"No way, you're Hinata?"

"And you're Hitana, too?"

"That's amazing!"

The two Hinatas complemented each other as they walked towards the bootcamp building.

"To think there is someone else who shares my name, and it's none other than the Schale Sensei." Hinata remarked.

"And I am proud to know that there is a member of the Trinity Sisterhood who shares my name." Hinata exclaimed proudly. "Now then, you mentioned that there was someone you wanted to find in the Make Up Work Club?"

"Y-yes." Hinata nodded, shaking her head. "I was hoping to find Shirasu Azusa."

"Shirasu Azusa?"

"Yes, apparently she was arrested for destruction and attacking the JTF." Hinata explained, "But I recently found out that there was more to the story than what we once knew."

Hinata raised his brow. "Is that so? Do pray tell."

Hinata frowned, "'Pray tell'? Did you just make a nun joke?"

"My lips are sealed. Now then, about Azusa's arrest."

"Right," Hinata explained, walking onto the lawn. "You see, it turns out that there was a bout of bullying going on amongst the first year students. Quite unfortunate, but a sad reality of the school world."

"Truly unfortunate." Hinata sighed. "I can't say I haven't seen the effects of school bullying in my years of teaching…oh watch your step."

"Watch my whaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Hinata tripped over a rock, causing her to fall forwards…right into a well placed mine.

BOOM!

Hinata winced as he saw the explosion send the girl flying back. "You alright, Hinata?"

Coughing loudly, he saw Hinata standing in the smoke. "Ahh, I'm fine. Let me come over and-wahh!"

Another explosion erupted from the ground, sending dirty and dust flying. Hinata covered his face, "Hinata, I don't think you should move. Let me guide you out of the minefield."

"Ahh, sorry, Sensei. There seems to be a rather large number of mines placed around here rather randomly." Hinata apologized.

Hinata looked around and shook his head. "No, these aren't random. They're quite strategically placed. Each one of these mines are placed around the primary routes of entrance and exit. They're very well placed to maximize their effectiveness with the minimum number of mines required."

Hinata pointed out the mines. "Now then, follow my lead, and while you're at it, please tell me more about Azusa."

Hinata nodded, slowly following Hinata's lead. "Right, well it turns out that Azusa stumbled upon the bullying in action and defended the victim. She fought back and drove the bullies off. But the bullies in question called in the JTF and the rest is history." She explained.

Hinata frowned. "Wait, so the only reason why Azusa was arrested was because she was defending a bully victim?"

"Exactly my point." Hinata agreed, "Mari and I were horrified to find out and immediately set out to find Azusa."

Hinata raised his brow, "Wait, you said you and Mari? If you're here, then where is Mar-"

BOOM!

The two turned back to see an explosion rocking the ground as dirt and dust spewed everywhere. As the dust cleared, they saw another nun with cat ears. The girl looked up and saw the two. "Ahh, may blessings and comfort find you. Hinata, could you give me a hand here?"

Together, Hinata turned to the nun and smiled. "Yes Mari?"

Mari stared at the Hinatas in confusion. "Huh?"

Make Up Work Club Bootcamp

"I see. Thanks for giving us the heads up." Yukino's voice came from the phone speaker.

The teacher sighed, "I'm sorry Yukino. I know I promised I would see Rabbit Squad off before they went to Millennium."

"Don't worry, Sensei." Otogi's voice chirped over the line. "We'll finish their training for you. I'll put them through the wringer."

"You mean you're going to haze them to the point of PTSD." Kurumi shot back.

"What? Me? Haze the juniors?" Otogi's voice sounded hurt and offended. "I would never! I just wanted to initiate them in the best possible way. One that makes strategic and tactical sense."

Sensei frowned, "Otogi…my niece still has nightmares about being chased with a 50 cal. You'd better not traumatize Rabbit Squad."

"See?" Kurumi snarked, "Even Teacher Ao doesn't approve of your hazing."

"It wasn't that bad! Plus, Niko is even worse!"

The teacher heard an audible sigh from the other side of the line. "Don't worry Teacher Ao. I'll make sure that Otogi and Niko behave themselves. We won't have a repeat of three years ago."

"Hoshino survived the initiation just fine and look how she turned out!"

