Trinity General School

"Sensei, why are you running?"

The teacher unlatched the cable from his belt and looked up at the balcony of the Tea Party Gathering he had just rappelled from. "I can't do it, Arona. If I can barely pass my academics, how can I expect to help students who need assistance in theirs."

"But that's just abandoning your responsibilities, Sensei." Arona protested. "Please reconsider this."

"A responsible adult would have never taken the request to start with." The teacher muttered as he glanced around, looking for possible eyes on him. "Now then, literally anything else to get out of this…"

That's when he heard an explosion alongside the rising of smoke in the distance. "Ohh look, literally anything else!"

"Sensei," Arona grumbled, "You're not going to get away with this."

The teacher ignored the A.I, running over towards the scene. When he arrived, he found half a dozen black uniformed JTF members surrounding a two story warehouse that had been hastily boarded up. Char and soot covered the brick walls and it was clear that the building had recently been the site of a firefight. Noticing a familiar sharpshooter standing on the side, the teacher ran up and waved his hand. "Hey there Hasumi."

The vice commander of the JTF looked up from her phone and turned to see the blue haired teacher. "Sensei, what are you doing here?"

The teacher waved his hand, "Nothing you need concern yourself over. What's the situation here?"

Hasumi frowned, turning back towards the building. "We've got an armed perpetrator holed up inside that tear gas warehouse."

Interested, the teacher turned his gaze on the building, "Interesting, give me an overview of the suspect."

"Shirasu Azusa is a first year at Trinity known for her standoffish behavior and tendency towards violence. Shirasu accosted a group of students before they called the JTF. Upon intervention, rather than surrender, the student opened fire and after a brief engagement, retreated into this tear gas warehouse. She is now holed up inside and has made entry inside very difficult."

The gears in the teacher's mind spun as he examined the building and its entrances, nodding. "I can imagine. This is a textbook case of resisting an armed siege." He pointed at the entrance. "I'd guess that she probably left a pair of claymores there," he then moved his finger to the side entrance, "Follow that by a wire triggered mine and probably a pair of flash grenades hooked up near the second story windows."

Hasumi raised her brow, impressed. "That's pretty much on par. We already ran into the first set of claymores. We also noticed the trip wires and were preparing to cut our way through them."

"I'd suggest against doing that." The teacher shook his head, "She's probably put herself in a position where she can take shots or throw grenades at the wire cutting team. She's also likely to have set up mines and traps around the windows."

"Noted." The JTF Vice commander nodded, "I'll send those notes to the rest of the force."

"Now then, as for our plan of attack-"

"There you are, Sensei!" Another voice interjected, "I've been looking for you."

The two turned to see a panting student with pigtails and a Peroro backpack. The teacher raised his brow, "Hifumi, what are you doing here?"

"I was about to task you the same." Hifumi remarked, "I'm the Make up Work Club president! When I went to meet you, you weren't in the Tea Party room."

The teacher was about to protest when Hasumi's eyes lit up. "You're going to be supervising the Make Up Work Club?"

"I mean…well…"

The vice commander took the teacher's hands. "Thank you so much for agreeing to help out. One of my newest recruits, Koharu, was put in the club and I'd feel so much better knowing you are supervising the club. She's a bit rough around the edges, but has a lot of potential to be one of our elites. Thank you so much for agreeing to help her."

The teacher glanced back at Hifumi then to the shining eyes of Hasumi. "I-I see…anyways, about the situation at hand."

Hasumi gave her head a quick shake to get herself back. "Of course, we need to devise the best way to arrest Shirasu Azusa."

"Shirasu Azusa?" The two turned to Hifumi. "Funny you should mention her, she's one of the students put into the Make Up Work Club."

The two shared a glance before nodding. "Even more important that she be retrieved then. Well then, I guess I'd best get to work." The teacher muttered as he unslung his rifle from his shoulder, only to be stopped.

"Actually, Sensei." Hasumi put her hand on his shoulder to stop him. "The JTF should be the ones to handle it. I appreciate your advice and insight, but this is still a JTF operation and should be treated as such. So if you'd be willing to step aside, I'd appreciate it."

With that, the vice commander walked past the two, leaving a teacher and a confused student alone. Hifumi turned back to her teacher. "What just happened?"

"I think…we just got ditched." The teacher frowned. "Hifumi, I don't know how to feel about this. Part of me is glad they're taking my advice, but the other half is disappointed that they're not letting us take part in this operation."

"Isn't it a good thing?" The Peroro enjoyer asked, "I mean, it means the JTF has things under control and accepted your advice."

