The gates to what was left of Abydos's school were a welcome sight to Ragna. The primary building everything was built around was a tan colored wide one three floors high. There were a few other minor buildings around the campus, but all the notable ones could be counted on one hand. Besides the actual buildings, there was also the sports field, littered with numerous random objects to act as impromptu barricades and cover against attacks, directly in front of the main schoolhouse and a pool, completely filled with sand, off to the side. Even if not in as sorry a state as the pool though, the sand was everywhere. Piles of varying size, though mostly small, were scattered around the campus or over the building roofs and made the area look like a minor sandstorm had just blown through it, not helped by the surrounding area ranging from 'had some grains on the roof' to 'entirely buried to the roof.'
It was a place he was already quite familiar with.
So familiar in fact that the man didn't even bother announcing his presence and simply let himself through the main gate and into the building. He already knew his way around the halls of the building, the layout of the weathered but still cared for paths coming back to him as if visiting a place he'd been to for the first time in years. So it was only natural he ended up reaching the meeting room in short order and heard some mutterings from the inhabitants in heated discussion, mentioning something about how much they wanted to discuss with him. Well, that was something they would have to figure out quick because Ragna didn't even bother to knock before he opened the door and was greeted by yet another familiar sight.
Five girls inside the a room that was extremely well maintained vs the rest of the school and numerous signs of a meeting in progress. The whiteboard with a variety of posters and notes attached, a table and chairs in the middle with yet more notes, and among them a map of the district
"Hey," Ragna greeted with a casual wave and stepped into the room. "thought you'd be busy, so I just let myself in."
"What the-Who are you to just ba…" Kuromi Serika started with daggers for eyes, only to trail off as the accusatory stare was replaced by confusion, her black cat ears twitching once below her halo styled in a red crosshair with four points. "Wait, you're… Ragna-sensei, right? Why didn't you tell us you were here?"
"That's what I'm doing now, aren't I? Already got invited here anyway so was quicker to just come in." Ragna asked as if the question were obvious. The whole sensei thing was still weirdly formal to Ragna, but when everyone was calling him it wasn't much use arguing. But with the scattered context of his earlier memories, hearing it from someone at Abydos was kind of strange, might even take some getting used to. Well, wasn't exactly a surprise with how different the circumstances behind him being here was the first time.
"Nn, he does have a point…" Sunaookami Shiroko muttered. She was dressed in the same dark pleated skirt and navy blue Abydos jacket Serika was, except her's was opened to reveal a white shirt, alongside a teal tie that matched the scarf she wore. She had shoulder length, ash grey hair with similarly colored wolf ears atop her head. Above her was a blue halo comprised of two circles, the outer one having four points. But the most distinctive feature was the girl's heterochromatic pupils, one being white and the other black.
"Uhe~, Shiroko-chan's going to start picking up bad habits from the adult." Hoshino said with an exaggerated and fake good natured sigh. The oldest, yet also noticeably shortest at 145cm, of the girls had freely flowing pink hair which almost came down to her knees and a similarly colored halo to match above an ahoge, which had an outer circle broken by two disconnected points on the side, alongside two inner circles. She had the same skirt and tie as the others, but only a long white shirt with a tactical brace and the top two buttons lazily left undone. Like Shiroko, she had unique eyes, but in the form of her right iris colored orange while her left was blue. It reminded Ragna much of his own eyes when his body worked properly, the closed one on his right a vibrant red instead of the green like his left.
"I just came to the place Ayane asked me to. Don't look at me like I'm the bad guy putting ideas in Shiroko's head, Hoshino." Ragna began to comment, only to immediately stop himself short from adding a sarcastic line about Shiroko having much worse habits to worry about.
"Hey! Who said you could speak to everyone so casually and use first names when we just met!?" Serika reprimanded, trying to glare at Ragna while also keep her surprise at the brazen behavior in check.
"This is how I talk to everyone." Ragna answered flatly.
"Wow, the new teacher is sure a casual person ." Izayoi Nonomi commented with a bit of playfulness. The most mature looking girl of the bunch was dressed the most distinctly out of everyone as well. She had the same dark skirt and white shirt everyone did, but instead wore a beige cardigan. Nonomi's pale blonde hair went down her back and had a small sidebun off to the left side. Matching her emerald green eyes was her more light green halo comprised of two circles and three disconnected points along the outer ring. "I wonder if that's just how things are where they come from."
"It seems like you already know us. I guess the rest of us were on the 'student registry' too, sensei?" Hoshino casually interjected before Ragna could answer.
Even if she had said it with a friendly tone, Ragna could already pick up the slight hint of suspicion underneath her words. Damn, he should've expected that. Despite her outward demeanor, Ragna knew the sole third year at Abydos was far more perceptive than she let on. He kind of remembered her having some trust issues with adults too, but he didn't think it was too big of a problem back then? He was quickly remembering quite a bit from his first go around with Abydos, but it was still incomplete and lacked some fine details or 'later' memories. Still, he was going to have to be careful with what he said around Hoshino especially.
"Yeah, basically." Ragna answered with a dismissive gesture of his hand. "You all already know who I am too, so why don't we skip the introductions and get down to business. Picked up what I could from the list Ayane sent me."
Without another word, Ragna removed the large bag he had almost the size of Hoshino and set it on the table. "There's a couple grenades in there for me, but go ahead and take whatever you want."
Ayane was the first one to approach it, opening the bag and peering inside as everyone else glanced around. The first year started removing a few of the boxes inside as she mentally compared it to what Ragna had sent here. "Wow, you picked up even more than I thought you would. Thank you, sensei. I wasn't sure if we'd be able to manage the next attack with how low we were getting on everything."
"Nn, the Helmet Gang's next move should be any day now with how they never seem to quit." Shiroko commented with an annoyed look as she took a few packs of ammo for herself from the hoard. "But we'll be more than ready for them now."
