The more things change, the more things stay the same, huh…
Vash couldn't help but feel that he was getting dull. He was letting kids play fire with guns and grenades way too easily. Of course, the Abydos girls had been justified for suppressing a group of delinquents who were trying to violently take over their school, but the same gang decided to repay the favor through abduction and more than intense strong-arming… was there ever going to be an end to this all?
And should I be glad that this concludes with a direct confrontation?
It was, wasn't it? It wouldn't be fair for Serika, otherwise. Being the most affected in this back and forth, she held the rights to do whatever she wanted. Vash didn't wish for that, if he could, but he was just a stowaway in the grander scale of things. He lacked the understanding as well as attachment to this brand new world he had landed in. Time was also not on his side, so all he could do was to watch from afar… And there it was, a portion of his heart wondering if that was ever the right option.
"Aha ha ha~! Get blown away…!"
Vash resisted the urge to shake his head in dismay. As it so happened, Nonomi was still letting herself loose by spending hundreds of bullets like a broken faucet. As she swung her minigun horizontally, the bullet storm swept through the battlefield, leaving only a few lucky stragglers behind.
"Err, Nonomi...san?" What was thefar eastern honorific appropriate for this kind of situation again…? "Could you, uh, maybe tone it down a little…?"
"Hmmm~? What was that, sensei? I can't quite hear you~…!"
No good. She was enjoying herself too much. She must have bottled up a ton of stresses, but a loose cannon was a scary thing, especially if it came in the form of a cute girl willing to throw out a small fortune in gusto. The rest of their foes also got picked off by the Taskforce's combined efforts, and before you knew it, only the leader remained standing, awake, but cowering in pain and fear. Having more than a few dozen heavily armed outlaws neutralized in one fell swoop was a rare sight, even though it was because the enemy had fallen for the traps blatantly set for them. Be that as it may…
"Hmph. Hmph!"
"Ouch! Yeowch! Stop-stop it! Please forgive me! It hurts…!"
The ashen-haired girl with canine-themed animal ears on her head applied further pressure to her stomp, grinding at the red-helmeted girl's abdomen while knocking and prodding at the helmet with enough force to create solid thunks. This byplay had been going on for minutes ever since the enemy leader got toppled by a buckshot to the ribs at near point-blank range—which naturally made Vash wince.
A normal human would have gotten their chest caved in… or worse. However, there was no indication of the poor outlaw writhing in extraordinary pain, and the way she fell down showed a sturdiness capable of withstanding even a direct hit by a speeding truck or getting a piano dropped upon her from the second floor. Right, if an anti-aircraft shell won't do it, of course a shotgun to the chest will hardly do much…
Not that he'd ever dare wish for the day to come where he could see these teenage girls' furthest limits of tolerance for violence. Despite that, he still needed to update his view over his own students, if only for his own peace of mind. That was a business better left for another day, however. Time to switch the gears.
"Shiroko, you should stop."
"That's right, that's right. Sensei knows the best~." Hoshino stepped forth to stand near him. Her hands held behind her back, she grinned as she leaned down a little. "Can't forget that cute Serika-chan here needs to vent some stresses, too~."
Hey, wait! He didn't think this odd-eyed girl would advance her own agenda like this. She even looked completely unrepentant and smug after suggesting to hand over the fallen delinquent's fate to Serika. She's been waiting for this, hasn't she…!?
"No. That's not for me to decide."
Vash stilled. Hoshino blinked. Shiroko glanced to the source of the surprising response.
"W-what? What are you all looking at?" The now hydrated and rested Serika grunted. As she folded her arms together, she threw a puff filled with annoyance to the side. "Oh, I'm very angry, alright? Getting ambushed, drugged with a sleeping gas and abducted to some deserted wasteland suck so much. But…! I'm not the one who got beaten up and treated harshly with zero respect whatsoever."
"Oh… that's true. Ayane-chan, do you mind?" Nonomi chimed in, giving a nod to the Taskforce's treasurer. "Sensei does look a bit banged up."
Well, uhhh… crap. He healed fast, so the roughshodding didn't really register as a concern to be had. The worried looks he garnered made him wonder if he got it a bit worse than the usual, but he also felt this was a strange contrast. To receive sympathies from getting physically beaten up when the local custom dictated the extremely liberal use of firearms… In the first place, why would Serika defer things to me?
