Make Up Work Club, Sensei's office
"Tell me, what do you know about Arius Satellite School?"
Azusa had nearly leapt out of her seat before the teacher's calm but serious voice stopped her. "Before you try anything, let me remind you that Suzumi of the Vigilante Crew is outside. I've also got another pair of Vigilante Crew members behind the building ready to support me if you try to escape from the other side. You will find fleeing or fighting highly difficult, especially with just that knife of yours hidden in your sleeve."
Azusa hadn't even realized her hand was slowly reaching for the hilt of the concealed blade in her uniform sleeve. She jerked her hand back instantly.
Sensei's voice changed back into his normal warm and friendly voice. "That being said, I don't want to have a fight. You're not in trouble Azusa. I just want to talk with you."
Azusa's eyes darted back and forth between the teacher, the door, and the pink haired girl standing beside him. "I'm…not in trouble?"
Sensei shook his head. "The Vigilante Crew is just a precaution. I genuinely want us to chat without needing to resort to fighting. Can we do that?"
The silver haired student's shoulders slouched visibly as she turned her eyes back onto the teacher. She nodded.
"Good, then let's get the big one out of the way. Are you a transfer student from Arius Satellite School?"
Azusa hesitated before nodding slowly.
The teacher let out a sigh of relief as he reached for his radio. "All forces, stand down. I repeat, all forces stand down." He put the radio down. "Now then, you told me the truth and Suzumi and her girls are no longer on alert. Can we continue?"
Another nod, albeit a confused one.
"Right then. You've told me a big secret; allow me to tell you one about me." The teacher pulled out a photo from his coat. He held out the photo for Azusa to take.
The silver haired girl accepted the photo and noticed a clean shaven blue haired man with a pink haired girl beside him. The man had a goofy grin on his face and had his arm around the girl. The girl was smiling while making a peace sign with one hand and the other held a small scroll. Behind them was a large sign with the words "Abydos High School".
"That was my wife and I celebrating her graduation. What's important for you to notice is that my wife has an emblem on her jacket."
Azusa squinted her eyes as she checked the girl's jacket once more. Then her eyes widened. Wrapped around the girl's arm was an armband with a triangle emblem on it. Inside the black triangle was a very familiar black skull. "A-Arius?"
"That's right, Azusa." Sensei smiled fondly, "My wife is descended from a group of Arius students who fled the Arius district almost 100 years ago. So you could say I have a very special connection to your school."
"B-but how?" Azusa stammered, "No one leaves the Arius district without the Headmistress' permission. I only transferred because of my mission."
"-And we'll talk about that in a bit. I'm not sure if you knew this, but almost a century ago, amidst a civil war, several Arius students were able to escape. They took an extremely perilous route out of the Arius district and eventually ended up in my hometown, Abydos. We grew up knowing about your school but since we didn't know what happened after our friends fled, we were worried that Arius collapsed.
He gave the Arius student a bright smile. "So imagine my surprise when I find out that not only is Arius doing fine and functioning, but one of my own students came from the Arius district. I am overjoyed at properly meeting you and I'm sure all the remaining descendants would be thrilled as well."
"I…" Azusa tried to speak, "But…you don't know…I mean…"
"Azusa, all I want to say is that you being an Arius student is not a problem to me." Sensei concluded. "Do not feel shame or feel the need to hide your background from me. I will always welcome and accept you, whether you're a Trinity student or Arius student. Do you understand?"
The silver haired girl took a few deep breaths, trying to process what she had just learned. Sensei didn't care that she was an Arius student? He wasn't going to expel her for hiding her identity? Then…maybe…but wait…
"But I haven't even told you my mission. How can you accept me if you don't know what I've done?"
Sensei and Hanako shared a knowing look. They were getting to the important part.
"Azusa." Hanako finally spoke, "This isn't an interrogation. We would like to know what your mission is, but your standing as a Trinity student is not at stake here. Whatever you say here is safe and you will not be punished for what you tell us here."