"That's the group Ayane mentioned in her note, right?" Ragna spoke up. This was already treading familiar territory for Ragna.
"That's right." Ayane said with a frown. "They've always been a problem in Abydos with how our school doesn't have the manpower to police ourselves like other schools do, but lately they've been getting extra aggressive."
Ragna let out an annoyed, yet sympathetic grunt. "Yeah, see how that'd be a big problem when there's only the five of you and Abydos is in the state that it is. But, I'm here to help how I can."
"Speaking of that," Nonomi interjected, largely maintaining her friendly tone but still keeping a hint of reservation in it. "since you already know us, how much do you know about Abydos? We were talking about what to go over once you got here, but if you're already familiar with everything, then we don't have to go over all the little details. Ayane-chan's message only mentioned the big ones since we weren't sure when you'd give us a visit."
"I'd say I've got enough of a general idea of how things are between her message and my own research. Only a few of you left here, school's barely standing, and got gangs trying to chase you off. Real hell of a situation here between the desertification and how bad the whole district's doing." Ragna answered casually. Besides the school's debt, he wasn't entirely sure what was supposed to be easily accessible public knowledge or something you'd only know being associated with Abydos. Kivotos schools had both plenty of things in the public and kept to themselves, but Abydos in particular was incredibly isolated from Kivotos's wider stage in comparison to others with the school barely existing. So, best not to say too much, but at least sound familiar in case he said something strange. He wasn't exactly setting out to keep the whole time looping thing secret and had told Arona, but she seemed to trust him almost unconditionally and already knew some concepts associated with this mess, possibly more than she let on too.
This wasn't the case for everyone else present. Once the girls knew and trusted him more themselves, he knew more about what caused it, or knew how to ensure it wouldn't happen again then maybe it'd be a different story worth talking about. He'd seem out of his mind otherwise and it'd cast a cloud over any attempts to get close to everyone again.
"You've definitely done a lot more research than I expected." Ayane stated, a little surprise in her voice. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you had been here before."
"Uhe~, that'll save us some time explaining and leave more for a nice nap since sensei's already knows so much." Hoshino casually commented with a yawn. "You even found your way to the school without any trouble."
"Yeah, well, it's not like it's very hard to guess how things are going. I came here on foot so kind of hard to miss over 100 kilometers worth of sand everywhere. I'm used to traveling around like that and using landmarks, so wasn't hard to pick out the building that looked like a school and wasn't completely buried." Ragna shot back with a dash of sarcasm.
"Wait… You mean what Ayane-chan's drone saw you doing was what you did the entire way here? Through the whole desert!? How the- Why would you even do that!?" Serika asked, slack jawed. Nonomi and Ayane likewise wide eyed.
"Nn, it's not that far if you keep a good pace and aren't fighting the wind, Serika. The Abydos industrial area on the other end of the district is about the same distance. You get to see more of the district too." Shiroko spoke up like traveling such a distance in that short a time was utterly normal.
"You had a bike and that's not the point!" Serika said with an annoyed shake of her head.
"It let me get a better idea of how bad the situation was instead of just taking a train. Was easier to spot your school that way too. Easier to help if I know what the hell I'm getting myself into." Ragna, again, spoke up dismissively. The environment of a desert was nothing compared to traversing a seithr irradiated landscape.
"See?" Shiroko had a vindicated smile on her face.
"Something tells me that Shiroko-chan and sensei are going to get along well." Nonomi said with a soft giggle.
If by well she meant 'making sure Shiroko didn't have sticky hands around valuables' then sure, Ragna was going to get along with her just great. But there was also something more to that sense of concern, something deep that he couldn't put words or images to yet.
"Hmm, well it makes sense when you put it like that." Hoshino said, her expression relaxing slightly as she leaned her head into her palm in a casual gesture. "I guess we can skip a lot of introductions then~."
"Since you already know some of our situation, maybe it'd be better if you asked us any questions you have to get caught up?" Ayane said.
"Yeah, I can think of a big one." Ragna began, placing his hand on his hip with the lack of ability to cross his arms. Maybe this'd be a good chance to talk about the debt, if he could get them to bring it up. "I get the Helmet Gang's the immediate problem and you called me here to help with that, but what what about the rest of… Everything here? Doesn't exactly take a genius to figure out this school's in a bad state with how everything looks and had to ask me to buy supplies instead of being able to get it yourselves. Would disrupt my sleep if I left you all to yourselves without trying to do what I can."
A pensive, contemplative silence came over the room, conflicted expressions coming across most of the girls.
"W-Well…" Ayane mumbled awkwardly. "I-It's a lo-"
"None of your business!" Serika abruptly interjected with a glare.
"How do you expect me to help with the issue if I don't know what the issue is?" Ragna fired back with a scoff. "You really think I'd show up like 'Hey, here's your supplies, good luck dealing with a gang. See you later' and take off? As if."
"We've taken care of ourselves just fine without needing some outsider watching us." Serika again spoke with harsh words before anyone else could get a word in.
Ragna groaned in exasperation. Oh, yeah he knew that stubborn attitude of constantly pushing away everyone and it led to the words he spoke being stern. "Don't be such a stubborn idiot. Schools here practically manage their districts like a mini-government. That's a job for upwards of hundreds of people, sometimes more. There's five of you here dealing with the Helmet Gang and trying to keep Abydos afloat. You shouldn't have to deal with all that yourselves. I'm not here to boss you around or whatever crap you're expecting me to do. Keep doing whatever you're doing and just let me help with it. I don't expect to suddenly show up and solve everything, but doesn't mean I won't do what I can to make things easier. That's why you called me here, isn't it?"
