The second part of the Abydos prelude is here! I even managed to get this on here just in time before the first day of my second semester in my first year of college, haha.

Anyways, please enjoy this chapter!


April 5th, 2158

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Hoshino-chan, it's time to wake up~." A voice called out from the other side of the bedroom door.

Takanashi Hoshino slowly opened her eyes and let out a groan.

"Hoshino-sama, you didn't even come down for dinner, are you okay?" Another voice called out.

She narrowed her eyes, recognizing the voices that belonged to Yume and one of the maids respectively.

"What time is it…?" Hoshino muttered to herself.

The girl reluctantly sat up from her bed and checked her phone.

Today: April 5th

Time: 7: 12 AM

"Seven in the morning…?"

It took a few seconds for her mind to process what she had just read, before her eyes widened in shock.

"I'm going to be late!" She suddenly yelled.

Hoshino jumped up from her bed and went over to the mirror, taking a good look of her own current state.

"My eyes… Did I really just…?"

She focused on her eyes, which were red and puffy with dried tears. The girl clenched her fists as her thoughts prior to passing out had been worse than what she expected.

"I'm so pathetic…" Hoshino mumbled, letting out a bitter laugh.

Once again, she ended up letting her father's words affect her, to the point where she didn't realize she had cried herself to sleep.

"Hoshino-chan, I'm coming in!" Yume called out.

Click. Creak.

Opening the door, Yume approached Hoshino and let out a small gasp in surprise, before rushing towards her.

"Hoshino-chan, you're still in your Abydos uniform!" She pointed out, grasping her younger stepsister by her shoulders.

Hoshino looked down on herself and noticed that she was still wearing the Abydos school uniform from yesterday, prompting her to sigh and palmed her face.

Yume shook her head and turned her attention to the maid standing dutifully behind her.

"Sarina-chan, please fetch my cute little sister a clean uniform, please~?"

"Of course, Yume-sama." Sarina replied, walking towards the closet.

"Ugh, I feel like crap." Hoshino said with a grimace.

"Language, young lady." Yume scolded in a light tone.

"Okay, mom." The pink-haired girl said, rolling her eyes.

Yume merely smiled as she turned towards the door and said. "I'll be leaving for school now, Akaza-kun is waiting at the gate, so don't keep him waiting for too long~!"

Without missing a beat, she left the bedroom with a small skip, leaving Hoshino alone with her thoughts.

"At least there's someone waiting outside." She muttered with a sigh.

As the pink-haired girl was about to grab a towel, she heard Sarina's voice as the latter prepared a clean school uniform.

"By the way, Kenji-sama had already left for his work, and there's some breakfast downstairs once you're finished." The maid said, neatly folding a white dress shirt.

"I see…" Hoshino muttered as she proceeded to leave her bedroom.

She wasn't surprised that her father was already gone by the time she woke up, but at the same time, she was slightly relieved that she wouldn't have to see his face for today.


XXX (Ten Minutes Later) XXX

Hoshino rushed to prepare herself for the first official meeting, taking a shower in less than five minutes, and then putting on the clean uniform laid out for her once she returned to her room.

She made sure to grab her gun and put on her tactical vest, before running out into the hallway and wasting no time heading straight for the house's entrance.

"Wait! Hoshino-sama, what about your breakfast?" Another maid tried to call out to her.

Creeeeak. Slam!

"No time." Was her simple response as she slammed the door behind her and made her way to the front gate.

After giving a small wave at the mansion, Hoshino's eyes caught Akaza waiting at the entrance. The young man saw his friend and casually waved in response.

"What took you so long?" He simply asked.

Hoshino looking away in slight shame had told him everything he needed to know.

"Fortunately, I have extra breakfast bars on my person." Akaza said, pulling out one from one of his pockets.

"Thanks…" Hoshino was quick to accept it and immediately took a bite. "Can we go now…?"

Akaza nodded before he and his friend had exited the gates, briefly waving goodbye to the two guards as they did.

The two students proceeded to walk their way through Abydos city, while making sure not to bump into civilians or cars trying to go on about their day.

The walk itself was quiet for the most part, which was helped by the city itself being partially deserted, save for them apologizing to anyone they nearly bumped into.

"It'll be fine, I just need to explain why to Kougami-senpai…" Hoshino thought to herself.

