Trinity Make Up Work Club

"Misono Mika?

The Tea Party member winked and giggled. "That's me, Sensei."

Sensei frowned, "What are you doing here?"

"Mou, I can't just come by and visit you here?" Mika pouted, "Most people would be overjoyed to have a Tea Party member visit them."

The teacher rolled his eyes, "What are you doing here in the middle of the night, dressed up like a ninja? You could have just scheduled a meeting or even just called ahead."

"That sounds like a huge hassle though." The pink haired girl giggled, "Like, my schedule is super busy and everything so finding a proper time that fits both of our schedules would be so painful. So I just happened to have a free moment tonight and decided to come by and say hi."

"You could have called me at least."

"But like, I don't even have your number." Mika pouted, turning her back to the teacher, "You should have given it to me."

"My number is publicly available on the GSC directory."

The girl turned around in surprise. "It is?"

"I have a public number that is able to reach me at any time. It's connected to my tablet, which filters the calls based on caller ID. If I saw that a Tea Party member was calling me, I would most certainly pick up."

The girl thrust her hands down, her shoulders jutting up. "Rude, way to ruin my fun." She sighed then remembered her outfit. "How do you like my outfit? I thought that if I was going to visit you at night, I would need the right outfit for the occasion! Ninja wear dark clothing and work at night, so I had my tailors custom make this just for this occasion."

The teacher raised his brow, "I thought you just 'happened to have time'. How did you "happen to have a ninja suit custom made?"

Mika froze, like a deer caught in the spotlight. "Ahh…well…it's best you don't think too hard about it."

"Right…" The teacher sighed, putting down his rifle. He walked over to the pool side and sat down on the deck chair across from Mika. "Alright, you came to chat with me. What did you wish to discuss?"

"Ah, not one to beat around the bush, I see, how forward." The girl returned to her seat. "Now then, how is the Make Up Work club doing?"

"You could read my reports. I submit them every evening."

"Mou, you really don't want to talk to me, do you?"

"I was about to start lesson planning," Sensei admitted, "Before you decided to set off every alarm I have in the building. So yes, I'm a bit disappointed in you, Mika."

"Mou, don't I get special treatment for being a Tea Party member?"

"Yes, you do, actually."

Mika's eyes lit up, "I do?"

"Yes. It means I hold you to a higher standard than I do someone like Azusa or Hifumi."

The pink haired girl gawked. "I do hold myself to a high standard as well, Sensei. You should know that I do read your reports, Sensei. Something…that Nagisa does not."

The teacher's eyes narrowed, "So that is what this is about?"

"Has Nagisa ever told you about the true purpose of the Make Up Work club?"

"To fail students, yes I am aware." The teacher nodded, "She's worried that one of the students is the traitor behind Seia's death."

Mika raised her brow visibly. "Oh my, that's a lot more than I was expecting, Sensei. Nagisa must have been in a very good mood to tell you all that."

Sensei didn't mention how he basically intimidated all that information out of her. "So I know all that. What's your point?"

"What if…" The Tea Party member spoke slowly, "I said I knew the identity of the traitor?"

The tone at the table dropped significantly. "Go on."

Mika did her best to maintain her gaze with the teacher's cold eyes. "Have you ever heard of the school known as Arius Satellite Academy?"

T-Take care of Haru…

The father's face went deathly still before he spoke, a deadly chill in his voice. "And what if I have?"

"Is that so?" Mika was taken aback. "Are we sure we're talking about the same school?"

"Hundreds of years ago, when the first Trinity Tea Party was formed, Arius was one of the factions that was purged from the district and was sent into hiding. They practiced a more extreme version of the faith than that of the Sisterhood and other Trinity factions, which led them to being purged as extremists. Am I correct?"

"Basically," The Tea Party member nodded robotically. "Though they don't really follow that faith any longer. How did you learn of them? I was under the belief that the story of Arius was a heavily protected secret by the Tea Party."

"About 100 years ago, there was a major civil war between the factions in Arius. While the Arius politics were known for infighting, this civil war was particularly brutal and nearly wiped out the entire governing body. The Student Council president and a few of her aides barely escaped, journeying for many months before ending up in the land of the endless sands."