Hoshino tapped her fingers a few times on the table before she spoke. Her words had a more mature tone than she had spoken with before. "It's not like it's a secret, Serika-chan. Like I said before Ragna-sensei came in, he'd find out pretty quickly anyway if he stuck around Abydos for even a little bit. And something tells me sensei would do that even if we told him to leave." Hoshino's tone rose slightly after a brief pause. "Though, it's almost a little surprising he didn't know with everything else they already did, especially the desert getting worse."
Supportive though part of her words were, the skepticism hidden within certainly didn't go unnoticed by Ragna.
"Urg, that doesn't mean we should go around telling everyone!" Serika shot back with a disgruntled look.
"Hoshino's right, you know. Was thinking I might spend at least a couple days here and get to know the place. So we can all save ourselves a bunch of headaches if we work together instead. Not like there's any shortage of places I could stay." Ragna added. Actually seeing everyone in person and being in the school building again has done wonders for some of Ragna's memories. He already knew there were going to be a few things happening soon he really wanted to be in Abydos for, even if he couldn't remember the exact dates of everything.
"H-Huh?" Ayane gasped. "Y-You're already planning to stay overnight?"
"Uhe~, I thought sensei would be persistent but not that persistent." Hoshino said with an almost teasing tone. The slight yawn she added afterwards somehow made it even more taunting.
"Inviting yourself to stay over with a bunch of schoolgirls you just met is a bit too forward, don't you think~?" Nonomi's very overtly teasing voice added.
"Woah, woah wait a second! What the hell did I say that gave you that idea!?" Ragna indignantly shouted, pointing accusingly at Nonomi.
"You are NOT staying in the school or with anyone here!" Serika screamed, hands aggressively holding her rifle with malicious intent.
"That isn't what I mean, you idiot!" Ragna matched Serika's shout with his own. "This place has a million abandoned buildings out in the desert nobody'll complain about me using."
"Nn, sensei that's not a good idea. You might wake up buried in sand." Shiroko voiced with a worried frown.
"I'll be fine, not even the worst living conditions or wake up I've had." Ragna countered with a dismissive wave of his hand. He'd already done that the first go around anyway. "Now, can we get back on topic already?"
Serika crossed her arms in a huff, turning her head away from Ragna. "What reason do you even have suddenly care so much? Thanks for bringing the supplies, but this is our problem."
"I'm supposed to be a teacher. Do I really need a reason to help my students than you asked for it?" Ragna said, softening his tone vs how he usually spoke.
The room went quiet. Serika still looked liked she were trying to kill Ragna by glaring hard enough, even if her stare relaxed slightly, while the rest of the Foreclosure Task Force were in a contemplative silence.
After a second, Nonomi approached Serika from the side, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder and flashing a soft smile. "Serika-chan, I know they're a bit forceful, but they just want to help. It's been a while since we've had anyone want to even hear us out."
Ragna could see the briefest flash of uncertainty on Serika, but she still looked unconvinced. Alright, guess he was gonna have to try harder.
"You know what, if you don't trust me, then how about this." Ragna interjected before anyone could continue the argument, lowering his voice to something a bit more diplomatic. "Instead of wasting time arguing, how about you just point me in the direction of the Helmet Gang's base and I'll go clear out the place while you get some rest from all the harassment. That's what you called me here about, isn't it? That gonna prove I'm serious about this?"
The entire room looked at Ragna wide eyed, even Hoshino straightened up and looked fully awake.
"You want to go by yourself? A-Are you out of your mind!?" Serika jumped up from her chair.
"S-Sensei, I know you're worried about us, b-but you don't need to put yourself at that much risk!" Ayane stammered with worry in her eyes.
"I'm used to fighting larger groups on my own and wager I've got more combat experience than all of you put together. They don't scare me. Pretty sure you all saw what I did to that tank, right?" Ragna answered without a single trace of concern. Not like it'd keep trouble down for long anyway.
"Serika-chan, I think he's even more stubborn than you are." Hoshino stated with a resigned sigh.
"Don't compare me to him!" The girl in question shouted.
"Still, if they're this determined to help us and go that far, good idea or not, I don't think we should turn it down. They're pretty strong and an adult, so maybe they'll be able to help us. He already knows almost everything else about Abydos. I'd feel bad if somebody got themselves hurt rushing off trying to do something for us too." Hoshino spoke up with a maturity to her voice.
Serika threw her hands up in frustration. "I still don't like telling him that easily, but if sensei's going to be that stubborn and do something dumb like that, I guess they'll find out anyway. I thought adults were supposed to be responsible and not be so reckless."
It was a struggle for Ragna to not make a snide comment, but with the conversation already deteriorating he thought better of it. Different circumstances and he still wasn't exactly welcomed with open arms by everyone in the previous loop, but it wasn't this much of a damn headache last time. Sure there was… Definitely problems, but was acting just a little familiar that big of an issue? Or maybe it was because he had some kind of official position compared to then? Wasn't that supposed to make things easier?
"Weeeeeeeell," Hoshino began, stretching her arms in an exaggerated motion. "to get to the point then, our school owes quite a bit of money to a loan company. That's not a challenge or unusual by itself but…" Hoshino's expression slumped, along with her body. "The real problem is that it's over 900 million yen."
"962,350,000 yen, to be exact." Ayane interjected with a sullen frown. "The loan company will foreclose on the school and shutter it permanently if we don't pay them."
"Well, that sure as hell explains a lot." Ragna grumbled. "So it's because of that and the desert that there's nobody else at the school and the whole district is so desolate."
Ayane nodded with a low frown. "That's right. The school had to borrow a large amount of money because of a bad sandstorm several years ago. Those aren't new in Abydos, but this one was devastating to the whole district. The school had to raise a lot of money for disaster relief, but there wasn't any bank who'd give out such a large loan..."