"That's because she's bullshit with that mystic of hers! And she's just as PTSD traumatized as everyone else!"

"But that wasn't my fault."

Sensei nodded, "Thanks Yukino. I'll leave them in your capable hands."

"Oh, lookie, Teacher Ao, you'll never guess who came to see us!"

"Ahh, who's on the line?"

The teacher's eyes lit up. "Ahh, Rinny!"

He could hear the acting Student Council President's face shrivel up. "I told you not to call me that, Sensei."

"I also told you to call me Mr. Ao…or that you could call me Dad if you wanted to." He teased.

There was a moment of silence over the line before voices erupted over the phone.

"Oh my…"

"Wait, so Haru wasn't kidding when she said-"

"SHUT UP! We weren't like that!"

"That's a lot of blushing."

"A lot is putting it nicely. She's practically become a smoker. Hey Kurumi, get some sausages. We're having a barbeque."

"Otogi, I do not care about my status, I will strangle you!"

"Ahh Rinny, it's so fun to see you riled up like this. I bet Haru got to see you like this every morning."

"OTOGI!"

Finally Yukino spoke up. "Teacher Ao, that was most uncalled for. You have made Acting Student Council Rin most displeased."

"But you still liked to see Rinny riled up like that, didn't you?" The father smirked.

"I never denied that." She replied matter of factly.

There was a faint strangling noise over the phone speakers before a raging painting noise was heard. "Sensei, I will deal with you another time. But it's good that you're here. I have a message for you."

The teacher's brow raised. "Oh?"

"Yes, recently there have been a number of complaints both official and unofficial towards you, Schale, and most importantly, SRT."

"Really?" Sensei's eyes narrowed.

"What? Did Valkyrie complain that we're too good at our jobs and it's making them look bad?"

"Otogi, that's an insult to the hard working students in Valkyrie."

"But I'm not wrong."

"I never said that."

"Fox Squad, can it!" The teacher's strict voice came over. "I'm trying to listen to a report."

The voices abruptly stopped. Rin's voice came over with relief. "I'm both relieved and concerned that they'll shut up when you tell them to but not when I ask them to."

She sighed, "Anyways, the complaint didn't come from Valkyrie. The formal one came from Kaiser Industries."

The teacher nodded, "I figured as much. I really put them in an awkward place after Abydos."

"Yes." Rin confirmed, "They're calling your intervention a 'heavy handed abuse of power and force against a civilian organization'. Naturally, both you and I know that's an absolute lie and that you were completely in your rights to deploy SRT against them. However, they've been making quite a bit of noise about it and it's reached the ears of other Academies."

"Uh oh." The teacher muttered aloud. "How bad is it?"

"For now, it's been just inquiries concerning how you and SRT are connected. Many academies were unaware that SRT could still operate without the General Student Council President. I simply informed them that while Schale is a separate entity from the General Student Council President's office, SRT is authorized to operate under the command of Schale should their assistance be deemed necessary. If they were still confused, they were welcome to read over the official SRT charter."

"I see. Does that charter mention anything about me?"

There was a moment of silence. "Sensei, did you actually read the charter?"

"Ahh…well…" The former head of SRT winced. "You see…reading was never my strong point and it was a long document and-"

"You're telling me that you served as the head of SRT for two years and you NEVER READ THE ACTUAL CHARTER!?"

"Ahh…when you put it like that…actually, this is the second time my reading comprehension has been brought into question today…"

There was an exasperated sigh from the other side followed alongside several snickers. "Sensei, you and I will have words when we meet next time. The point is that the SRT charter dictates that the Special Response Team reports directly to the General Student Council President and anyone she directly installs with authority. The Schale charter mentions that the General Student Council President has instilled said authority to the Sensei."

"So that's how it worked," Sensei mused, "Didn't know how it worked. Good to know."

"Sensei, how is it that you can coordinate entire commando operations, map months long patrols, and decipher intel, but you can't read a contract?"

"Just playing my strengths I guess?"

"Regardless, the point is that I'm put in a very precarious position. There's been some significant pushback recently from within the General Student Council. Certain departments aren't happy that there's what they see as a loose cannon running around without a General Student Council leash. While I still have procedures and paperwork to prove them otherwise, their complaints are still there and are getting louder."