She wanted nothing more than to attend the meeting and get it over with, but Ryota's words from yesterday reached her mind.

"If you have trouble deciding, you have the rest of the day to give an answer."

She still hasn't even decided if she truly wanted to fight alongside her senpais for the school or not. She didn't want to imagine their reactions to them realizing her current inner turmoil.

However, before she could linger on those thoughts further, the silence broke as soon as Akaza spoke up. "I assume that your doubts are still weighing heavily on your shoulders?"

Hoshino grimaced in response and said. "Kaze, did you really have to word it like that?"

"My apologies, I am just concerned about your well-being." Akaza replied honestly.

"It's fine." Hoshino said with a sigh. "Let's just keep moving."

She needed to come to a decision fast before the meeting would begin.


Both students had finally reached the front gates of Abydos High School, much to Hoshino's relief.

"Fortunately, we seemed to have arrived just in time." Akaza said, checking his watch.

Hoshino nodded at that and said. "Let's go."

They wasted no time entering the school building, and it took them a couple of minutes to reach the assigned meeting room.

"Took you guys long enough." Kaito remarked.

"Did something happen on the way here?" Nagato questioned.

Kaito and Nagato were already inside, with the meeting room itself being an old clubroom that hadn't been used in a long time.

"Where are they?" Hoshino asked, noticing the two upperclassmen's lack of presence.

"They said they needed to do a daily check on the entire school," Nagato was quick to answer. "They'll be here in a minute or two."

Akaza simply leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, keeping his eyes locked on the door for when the two older students would eventually come inside.

Hoshino slightly grimaced, but nodded nonetheless.

"So, are ya gonna be with us or not?" Kaito asked curiously.

Turning over to the boy in surprise, Hoshino didn't expect someone like Kaito to ask her that question.

"Yes, I do recall that you haven't given your answer yesterday." Nagato added.

Feeling herself sweat under the gazes of her fellow students, Hoshino didn't know whether to remain silent or not.

"I…"

Bzzzttt! RIIIIIING!

She was cut off when the sounds of a microphone, loudspeaker, and a buzzing alarm were made not just inside the meeting room, but all over the school building.

"Everyone, reporting from the headmaster's office!" Yume's voice came from the loudspeaker. "Ryo-kun has spotted a robotic army led by a cloaked figure standing a couple meters away from the front gates!"

"What?" Nagato covered her mouth in shock.

"I repeat, Ryo-kun has spotted a robotic army led by a cloaked figure standing a couple meters away from the front gates!" Yume repeated. "Please make your way out of the school building, and bring your weapons with you, over."

"What the hell…?" Kaito said in disbelief.

As if on instinct, Hoshino narrowed her eyes and clutched Eye of Horus tightly, as she made her way towards the door.

She turned to her fellow students and said. "You heard Yume-senpai, let's go!"

Akaza was already by her side, Desert Maelstrom in its revolver form at the ready, and nodded firmly at his friend.

"Well, can't argue with that." Kaito shrugged and raised one of his machine gun gauntlets. "Lead the way!"

Nagato held her MP5K and nodded at the pink-haired girl, prepared to follow her as well.

The first year students proceeded to exit the meeting room, as the alarm kept buzzing over and over.

"I didn't think we might get into our first real fight this soon…" Hoshino thought to herself, walking down the hallway with the others following her from behind.

While she hadn't made her decision yet, she wasn't going to run away from something like this.

"I still want to help them for how much they helped me."


Wearing his mask, Ryota stared down the cloaked figure that was leading the robot army, keeping his eyes on them in case they did anything.

"Kougami-senpai!"

He briefly turned around and saw the first year students approaching them, each having their weapons ready.

The masked boy lifted his arm at them, gesturing them not to attack right away and then directed them to stand next to him.

Hoshino narrowed her eyes at the cloaked figure, her finger inching towards the trigger in case she was given the order to shoot.

She wasn't the only one, as Usui had his hand near Desert Maelstrom's handle, Kaito was cracking his knuckles through his gauntlets, and Nagato was checking her gun for any flaws.

Both sides didn't say a single word for more than a couple of minutes, until the cloaked figure revealed himself and flashed a smirk at the students.