"Oh, I can already see how that went. Since they couldn't get it from any banks they had to turn to some bad people for money where things just got out of control and even worse when it couldn't be paid back, especially with the sandstorms not letting up. Between that a lot of people just jumped ship, sound about right?" Ragna spoke up. He already knew all this and it wouldn't be hard to guess the rest from what had already been said if he had to justify it, no need to spend a bunch of time going over this a second time once he got the essentials down.
"You're pretty quick on the details, sensei. That's exactly what happened." Hoshino said, leaning back in her chair slightly with the slightest squint of her eyes.
Oh, he was definitely going to have a talk with Hoshino later tonight over this suspicion. Thankfully, it wouldn't be hard to find some time alone with the girl given her nightly routine.
"It doesn't take a genius to guess that after a stroll through the district and what you told me." Ragna said with a defensive edge before his words relaxed to something more sympathetic. "You've all done a hell of a job holding the place together by yourselves as long as you have though, especially when so many other people already gave up. I can tell how much the school means to you."
"We don't need your pity." Serika chided, glaring at him.
Ragna rolled his eyes. "Can you just take a damn compliment already? That's just the fact of the situation. Takes a lot to keep going when it feels like the whole world is against you, I've been there. That's the kind of stubbornness I like. Definitely not going to be an easy issue to solve though."
"We all keep doing our best~." Nonomi said with an optimistic smile. "We haven't had somebody ever take the time to hear us out like this before though."
"I'd say you don't have to trouble yourself, but I bet we're not going to get rid of you that easily." Hoshino said with a casual, almost playful tone and wave of her hand.
"You got that right." Ragna answered immediately. Even with his memories not fully complete, he knew there was… A lot on the horizon that could put the girls in serious trouble without help. "Guess we should start with step one and why I'm here, that being the Helmet Gang."
As if on cue, Ragna suddenly sense a group of people rapidly approaching the school. Barely a moment later the sound of gunfire accompanied it. Son of a bitch, that was today?
"They're all out of supplies! Let's go in and take the school!"
"Ah, hell. Guess they saved us some time going to them." Ragna growled, rushing over to the nearby window and confirming his exact suspicions. The group was medium sized, smaller than one might expect for such an assault. But when one side was confident the other had few resources to fight back, you didn't exactly need a large force.
"It's the Kata Kata Helmet Gang!" Ayane declared with a tense frown.
"It's a good thing sensei brought us supplies. Now we'll have plenty of ammo to deal with them." Shiroko said aggressively, reloading her rifle with malicious intent. Barely a second later, the girl placed a foot on the table near the window and prepared to vault right over it.
"Hold it." Before Shiroko could reach for the window, Ragna yanked on the girl's blazer and dragged her back with such force she almost fell over with a startled sound and only avoided it from Ragna dangling the girl a whole head shorter in the air long enough to get her footing. "Don't rush off without thinking, dammit. Listen up because we don't have long."
"Huh? You have a plan, sensei?" Nonomi asked curiously, gripping her large minigun.
"Shiroko, Serika, go around the right side of the school. Hoshino, take the left over near where the pool is so you'll be able to get close and behind them in case anyone tries running and avoid any crossfire. Nonomi, go down to the entrance and cover the front angle, but don't show yourself till everyone's ready. Ayane, use your drone to watch for when everyone's in position so you can signal everyone to get shooting. Think you can get there in about 30 seconds?" Ragna lectured quickly, moving into the same position Shiroko had been a moment ago.
Shiroko gave an affirmative thumbs up, already stepping back toward the room door.
"Eh, wait sensei, w-what are you planning to do then?" Ayane asked, eyeing the window Ragna was close to suspiciously.
"Stall while everyone gets in position. Now, everyone get your asses moving already!"
"We di-"
Before Serika could begin properly complaining, Ragna threw the window open, grabbed Aramasa, and jumped right through the opening while just barely fitting his body and sword through without breaking it.
With a thud, Ragna landed in front of the helmeted group, sword draw but kept in a relaxed grip at his side. It was a group of about a dozen, all but one dressed in black and grey school uniforms with similarly colored full head helmets that had a dull crimson visor. The one standout, the apparent leader, was dressed in the same general style but her uniform was red with yellow highlights. Their headwear was also distinct and comprised of three pieces between the helmet, protective goggles, and gas mask. But every single one of them held a rifle in their hands, trained on Ragna.
"Hey, who the hell's this guy? They're not with Abydos! You better get out of our way if you know what's good for you!" The leader said, gesturing with her rifle aggressively.
"Uh, boss?" One of the people behind her spoke up, a hint of concern in her voice. "Isn't that the new adult all over the internet?"
"Huh? You mean that new guy with SCHALE?" The leader briefly turned her head back to her subordinate and then over to Ragna.
"Great, guess I don't need to waste my breath telling you who I am then." Ragna said with an aggressive huff. Yeah, he just had to keep them talking a little bit longer and see if he could get one thing before everyone started shooting...
"Aw, great. Lemme guess, those Abydos girls couldn't defend themselves anymore so they went crying and begging for the big adult to save their sorry asses?" The girl said with a mocking snicker. "I'm feeling nice since we're about to get a big job done here. We don't have any issue with you, so beat it before I change my mind and you don't have to get shot."
"Are you stupid? Threats only work if you can back them up. So, how about a better idea?" Ragna taunted, swinging his sword once for emphasis. "You tell me who hired a bunch of flunkies like you to keep harassing this school and you'll get to leave without getting your ass kicked while I go deal with them instead."
"The hell you think you are giving orders like you're not outnumbered 10 to 1 and we'll tell you anything!? You've got no idea who you're dealing with!" The leader bristled, tightening the grip on her gun. But there was something else, a subtle shift in her body language that had lasted barely an instant and, if not for Ragna's combat honed senses, would've been overlooked by an untrained eye as just indignation. She'd flinched back in surprise upon being called out as a lackey.