Mika's eyes widened, "They ended up in Abydos?"

The teacher nodded, "Pretty much. The Abydos General Student Council took them in and they settled down in Abydos. Many of my friends and colleagues were descended from those Arius refugees. My late wife was descended from the Arius Student Council President herself."

"I…I didn't know…" The Tea Party member tried to process what she had just heard. "Are they still around?"

"Some of them, I guess." Sensei's gaze lowered as he prepared himself. "Almost sixteen years ago, there was a movement to try to find the Arius district, tracing the route of their ancestors. The Abydos Expeditionary forces collaborated with the descendants and led an expedition into the Abydos tunnels."

He remained quiet as his mind recounted the memories. "It was a nightmare. The tunnels were filled with monstrosities, massive creatures from our worst nightmares swarmed enmasse in an attempt to kill us. Very few of us made it out of those tunnels."

He choked out the next words. "My wife…Yui…she didn't make it. She sent that massive creature into the abyss, taking it with her. There's not much to say after that. There's barely anyone left of the Arius refugees and the Abydos Expeditionary forces disbanded shortly afterwards."

Mika simply stared at the teacher in disbelief, unable to speak. Sensei finally spoke, "So there you have it. I am very familiar with Arius. It took my wife from me, afterall."

"I…I'm sorry for your loss." The Tea Party member finally spoke, "I…I was excited for a moment. The loss of Arius was one of the greatest sins of our ancestors and I had hoped to reconcile that, to help Arius reintegrate with Trinity, to give their students a chance to enjoy a better education here in Trinity."

"That's quite a noble goal, Mika." The teacher cracked a small smile. "I'm sure Yui and the others would have agreed with your goal."

"Which is why I did so." Mika continued, "I found a way to contact Arius. I've met their students, their leaders, and reached out the olive branch of hope."

His eyes wide, Sensei jerked out of his seat. "But…how?"

"It's really hard to explain." The girl admitted, "I actually haven't been to the Arius district. We sorta ran into each other coincidentally and we started talking after that."

"I see…" The teacher muttered, "Yui…wait, there's still Iwasawa…and-"

"Sensei?"

"Oh, sorry Mika," A very interested Sensei looked up at Mika. "I was just thinking about the current surviving refugees and who I was still on good terms with. If there's a way for them to meet and contact current Arius students, I'm sure they would be overjoyed."

"I'd be happy to set that up for you, Sensei." The pink haired student smiled, "Now then, as for what else I did. You see, when I first met the Arius students, it was clear to me that while they were very capable fighters, they lived in terrible conditions and lacked good educational materials and resources like we have here in Trinity. So I authorized the transfer of a single Arius student to Trinity, to act as a test run."

"A model student to show the rest of Trinity that Arius students can be a part of Trinity." The teacher nodded, "Makes perfect sense."

"Exactly. So I authorized the transfer of Shirasu Azusa from Arius into Trinity."

Sensei froze, "Shirasu Azusa. Like…the Azusa in my club?"

"The one and only."

The teacher sighed, "And here I was hoping she was just an ex-delinquent. So she's an Arius transfer student." He smiled softly, "I guess I should ask her about it."

"I would suggest against it, Sensei."

Sensei raised his brow, "Why?"

Mika winced, "Nagisa is convinced that someone in the Make Up Work Club is behind Seia's murder and the sabotage of the Eden Treaty."

"And Azusa being a transfer from another school, especially one that has historically held a grudge against Trinity like Arius, would raise all sorts of red flags." The teacher concluded.

"I want you to protect her." The Tea Party member requested, "I know it's a lot going on, but Azusa is our one hope for reconciliation between Arius and Trinity. If Nagisa expels her on the premise of being a traitor, that would dash all my chances of our schools coming back together."

The teacher nodded slowly, "I see. I'll see what I can do. It's quite a difficult case. As you put it, Azusa is an extraordinary commando. She's clearly got talent and I'm quite certain that she has the capabilities to destroy a halo if it were demanded of her."