"Greetings, students of Abydos High School, my name is Kagami Soichiro." The cloaked man introduced himself, holding up a megaphone as he did. "Former scientist of Millennium City and representative of Kaiser Corporation."

"Millennium?" Nagato said, furrowing her brows. "Isn't that city known for its technological advances, especially from the well-known Millennium Science School?"

"Correct, Sasaki." Ryota nodded. "What I wish to know is why a supposed scientist like himself would ally with an organization like Kaiser."

"Director Kaiser-sama wishes to acquire the building that all of you are currently standing with." Kagami continued.

"What does he want with the school…?" Nagato said warily.

"Who cares? Let's just beat his ass and tell him to get lost!" Kaito said, smashing his gauntlets together.

"Provoking him will be ill-advised, considering that he has yet to make a move against us." Akaza said, shaking his head.

"Kaiser-sama believes that all of you are standing in the way of his hopes and dreams." Kagami added, gazing at each student. "As such, if you refuse to leave the area, we will have no choice but to resort to brute force."

Hoshino didn't say anything and continued to narrow her eyes at the adult man standing before all of them. She idly looked over the amount of guns and swords wielded by the robotic soldiers, her mind racking for any plans should they start shooting at him.

While she was confident that their halos would ensure that they take no visible harm, she wouldn't trust their odds against what looked like a hundred robots.

"It's only six of us, and what looks like a hundred soldiers." She thought to herself. "How do we do this?"

"However, believe me when I say that we do not wish to engage in meaningless violence against a bunch of children." Kagami said, before gesturing to the army of robots. "These are only here to act as a safety precaution."

"Bullshit…" Hoshino muttered.

"Ryo-kun, I brought the megaphone you told me to find."

She and the other first year students turned around and saw Yume walking up to them with the same calm smile she had yesterday, holding a red and white megaphone in her hand as she approached Ryota.

Ryota silently took the megaphone and proceeded to take off his mask, before putting it close to his mouth as he began to speak.

"Apologies for the late response, but on behalf of all the remaining Abydos High School students, we refuse to abandon this very building." He said in a firm tone.

"Agreed." Yume nodded.

"Better listen to him, asshole!" Kaito added.

"… I see, then I believe we'll have problems with that stance and do this the hard way." Kagami said, narrowing his eyes.

"If this guy wants to fight, then we'll give it to him." Hoshino said, clutching her gun tighter.

"I will be right with you." Akaza said, his finger on the revolver's switch to transform it just in case.

Ryota remained silent, looking like he was taking the Kaiser representative's words into consideration, which didn't go unnoticed.

"Ryo-kun, what are you thinking about?" Yume asked, gazing between her fellow student and the adult man.

"What are your terms?" He asked suddenly.

"What!? What is senpai saying?" Hoshino widened her eyes in alarm.

Kagami chuckled and decided to reply. "Since you asked politely, I will be a fair man and request that we take this to the Abydos desert."

"I don't trust that bastard…" Kaito muttered.

"It's not like we have any choice." Nagato said, sighing.

"… I assume that it's because you don't want to risk any collateral damage towards the school building?" Ryota questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Correct." Kagami nodded and continued. "Kaiser-sama wants that building in one piece so he can further expand his reach and turn it into a commercial hub."

Yume subtly frowned at the intention behind the school she held so dear to her.

"Yume-neesan…" Hoshino mumbled, noticing that her sister's hands were trembling as well.

"Then allow me to propose a wager." Ryota started, narrowing his eyes. "Should we win this battle against you, do you swear to retreat to your employer and tell him that we will not go down without a fight?"

"Of course, I have stated that I will be a fair man." Kagami agreed, before he smirked. "But what will happen should we win against the likes of you?"

" … " Ryota said nothing for a brief moment, and then answered. "Then we'll get out of your way and allow your director to turn Abydos High School into his commercial place."

"Ryo-kun!"

"Kougami-senpai!"

Yume and the first year students were completely shocked at the wager Ryota was willing to do.

"Hoho, you make a convincing argument, young man." Kagami said, laughing at the student's boldness. "Very well then, let us move to the Abydos desert."

The man lowered his megaphone as he placed his cloak back on and turned around to leave, with the robot army obediently following him as he did.

"Kougami-senpai, are you insane!?" Hoshino yelled, still reeling from the wager her senpai made.