"Noted." The teacher observed. "Do you want me to play nice for a bit? Avoid any big scandals?"

"If at all possible." Rin summed up, "And on top of that, please keep SRT out of your dealings for a while."

Sensei froze, "SRT?"

"Yes. In order to keep the departments in question under control, I cannot have SRT operating directly under you for the time being. The more SRT reports under you instead of the GSC, the more complaints I'll get from said parties." Rin sighed, "Look Sensei. I know you're not going to abuse SRT authority. You're a good person. I know you, I knew Haru. I have no question of your character. But not everyone sees that and some may actually take that the wrong way. Thus, for now, I need SRT to stay out of the spotlight."

The teacher did not like what he was hearing, "You're putting me in a tight spot here."

Apparently neither did Fox Squad.

"Wait what?"

"Are you crazy?"

"You can't just tell us to stop operating! "That's bullshit!"

"Kurumi…" Sensei warned.

"Permission to speak freely, Teacher Ao." Kurumi shot back.

The teacher sighed, "Go ahead."

"Rinny, you are deliberately crippling SRT and Schale. SRT serves as the counterbalance to bureaucracy. We exist outside of the General Student Council because someone needs to be able to deploy on a moment's notice to respond to threats across Kivotos." Kurumi declared. "How are we supposed to uphold justice when we have to obey the orders of the white suits?"

"SRT Senior Officer Kurumi, I don't like your tone of voice." Rin's voice held cold venom. "Are you suggesting that SRT would defy the General Student Council?"

Kurumi hesitated, but Yukino spoke up. "Acting Student Council President Rin, what my subordinate means is that the Special Response Team was founded upon the principles of upholding truth above all else no matter who is at fault. We would implicate ourselves if our justice demanded it."

"And that means following the orders of Schale over the General Student Council, SRT acting head Yukino?" Rin inquired.

"Not at all. If Sensei was to desecrate our justice, then we would turn against him. Former President Haru agreed to these principles and would allow us to implicate her if she failed to uphold this justice. The point is that if SRT was ordered to submit to the authority of the General Student Council, then we'd rather disband completely than hand over our justice."

There was a tense air over line as the teacher winced. Yukino had always held a strong sense of justice and he had personally nurtured it over the years. Kurumi may have been the outspoken one, but Yukino was not willing to mince words over her justice.

There was a mild chuckle from the other side.

"You pass, Yukino." Rin admitted, "Thank you for reminding me of your justice."

She sighed and Sensei felt like she smiled, "Your sense of justice is a fresh breath of air compared to what I deal with in the Council. It reminds me of when I first met Haru."

Sensei smiled softly as Rin continued, "I know I cannot do anything to deter you from your sense of justice. And please continue to uphold it. I am asking you, not as the Acting Student Council President, but your friend, Naganami Rin. Please lay low for a while. Do not get involved in a major deployment. You can still maintain your day to day activities. I know you're planning an operation alongside Millennium. That's fine. Seminar is not amongst the groups of suspicious academies I've been receiving inquiries from. What I'm asking is that you don't deploy yourseles en masse like you did in Abydos. Can we agree to that?"

The teacher nodded, "Of course. That works with me. Fox Squad, can you work within that?"

Kurumi sighed, "Yeah, yeah, I get it."

"I guess we can stay in line for a bit." Otogi chuckled.

"We'll manage Rin. Don't worry about us." Niko added.

The remaining member of Fox Squad sighed, "Rin, thank you for standing up for us. I know it's hard out there in the General Student Council. We'll be fine and will do our best to avoid causing problems for you. You have my word."

"Thanks Yukino, Fox Squad, and Sensei. You have no idea how much that means to me." Rin replied, "I'll keep you in the loop if something comes up, Sensei."

"Thanks Rin." Sensei sighed. "Alright then, I'd best get back to the Make Up Work Club."

"Of course, farewell…Dad."

Sensei wisely turned off the line just as Fox Squad erupted into chaos. He then looked out the window to see Make Up Work Club alongside the two Sisterhood members cleaning the swimming pool, playing in the water as they did.

He smiled softly. "Well then, I'd better start cooking up a plan B."

"A plan B Sensei?" Arona's voice came from the Schitem Chest.