Mika winced. "Yes, that aspect of her does work against her case." She sighed, "Honestly Sensei, I have no love for Gehenna. The Eden Treaty sounds like a pointless cause and we'd be backstabbed the moment we dropped our guard down. Arius has no love for Gehenna either. If we were to sign the Treaty before Arius reintegrated with Trinity, then we'd never be able to reunite our schools."

The teacher narrowed his brow, "I see your reasoning Mika. But let me make two things clear. I had to make them clear to Nagisa and I'll do it with you."

Curious, the Tea Party member spoke slowly. "Go ahead."

"I don't know if you knew this, but General Student Council President Ao Haru is my daughter. I'm her father and I am in full support of her Treaty. As long as I breathe, the Eden Treaty will be signed. Am I clear?"

Nodding slowly, Mika gulped. "Crystal."

"Good," Sensei continued, "The second is that just because I want the treaty signed doesn't mean I don't value the reunification of Arius. My wife is from Arius and while I've heard terrible things about what things were like there, my hope is that since then, they've changed for the better. If Arius really does want to reconcile with Trinity, then you have my full support. We can have both the Eden Treaty and the reunification of Trinity and Arius."

"I…I guess so…"

"Good," The teacher smiled, "Now then, if this really is your top priority, then might I suggest allowing the General Student Council and Schale assist you in your efforts? I have quite deep connections within the GSC…including the acting President. If we could facilitate a meeting between the Tea Party and Arius leadership, I'm sure that would be a great first step towards reconciliation."

The girl's jaw dropped, "You'd…actually do that for me, Sensei?"

"But of course. A Sensei's job is to support his student's passions and dreams to the fullest. If this is your dream, then you have my full support." The teacher flashed a warm smile.

And maybe, just maybe, it might give Yui's sacrifice some meaning and peace.

As the black clad Tea Party member left the vicinity, the teacher lay back on his chair and looked up at the night sky. "What's your take on that?"

A weary voice replied to him from his phone speakers. "She's definitely hiding something. Also did you need to drag me awake for this?"

"It's only twenty thirty." Sensei countered, "Considering how much you slept through my lectures, I assumed you'd be up at this time."

Hanako's voice lacked any sense of her normal teasing tone. "That's because I spent the entire conversation fact checking her story."

"So did you know about Arius?"

"Yes and no." The voice responded, "During my brief stay in the Sisterhood, I was able to learn many things concerning Trinity's history. During that time, I did encounter brief mentions of a rogue academy that rebelled against the Tea Party. While Arius was never explicitly stated, the idea of one of the factions breaking away from the Saint Justina Council did sound plausible. Though I would like to point out that the Sisterhood's chronicles are quite embellished and mention nothing about the Tea Party outright purging them."

"Meaning that if Mika really was telling the truth that the Tea Party of Trinity was responsible for the purge of Arius…"

"Then it's highly probable that she was telling the truth about that. Wait, but you were the one who recounted the tale. That means that-"

"I was checking to see whether the story I heard from the Arius descendants matched up with Mika's story." Sensei confirmed, "And since she pretty much confirmed it, then I guess the story my wife told me was in fact accurate."

"Why would you doubt your wife of all people?"

"I'm not doubting her." The teacher shook his head, "I was doubting whether the story she got from her ancestors was factually correct. Tales that are orally passed down rarely are fully accurate and can quickly become legends and myths instead of fact."

"You can discern that, but you can't calculate a quadratic equation."

"...where did you hear that?"

"You taught it wrong. It looked like you were reading a script and when I challenged you with a more complex version, you didn't know how to solve it off the bat."

The teacher made a face, "Hanako, are you sure you're not related to my daughter?"

"I would be utterly horrified to be related to you, Sensei. Please don't make me think about it like that."

"Bummer, I used to be quite popular back in the day." Sensei chuckled.

"With your density and obliviousness, I can totally see that." Hanako shot back, "Unfortunately, such charms do not age well. Now stop trying to deviate from the point. Mika is hiding something, and I think it's connected to Arius and the Eden Treaty."

The teacher frowned, "Explain."

