Volume 1

Sensei stared at the half covered buildings before him. The wind blew past the grizzled man, sending sand particles into the man's face.

The once thriving campus filled to the brim with students, faculty, and life now a ruin, half buried beneath the sands of Kivotos. The dining hall, dormitories, general education buildings, the beautiful sports gymnasium, the firing ranges, the music pavilion, even the small maintenance shed he called his office was now buried beneath the desert sands.

Wincing as he covered his face, a frown crossed his face. "Where did everyone go?"

He turned to the Shitem Chest, "Arona, are you sure they asked me to come to Abydos High School?"

"I'm certain Sensei! The message made it clear that Abydos High School was being harassed by local gangs."

"I remember that. I'm more puzzled why no one's here. I thought I was supposed to meet their president here." Sensei looked across the barren plains. "So then…where are they?"

He was about to walk away when he heard a bell ring. He turned around to see a bicycle with a gray haired girl in a cycling outfit atop it. She stared her cyan eyes over the blue haired man in suspicion.

"Umm…" Sensei frowned as he recognized the suit. "Are you an Abydos student?"

"Nnn"

"I see. You wouldn't happen to know where the Abydos High School students are?"

"Nnn"

"I see. Can you take me to where they are?"

"Nnn"

"Thanks." He turned back to his tablet. "I guess we're going to where the students are."

"Are you sure we can trust her Sensei?" Arona asked.

Sensei held back a mild smirk as he remained silent before speaking. "Nnn"

There was an awkward silence. "Sensei, that was cringe."

An hour long trek later, the adult and high schooler found themselves before a mildly dilapidated building with a war torn courtyard wall around the building. Sensei turned to Shiroko. "You never mentioned that you were a student of the Abydos Satellite campus."

Shiroko raised her brow as her ear twitched. "This is the Satellite campus? But this is where I go to school."

"I see. Well then, allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Sensei from SCHALE. I'll be assisting you and your classmates in your clash against the armed gangs."

The girl's eyes widened. "Nnn!"

After chasing off the Helmet Gang

Sensei walked through the empty halls of Abydos Satellite-High school, a faint frown on his lips. Everywhere he looked, he saw memories, students going to and fro classes, faculty warning students to walk, groups of students discussing the latest late night drama or where they were going after school.

And then the sand would blow past and he was back in sand covered hallways, barren and void of all life. Sighing aloud, Sensei paused as he spoke aloud. "It's been a while since I've been in these halls, they remind me of better times long ago."

"So you really were a former teacher here." A carefree voice responded. "I thought the blue hair looked familiar."

He turned around to find the pink haired club president slouched against a locker, her shotgun resting in her hands. Her heterochromia eyes carefully gauging the man before her, Hoshino spoke calmly and slowly. "Yume told me about a blue haired combat instructor who used to teach on the main campus. She spoke very highly of him."

"She also mentioned how he wasn't there when Abydos needed him." The girl spoke with a bitter undertone.

Sensei remained silent as he nodded slowly. "That's right. I wasn't here. Haru and I didn't do anything to save Abydos."

"Not even going to try to spew lies to try to save yourself, you're not the usual grown up." Hoshino spat.

"What's there to defend?" The man spoke softly. "I didn't come back when Abydos needed me most. Haru didn't send aid even when she got Yume's letter pleading for help."

"Because she couldn't." Hoshino finished, sighing. "She knew that if she showed favoritism towards her home academy, the other schools would come down on her neck. Instead she sent you, Yukino, Otogi, Niko, and Kurumi senpai to investigate in her stead, which is what you've been doing for the last three years."

Sensei remained silent as the shorter girl looked up at the older man. "Am I right? That's what Yume senpai thought."

The teacher didn't respond as the girl rolled her eyes and began to walk away. "Don't worry, I won't tell our juniors about this conversation. They're better off left in the dark, enjoying the bliss that Sensei came to save them from their problems."

"Wait."

The girl froze as she felt a pair of hands placed on her shoulders. She looked up in surprise to see the watery blue eyes of a sobbing man. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry we couldn't do more. I'm sorry that we didn't make it in time to save Yume. I'm sorry that you had to suffer the way you did." The tears rolled down his blue beard as the man wept. "I'm sorry."

"Sensei, please stop." Hoshino was taken aback by the man's change of character. "Y-you're making me look like the bad guy here."

