Sixteen years before
Underground catacombs beneath Abydos
"Push the detonator!"
"Don't push it!"
"Do it now!"
Hinata looked at the small remote in his hand, then back to the swarm of beetles the size of large dogs rushing towards them. "I-I can't."
"Hinata!" The blue haired man looked back to see a pink haired woman fighting off the massive beetle nod at him. "Just do it. Please…"
Nodding, the man smashed the switch. A moment later, the obelisk behind them erupted into flame, causing the cavern to shake.
The floor below the massive white stone collapsed, sending beetles and rocks falling into an open abyss below. As they did, the pink haired Abydos commando leapt from the falling stones towards the edge of the hole.
"Yui, grab my hand!" Hinata threw out his hand.
The pink haired woman extended her own, only to watch their bare fingertips brush before she fell.
"YUI!" The blue haired man cried, his eyes transfixed with his wife's.
Hakari Yui smiled as she fell. "T-take care of Haru…"
Present Day
Schale
"YUI!"
Sensei jerked out of bed, panting. He glanced around and let out a sigh of relief. He was in his bedroom in Schale, not stuck in the Abydos catacombs.
"Are you okay, Sensei? Another nightmare?" A soft and worried voice chimed from his tablet.
The teacher put his hand on his chest. "I'm fine, Arona. It was a nightmare, but I'll get over it." He looked back towards the ceiling. "I deal with them all the time."
As he stood up, he looked over the framed photo of him and his daughter, then at another photo of him and his wife. Letting out a sigh of discomfort. "How…how can you keep trusting me to do this when I've failed you twice?"
Shaking his head, Ao Hinata, the Schale Sensei brushed his short blue hair before heading to the bathroom. "Arona, when I get back, I want a full breakdown of what my day is looking like."
"Of course, Sensei!" Arona replied chipperly before frowning. It was at least twice a week when Sensei would be haunted by nightmares. Typically they were between his daughter or his wife. She could tell between the ways he
spoke when he slept. She just wished that there was a way she could find someone to talk it through with him.
A few minutes later, Arona explained to the teacher his schedule.
"The Tea Party of Trinity is requesting my assistance?" Sensei raised his brow. "That's unexpected."
"Yes, Sensei." Arona responded, scrolling through the contents of the email. "It was sent from Nagisa of the Tea Party. She is requesting your assistance concerning some struggling students."
"I see." The teacher frowned as he put his coat on. "Hmm…last time I went to Trinity, I nearly got arrested for looking suspicious. How do I avoid getting unwanted attention…"
Trinity General School
"And that's why you called the entire Trinity Vigilante Crew to help you out?" Suzumi raised her brow.
The teacher shrugged, "I figured I could knock two birds with one stone. You girls escorting me into campus will ensure I am not arrested on suspicion while I get to spend time getting to know you girls better."
The white haired vigilante sighed. "I suppose you have a point. Any problems, girls?"
The rest of the girls, numbering a dozen in all, shook their heads. "We'd be happy to spend time with you, Sensei."
"If anything, we have questions for you." Another girl chimed in.
The teacher smiled as he knelt to the freshmen in the crew. "What about you? Will you be a hero of justice and help an old man get to his meeting?"
Reisa pouted, crossing her arms. "You're treating me like a kid again. But…I guess it's part of a hero of justice's job to help people."
The rest of the crew giggled and exchanged smiles. "Alright then, to the Tea Party Headquarters!"
As the crew and their Sensei entered campus, the teacher turned to the leader. "So what exactly does the Vigilante Crew do here? I assumed the Justice Task Force handled most matters here."
"They do." Suzumi nodded, "It's true that the Justice Task Force has the large majority of the resources and security authority here. In fact, technically, the Vigilante Crew is an unofficial organization. For a long time, we never received funding nor any legitimacy. We were just a group of volunteers who enforced the rules and kept the peace in the district."
As they walked past a set of black uniformed JTF students, the girls gave a slight nod as they passed. The JTF students frowned but nodded in response.
"However, given the growing concern for security and recent unrest, the Vigilante Crew was given official status as an independent club and we now cooperate with JTF on occasion."
"It's not perfect," Another girl added, "Sometimes we crash one of JTF's sting operations and vice versa, but we try to get along and give each other heads up if we're about to conduct a major operation."
The teacher raised his brow, "Major operations? Not just sidewalk peacekeeping?"
Suzumi shook her head. "Quite the opposite, Sensei. The Vigilante Crew specializes in squad based operations. We've managed to arrest quite a few criminal and delinquent gangs in our two years of service. We even managed to hold our own against Gehenna's Hot Spring Development club on more than one occasion."
"That's quite impressive." Sensei nodded in approval, "Even back in my day, putting down the Hot Spring Development club required major resources and several squads of commandos."