"Mika presented the scenario to you as an either or. Either we reunite with Arius or we sign the Eden Treaty, not both. This means that she clearly does not see them as mutually compatible. When you spoke to Arius refugees, did you ever pick up any Gehenna hatred?"

"I hadn't. I picked up resentment towards Trinity, but nothing about Gehenna. Well, not anything outside the normal distaste for certain troublemaking groups like the Hot Springs Development club."

"Are they really that bad? I thought they just randomly drilled into the ground."

The former commando winced, "I don't know what they're like now, but back in the day, they were dead set on turning the Abydos Oasis into a hot spring. And they were well equipped as well, with fully armored and mechanized divisions. The only way we could stand a chance was our familiarity with the terrain and our large chopper force."

Hanako blanched. "Noted. Arius may not be as anti Gehenna as Mika had suggested. Which means-"

"-That Mika is likely the one who hates Gehenna and was using Arius as an excuse to not want to support the Eden Treaty." The teacher concluded. "Hanako, you really are a genius."

"I'll have you know that to put this together, I literally wracked my brain for hours. Make it up to me tomorrow by letting me sleep in."

"If you can tutor Azusa and Koharu for the first half of class, I'll let you skip the rest of the day."

"Deal. How do you intend on dealing with Azusa?"

"I'm going to treat her the same way I treated her before." Sensei casually responded.

"But she's a possible traitor, or at least someone who is hiding a secret."

"I knew that from the start, Hanako." The teacher smiled, "I knew she was hiding secrets about her transfer here. Whether she was a former mercenary or an Arius student doesn't change anything. It's my job to make her feel as welcome and safe in my classroom so that she can grow. And…"

"...and…"

The blue brows winced, "I kinda am responsible for her freakout this morning."

"What? How?"

"I may have dropped an overzealous Hifumi on top of her last week."

"An overzealous Hifumi? What, did she gun down Azusa while screaming about Peroro or something?"

"Pretty much."

There was a brief moment of silence. "Excuse me for a second."

The line went mute. Sensei swore he could hear a faint screaming sound coming from the far side of the building.

A few moments later, the line unmuted as he could hear heavy panting. "Ok, that was better. I needed that. Alright Sensei, I assume you'll be taking responsibility for that."

"Absolutely. That is 100 percent my fault and I'm making it up to her by teaching her everything I know about commando'ing."

"...Sensei, you're taking a PTSD victim of your own making and teaching her combat skills."

"Yes. I figured she'd enjoy that. She loved today's lecture on rifle scopes."

The line hung up. Sensei swore he heard the sound of banging on the windows. "Huh, that went well."

He glanced down at his tablet. "Arona, let's get back to those reports."

The tablet remained silent. The teacher frowned as he tapped the screen, revealing the sky blue classroom. In the corner, he could see the sky blue haired AI sitting at one of the desks, banging her head into the desk repeatedly.

"Huh, wonder what's got her so upset?"

"And that's how you differentiate between a possessive and a contraction. Any questions?"

The teacher put down his chalk and looked back at the students. Hifumi was taking notes, her gaze fixed on the blackboard. Koharu frowned as she scratched her head. In the back, Hanako was giving Azusa a tutoring session on the science portion.

The teacher gestured to Koharu. "You look like you have a question."

"Ahh…" Koharu winced. "I did? I'm completely fine. I got it all. Because I'm an elite after all!"

Sensei rolled his eyes. "Hifumi, could you ask a question?"

"Me?" Hifumi looked surprised but nodded, "Umm…I don't really get the difference between "its" and "it's". Can you explain that?"

"Of course." the teacher nodded, turning back to the board. "It is the pronoun for an object or a non living entity. While there are most certainly occasions that you could use a "he" or "she" for a non living object like your personal weapon or a car, 90% of the time you would use the word "It". Now when you want to describe something that belongs to it, you use the possessive "its". Note, this one does not have an apostrophe. This is one of the only times you won't use an apostrophe for a possessive. Meanwhile, if we wanted to describe the "it", you can use the phrase "It is". Like in "it is a pink gun" or "it is a funny joke". To make a contraction from that, you would say "it's", with the apostrophe because-"

"-Because it's shortening "It is" to "It's." Koharu concluded.