"Except they basically used me as an information machine instead of an actual part of the operation." Sensei nodded, "Alright, I've got it. We'll help with the operation."

Hifumi's eyes widened, "Huh, but I thought they told us to stay out of it. Wouldn't they catch us if we tried to interfere?"

"That's an excellent observation, Hifumi." Sensei frowned, "Which means we need to find a way to help without being noticed, or at the least, being recognized." He then turned his gaze to the younger girl, eyeing her from top down to…the familiar brown paper object sticking out from her backpack. "Say…isn't that…the Taiyaki bag you used a month ago?"

Hifumi glanced back."Oh right, it is." She took it out and held it out to him. "I meant to give it back to you to return to the Abydos students. I didn't need it any longer."

The teacher's frown slowly turned to a smirk as he eyed the girl. Hifumi slowly followed his gaze to the paper bag and stepped back. "No, that's a terrible idea. I would never-"

The Eleventh Institute Rooftop

"Why did I agree to do this?" Now with a familiar brown paper bag placed over her head, Hifumi nervously looked at the cable strapped to her harness.

"I offered you limited edition Peroro merchandise, straight from my daughter's collection." The teacher explained as he checked the hook of his grapple gun. "Now let's go over the plan once more."

He pointed at the warehouse roof about two hundred meters below. "I'll shoot a line for you to zip down onto the roof. From there, you'll break down through the roof, catching Shirasu off guard. Then you'll incapacitate her long enough for the JTF to arrest her."

Hifumi nodded uncomfortably. "And you're sure that I need to do this?"

"You're the only one with a disguise. Remember, you're doing this for Peroro."

"Right," the paper bag girl pepped herself. "I'm doing this for the Peroro!"

"For Peroro!"

"For Peroro!"

"For Peroro!"

"FOR PERORO!"

Shirasu Azusa observed the JTF forces moving around outside through her heavy duty gas mask. They looked like they were about to make their push towards the front door. Which was exactly as the Instructor predicted.

The silver haired girl had to thank the Instructor. The Instructor had made sure to train her and the rest of the Arius students to be the best soldiers in all of Kivotos. She had pushed them beyond their limits, but always made sure to praise and recognize their achievements and hard work. She was strict but kind, harsh but warm. She remembered the day before she transferred to Trinity, the Instructor had thrown a party for her, telling her that she was proud of her and she had the utmost confidence in her.

Azusa wondered how the Instructor would feel if she found out how Azusa had failed to kill Seia. Would she feel angry and upset? Or would she just hold her tightly and tell her it was ok and that they would get her another time? Azusa didn't know the answer to that and part of her was fine not knowing.

Right now, she needed to escape the JTF and find a way out of her predicament. Unfortunately, the Instructor's training included how to protect oneself from an armed siege, but not how to escape it when she knew there were JTF snipers everywhere.

Thankfully, the JTF reacted exactly as predicted, moving towards the entrance with what looked like a bomb squad to disarm the traps she had left there. What they didn't know was that the stairwell she was crouched on offered a perfect vantage point of the entrance and would allow her to snipe them with ease and from the cover of darkness. Once they brought in a larger force, she would retreat, leading them to the well hidden tear gas bomb she had hidden under the floorboards. From there, she would slowly retreat upstairs until she could set off the rest of the tear gas bombs she had placed around the stairwell. With the JTF in chaos, she could escape and-was that the sound of a grappling gun?

She glanced up at the roof and frowned. Were they going for a window assault? That would be problematic, but she had prepared for that as well, with traps lining the windowsills for intruders. She moved up the stairwell to raise her rifle onto the oncoming intruders…only for the roof to explode above her.

The explosion knocked the small sniper back sending her crashing into her own pile of tear gas bombs, setting them off in rapid succession. Dazed, Azusa got up slowly, pushing her hand against her mouth as she coughed. That was when she realized the explosion had knocked the gas mask off of her mouth, causing her to inhale large amounts of the tear gas. The girl buckled over, her vision blurring as the peppery gas filled her nostrils and eyes.

However, this was not a new feeling to the hardened Arius commando. The Instructor had trained her to fight incapacitated like such. Eyes tearing and lungs burning, Azusa managed to raise her rifle, trying to find her rooftop assailant.

"FOR PERORO!"

The girl felt a shiver run down her back as she spun around to find a blurry white and brown figure in the cloud of gas.

"What?"

"FOR PERORO!"

Bam!

"FOR PERORO!"

Bam!