"Ryo-kun, making this kind of bet is a huge risk." Yume frowned, feeling a sense of disappointment. "What if we end up losing? Where would it lead us if that happens?"

"I know what I'm doing." Ryota replied. "I already have a plan to deal with this man."

"Man, that better be one hell of a good one then." Kaito remarked, crossing his arms.

"Maybe Kougami-senpai has a good reason?" Nagato offered.

"Regardless, let's head to the Abydos desert." Ryota began walking towards the back part of the school building.

"Senpai?" Nagato said, tilting her head in curiosity.

The other students looked at each other, before deciding to follow the older boy.

"Where is he taking us…?" Hoshino muttered under her breath.

As if to answer her question, Ryota had stopped walking and proceeded to make a silent gesture towards what looked like a vehicle.

"Whoa…!" Kaito's eyes widened in awe.

The vehicle itself was a tan-colored jeep, with metal plates seemingly built into the sides, spikes attached to the front, and a minigun stationed on top of an open part of the roof.

"Was this the project you worked on before we took in our juniors?" Yume asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." Ryota's lips curled up slightly, and if one were to have good ears, an undercurrent of pride was heard in his simple response.

"Huh, didn't expect that." Hoshino said, blinking at the sight of the vehicle.

"Alright, we should get going." Ryota said, wasting no time getting into the driver's seat. "Since I'm the oldest out of all of us, I'll be the one to drive."

The other students had no words of protest, as all of them followed suit and entered the jeep. Yume took the passenger's seat, right next to where Ryota was stationed, while the first year students were forced to fit themselves at the back.

Squish!

"Are you all comfortable, everyone?" Yume asked, looking behind her seat.

"Yeah…! We're good…!" Kaito forced a smile and thumbs up.

"Can we just go now…" Nagato breathed out, trying to adjust herself.

Akaza said nothing as one side of his face was squished against the window, ignoring the struggles of his fellow students.

"We'll be fine, Yume-senpai." Hoshino said, her voice slightly strained from being sat between Akaza and Nagato.

Yume nodded and turned around to get herself settled, before Ryota hit the gas pedal and proceeded to drive away from the back of the school building and towards the front gates.

This would be the Countermeasure Committee's first ever operation.


"So they refused?" The PMC Director's gruff voice grunted from within a communication drone.

Kagami and his army were in the Abydos desert, patiently waiting for their challengers.

"Indeed they have, but it is a non-issue, I will ensure victory, PMC Director." Kagami said, smirking confidently. "That young man was a fool to make that bold wager."

"Hmph, you better." He scoffed. "The last representative from SRT was an utter disappointment, so I expect a Millennium scientist of your caliber to deliver satisfactory results."

"Of course, of course." Kagami nodded. "And just in case…"

The rogue scientist turned around and proudly looked at the large figure that towered over him and his army, even covering them with its shadow.

"… I have a secret weapon that I brought with me while I made my escape." Kagami smirked wider and chuckled under his breath.

"Its very existence has been invaluable to our engineers, at the very least." The PMC Director said, giving credit where it was due. "The President was most pleased when you presented the blueprints for them."

"Indeed." Kagami said in agreement, raising his arm to push a button from his bracer.

The large figure quickly disappeared from sight, as if it was never there to begin with.

"You better win this battle, or your head will be on the chopping block, Kagami." The director warned, before the communication drone shut off the call and then flew away.

Upon being left alone, Kagami turned around and spotted a tan-colored armored jeep making its way towards his location.

"It looks like the children have arrived." He mused thoughtfully.

Meanwhile, the Countermeasures Committee was getting closer to their destination, much to the first-year students' relief.

"I can finally get out of this cramped space." Hoshino said with a groan.

The others made their own sounds of agreement, also looking forward to getting out of the jeep.

"I see him." Ryota stated.

The young man stopped the vehicle as soon as Kagami and the robot army were within sight, maintaining a twenty-six foot distance away from them.

It seemed that Kagami himself sensed this and pulled up the megaphone.

"You have arrived just in time, I was getting the impression that you were simply bluffing about your little wager." The man said in a taunting tone.

The students stepped out of the jeep one by one, before all of them took a good look at the scale of the robot army behind Kagami.

"Uh, that's a lot of them…" Kaito remarked with a small gulp.