"C-come on, I'm right as rain, here." Vash coughed into his fist and flexed his right arm to show off his rippling muscle. Judging by the doubtful gazes, his attempt seemed to have failed spectacularly. Great, what was he to do then, other than giving a punished villain excesses of misery? Quick pass on that, please. "More importantly, we need to address the elephant in the room, right?"
He cast his gaze downwards. His effort paid off from the way everyone's attentions followed after his direction, so Vash squatted down in front of the helmeted gangster.
"So," he said. "Who's the one backing you girls?"
The helmeted girl froze solid. "W-wha-what do you mean…!?"
Ah, so that's how it is. To nobody's surprise, the backer of this criminal scheme turned to be somewhat powerful. The way the defeated gangster changed her tune—it clearly pointed to a direction where fessing up here would do her no good, but how would he even know that in the first place? Well, organized crimes were his bread and butter, not that he had ever been a part of it. My involvement trends to being on the receiving end instead of the other way around.
Chewing his gum, Vash the good samaritan hummed. "Girl, it's not nice to abduct people, no matter the reason there is. You do know that somebody could get hurt, and there will be people worried sick about the victim."
"Wh-what… where do you get off, acting all high-and-mighty like that!" The helmeted girl shouted, now actually addressing him properly by meeting him in the eye. "What do you even know…! You're an adult! You can't even tell what we had to go through!"
"Stop." There was no use in drawing this out, so he flicked at the helmet. That stunned the delinquent good, and so he flicked her again. Again. And again. The spewed out vexations fell through his ears. "Where do you get off, troubling others and dragging your allies down like this. Sure, the future is uncertain, but it's not predetermined. You can do pretty much anything, so don't do this troublesome gig again."
"Agh… why, you…!"
"Think again." Vash pursed his lips, a solemn gaze delivered to the girl. "Your backer doesn't seem like the type who will look over repeated mistakes kindly. You've already fumbled once, and this marks the second. Do you think there will be a third time?"
"Is… is that a threat…?!"
Wow, she still doesn't get it? He wasn't sure if she was gullible or just pure-hearted, but he would like to believe it leaned to the latter. "Your employer. They're some really shady folks, right? Will they let you go scot-free, after all this? They do have the power to rough you all up. I mean, they've been supplying you high-quality goods… and they know where your base is at, right?"
"...uugh…"
At her whimper, Vash could confirm something. Well, more like a few things. He didn't know for sure what kind of people were backing the Kata-Kata Helmeted Gang, but he could easily imagine what had transpired. These gangsters had been paid and armed on somebody's behest to regularly harass and make havoc in Abydos' neighborhood. He didn't know for what purpose, and to what end, but he knew this type of snake. They were the kind who treated people as assets and tools. Good tools would be used until they served their purposes, while those deemed useless were discarded in a heartbeat.
...he didn't want these misguided kids to suffer that kind of ending. He had more than enough of that happening back home.
"Take those fancy things off, and go back to where you belong." Vash slowly stood back up with a grunt. Straightening his spine, he groaned and gave a light pound to his waist, lamenting his own age. "Better yet, wash your hands and try to live a proper life from here on out. If you're in trouble…"
Well, what? He wasn't some miracle maker, but still. He was going to be around the block for the foreseeable future, anyway.
"Just contact Schale." Vash looked over his shoulder, a grin on his face. "It's in our job description to give assistance when warranted. Counseling is entirely free, too!"
The least he could do was giving a helping hand. He was a full-time teacher, after all.
...ah, the sunset sure is red. It was almost blood red, even.
Serika wondered how and where did her life take the wrong turn. She could hardly organize her thoughts, so she ended up staring listlessly at the dusk sky. Well, at least she was given the passenger seat next in the front. That allowed her to stretch her legs, and she had no reason to recognize the whiny yelp from behind when she slid the chair position all the way to the back.
"Still, it's kind of a waste." From the backseat, Nonomi's chirp cleaved through the dull silence of the long drive. "We still don't know who's behind the attack and kidnapping."
"Mhmm. But sensei said we should get home first…" Ayane wryly laughed. She gradually steered the car away from another steep sand dune, opting for a more stable route which prioritized the engine's longevity. "Well, even if we were to know, we probably can't even think up what to do with it."
"Ignorance is bliss, as they say~." The third voice belonging to none other than Hoshino followed in the resurfacing lull. "Oh right, we can actually theorize a few things. Like them having boatloads of weapons, from the oldest to the most advanced."
"Ah, that's true. Not many companies could have circulated a sleeping gas that can affect even strong-willed students like Serika-chan," Nonomi's reply sounded brighter and merrier than usual. "So the group behind this must be all about arms dealing, then?"