And for good reason. Ragna already remembered exactly who the son of a bitch behind them was and just needed an easier time getting everyone else on board. But he was out of time to probe for more. Ragna could sense, and even see in Hoshino's case as she crept up around the back of the group, the girls were about in position. Any second now...
"Little problem with your math, I'm not fighting you myself. I brought everyone ammo." Ragna declared with a proud smirk.
"What?"
"Everyone's in position, open fire!" Ayane's voice ordered.
Ragna rocketed to the left side of the field and out of Nonomi's way just before all hell broke loose.
Bullets rained down on the enemy group all at once from near every direction and sent the Kata-Kata Helmet Gang into a disorganized, panicking mob. Nonomi's minigun blanketed the front with fire and sent everyone scrambling for cover, only for their defenseless flank to be pelted by Serika and Shiroko's rifles. A few tried to find safety retreating further back toward the main gate to avoid the flanking fire or hiding in the few bits of cover that blocked both, yet all they got was Hoshino shotgun inflicting further damage and one unlucky girl knocked unconscious from the third year using her riot shield as a blunt weapon.
There was barely even time for the gang to counterattack. The little fire they could return was erratic and wildly off target between either scrambling to avoid being shot themselves while firing or getting shot and having their own aim thrown off. It was going so well, Ragna doubted the need to even step in boring as it was. If anything, doing so might've made the Foreclosure Task Force start shooting less to avoid hitting him under a misguided sense of concern till he set the record straight. Not that it'd be impossible for him to take a few rounds in his current state.
"Forget this! This was supposed to be easy, let's get out of here!" The leader in red screamed as the disorganized attackers started rushing toward the main gate, one hauling the unconscious body left by Hoshino. "You'll really get it next time!"
"That's right, you better stay away from our school!" Serika shouted aggressively, but with a hint of a proud grin on her face at the victory.
"We won! Good job, everyone. That sure was easy. " Nonomi's cheerful voice praised as she bounced over toward the center of the field everyone was gathering toward.
"I can't believe we won that fast." Hoshino commented with a satisfied smile.
"I'll say. I didn't even need to do anything but be a distraction." Holstering his sword with a sigh, Ragna added. Though, it wasn't all bad as the easy win had clearly lifted everyone's spirits, not a likely outcome had he done it himself. He definitely understood and appreciated when it was better to do something yourself, Jubei had given him plenty of things to do on his own that'd been good for his training. However, Ragna could also appreciate when it was an instructor's job to step in. That was, after all, why they were a teacher to a student. Maybe that was something he'd have to take a bit more seriously with this job...
"Nn, that was still important, sensei. It's the reason we were able to catch them by surprise at every angle." Shiroko replied with a twitch of her ears. "The Kata-Kata Helmet Gang would've started shooting the second they saw any of us."
"Shiroko-senpai's right!" Running toward the group from the school building, Ayane called out. "I know you're about as durable as we are, but that was still taking a risk."
"Eh, don't sweat it. That wasn't a big group." Ragna said with a dismissive gesture.
"As long as we had supplies, we could've done it ourselves, but I guess it did go a little faster with your help." Like she was being forced, Serika admitted.
"Huh, so you can be nice." Ragna added sarcastically.
"Arg, I take back anything good I was just thinking!" Serika stamped her foot with a glare directed toward the man. A glare which had not the slightest effect.
"Uhe~, you're so stubborn, Serika-chan." Affectionately clinging to her and making the cat girl start trying to push her off, Hoshino said.
"Well, it's nice to be free of the Helmet Gang for now. It pays to have adults in high places! " With a radiant smile, Nonomi said.
Shiroko shook her head, expression turning a hint sour. "I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they come back."
"Shiroko's right." Ragna said, turning his head toward the general direction the Helmet Gang had fled. "Since that was a piece of cake, hope you're all ready for more fighting."
"Eh? What are you talking about?" Ayane tilted her head curiously.
Hoshino finally gave Serika back her personal space and focused her gaze on Ragna, looking at him knowingly. "Mhm, I think I know what Ragna-sensei's plan is. I had the idea too. You want to go deal with the Helmet Gang directly and target their territory, right?"
"Pretty much." Ragna answered with a nod. "Kicking their ass like this has definitely hurt their pride. And people like that don't take that lying down. They'll be back pretty soon with way more numbers and if we get rid of at least the closest base, should give some more breathing room. Something I gotta confirm too."
"You're talking about who you think hired them, right? What makes you think somebody did that?" Hoshino's voice dropped slightly.
"Call if a feeling. Ayane said the attacks had been getting extra aggressive lately and I figure there's a reason a small gang would be so determined to take this place. I saw the leader react a bit when I called her on that too." Ragna answered, hoping it'd be enough of a reason. Ordinarily, somebody might've had to be extremely paranoid to suspect a conspiracy this soon, but well, Ragna was used to those and knew damn well it was the case here.
"You think someone's behind the Helmet Gang's attacks?" Frowning, Shiroko spoke up with an uncertain look.
"There's not much to go on to assume that right now." Ayane added uncertainly, hand to her chin. "I can see why the Helmet Gang would want a place like this, it's big and they could easily use it for a hideout, but who else would want the school in this state?"
"That's what we're going to find out." Ragna stated confidently. "You've all dealt with these girls enough to have an idea where they are, right?"
Shiroko nodded, pointing toward the more civilized area of Abydos. "They have a hideout about 30km from here."
"Perfect, this should be easy then. Who's up for a little trip?"
For Shiroko, the new teacher was an interesting character and she'd had a brief chance to get to know them on the walk there. The extreme forwardness of the man might've normally been a little awkward for her, yet sometimes it came out in a way like he was already a friend and perhaps that way part of what made it not hard to be at ease around them. However, she could tell some of her other classmates weren't as relaxed. From what little she knew so far he seemed like somebody she would like though. They'd clearly gone through a lot of research to prepare for helping the school and was ready to put himself at great risk for everyone, with the capability to match.