"Especially out in the open like this…" Nagato agreed, looking slightly uneasy.

Hoshino tried not to show it outward, but she was quite nervous deep inside. She wondered if their power alone would even be enough to take out half the amount of soldiers under the adult man's command.

If they lost right here, then the upperclassmen would end up losing the school they deeply care for. Not to mention…

"… It would prove father's words right, and he'll go back to deciding my future for me…"

She clenched her fist at the thought of being powerless to help not only herself, but everyone she cared about.

"No… I won't let that happen…!"

Unbeknownst to her, Ryota took notice of his junior's body language, and then placed a finger under his chin.

"Well, since all of us have gathered here, who will represent your group?" Kagami asked.

"Represent our group?" Yume repeated with furrowed brows.

"Who among you is willing to officially start this "wager" on behalf of your entire group?" Kagami elaborated, rolling his eyes. "I will give you five minutes to decide."

This got all the first-year students to look at each other, before settling their gazes upon Ryota.

"Hm?" Ryota raised an eyebrow at the attention.

"Ryo-kun, since you mentioned having a plan to deal with him, it's only normal that our juniors are turning to you for guidance." Yume explained, before adopting a stern expression. "Furthermore, since you made the wager to begin with, you should take responsibility for it."

In response, Ryota briefly shifted his gaze towards Hoshino for a brief moment, and then closed his eyes.

"Ryo-kun?" Yume asked in confusion.

"Kougami-senpai…" Hoshino said warily, gazing between her senpai and the robot army.

"Do not waste any of my precious time." Kagami called out. "Have you all decided yet?"

"Yo, senpai, I don't think the guy is gonna take longer…" Kaito said, raising his hand.

After what felt like an hour of contemplation, Ryota opened his eyes and wordlessly held his hand out to Yume.

Knowing what he was asking for, Yume turned to the jeep and grabbed the megaphone inside, before handing it over to him.

With a nod, Ryota held the megaphone near his mouth and said. "Apologies for the hold up."

"Well now, have you decided on a representative?" Kagami asked, smirking at the six students.

He had full confidence that Kougami Ryota, the oldest of the students, would be the one to-

"Takanashi Hoshino." Ryota answered calmly. "She will be the one to represent the Countermeasures Committee."

"Whoa! What?!"

"Takanashi-san?"

"Hmmm…"

Kaito, Nagato, and Akaza were all quick to react respectively.

Yume gasped next to him and said. "Ryo-kun, Hoshino-chan still hasn't even decided!"

She wasn't the only one shocked by the answer, as the first year students were in disbelief at hearing their senpai call out one of them to represent everyone in the group.

Hoshino frowned and thought. "What is Kougami-senpai thinking? Why would he-"

"Hoshino." Ryota called out, prompting his junior to widen her eyes at what he referred to as. "Come over here."

"He… He called me by my first name…"

Swallowing her nerves, Hoshino hesitantly approached her senpai, feeling her fellow students stare at her back as she did.

"Yes, Kougami-senpai…?" Hoshino tried to sound as respectful as she could.

Ryota simply crouched down to her level and placed his hand on her head, much to the latter's mild embarrassment.

"Hoshino, this will be an opportunity for you to truly show your potential." He spoke with a gentle but firm tone. "I believe in you."

"He… believes in me…?"

Hoshino openly gaped at what her senpai had said. For someone to outright tell her that they believed in her was something she hadn't experienced in her fifteen years of living.

She mustered the strength to find her words and asked. "But why…?"

While she was still taken back by the faith placed upon her, she wanted to know why someone as strong as her senpai would choose to believe in a girl that's still uncertain about her future.

"Why me of all people…?" Hoshino said, frowning. "Yesterday, you were so strong that you never gave us a chance to really fight back."

"I'm fully aware of that." Ryota nodded, before continuing. "What I also did the other day was simply to test your willingness to fight."

"Huh?" Hoshino was confused by this.

"Other than your strengths and weaknesses, I wanted to test how all of you would act once placed in a combat scenario." Ryota explained. "The fact that you quickly sensed something was amiss and tried to make use of your abilities as soon as you took the opportunity is noteworthy by itself. I believe you have the potential."

"That was nothing, really…" Hoshino trailed off, flattered that her senpai thought highly of how she acted during the short "fight".