"That's not gonna narrow down the list by much…" Serika groaned, already feeling light-headed about the number of brands and companies as well as subsidiaries who focused their efforts in weapon development. "Ugh… I guess it's still better than sketchy pharmaceutical firms who're very into chemical warfare… but isn't sleeping gas counted as chemical-based, senpai?"
"Eeh, that wouldn't explain the need to use, or even modify a Flak 41, no?" Hoshino sounded out a completely reasonable argument. "The black van those silly kids used was also tuned up to hell and back. But by the end of the day, it's just that, a heavily modified civilian article with no real specialty whatsoever~. Any self-respecting lab would never get caught dead transporting delicate goods in any state other than pristine and well-preserved."
"I see… if the mastermind was a pharmaceutical firm, then even the transport vehicle they used would have to pass certain criteria first." Next to Serika, the analytical mind behind the driving wheel hummed in a tone full of intrigue. "That left only arms dealer."
"Aaah~… too bad that sensei decided to play cool. If we were to go back and ask them some more, I'd die from sheer embarrassment."
Serika glanced to the rearview mirror. The target of the pointed words himself seemed to be very intent on gluing his face to his smart tablet. The girl rolled her eyes and huffed, though she didn't say anything. Since none of her friends poked him any further, she too would let it slide and move on.
...although, now the conversation had ended quite abruptly. Argh… Hoshino-senpai, that was such a good vibe until you blabbered at the end there, you idiot.
In any case, the way back was long. The beaten up military humvee was spewing black smokes from under the hood occasionally, the muffler sputtered out like a harshly coughing elderly, and the suspensions as well as shock-absorbent mechanisms had been shot to hell. At least it hadn't leaked fuel or about to blow up in any minute, but the rough ride to home was taking its toll in the form of time's passing.
Serika sure hoped that they wouldn't have to camp out in the desert. She still hadn't eaten actual food today, having only consumed simple snacks and barley tea from a vacuum-sealed drinking bottle. Praises where it was due, though. Nonomi was truly the team's mother for her preparedness when it came to refreshments. The others would have just bought something with specific tastes which would be more than a tad heavy for empty stomach… and no, Shiroko's protein milkshake did not count. That wasn't even decent food by any metric!
"Wahhee~… Ojisan can't sleep…" In the darkening orange hue presently flooding the lonely desert dotted with ruins, a lazy voice rang out.
"Ahaha… I guess not even lap pillow could absorb the impact."
"Uguguu, this is so narrow…" Hoshino mewled out a protest. Even as she took up a lot of space in the backseat, her demeanor hardly changed. Actually, she was now raising her legs and putting them down as if to hog all the space. "Man, I worked hard so much. Can I get a pass on class attendance today~…? My weary bones are giving out…"
"This brat is really shameless… don't put your legs on my lap."
"Aw awaw. Don't slap my legs, they're sore from all the running!" Hoshino climbed further to circle her arms around the torso of her underclassman. "Uweeeh, Nonomi-chan, the wicked adult is bullying me…!"
"Well… time to bear with it. It's tough love, senpai."
Such a blinding smile killed the third-year's desire for protests. She didn't let go of her hug, however, so Hoshino simply stayed quiet with an agonized look before snoring away in the following minutes. It was ridiculous how quickly the girl fell into dreamlands, but Serika did hear her side of the story. The rest of the Taskforce had worked through the night in an effort to make their rescue operation a success, and that included tuning their beaten up humvee back to a somewhat serviceable state worthy for rough driving.
It was… well, flattering. And humiliating. Also upsetting. I hate my life…
Serika knew that they were doing all that for her sake. She understood their willingness to go so far, and it did make her want to cry. Knowing that she was deeply cherished by somebody else… by so many people, warmed her heart. Unfortunately for them, she was still unable to shake off her own guilt and shame for causing such a horrible mess. Even the adult risked himself and got injured in her stead.
Forget about pride. It would be a miracle if she didn't come out of this as a timid person.
...okay, that might just be me being melodramatic. "Uggh. I'm all out of gas…"
"Heh he~… Why don't we go out for dinner once we got back?" From the driving seat right next to her, Ayane's short giggle filled the air. "But to tell the truth, I'm so glad that everyone's safe and sound."
"Nn. I have to agree with Ayane, there."
Serika shrieked at the abrupt slide into view of Shiroko's head from right above the truck's windscreen. However, the peculiar second-year student was completely unfazed by her reactions and treating it like a sideshow. There, her gloved hand gripped on the top frame of the windscreen lacking any window.