But after a short time everyone had reached their destination and it was time for battle again. The plan Ragna had come up with was simple. Hoshino and Nonomi would go through the front, while her and Serika would wait with Ragna around the side for a surprise flank while he dealt with the second floor and Ayane's drone would keep a lookout for anyone escaping. The man seemingly thought of everything since he even brought along that giant bag he'd come to Abydos with, which'd be perfect for carrying back any goods Abydos could recover from the base.
Okay, sure, he hadn't said that and it was all Shiroko's assumptions, but what else was he going to use a huge bag big enough for Hoshino to sleep in? Surely the hideout would have plenty worth stuffing in it.
"There's the gunfire." Ragna commented, pulling his fist back. "You two are up!"
Shiroko expected Ragna to punch the wall and make a hole, as that'd been the plan.
Instead, the second his fist collided with the structure almost the whole building side exploded into a shower of dust and debris like a tank round had hit it, the rumble vibrating through Shiroko's body.
"What the-They're supposed to be broke, where the hell did they get breaching charges like that!?"
"We're being flak-" The voice was cut off by a loud WHACK as debris slammed into her helmeted face and threw her to the floor.
Oh, perfect. Making such a huge 'hole' meant her and Serika had plenty of room to jump in and avoid fire instead of being easy targets from a small entrance. That made sense.
Not wasting a second, and paying no mind to Serika flustered screaming about 'collateral damage', Shiroko rushed in, kneeing the closest Helmet Gangster and following up with a strike from her rifle's stock, throwing them back and opening up a pillar to hide behind for cover. Which Shiroko took and promptly sprayed a burst at the other girl's helmet to send them running out the hole Ragna just made in retreat.
Shiroko poked her head out from behind the pillar to give herself a split second to appraise the situation, now that the dust cleared. Plainly furnished, not too much cover, with a backdoor over by some of the enemies, which Hoshino was approaching, and a flight of stairs. Likely from the earlier assault, the first floor was lightly defended by about the same number who had attacked their school building. Ragna had explicitly ordered everyone to not let the Helmet Gang all get away, they needed a few people to interrogate. But thinning out a couple of them wouldn't hurt.
Shiroko took aim at two girls scrambling for something to protect them from the multiple firing angles, nailing the first in the head and causing her to trip onto her face, while the other only took rounds in her arm and dove behind furniture.
Barely spotting a bullet mid flight speeding toward her, Shiroko ducked behind her cover as it clipped her hair. Only one person had been shooting at her, the rest were busy focusing on her friends. She could work with that to get closer.
Moving quickly as bullets whizzed all around her, Shiroko rolled out from the pillar and toward a table, shoving it down with a hand to create a barrier to hide behind. Keeping low, the wolf girl peeked out the side of the table and had the perfect view of the escape door, the one girl near it Shiroko was after. A few more rounds went right up her chest toward their helmet, with the visor shattering.
Just as Shiroko had hoped, her target immediately sprinted for the door and exited the fight, leaving only a few girls left. "You're lucky there's only a few of us!"
"Forget this! Retreat!"
"Who cares about this building, they broke it anyway!"
Good, their spirits were already breaking. But Shiroko wasn't going to let them get away that easily!
Before she could act on her mental threat, half the ceiling suddenly blew apart, raining rubble almost directly on top of the huddled up gang.
"What the he- ack!" Before one girl could finish her sentence, another body was unceremoniously thrown on top of her from the next floor.
"I think that's our cue to stop~." Nonomi said as the sound of bullets flying rapidly faded, everyone still keeping their guns trained on the half buried Helmet Gang.
Ragna jumped down the hole a second later, sword in hand. "Alright, I'll ask nicely once. Who's in charge here? I got an important question for them, soon as it's answered you can all go without any trouble."
"Um… Th… The person you threw down here." One of the gangsters in black spoke nervously, pointing toward the groaning body on the floor.
Ragna sighed deeply, his shoulders slightly slumping. "… Shit, of course they are."
"Sensei sure doesn't know how to be gentle with a girl." Hoshino said with a mild, teasing chuckle and lowering her shotgun slightly but still keeping it at the ready.
"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that coming from the girl calling herself a tired old man." Without so much as a look in her direction, Ragna holstered his sword and reached down toward the half conscious leader, shaking her shoulder firmly but with a surprising restraint, almost gentle even. "Hey, I know you're fine. You girls can shrug off worse than that."
After a few shakes, the girl seemed to regain some coherency. "Hu-What? What the, get your hands off me!" She spun herself around into a sitting position and away from Ragna's hand.
"I'm going to make this simple, answer my question and you're all free to go." Paying no heed to the reaction, Ragna stated firmly. "Who put you up to attacking the Abydos High School?"
"Why do you think I'd tell you anything?"
Ragna's face went flat, briefly looking around the room. "Are you kidding me? Did I hit you so hard you forgot the last few minutes?"
"Yeah, and what're you gonna do if I don't say anything? I'll get in way more trouble if I say anything." Defiantly, the girl stated. If her eyes could've been seen behind her helmet, Shiroko was certain they'd be glaring.
"So, that's how you wanna play it huh? Fine, we can do that." Ragna looked over his shoulder at Shiroko. "Hey, Shiroko. Go get me the bag I left outside."
"Nn, on it." Shiroko replied with an affirming nod and left through the collapse wall. A short distance from it laid the giant black bag Ragna had used to bring Abydos its supplies. But why did he need it now? Wouldn't it make more sense to wait till after the enemies were all gone to check for valuables?
But before heading back inside, Shiroko waved upward at Ayane's drone to signal the battle was over and to join the rest of the group. This was going to be important information she needed to hear.