"Hoshino, I only ask that you take charge of your fellow first year students and bring some pride to Abydos High School." Ryota said, placing a hand on his junior's shoulder. "I know that you're still undecided, but think of this as a chance to truly show what you are made of."

Hoshino looked at him for a brief moment and asked. "… You really think I can do it…?"

"Yes." Was his immediate answer.

The pink-haired girl looked down at the ground for a moment, before looking directly at her senpai with a serious gaze.

"I'll do it." She said with a firm nod. "I'll represent all of us and lead the others."

In response, Ryota nodded at his junior and raised the megaphone as he turned to face Kagami.

"Apologies for the delay." He said. "Give them five minutes and then we will begin."

"Hmph, you better." Kagami scoffed. "You had already wasted enough of my time. Do not test my patience, boy."

The fact that he had chosen a little girl to represent their group was nothing but absolute foolishness in his eyes.

Kagami lowered his megaphone and muttered. "At the very least, this will be an easy victory."


"So, what's the plan?" Kaito asked.

"Five minutes isn't a lot of time, don't you think?" Nagato said worriedly.

"Hmmm…"

Hoshino was racking her brain for any possible strategies within the short time frame.

"What should I do? I know nothing about planning things like this, unless…"

As if a light bulb had appeared above her head, Hoshino turned to her fellow first year students with a determined expression.

"What are your abilities?" She asked. "And don't beat around the bush because we don't have much time."

"I can make explosions when I hit something hard enough!" Kaito answered with a grin, before raising one of his gauntlets.

With a clench of his fist, the gauntlet began to glow bright orange and small amounts of steam slowly rose from it.

"I can work with this…" Hoshino muttered, nodding to herself.

Akaza wordlessly answered by raising his arm, in which winds began to circulate around him.

"You already know what I can do." He remarked.

Afterwards, Nagato felt herself at the center of attention as her fellow students turned their gazes towards her.

"Sasaki, right?" Hoshino asked. "What can you do?"

In response, Nagato looked thoughtful for a few seconds, but then gained a determined expression and said. "Well…"

Meanwhile, Yume and Ryota stood six feet away from their juniors and watched them discuss their plan of action.

"Ryo-kun, are you sure about leaving them be like this?" Yume asked, looking concerned.

"Truth be told, I did plan on testing our juniors more seriously and allow them to showcase more of their abilities." Ryota replied, staring straight at the robot soldiers. "However, with what's happening today, I believe this will be a better test for them, as it would provide more room to develop teamwork and cohesion."

"Mmmm, I see your point, but still…" Yume trailed off.

Noticing her expression, Ryota turned to her and said, "Should this end up becoming too much, we will intervene on their behalf."

"Uwaah, really~?" Yume said, opening her mouth slightly. "Even after what you just said?"

"While I do want to further test their potential, they're still young and I want them to know that we'll always be there for them." Ryota explained, closing his eyes.

Smiling at his words, Yume reached out and lightly poked his cheek.

"Uhee, even after all this time, you're still a softie deep down, aren't you~?" She teased.

"Perhaps." Was his simple response.

Yume giggled at this and turned back to her juniors, and then said. "Well, I do want to assure Hoshino-chan and her friends that they can rely on us~."

As if on cue, Kagami raised his megaphone and said. "Your time is up, I expect at least a decent amount of resistance."

"It's time…" Ryota muttered, closely watching his juniors as they seemed to agree on something.

"Get ready, everyone!" Hoshino said, glaring at the army of robots as she cocked her shotgun.

"Time to kick some ass!" Kaito grinned, punching his gauntlets together.

"I'll do my best!" Nagato nodded, readying her own gun.

Akaza narrowed his eyes, as wind began to surround him, with his eyes glowing slightly.

This would be the Countermeasure Committee's very first battle.


To be completely, this chapter was originally much bigger and I realized it was so long that I decided to split it into three more parts, with this one being the first.

Now then, Hoshino and co. found themselves preparing for their very first combat operation, and I look forward to releasing the following parts once I'm finished with the fourth one.

Happy reading~!

EDIT (02/07/2024): Like the first part of the prelude, this is also rewritten to fit several of the changes I made, especially after fully gathering my thoughts on where I want to take my fic.