She remained silent as she allowed the older man to hold her tightly. "Jeez, all you grown ups are so messy."

The doorbell rang as the wooden sliding door opened, allowing the grizzled man in.

"Hello?"

"Ahh, hello there." A walking dog greeted the man. "If you're looking for Serika, she's not in. This is her day off."

"I appreciate the thought, Shiba, but she's not who I am here to see." Sensei spoke with a friendly smile.

The dog returned the smile. "My my, am I the popular one now? Grab a seat at the counter. Can I get you anything?"

"A house special ramen with a hot sake." The man ordered. "Two glasses."

"Ahh, I shouldn't be drinking on the job." Master Shiba chided.

"Ah come on, with your tolerance? This will barely make a difference."

A few minutes later, the two older men sat on the counter, Sensei pouring the glasses.

"Well then, what should we make this toast to?" Shiba asked.

Sensei thought a moment. "To the future of Abydos."

"Hear hear. To the future of Abydos."

The two men downed the shots together. With a loud gasp, the dog lowered his glass. "So then Sensei…or should I call you Teacher Ao, you finally returned to Abydos."

"I go by Sensei these days. I'm technically retired from my teaching days." The blue haired man corrected.

"But you're back to teaching the students of Abydos." Shiba pointed out.

"Semantics I assure you. My new role in Schale is much broader than just the combat instructor for Abydos. But to your first point, I must apologize. I wasn't able to prevent the desertification, or the collapse of the district."

"I know you and the girls did your best." Shiba chided the man. "We Abydos folk are a resilient bunch. We'll get through this and we know Hoshino and the rest of the Task force have our backs. I'm just happy that you returned."

"I'll toast to that." Sensei returned the smile, pouring another glass for the two of them. "I've been helping out all over Kivotos and there's nothing quite like Abydos hospitality. But seriously, if you need anything. Let me know. With my new position in Schale, I've got a lot more jurisdiction than I did as the Abydos combat instructor."

The two old veterans shared a toast and reminisced on days long past.

As the day drew to a close, Sensei found himself in an unused faculty room, leaning his back against a hard folding chair. He grumbled as he adjusted his back to try to get a faint semblance of comfort.

"To think I used to sleep on rocks." The older man grumbled as he placed his tablet on the desk. "Arona, wake me up at five."

"Will do Sensei! Is there anything else I can do for you?"

The man pondered a moment before nodding. "Send a message to Schale. Input security designation 778369. Message as follows: 'the trial leads into the desert'. You got that Arona?"

"Yes Sensei! Message recorded and sent. Anything else?"

The man shook his head. "That'll be all Arona. Good night."

"Good night Sensei."

Looking up at the poorly maintained roof above him, a tear fell down the man's cheeks. "I'm back, Haru. Just as I promised. And this time we'll get to the bottom of this. I swear. We'll bring Abydos her peace one and for all."

And with that, the man closed his eyes and soon a soft snoring took over.

As the night went on, the window of the office slowly creaked open to allow a small figure to roll in.

Hoshino frowned as she looked over the sleeping teacher and sighed. "Jeez Sensei, you're going to get a cold like this. Are all you grown ups this incompetent?"

Walking over to one of the storage cabinets, the club president took out a thermal blanket and placed it over the slumbering teacher.

"Nnn—" the man mumbled as he shifted around the blanket. "Th-thunder's loud ain't it? Hurts, makes your ears hurt."

The younger girl sighed as she rolled her eyes. "And now you're scared of thunder? Some grown up you are."

She was about to leave when a strong hand shot out and grabbed the girl's hand, pulling her tightly. Hoshino cried out in surprise as she found herself in a tight embrace, her head pressing against her chest. "But don't worry Haru, Daddy's got you. Daddy will keep you safe. That's a promise."

Hoshino froze as she began to hear the man hum aloud. Her eyes widened as recognized the tune of an ancient Abydos lullaby.

"Turn your eyes unto the starry sky.

Look full in its bright and vast light.

When the light shines down upon the shiny sand

The oasis will guide us home."

(Sung to the tune of Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus)

The pink haired girl felt her muscles relax as she allowed the slumbering man to rock her gently back and forth, a sense of warmth and safety surrounding her.

An hour later, Hoshino quietly slipped out from the man's arms with catlike flexibility. "Thanks Sensei, I…maybe you aren't that bad of a grown up after all."

From within the Shitem Chest, Arona saved the recording of the event into her private folder.