Pre Volume 3

Trinity General School

Sensei frowned as he looked over the massive marble columns and cathedrals that made up the Trinity campus. Everywhere he looked, well dressed students entered and exited the beautiful and elegant buildings, with a prim and pristine atmosphere.

"Why do I feel like I'm way out of place here?" He muttered aloud as he strolled through the campus.

As he looked around, he noticed clusters of students stopping to stare at the rugged blue haired man in his white uniform and standing easily a head above everyone else. "Yeah, I really don't fit in here." He took out the Schitem Chest. "Arona, can you plot a route for me to where I'm supposed to meet up with Hifumi?"

"Hai Sensei!" Arona chirped as a GPS map appeared on the screen. "Here you go. If you move at a brisk pace, you'll arrive at the rendezvous point with ten minutes to spare."

"Good to know." Sensei muttered as he held his bag. "Hope I got the right Peroro plush. I didn't know which one she had, so I just grabbed one from Haru's collection and bagged it."

"Sensei, you do know the one you chose is a rare collector's edition Kamen Peroro. It's valued at 10 million yen and up until recently was thought to be a myth." Arona added cautiously, "Are you sure you want to give it to a student you barely know."

"Even more a reason to give it to her. Haru would never want her collection to be lost. She would want her stuff to be left in the hands of a responsible collector." Sensei affirmed her. "Don't worry, I'm sure that Hifumi would take very good care of-"

"-Halt right there interloper!"

Sensei didn't even get to finish before a small figure leaped out in front of him and tackled him to the ground…or at least tried to. Instead Sensei felt a mild shove into his broad figure and looked down in surprise.

Realizing the man hadn't gone down, the girl looked up in confusion. "Wait, what?"

Sensei frowned, picking up the girl by the scruff. "Can I help you?"

"Hey, stop that! What do you think you're doing?" The girl shouted in fury as she tried to punch and claw at the man holding her safely out of harm's way. "You're interfering with the Trinity Vigilante crew!"

The man raised his brow. "Trinity Vigilante crew? Is that like…a sub branch of the Justice Task Force? I'm supposed to meet with them in a bit, but I got a bit lost and-"

"Help help!" The girl shouted aloud as she reached for her radio. "This is Arbiter of Justice to all Vigilante members, I've got an active situation in the Central Courtyard! Currently engaged with a hostile target and requesting reinforcements! I repeat, I need back up!"

"I wouldn't say I'm a hostile target…" Sensei muttered in disapproval, glancing around to see a small crowd gathering around the commotion. He sighed. "Arona, give me directions to somewhere a bit more private to hash this out."

"Will do Sensei!"

Sensei followed her directions to lead him and the still struggling child to an alleyway. "Put me down this instant! You will be arrested for obstructing justice!"

The man sighed, before giving the girl a stern look. "Hey kid, I'm going to put you down, but I need you to promise to remain calm, ok?"

"Never!" the gremlin retorted, "I will never comply with those who obstruct justice!"

Sensei was about to respond when his battle-tuned senses kicked in. Dropping the girl, he turned away just in time for the flashbang to drop mere feet from his person. Not allowing the flash to faze him, he spun around, FAMAS raised to face a white haired girl in a gray uniform, her own rifle trained on him.

"That's far enough," the girl called as half a dozen other girls in gray uniforms rappelled in from the rooftop, their own rifles raised with deadly precision. Then Sensei frowned as he recognized the student. "Wait, aren't you Morizuki Suzumi?"

Suzumi's brow raised as she now got a good look at the man before her. "Sensei, as in the Schale Sensei? What are you doing here?"

The teacher shrugged, "Until a minute ago, I was heading to a meeting with Ajitani Hifumi. She was supposed to introduce me to the Justice Task Force head."

The girl frowned as she put the pieces together. "So you're saying that you were simply minding your own business before Reisa jumped you."

"Pretty much." Sensei nodded before turning to the younger girl. "So your name is Reisa."

"Exactly," Reisa declared, "I'm Uzawa Reisa and I'm a champion of justice! So you'd better remember that when-"

"Rei-sa?" The girl in question froze as she turned around to Suzumi, who had a strained smile across her face. "What have I said about attacking people without sufficient evidence?"

The girl's face paled as she backed away. "Ahh, but you always said that we should never assume someone is completely innocent…and he really did look out of place. Just like Cath Pulug! She's clearly scheming something and it's of the utmost importance that we keep a close eye on her."

Suzumi rolled her eyes as she lowered her rifle, gesturing to the rest of the Vigilante crew to follow her. "For the last time Reisa, Kyouyama Kazusa may have had a delinquent background in middle school, but she hasn't shown any sign of criminal activity for the last 6 months despite constant surveillance."

"But that only means she's extremely good at hiding her activities!" Reisa insisted, tears beginning to stream from her cheeks. "I know she's hiding something, I know it! Why doesn't anyone ever believe me?"

Sensei watched the commotion unfold before smiling softly. It wasn't the first time he had to remind overeager recruits to curb their zeal. "Suzumi, if you'd allow me."