"I can't rely on SRT to intervene if things go south." The teacher got out of his chair and stretched. "And things will go south. I promise you that."

"You mean with the traitor?"

"The more I think about it, the more I'm getting the feeling that we're dealing with a corruption situation here. Azusa might be the loose cannon, but everyone else seems to have a connection to one of the major factions in Trinity. Koharu is with the JTF, Hifumi is favored by the Tea Party, and now Hanako has connections to the Sisterhood."

Arona tilted her head, confused. "Hifumi is with the Tea Party?"

"Nagisa apparently adores Hifumi. She acted tough and suspicious about her criminal connections, but she clearly holds the girl in high opinion." The teacher pointed out, "It's like how Rinny acts when she's trying to be hard on Haru back when they were in the early parts of their relationship."

Arona tried to imagine the acting student council president acting like Nagisa and blanched. "I hate how I can see that so easily."

"Exactly." Sensei agreed, "So with all these different factions represented here in the Make Up Work club, I'm sensing that the so-called traitor is not a single person, but rather a hidden movement or corruption within one of the major factions who are anti Eden Treaty."

He gave the tablet a pat. "Thanks for calming me down earlier Arona. I wouldn't have thought of that back then and might have purged an entirely innocent group."

Arona beamed at the compliment. "No need for thanks, Sensei. Also I just got a ping on Azusa's M4A1 platform. While none of the major academies have adopted the M4, Odyssey Maritime School has adopted it as its main firearm for its security teams. It's a well circulated black market weapon."

The teacher frowned, "Hmm…I can't imagine Azusa transferring from Odyssey. She doesn't seem the type. She probably acquired the weapon from the Black Market district, which implies she's a former mercenary or delinquent."

He sighed as he watched the silver haired girl in her PE uniform dodging the hose before trying to spray the rest of the members with her own hose. She had the faintest trace of a smile on her lips. "I just hope she really is just an ex delinquent who transferred in at the last minute."

"Goodbye Hinata!" Hinata waved farewell.

Hinata returned the gesture. "Goodbye Hinata!"

"Let's meet up again, Hinata!"

"Let's do that, Hinata!"

The two Hinatas shared a chuckle before Hinata sighed. "Farewell to you too, Mari."

The cat nun nodded, "It was a blessing to meet you Sensei. May you have a blessed evening."

Sensei watched the two leave before turning to the Make Up Work Club. "Right then, we spent today having fun, but we've got a full day of studying tomorrow and I won't have any yawning tomorrow. So off to bed everyone!"

""Yes, Sensei!""

As the students walked back, the teacher reached out and gave one of them a brief tap. "Actually, can you wait a minute?"

Hanako raised her brow before giving the man a knowing smirk. "Oh my, Sensei. How forward of you, approaching me privately in the evening?"

The teacher shook his head. "If by privately, you mean that we're going to take a seat at this bench overlooking the entire academy as I ask you some questions concerning your grades, then yes, I am quite forward."

The pink haired student stared at the rather plain bench right behind them and pouted. "Mou, way to ruin the fun."

"Sorry kiddo." Sensei chuckled, "You're twenty years too young for me. My daughter is three years older than you."

He cleared the bench with a hand and offered her a seat. "After you?"

Rolling her eyes, the pink haired girl dropped to the seat with a humph. "Don't expect me to cooperate then…"

"Right then," The teacher pulled out his tablet, "Do you want to talk about your grades or the important stuff?"

Hanako raised her brow, "Important stuff?"

"Right to the point then," Sensei nodded, "Let's talk about your background with the Sisterhood then."

"The Sisterhood? What about them?"

"How did you get involved with them? Hinata and Mari mentioned that you had joined the Sisterhood during your first year."

The former sister frowned, "I see…well it is true that I was scouted by the Sisterhood, but I just couldn't get into their strict methodology and teaching. Plus the uniforms were just too tight and uncomfortable."

She gave the teacher a smirk. "Unlike a certain set of school swimsuits."

The teacher chuckled, "Fair point. Yui absolutely rocked her bikini back in the day."

"Oh, Yui huh?" Hanako gave the teacher a knowing look. "So who's the girl who apparently out ranks me in a bikini?"

"Hakari Yui," The teacher's smile softened, "She was the love of my life. She literally landed in my life and stole it from me."

