention to Sakamoto, "You're still on about that!?"
"Yeah."
"..." Satomi sighed, "My Mother worried more for my own safety in the situation rather than my involvement."
Mochizuki wrung out his cloth, "So you got off pretty easily huh?"
"Fortunately so."
"...And You know... I don't really mind being up here on cleaning duty."
"Hey man don't forget, we still have class to go to. Not just that but we still need to hit up the courtyard too." Akio said.
"Keep in mind that that's only cause two of your shots landed there." Mochizuki said as he held up two fingers.
"And that's only cause I was told to shoot all five."
"And you hit the Boxer on your third shot, meaning the last two were unnecessary." Satomi responded.
Akio turned off the machine so they'd hear him clearly, "I was making a gamble on where exactly I'd hit the shot anyway, I didn't know the exact trajectory of where it'd land. Taira just told me a bunch of numbers and junk, then said to fire in quick succession."
"So are you saying it's Kobayashi's fault now?"
"I never said it was his fault!"
"You're implying that he's responsible for the paint rounds hitting the school and the courtyard."
"All I'm saying is that I only shot all five because he told me how everything wasn't guaranteed to hit. In fact, you're the one that told me to even get in the Anchor."
"So are you blaming me now?"
"Is that what you think I'm doing?"
"I sure hope not! Cause if so-" Before she could finish, everyone would be lightly doused in water due to the excess from the Rescue Labor's water cannons.
"...Guys, I don't think arguing is going to get us anywhere." Mochizuki said, going back to cleaning. "We all got laid out by the Principal and our parents. The last thing we need is for us to lay each other out."
"Mochizuki's right, we shouldn't be pointing fingers at each other. After all, we just pulled off a pretty awesome team effort operation yesterday. I bet no one else here at school could do what we did." Taira said.
"I guess so." Akio looked across the rooftop, "Think we're finally able to move on?"
Mochizuki looked around as well, "That might be all of the paint actually.."
Satomi picked up her mop and bucket, "Finally, let's hurry up and go down to the courtyard."
The five would all be outside in the courtyard, cleaning the rest of the paint up. They were working somewhat quickly as they've missed a couple classes already, and at least wanted to make some time for the lunch hour and a well needed break. Cleaning the courtyard luckily didn't take as long as the rooftop, the water would make the paint simply run off into a drain nearby. Once they were done they collected their things and went back inside the school, the bell ringing just as they had entered signifying the start of lunch time. It felt a little like a walk of shame, being adorned in their bright ponchos and cleaning supplies, yet they weren't going to complain about a job they already finished. They returned all the cleaning supplies to the supply closet and hung up their ponchos, then switched out of their rain boots and into their school shoes.
"You think they'll give us something for cleaning the school?" Sakamoto asked.
"In this transaction, we were the ones giving something in return." Mochizuki responded.
"Oooh... That's right..."
Akio stretched, reaching behind his head. "Well I don't want to keep my lunch waiting, let's not hang here much longer!" Suddenly, a student would approach him from behind, the others taking notice before he did.
"Hey, Shinohara, you know that guy?" Satomi asked.
"Wait, that's Kawamura." Mochizuki said.
Akio turned around to face him, "...Yo, what's up?"
He folded his arms, "Nothing, I'm just here to say that I hope you learned your lesson."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"That stunt you pulled yesterday. Just because you're some kid with rich parents doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. It's not right to blatantly steal a labor and vandalize the school like that. Now the rooftop is off limits today because of you."
"We already cleaned it all up so don't come crying to me about it. I've been getting a ton of crap recently, and I wasn't exactly itching to know your opinion too."
He would turn around, facing away from the group. "Next time, just try to have some regard for others. The world doesn't revolve around you." He left down the hallway, disappearing past a corner.
"What's his deal?" Satomi asked.
"That's what I wanna know!" Akio responded, "He's been a big jerk to me every time I've interacted with him and I don't know why."
"I mean, it's evident that you aren't above making enemies at school, Shinohara." Mochizuki responds, looking at Satomi then at him.
Akio would then noticed his insinuation, "That's completely different though! I never met him at all until now—Whatever, I'm too hungry to care at this point." Akio and the others would all decide to settle down in their homeroom class for lunchtime, Akio sitting down near the window as the others would join him. Satomi and Taira took a seat as well, Mochizuki leaned up against the wall as Sakamoto would be looking out the window. His attention would be drawn by the Rescue Labor that'd seemed to be leaving the school grounds, and he'd wave at the labor happily. Surprisingly, the pilot of the labor would notice, having the Rescue Labor perform a hand waving motion back before it loaded back onto it's carrier.