He knelt down in front of Reisa and held out his hand. "I don't think we got off on the right foot. I'm the Sensei of Schale, but you can call me Sensei. Does that work with you?"

Reisa sniffed a tear away as she saw the warm smile on the man's face. Carefully taking the man's face, she nodded. "Uzawa Reisa, first year at Trinity General school and member of the Vigilante Crew."

"That's wonderful Reisa." Sensei admired her honesty. "It sounds like you dream to be a hero of justice, is that right?"

Reisa shyly nodded. "Mhmm…"

"Now then, do you think a hero of justice would judge people based on how they look, or would they only act if they actually saw wrong being done before them."

Reisa frowned. "What?"

Sensei pointed to himself, "Do I look scary to you?"

Reisa looked over the tall blue haired man with a grizzled beard and hard eyes. Hesitantly, she nodded. Sensei chuckled, "I appreciate your honesty. I admit, I do look intimidating to those who don't know me personally. But have I actually done anything wrong? Or is the only thing I've done wrong is look scary?"

Reisa frowned. "I guess…you didn't do anything."

"And even then, perhaps you could have asked me what I was doing." Sensei added, "I actually was quite lost and couldn't find where to meet my friend. Isn't helping people in need what a hero of justice does?"

Reisa nodded slowly. "Uhuh…So then…" She frowned, "But what if you were planning on doing something and someone could get hurt if I didn't stop you before?"

"That is an excellent point, Reisa." Sensei nodded, giving the girl a surprise headrub. Reisa surprisingly didn't resist. "What if I had a bomb on me? I could do some serious damage with a bomb after all."

He pointed at his bag. "Then you'd go and call the right people to go and check. Did you try calling the Justice Task Force before you made the jump?"

"Ahh…well…I thought I could handle it myself." The girl admitted sheepishly. "Because that's what heroes of justice do!"

The man shook his head. "Heroes of justice know why it's important to be a part of a team. There's nothing better than going into a situation knowing someone's got your back." He gestured to Suzumi and her girls. "Learn to trust your fellow crew members and to make decisions as a team. Sound good?"

Reisa nodded slowly. "Sensei?"

"Yes kiddo?" The teacher grinned.

"You remind me of my dad."

The father froze a beat, caught off guard by the sudden comment. "I guess…that's because I am."

"You're a dad, Sensei?" Reisa asked curiously.

"That's right. I've got my own little girl. She's just a bit older than you." Sensei chuckled as he ruffled the girl's hair. "She's a very little soldier and reminds me a lot of you."

"Where is she now, Sensei?"

"I…" Sensei struggled to respond, "I…I don't know. I wish I did though."

Reisa picked up on his tone and frowned. "Is your daughter ok, Sensei?"

"I…I hope so." He admitted.

Reisa thought about his words before smiling. "If she's got a dad like you, then I'm sure she's okay."

Suzumi observed the scene and sighed. "Come on Reisa, we've got to get back on patrol."

Reisa nodded, "Alright Suzumi." She turned back to the teacher and waved. "Thanks Sensei, it was nice to meet you and I'm sure your daughter is okay with a father like you!"

With that, the Vigilante crew departed, leaving Sensei alone in the alleyway. The teacher simply stood there listlessly, unconsciously waving his hand farewell.

"Sensei?" Arona asked nervously. "Are you alright-"

"-Sensei, there you are!" A voice interrupted her as a familiar pigtailed girl ran towards them.

"I was looking all over for you! I thought you had gotten lost or something." Hifumi panted as she came up to a stop behind the teacher. When she got no response, she looked up at the teacher, giving his shirt a tug. "Sensei?"

The tug jerked the teacher out of his daze. "Ahh, oh hello there Hifumi. When did you get here?"

Hifumi frowned. "I just got here. But enough about that, are you alright? You looked like you were crying."

The grizzled haired man reached up to his beard and was surprised to find it wet from tears. "Ahh, I suppose I was. Don't worry about it, Hifumi. I'm perfectly fine. Speaking of which, I had gotten you a Peroro plush and I'm pretty sure it was a popular one and-"

He looked down at his hands and noticed they were empty. "Ahh…I must have dropped it."

"SENSEI YOU DROPPED PERORO!?" Gone was the sweet and kind smile of the Hifumi he normally knew and in its place, a rabid and wild monster with ravenous intent had replaced her. "WE MUST FIND IT AT ONCE! PEOPLE DO NOT GET AWAY WITH DROPPING PERORO LIKE THAT!"

Suddenly, the teacher found himself dragged out of the alley by the surprisingly strong grip of the Peroro fan. "Ahh…"

Arona watched the scene unfold and sighed.

From atop her perch, a white haired girl frowned as she lowered her binoculars. "So that's the Sensei of Schale."

She eyed the way he moved with calculated and precise movements. "He's a trained professional fighter." She observed, jotting it down in her notes. She frowned, "He almost moves like the Instructor does. But why?"

Frowning, Azusa paused momentarily to observe the vigilante crew. "They move in a similar way. Everything they did was a perfectly executed ambush as taught by the Instructor. But why?"

Putting away her binoculars, Azusa stood up and reached for her cellphone. Saori was waiting for her report and she had no intentions of being late.