Quickly jogging back over to Ragna, with Ayane's drone in tow and providing a holographic projection of the girl, Shiroko handed the man the bag. "Here you go, sensei. But what do you need it for now?"
"Thanks," Ragna said, taking the bag and not answering as he turned back toward the nervous group. "Tell me what you know or I'll shove you inside this bag, walk back through the entire Abydos desert with it to Valkyrie, and hand you over to them myself."
Every single one of the remaining gang members instantly straightened up, with the one Ragna threatened half standing up and backing away. "W-What the hell kind of teacher are you!? Walk through the desert, are you out of your mind!?"
Wow, her teacher was scary. But that sure turned her attitude around, Shiroko would have to remember that. She would've suggested just tying them up and putting a few harmless rounds into the girls. "Sensei, I can go get some more bags to carry the rest of them too."
Several hysteric screams erupted from the captive crowd.
"You're demons!"
"We might've attacked your school, but we still deserve basic rights!"
"Hey, you've been attacking us ruthlessly!" Serika barked with a glare. "You don't get to act like you're the victims now!"
"W-We don't need to go that far, Shiroko-senpai." Ayane said with an exasperated, nervous chuckle.
"… How far's the closest store?" Ragna asked, not breaking eye contact with his target.
"Sensei really doesn't pull any punches~." Some of her usual playfulness muted, Nonomi said with a soft giggle.
"O-Okay, okay!" The girl waved her hands defensively, voice pleading. "But I really don't know much!"
Ragna started unzipping the bag.
"I'mbeinghonest!" Her voice rose in pitch and speed. "I don't think anyone knows anything! We just got told to take the school no matter what and got given some weapons and money to make it happen. Somebody really wants that old place."
"You really expect me to believe that's all you know? You better tell me somebody who knows what's going on." Leaning closer aggressively, Ragna said.
The girl shook her head rapidly. "I told you, I don't think anyone knows who it is! It's always been some secretive stuff giving orders indirectly and they've always come to us, never even in person! I don't think we could call them if we even wanted. You don't ask questions with these kinda jobs."
"So somebody did hire you thugs to harass us!" Serika growled, motioning with her rifle toward the group.
"That's barely anything new to go on, dammit…" Ragna muttered to himself. "Smart son of a bitch."
"That's all I know, I swear."
Ragna pulled back from his aggressive stance, remaining silent for a few seconds with a sour expression and hand on his hip. "Fine, get out of here."
"What!?" Serika turned her attention over to Ragna, mouth open in disbelief. "We're going to let them go with that little!?"
"We can't get anything more if that's all they know, Serika-chan." Hoshino spoke up calmly. "Whoever we're dealing with, they're clever not telling whoever they hired much."
"It's not all bad. Since we've at least got a lead we can follow it now~." With an optimistic, reassuring smile, Nonomi added.
"We'll have to spend some time thinking about this. Even this confirmation is a lot…" Ayane muttered lowly with a pensive frown.
"Arg, I guess that's true… Explains a lot about why we've been getting attacked so much." With a reluctant sigh, Serika's body eased up and her gun lowered.
"Guess that settles it." Ragna stepped aside, gesturing to the rest of Abydos to likewise clear a path. "We're done, get out of here."
Wasting no time at all, the Helmet Gang members practically tripped over themselves scrambling out of the half destroyed hideout.
"Nn, sensei are you sure it's a good idea to just let them go instead of handing them over to Valkyrie?" Shiroko asked, watching the retreating group.
"Deal's a deal, Shiroko. If they didn't have anything to gain then no reason to tell us even what we got. Sometimes, shit happens, but you should always try to keep your promises if you can. Nobody'll have any reason to trust anything you say or do otherwise." Ragna lectured, putting a hand on her shoulder. "They're not much of a threat and we still got some info anyway."
Shiroko's wolf ears twitch curiously. Nn, that was sort of like what Hoshino had taught her. Keeping your principles was important, because if you broke them out of convenience you might lose them when it really mattered. Casual or not, promises were important as well.
"Well…" Ayane brought Shiroko out of her thoughts with tense words. "Normally, I'd say we could relax a bit since taking out the Helmet Gang's nearest base would make them likely back off from our school at least somewhat. But if there's somebody specifically targeting the school, I don't think they're going to give up that easily."
"Haaah…" Hoshino let out an exaggerated yawn, resting her chin on the top of her riot shield like it were a pillow. "Oji-san was hoping for a chance to nap after we dealt with these gangsters, but the work sure never ends. We've been at this all day."
"Hoshino-senpai, it's not even that late!" Serika reprimanded.
"No, I think Hoshino's got a point." Ragna shook his head. "By the time we go through this place and get back to the school it'll be late afternoon. I know I sprung this visit on you girls pretty suddenly and probably threw out any plans for today. Does anyone even have an idea who could be behind this?"
Ayane frowned. "Not off the top of my head…"
"See? Why not give everyone a bit of time to think and we'll talk about it tomorrow, take a short break. I'm gonna need a little time to go find a place to stay while it's light out anyway." Scratching his head, Ragna stated.
"I think that's a good idea." With a cheerful smile, Nonomi clapped her hands together. "Even if it's not a big victory, we should celebrate the ones we get!"
"Sensei, I still don't think your idea of shelter is a good one or safe…" Ayane said with a sigh and awkward smile.
"Are you sure you wouldn't rather stay at the school? We've got plenty of empty rooms." Shiroko suggested hopefully.
Hoshino let out a light snicker. "Sheesh, you're really warming up to him fast and like you've got a school girl crush, Shiroko-chan."
"Nn, I'd just feel bad having them stay out in the wilderness after they helped us so much…" Suddenly feel sheepish, Shiroko answered as her face felt warm. She didn't really know what to make of adults with her limited experience, but Ragna was nice enough and felt on a similar wavelength at times. So it was perfectly normal to want to repay him back for the help when he cared enough to learn so much about Abydos before even coming. And there was nothing else at all to it. At all.