"That's correct, Koharu." Sensei turned around to give the girl a nod of approval. "Now then, Hifumi asked a good question. She's no elite, but I'm sure even an elite like yourself could think of an even better question."

The pink haired girl's eyes widened. "Oh, but of course! An elite like myself can think of excellent questions."

"Go on."

"How do we know when to put the apostrophe before the s or after the s?"

"Very good question. As expected of an elite of the JTF." The teacher turned back to the board, only to be interrupted.

"Ano, Sensei?"

He turned back to the students. "Yes, Hanako?"

The pink haired girl coyly raised her arm. "Azusa and I finished up here. Could I be excused from class?"

The teacher nodded, "Very well. As per our agreement, you are excused for the rest of the day."

"Thanks, Sensei." The pink haired girl got up, slowly making her way to the door.

Koharu jerked up. "Wait, agreement? What do you mean by agreement?"

"She did a favor for me last night." Sensei explained, "In exchange, she requested that I let her sleep in."

""A favor!?"" Both Hifumi and Koharu perked up at that.

Hifumi remained shellshocked. Koharu spoke up, "Wh-what kind of favor did you do?"

Hanako gave the girl a wink. "It was quite an extensive favor. By the end of the night, I was utterly exhausted and could barely move."

Azusa raised her hand. "Did this favor have to do with the yelling and banging I heard last night?"

That was too much for the other two students as Hifumi's brain short circuited, causing her crash on the desk. Meanwhile, Koharu stood up from her seat. "That's it! Death penalty for you both!"

"And done."

Sensei put down his report, yawned, and glanced out the window. Sure enough, the sun had fallen behind the elegant buildings of Trinity, casting a large shadow across the campus.

"Arona, go ahead and submit the reports to the Tea Party. Then we'll draw up plans for tomorrow's lessons."

"Will do, Sensei!"

The teacher lay back on his chair. He had a long night ahead of him. He had to draw up lesson plans with Arona, then he would meet with Hanako to discuss her findings, then he needed to review the tests for anything that he didn't understand. Only then he could finally sleep.

He never got to do any of them, as at that moment the teacher heard a faint beeping noise coming from his office door.

"Oh shit!" Sensei dived for the floor as the door blew open, leaving smoke billowing from the entrance. Before he could reach for his rifle, a familiar voice called from the other side.

"Excuse me!" Hanako called as she waltzed into the office as though she owned the place. "Hi Sensei, wanna break the rules?"

"That's inappropriate!" Koharu shot back, following in afterwards. "Also why did we need to blow up the door?"

"Because it was the most optimal route in." Azusa answered matter of factly. "The door was locked and the best method to ensure optimal efficiency and speed is to use a breaching charge. We were fortunate that I had a breach charge on me."

"Couldn't we have just…knocked?" Hifumi asked, peering in. "Sorry to bother you Sensei."

Sensei sighed as he recognized the students, lowering his rifle. "Hanako, what's going on?"

"Oh not much Sensei." The student in question giggled, "It's just that Hifumi here happened to notice that morale amongst the club was quite low and wanted to do something to improve it. So I suggested that we get some fresh air and exercise. And that's how we ended up here!"

"An excursion for exercise and unwinding is critical before an operation, Sensei." Azusa explained.

"I'm here to make sure these two don't misbehave." Koharu protested.

Hifumi sighed, "Sorry Sensei. Would it be alright if we took an evening walk?"

The teacher glanced at his watch. "It's 2130 Hifumi. Isn't that a little late for just an evening walk?"

He noticed the desperate expressions on the students' faces then sighed. "Fine. Let me get my stuff and then we can take a short walk."

"Hooray!" Hanako giggled, running up and giving the teacher a hug. Then her voice went deathly dark. "You owe me this after everything you put me through. So don't screw this up."

The teacher nodded slowly. "Roger that."

That was when the sniper crashed in between them. "Illicit relations are forbidden! Death penalty for all of you!"

Sensei sighed, reaching for his tablet and rifle. Just a short walk through the district. Nothing terrible could go wrong, could it?