"It's good that sensei was with you, Serika." The ashen-haired girl paused. "We wouldn't have known, otherwise."
Ohh… right, there was that. "Y-yeah, it's all… thanks to sensei…"
Right. In a state of being bound to a chair and out of signal's reaches, Serika would have been shipped off to who-knows-where were it not for Vash's contribution.
The reality that she had somehow managed to avoid a terrible fate was still sinking into her being, suffusing her slowly and in a delayed manner. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how fortunate she was that she still could see her friends and hear their voices again. She was glad. She was relieved. She was happy. So, so…
It's all, thanks to him, that I can still be with everyone. Serika once again glanced at the rearview mirror. Through it she saw Nonomi stroking Hoshino's head, combing her light pink hair with her fingers and seemingly enjoying every moment of it. The sleepy third-year and their de facto club leader let out a quiet groan, drool slowly slipping from the corner of her lips. Lastly, the adult worked out a few laments even as he began to nod off like a wage slave often found in the last train for the day. His height made it hard for him to have a comfortable sitting position, huh.
Really. What a carefree bunches. Him included. The sight alone made her forget that she had been a victim of gangly abduction.
...this won't do. Serika realized. However, she knew deep down that she wasn't ready for it just yet—and so she turned her gaze to her fellow classmate and her odd senior.
"Thank you," Serika uttered out with a smile. "I'm home, everyone."
Ayane blinked. Shiroko stared unblinking. The two then exchanged their gazes and nodded down as if they had figured something out. Well, they certainly did, what with the gentle smiles on their faces.
"No worries. We help each other out," Shiroko said.
"Un! Welcome back, Serika-chan!"
As the trip went on, the sun slowly sank in the western horizon. Serika turned her gaze to the side, staring at the first star of the evening. It looked as if it was blessing her fortune, congratulating and celebrating together in joy. It made the girl's smile all the wider that it started to hurt her jaw; Serika didn't care, though.
Yeah, she decided. It's good to be home.
A giant flame lit up the night sky. As the blazing wreckage of a van produced embers, black smokes, and dazzling heat, four people could be seen standing over dozens of helmeted school girls. Even though the city outskirts were less than a kilometers away, the Kata-Kata Helmeted Gang had been ambushed by the mysterious quartet.
In fact, it almost seemed as if they had been waiting for their return. In no time at all, the fatigued and beaten up gang of outlaws had been pulverized to the ground.
"You… you…! Don't tell me… those bastards…!" In the next moment, a slug flew straight and struck at the red-helmeted girl. She was thrown back and crashed into a pile of garbage heap, a pained groan leaking as she passed out. "Those, sleazeballs… gyah…."
"…aah… Uuh, did we… do a good job?" And then, one of the quartet asked. Her timidity betrayed the sizzling white smoke from the barrel of her shotgun. "They're the pests we had to clean up, right?"
"...it was almost too easy." Another of the quartet said. With a hoodie emblazoned with a skull and "Born to Kill" written on it, her sharp countenance briefly scanned over the scattered thugs. "It does look like they ran into complications. But to think they'd still try to flee with the special gears… are they dumb?"
"Kufufu~! Looks like somebody didn't even bother to check for trackers. That's just how it goes for small fries, huh~…"
The third member, shortest of them all, loudly stated out her opinion. Her singsong voice belittled the gangsters, but it hardly made any of them react bar a small flinch. It was as if the white-haired girl was hoping for some extra sideshow, but as things went, there were hardly any reason to believe that happening. In the end, only the crackling flame behind the quartet bickered around. The little girl hummed a bored tune.
"Hmph. Victory doesn't taste sweet just from sweeping trash. Well, whatever." The frontmost member of the quartet turned around, the furcoat draped on her shoulders fluttering as she lowered her sniper rifle. "Kayoko, do a headcount. Collect their equipment, and prepare to move out. We've got business to do."
The sharp-eyed Kayoko huffed. "Sure, sure. From an errand to mercenary mission… well, it's an upgrade, at least."
"Oh, ohh~…! Guess it's about time for big money-making, then?"
"As long as there's money, we'll do anything." The lady with a sniper rifle grinned. Beneath the night sky, her halo glowed scarlet and burning gold shone deep within her eyes. "We, the Problem Solver 68, will begin our trailblazing in earnest!"
A/N: I'm far too used to fan-tl'd terms for certain names like Foreclosure or PS68, but hopefully it's still good to go.