Another girl turned to him, "That actually leads into my question, Sensei. You talk as though you have a lot of experience on the field here in Kivotos. Yet, none of know where you came from or what you did before you were announced Sensei a few months ago."
"That seems to be a common misconception." The teacher admitted, "I actually come from the Abydos district. When I was younger, I joined the Abydos Expeditionary Forces for several years before "
"The Abydos Expeditionary Forces?" Suzumi asked. "I never heard of them."
Sensei turned around to face the girls. "Have you seen a map of Abydos before?"
One of the girls nodded, "I have. I heard it used to be one of the largest districts in Kivotos."
"Because it was." The teacher agreed, "Abydos was huge and required large amounts of resources to patrol and protect it. While the Abydos Intelligence and Disciplinary teams were very capable and adept for rapid response, the outer borders and deserts were far beyond the expected capabilities of what Abydos High School could reasonably patrol. Which is where the Expeditionary Forces came in."
He raised two fingers, "About two hundred years ago, the many tribes and militas of Abydos were gathered under the Abydos Student Council in order to share information, resources, and patrols. These combined forces would be known as the Abydos Expeditionary Forces. We were locally trained citizen soldiers who would embark on long term patrols through the furthest parts of Abydos. An average patrol could last up to three to five months with very little resupply. In exchange for our efforts, the Student Council made sure we received similar training and equipment to that of the Disciplinary teams, which is where I got all my commando training."
"Impressive." Suzumi nodded in awe. "You were part of your own vigilante crew of sorts."
"I guess you're right about that." The blue haired man admitted sheepishly. "Now then, I spent about seven years in the Vigilante Corps until their disbandment fifteen years ago. After that, I worked as a combat and commando instructor at Abydos until my retirement five years ago. I did some lecturing here and there before being asked to serve as the Schale Sensei."
Suzumi narrowed her eyes. "And this never was made public knowledge why?"
The teacher shrugged, "I actually don't know. I'll have to bring it up with the acting Student Council President at some point."
The rest of the girls glanced amongst each other while Reisa walked up to the teacher. "I've decided. You're not scary at all. You're actually very cool, a true hero of justice."
"Thanks Reisa. I appreciate that." A warm smile crossed Sensei's face as he gave the girl a headrub.
"H-hey cut that out!" Reisa giggled. "That's ticklish."
As the teacher and freshmen laughed and chuckled, Suzumi watched their byplay and smiled softly. One of her crew members walked up to her. "What do you think?"
Suzumi shook her head. "I think he's a good person, but we definitely need to keep watch on him."
Her face darkened. "After all, whether or not he proves trustworthy will determine this will all be in vain."
Tea Party Headquarters
Sensei frowned as he stared at the two Tea Party members. "I'm sorry, you want me to do what?"
"We would like you to assist these students with getting their grades up." Nagisa explained. "Each one of these students is struggling with their grades and has been reprimanded for their actions repeatedly."
The teacher nodded, "That's what I thought you were saying. And when you mean…grades…you mean-"
"Math, language, cultural studies, and science." Mika finished. "Is there a problem with that?"
Sensei stiffened. "N…no…not at all." He chuckled awkwardly as he glanced around awkwardly. "So all I need to do is oversee them and make sure they get better grades?"
"There's a bit more to it than that," Nagisa raised her brow, "But that is the basic explanation. Is something the matter?"
The teacher shook his head. "Nope, not at all. I can totally do that!"
"Oh my, Sensei, you're such a laugh to be around." the pink haired Tea Party member giggled. "I could watch you joke all day and never get bored."
Nagisa ignored her friend's antics. "If you'll excuse me, I'll call the Make Up Work club's president to help you gather said students."
As the two Tea Party members exited the table, the teacher felt the sweat streak down his face.
"Is there something wrong, Sensei?" Arona asked calmly from the Schitem Chest. "I've been taking notes for you and examined the contract. There's a few things I wanted to go over with you before we agreed to this."
"Arona…this is terrible, like actually terrible."
"Why is that, Sensei?"
"Because…because…I just…I can't."
"You can't what, Sensei?"
"I…I can't teach."
Arona paused as the tablet's logic processor froze outright. "I'm sorry, say that again?"
"I can't teach." The teacher admitted. "I…I don't know how…"
"But you're the Sensei of Schale? And you taught the Abydos and Millennium students just fine."
"That was combat tactics and basic life lessons." Sensei protested. "I can teach kids to shoot a rifle, read a map, and squad based tactics…but math, writing, and reading? I nearly failed Algebra. Haru read all the contracts for me. Yui taught me how to balance my checkbook. How do I teach kids something that I nearly failed in myself?"
Arona stared incredulously at the teacher. "We're doomed."