"Someone seems to be in high spirits." Satomi said.
"The Rescue Labor is my favorite labor!" Sakamoto closed the window as the carrier left down the road.
Akio spoke through his mouth full of food, "Really? The Rescue Labor? I didn't think that'd be your favorite labor."
"What makes you say that?"
"Your parents work at Holly right? Wouldn't it be like, a security labor or something?"
"I guess they're kinda cool, I just like the Rescue Labor because it's like the Guncannon, and I like the Guncannon."
"So then why do you like the Guncannon?"
"It reminds me of the Rescue Labor."
Satomi hung her head low, "I'd rather be cleaning paint than witness this conversation."
"Jeez, I just remembered we're going to have to meet with all our teachers to catch back up, that's gonna be great.." Mochizuki said.
"It was only one day, so it shouldn't be too much right? We only got yanked out of class out of the tail end of first period anyway." Akio responded.
Taira pointed his chopsticks up in the air, "It's much better to learn while in class than on your own."
Akio would lean back in his seat, having the front two legs of his chair lift up off the ground. "That's true, I can't carry my own weight for the life of me."
"That's okay, we're all behind on all the same things right? We can just put together a study group, I'd be happy to help everyone out get back on track." Taira said.
"Well, do you have a place in mind at least?" Satomi asked.
"Not really, it'd have to be somewhere fairly spacious." Taira responded.
Akio leaned back forward in his seat, turning to his side. "There's this one place I think we can hit up, it's a café not too far from here."
"I think I might know what you're talking about, my father would go there sometimes. I think he knows the man that works there... I can't remember his name though."
"Mr. Yamazaki?"
Satomi snapped her fingers and pointed, "Yeah—him! Do you know him?"
"My Mom and Dad are friends with him, he's like an uncle to me."
"Come to think of it I guess that makes sense, they all were in the police force together if I remember correctly."
"Small world isn't it?" Taira said.
"Heh, Imagine if we were all fated to meet like this." Mochizuki said as he cracked a cunning grin.
"Oooooo! It was only our destiny that we'd find each other!" Taira jokes.
Akio clasped his chin, "...That sounds really familiar for some reason." Before he could ponder the thought, the bell would ring, signifying the end of lunch time.
"Looks like chow times over, time to hit the workshop!" Mochizuki said.
When everyone arrived at the workshop they'd quickly realize it was a lot quieter than usual, at least, aside from the sounds of them sitting at their desks. Normally they'd be graciously greeted by their teacher, though instead he'd be seated on his desk in silence as they all settled down. There would be a moment of complete silence before he'd begin talking to his students.
"Good afternoon class, as you may have noticed, I am not too happy today."
Satomi quickly spoke up, "Okay—Mr. Hayashi, if this is abou-"
"Nah, nada, I don't wanna hear it. I know all that I need to know, all about your escapades you took whilst I was away. The way you all meandered into this workshop, the way you rummaged through all my belongings...!" He did exaggerated hand motions over his drawer, "And the way you misused the Anchor that I was kind enough to let you all pilot for the last couple weeks. As... Mondo cool.. as your plan to use the paint cannon to fire a round over the school to hit the labor... Admittedly, wholeheartedly, that was a sick plan, but as sick as it was... It is something that I cannot let you all get away with. I'm sure you all got an earful from the Principal and all your parents, I most definitely did aside from the parents part. So, because of all this, I have thought up a clever method of discipline that'd make you reflect on your past actions. Coincidentally, the Anchor was damaged in your labor-jacking endeavors."
"What? No it wasn't!" Akio said out loud.
"Unfortunately, it was." Mr. Hayashi pressed a button on a remote he was hiding behind his back, causing the right arm of the Anchor to detach from the main body. " The entire class was taken aback by this, they all knew the Anchor sustained no damage during the operation. "So how about we expedite the curriculum a bit here? I'll be entrusting all of you to re-attach the arm of the Anchor, and not only that but make sure it functions properly as well. Of course, you'll be under my supervision, and you won't be doing this alone and unaided. However, the reinstallation process will be spearheaded by all of you."
"Don't you think this is a little much in terms of punishment!?" Satomi said.
"I think it's perfect! You get to think about the consequences of your actions and it serves as a learning experience."
"But we don't know how to reattach the arm of a labor!"
"And now's a great chance for you to learn how to do it!"