"Absolutely not!" Serika screeched, pointing an angry finger at Ragna. "They're supposed to be an adult, just get a hotel if you want to stay here! There's at least one still open!"
"Do you know how much money all those supplies cost?" Ragna pointed right back with a dry, unamused look and sarcastic words. "Hell no am I spending even more today on things I don't need. The desert's got plenty of rooms for free."
"Aw, don't be like that. " Nonomi said, pulling on Ragna's arm to bring his head down and leaning closer toward his ear. It was just barely audible, but Shiroko could hear her whisper something, though the words escaped her understanding.
"No, that's not happening either." Ragna abruptly pulled away from Nonomi, leaving the girl looking a hint flustered at the very vocal address of whatever she must've whispered. "I wanna spend a little time learning the district and I'm used to camping outdoors anyway."
"You already seem to know it pretty well." Hoshino said with a touch of playful teasing, finally folding her shield back into it's briefcase sized form factor. "I think Ragna-sensei's the kind of person who's not easy to convince when their mind's made up, so why not let him do what he wants?"
"Real fancy way of calling me stubborn."
"You said it, not me~."
"Ugh, never mind." Setting down the bag he'd been holding, Ragna said dismissively. "Let's look around for anything worth taking back here. With the building in this state, doubt the Helmet Gang's coming back here and there's gotta be something useful here."
"I know just where to start looking." Great enthusiasm suddenly in her voice, Shiroko spoke up as she started walking toward some cabinets in the room. This what was what she'd been waiting for, they could fit plenty of supplies in that huge bag. Some ammo, tools, anything valuable worth a good amount of money not nailed down…
All the essential things in life.
Looting the remains of the Helmet Gang's lair had been surprisingly productive in the supplies they found, and Shiroko had been certain to leave no stone left unturned because one could never know what valuables were hidden away in the most random places.
Far as Shiroko could tell, Hoshino hadn't been enthusiastic about it, unsurprising with how she usually disapproved of one of Shiroko's particular hobbies, but didn't speak much on it. After all, Ragna had been right and Abydos could certainly use whatever supplies it could get. However, it hadn't taken long with so many people there, and in no time the Foreclosure Task Force had departed ways with their teacher, after exchanging contact information, and left everyone some time to talk among themselves while traveling through the sand covered streets of Abydos.
"Sensei's sure an interesting adult, isn't he?" Nonomi was the first to speak up on the man as everyone made the trip back home.
"I like him." Shiroko replied with a smile. "If somebody's after the school, they'll be a lot of help dealing with it between their experience and how strong they are."
"I'm not surprised Shiroko-senpai gets along with them so well already." With a resigned look, Ayane added, still a projection from her drone. "But it's nice to have a capable adult around who answered our request so quickly. I'm not sure what would've happened if they hadn't arrived when they did."
Serika, however, looked less convinced, scowl on her face. "I know we asked for his help and sensei did do a lot, but that doesn't mean we suddenly have to let him in on everything! Who does he think he is, suddenly showing up like they'll easily solve everything and acting like we're already friends?"
"I don't think they meant it like that, Serika-chan." Speaking more diplomatic and softly than usual, Nonomi said, hand on the bristling girl's shoulder. "It's a little surprising how much they knew about Abydos, but we could really use the help."
"I know that!" Serika huffed, before her voice calmed down slightly to something more bitter than angry. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."
"Well, they already knew a lot anyway, so he knew what he signed up for." Hoshino said with a tired yawn. "Sensei sure did his 'research' before coming here. Their intuition about the Helmet Gang even turned out right too."
Shiroko's ears flattened pensively. She may not have been the most socially aware with her history, there was a lot she had learned in the past 2 years and still had to, but she knew her friends well, Hoshino and Nonomi especially. And Shiroko couldn't help the feeling her classmates, besides maybe Ayane, were a little… Wary even? About Ragna, Hoshino in particular. Sure, they barely knew Ragna right now and it was surprising how much he knew, but hadn't he already proven his determination to help between taking the time to learn all that and the fighting?
"Nn, I think they're just being prepared." Shiroko finally spoke up. "Now that we've found out, somebody targeting the school explains a lot about why the Helmet Gang's been constantly attacking every few days. They've never been so persistent for anywhere else."
"Ah, the naivety of youth." Hunching over in a lazy posture, Hoshino answered teasingly.
"We still don't have a clue who could be behind these attacks though. I'm worried they might escalate now that we know." Ayane frowned.
"I wouldn't stress out about it too much today, Ayane-chan. Even if they follow the same pattern, I bet we'll have at least a few days to relax." Hoshino said with a reassuring smile. "Like Nonomi-chan said, we should celebrate whatever victories we get~."
Shiroko wasn't going to fight that. Everyone had either been cleaning the school, in a meeting, or fighting all day. The girl had been planning to do a little bit of cycling for fun today, but those plans had been thrown out with the sudden visit. A chance to relax a little was certainly welcomed. But still… There were some nerves that Shiroko couldn't fully put at ease. Everyone was going to have a lot to talk about tomorrow over the new discoveries and there was still that sense of unease about Ragna she got from some of her classmates.
Well, no matter. Those would be things to talk about another day. Her time at Abydos was certainly going to get even more eventful soon.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
And back with another very long chapter and it still didn't take me a whole month to do!
Just in time for the third episode of the anime to start airing! Since that's going through the Abydos arc right now while I'm just about to start it, wanna preface saying that generally I'll be referencing more the game's sequence of events. Though I might still pull from the anime a bit if there's not any majorly conflicting bits if this story happens to run into any overlapping events and I like what I see, but the game will generally have priority. The anime sure lets you see just how absurdly buried by the desert Abydos is, doesn't it? Cool to see more of the world outside just background stills.