"How did you meet?" asked the teenage girl, now curious. "She must be absolutely breathtaking."

"That she was." Sensei recounted, "I was doing a stint with the Expeditionary Forces and we were under heavy fire…"

22 years ago

Abydos Desert

"Fox Squad to HQ, Fox Squad to HQ! We are under heavy fire! I repeat, we are under heavy fire. Requesting immediate support!"

Twenty year old Ao Hinata threw himself behind the sand dune as bullets flew past his previous location. He looked up at the scorching sun and winced. It had to be the hottest day in Abydos and this was the day they ran into interlopers. An explosion rocked nearby as he gripped his helmet tightly. "Dammit, where are our reinforcements? Anyone know?"

Crouched next to him, his comrade cursed aloud. "If I knew, we wouldn't be in this mess. I can't even get a good position."

Their squad captain shook his robot head. "We're going to have to hold out until they end up arriving."

"That's bullshit!" Ao spat. "They've got Marders out there. If we even peek out there, we're toast."

"Not even my 50 cal is going to penetrate that armor!" The sniper protested.

"Doesn't matter," The squad captain's robotic brows narrowed, "If we retreat from here, the Hot Springs Development club will have a clear shot to the Oasis. We need to buy time for the Disciplinary team to prepare."

Ao cursed as he felt the 20mm cannon rounds pelt their position. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

"By shutting up and letting the real pros handle it!"

A young female voice came over the radio as the sound of a helicopter was heard overhead.

The trio of commandos looked up just in time to see a trio of Seahawk helicopters roared onto the scene. Below the copters, Gehenna students jumped up and pointed at the oncoming threat.

Before the IFVs could raise their cannons, Hellfire missiles launched from the choppers struck the vehicles. The first vehicle erupted in a fiery explosion while the other two had massive chunks of their armor blast off.

With the vehicles in dismay, the squad leader pointed to the commandos. "Well what are you waiting for? Fox Squad, move out!"

"Yes Squad Leader!" Ao and his partner barked.

Ao leapt out from the sand dune, sending bursts of bullets towards the disarrayed enemies. As he ran forward, he looked up to see the chopper doors open as rappelling lines dropped down.

From each chopper, a trio of young girls dropped down, fully kitted out in combat gear. Before they even hit the ground, the girls were already sending bursts of bullets into the dazed attackers.

Ao was so fixated on the girls that he nearly missed one of the Gehenna students crawling out from the ruined IFV and raising her handgun at the commando. He turned just in time for a pink haired girl to hit the sands running, sending a burst of bullets into the student. Awestruck, Ao looked up…or down. "Err…aren't you a little short for a commando?"

The pink haired girl fixed her magenta eyes at the boy. "Oh, you didn't want me to save your ass? I'm sorry for being short, you dumbass."

"And it was love at first sight." Sensei recounted fondly. "We got married two years later and had Haru two years after that."

Hanako stared at the teacher and frowned. "I…don't even have words to describe the disappointment I feel after hearing your story."

"What?" The teacher protested, "That's actually how we met. What were you expecting?"

"I don't know. You to be some kind of prince charming and swoosh her off her feet." Hanako muttered, "You kinda seemed like the type to charm a girl off her feet like a prince."

Sensei brushed his grizzled beard and cropped hair. "Hanako, I'm an Abydos Commando. I'm probably the furthest thing from a prince."

Hanako groaned, "Why are we talking about this?"

"Because you asked how I met my wife."

"Right. Can't believe I actually stepped on that landmine. Anyways, you asked why I left the Sisterhood? Answer is quite simple: I just didn't really belong there."

"Noted." The teacher nodded, "Right then, I think we're done."

Hanako jerked back in surprise, "That's it? Didn't you want to ask me about my grades? About what I think about the bootcamp? Or anything else like that?"

"Not really," Sensei shook his head, "I trust you to handle your grades. You're already doing an excellent job tutoring the others. Azusa looks up to you, Hifumi likes you, and even Koharu respects you. All I was curious about was your Sisterhood connections. If you weren't being put up by the Sisterhood, then I really doubt you would try to sabotage the Eden Treaty, so I have nothing else for you."

"Sensei, I-Wait, what's this about sabotaging the Eden Treaty?"