"I'm sure we can handle it!" Mochizuki said, getting up from his seat and walking near the Anchor. He looked at the arm and then looked back up at the labor, the arm itself as detached from the forearm and down. The shoulder itself was still seemingly connected to the machine. "This supposed 'damage' doesn't look like it requires replacement parts or repairs to the frame and electronics."
"So do you know how to put that thing's arm back on?" Satomi asked.
"Sorry, I don't. But I can tell you it won't be as monumental of a task you'd think it'd be. Mr. Hayashi, how long do we have to fix this thing up?"
"Two days! That includes the installation and field testing process."
Mochizuki nodded "Sounds like a plan." The other four approached the labor and looked up at the Anchor, noticing the cloth dangling up from where the arm used to be. "First things first, we'll have to remove that."
"I guess that means we'll have to remove the shoulder." Taira said. "It'll be quite a bit of work just for a reinstallation, but it shouldn't be too difficult."
"I got this, I'll work the chain hoists." said Mochizuki.
"We also need to unscrew the bolts on the side of the body to fully remove the cloth covering." Taira
"I'll do that myself, you'll just instruct me on what to do next." Mr. Hayashi said, going to get the power drill. Mochizuki managed to latch the chains onto the shoulder of the labor, Mr. Hayashi assisting him in removing the shoulder and then the cloth covering. This revealed the socket of the Anchor where the joint would be, and Mochizuki would have the chains place the shoulder down on the floor of the workshop. The arm and shoulder would be completely laid out on the ground, and all the students would gather around to inspect it before they tried to reinstall the arm. The shoulder joint and elbow joint appeared to be loosened, showing how the arm gave way from the labor.
"Do we have to open it up?" Sakamoto asked.
"Like I said, we just need to reattach it, we'll have to hold it in place at the socket and tighten the screws and ligaments of the machine." Mochizuki said.
"And I assume afterwards we pull the protective cloth over it?" Satomi said.
"Yeah, but remember we gotta make sure everything is on there right before we do. If we install it wrong we have to go through the entire process again."
"Let's get to it then, standing around looking at it's not gonna put it on any faster." Akio said, "Get the chain hoist going again, we'll get the arm secured in place." Following Akio's request, Mochizuki would once again use the chains to hoist the arm up to the labor. Mr. Hayashi would assist Akio, Sakamoto, and Taira in securing the arm in place, keeping it suspended off the ground and onto the Anchor.
"You guys got it?" Mochizuki asked.
"Yeah, we got it." Akio said, giving a thumbs up.
"Okay, I'll leave the counterweight where it is so the arm stays in place. You guys should keep up work on the upper shoulder joint, we'll rotate in afterwards and handle the elbow joint." The period would go on as Taira, Akio, and Mr. Hayashi connected the arm to the main body, soon enough completely fastening the upper shoulder joint. Sakamoto, Mochizuki, and Satomi would then tend to the elbow joint, using the appropriate tools under the supervision of Mr. Hayashi to secure the lower arm. After a short break they'd finish up the job, managing to fully connect the arm to the labor.
"That wasn't so bad..." Taira said, "It's like one big model kit... Kinda...?"
"We're not done yet, we still have to make sure all the electronic connections work." Mochizuki said.
"You must really be hunting for that gold star huh Mochizuki?" Mr. Hayashi would respond.
Hayashi would then board onto the "I just wanna make sure we aren't behind in this class too."
Mr. Hayashi would climb up to the cockpit, pointing at the monitor. "Load the BIOS onto the computer before you start the labor, that way you can simply control a single limb instead of the entire labor."
"Would something bad happen if I started the labor with a single working limb?"
"Nothing exactly dangerous would happen, just that having the computer operate with a labor with a possibly malfunctioning limb would be bad for your movement data. It's done just as a precaution really."
"Ah, I see, well then let's test it out." Mochizuki loaded into the BIOS, the screen would show a diagram of the machine and it's schematics. Mochizuki would then connect to the right arm and perform some basic limb and manipulator movements, moving it up and down, then opening and closing the fingers. "Response time seems good, and it looks as if the joints are behaving correctly." While Mochizuki was just finishing up testing the electronics of the Anchor, the bell would ring as the school day came to an end.
"Crap, looks like we're outta time." Akio said.
"We still have a day left, the Anchor's arms seem fine so all we need to do is a field test tomorrow." Mochizuki said, dismounting from the labor.
"All you kids take care now, stay out of trouble!" Mr. Hayashi said.
"We will, don't worry!" Sakamoto replied as he followed everyone out the door.
"So, Akio, don't you have a place to show us?" Satomi asked as they began to leave the school grounds.
"Oh yeah that's right, everyone follow me!"