"FOR PERORO! FOR PERORO! FOR PERORO!"

Azusa opened fire, trying to get a burst off only for a rapid series of bullets to strike her head on, sending her to the ground. As the darkness overtook her, all she could hear were the words ringing in her mind with an eerie sound. "What…is Peororo?"

Nakamasa Ichika was hovering a few feet away from the JTF bomb squad when she heard the explosion. She glanced up at the now smoking roof and cringed.

She turned to the bomb squad, "How much longer?"

When she saw their hesitation, she sighed and reached for her rifle.

"Forget it. I'm going loud."

Pulling her own gas mask over her head, she took a few steps back before taking a running leap into the boarded window. Using her larger frame to shield herself from the spray of tear gas blowing into her, she landed safely in the warehouse. She gestured to the pair of JTF members peering into the destroyed window. "There's no time. Come with me!"

The two officers nodded eagerly and leapt over the destroyed window frame into the warehouse. Now properly supported, Ichika led the squad through the warehouse, carefully navigating around the IEDs placed near the halls.

As she did, she heard the sound of gunfire erupt from the upper floor. Gesturing towards the stairwell, she turned to her two officers. "They're upstairs!"

The two nodded and raised their rifles to the ready. Together, they navigated up the stairs. Dashing onto the scene, Ichika was expecting many things: a firefight, a bitch fight, the After School Sweets Club binging on chocolates (she had inelegantly crashed what they thought was a drug bust but was actually just the club with chocolate poke sticks in their mouths), delinquents, and many other odd things. But a girl with a paper bag over her head relentlessly shooting a downed Shirasu Azusa while cackling about some Peroro creature was not one of them.

The masked criminal looked up at the JTF squad in utter bewilderment. "Ahh…umm…hi there."

Ichika didn't even have words. "Hi there…"

Her two squadmates awkwardly waved back, completely befuddled.

The paper bag wearing girl followed their gazes down to the fallen student. "Ahh, you're here for Azusa here. I apologize for interrupting your operation," she bowed nervously, "But I had to make sure she wasn't going to get away. She's supposed to attend the After School Make Up club."

Ichika nodded slowly, "I see…we'll take her into custody then…"

"If you would." The masked vigilante gave a head tilt that would have been considered cute if it wasn't for the situation.

"So…" The JTF officer started, "I don't think we got your name Miss Paper Bag…"

"Oh, I am Hi-" The girl stopped herself, "I mean I am known as Faust! I am a member of the Masked Mizugi gang, you've probably never heard of us…"

Ichika shook her head, but one of her squad mates perked up in recognition. "Actually I have. The Masked Mizugi gang is the gang of mysterious students who have various activities across Kivotos. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, forsaking mercy and walking the path of chaos. They're known for being idols by day, crime fighting vigilantes by night. While they're mostly hidden in obscurity, there are rumors that they were behind the masterminds behind the recent Kaiser scandal." The girl explained, "Or at least, so I thought. I thought it was just a silly rumor, but it turns out the rumors were true. Especially the ones about their leader Faust, their leader."

Faust seemed rather taken aback by the officer's explanation. Ichika cocked her head at her junior. "Go on…"

Now excited, the officer continued. "Amongst the names of the Masked Mizugi Gang, the most well known member of the gang is their cruel and ruthless leader, Faust, who single handedly took out an entire legion of Kaiser PMC troops and now is the enemy number one to then,"

Faust jerked back. "Ah haha, y-yes, that is I…"

Ichika turned back to the now very suspicious individual. "I…see…" She raised her rifle. "If you wouldn't mind, we'd like to take you in for questioning."

"Ahh…well…funny you should mention that." Faust backed towards a ruined window. "Actually I need to get back to…the rest of my gang and such…so…I really must be going…I'll leave Azusa in your hands and you can arrest her–but make sure she arrives at the Make Up Work Club on time."

The JTF officer counted to three before turning to her squadmates. "Open fire!"

As the trio opened fire, Faust jerked back as the rappel line she was connected to yanked her back and away from the building. Rushing forward, Ichika watched the paper bag masked terrorist escape and sighed. "Hasumi, this is Ichika. We have apprehended the suspect…but you're not going to believe who we just encountered."

JTF Headquarters

Sensei opened the doors of the JTF headquarters to find Hasumi gazing out at the window, a look of utter disbelief on her face. Behind her, a trio of JTF officers fidgeted nervously at attention.

"Hey Hasumi, sorry I'm late. Did you apprehend the suspect?"

The vice commander turned to face the teacher and the brown haired student following close behind him. "Ah yes, Sensei and Miss…Hifumi was it?"

The brown haired girl shuddered nervously but nodded. "Yes, that's me."

"I see." Hasumi nodded, "To answer your question Sensei; yes, we did manage to arrest Shirasu Azusa. It was quite simple actually. My subordinate here, Ichika, took initiative of the situation and led a strike force inside and made the arrest."

The teacher looked over Hasumi's shoulder to see the taller officer waving at him with closed eyes. He nodded in approval. "Ichika huh? Nice to meet you. Well then, Miss Ichika, you have my thanks. To arrest such a dangerous individual, you clearly are worthy of the JTF title."

Ichika winced as she sighed. "I wish it were that simple Sensei. I'll be honest and admit that Azusa was already incapacitated when we found her. Instead, we ran into her perpetrator, a known and wanted criminal known as Faust."

For some reason, Hifumi froze up and immediately clamped her mouth shut. The teacher raised his brow. "Faust? That name sounds familiar."

"Apparently, Faust is the leader of a known terrorist group known as the Masked Mizugi Gang, wanted for numerous charges of destruction, chaos, and theft." Ichika explained, groaning. "Honestly, the actual premise of this gang is rather ridiculous and I would have dismissed the entire thing as a rumor if not for Faust actually appearing before our eyes."

"I see." The teacher nodded, "Very well then. I'll keep an eye out for this criminal gang and let you know if I know anything about this Faust individual." He turned to his companion. "Isn't that right, Hifumi?"

"Huh?" The girl barely understood what was going on. "Oh, right. Yes…" She nodded, "I'll let you know if I know anything about this Faust person."

"Now then," she immediately tried to change the topic. "If you could please hand over Azusa to us so that she can attend the Make Up Work Club, that would be-"

"So her name was Faust, huh?"

The group turned to see a silver haired girl being led to the group in handcuffs. Shirasu Azusa narrowed her eyes, "The one who took me down. Her name was Faust?"

Hifumi recoiled at the intensity in Azusa's eyes. Sensei nodded slowly, "That's right. What about it?"

She noticed the blue haired man, her eyes lighting up. "You're the Schale Sensei, right? I've seen you move and fight before. You're a very good fighter."

The teacher nodded, "Thank you for the compliment. But-"

Azusa shook her head, "I was briefed on the situation. I need to improve my grades under your tutelage, correct?" She narrowed her eyes, "If I can prove myself to you, can you teach me to fight like you do?"

Sensei looked over to Hasumi then back to Azusa. "Kiddo, why do you need to become strong?"

Azusa;s eyes met the teacher's eyes in conviction. "Sensei, I have many reasons to need to be strong, but for now, I have but one and only one goal: I must become strong enough to defeat the one called Faust"

Next to her, the brown haired girl fainted on the spot.

Temporary Trinity Office

"So you changed your mind, Sensei?" Arona's voice chirped from the Schitem Chest.

Sensei sighed, "You were right. I can't just abandon those students, even if I struggle with academics myself."

He smiled, "If I had told Azusa no, Haru would never have let me live that down."

"As for the rest of the students?"

"I don't know why Hifumi has bad grades, but Koharu strikes me as a newbie who struggles with overconfidence. I think she just needs to let her ego get knocked down a peg and she'll be able to bounce back. Meanwhile Hanako seems like she just needs motivation to actually apply herself."

Arona raised her brow, "You have nothing to say about her swimsuit habits?"

The teacher frowned, "Is that supposed to be the new fad or something? Back in my day, it was about flashing underwear and skirts around if they wanted attention." He smiled softly, "Yui used to get so flustered when her skirt flipped up slightly. She was wearing spats though so I failed to grasp why she was so embarrassed. It would take me years to realize she was trying to get me to admire her legs."

"Sensei," Arona rolled her eyes, "That's way too much information."

"Sorry." The teacher chuckled, before groaning. "The point is, I am now committed to at least trying to help these kids. All that's left for me…is to actually figure out what they're studying."

He glanced at the collection of tests that he had requested from their curriculum. "This…is going to be painful."

Arona thought for a moment before offering an idea. "Sensei, would it help if I helped you learn the material?"

Sensei raised his brow. "You can do that?"

"Of course Sensei. You forget that I am an AI with access to the web and all the various academy manuals. I have full access to the Trinity educational database and can walk you through all the questions and tests that the Make Up Work Club will have to solve. That way you can focus on helping them."

The teacher smiled softly, "Sometimes Arona, you truly amaze me. Well then, where do we get started?"