"But you don't know what I've done!" The girl protested, "I'm an awful person. I've done terrible things and don't deserve your kindness or light. Everything you're doing is all going to be in vain!"
"Vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas," The teacher recited, "Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity. The concept that life is suffering and thus everything is inherently in vain. I learned that from my wife. It's a very depressing ideology and I find it a bit morbid, even if there is some inherent truth to it. However, I feel that there's more to that statement than meets the eye. Yes, we are inherently evil and capable of great evil and atrocities, our capacity for darkness far outweighing our capacity for light. Hence, every right we try to do will inherently be outweighed by everyone else's wrongs, thus being in vain.
He looked up out the window at the stars above. "But I refuse to believe that is a reason to simply stand aside and not try to do the right thing. Even if it may inherently be in vain, we shouldn't stop trying to bring about good. Even if it's just a father trying to show unconditional love to a student. What do you think, Azusa?"
The silver haired girl slowly nodded. "I…I…I think…if you really can accept me with all my darkness…then…I'll hear you out."
"Thank you, Azusa." Sensei gave a nod of approval. "That's all I ask from you."
Hanako flashed her a smile before turning serious. "Now then, with that out of the way, let's get to the real discussion."
"What are you talking about?" Sensei protested. "That was the real discussion. Azusa needed to know that we were going to accept her no matter what her past was. That was very important."
"But that doesn't help us figure out whether or not Arius is behind the attempts to sabotage the Eden Treaty!"
Azusa perked up. "They are."
The two jerked back. "They are?"
She nodded, "Arius plans to seize control of Trinity and combine our forces to burn Gehenna to the ground."
Realizing what she had just blurted out, Azusa winced as she tried to regain her composure. "And…that…is why I was transferred to Trinity. My mission was to…prevent the Eden Treaty by reporting information to Arius and…"
The girl began to shake uncontrollably as she tried to stammer out her next words. "By…by…"
Clearly understanding the situation, Sensei gestured to Hanako. The pink haired girl moved quickly, catching the silver haired girl in a gentle hug. "Shhh…it's okay. Take your time. Speak slowly."
The silver haired girl allowed herself to be enveloped in the older girl's embrace. After a few minutes, she spoke. "I'm ready." She repeated, "I'm ready to begin."
"Are you sure?" Sensei was cautious. "You don't have to-"
"-Please call the authorities." Azusa continued, "I'm ready to come clean."
The two shared a look before Sensei nodded. "Azusa, I need to come clean myself then. The authorities have been listening in from the beginning. Tea Party Host Nagisa has been on call with us from my tablet here, on the condition that she will not take action against you without hearing your side first."
"H-Hello A-Azusa…" A voice chimed from the tablet. "I'm sorry…that this is how we meet for the first time."
They heard her take a breath before she continued. "I am Tea Party Host Nagisa and as Sensei mentioned, I have agreed to withhold any judgment or condemnation until after you share your testimony."
"I–I see…"
"I'm sorry Azusa." The teacher admitted, "I'm sorry for not telling you sooner."
"I understand, Sensei." The Arius student responded, "You are maintaining confidentiality. But I am ready. I am ready to confess and come clean."
Sensei turned to Hanako, who nodded in response. "Then I'll make this a formal confession. I, Urawa Hanako, hereby swear upon my former status as a member of the Sisterhood to act as a witness for this confession. Please state your name and status."
"My name is Shirasu Azusa. I am currently a second year Trinity student. Before that, I was a student at Arius Satellite School. I was Shadow Hound squad's engineer before I was selected by Arius Squad to receive guerilla warfare training. After completing said training, I was given orders to transfer to Trinity General School and await further orders."
The teacher frowned, "Do you know how you transferred to Trinity?"
Azusa shook her head. "I received transfer papers from the Arius Squad and a cover story. I do not know who authorized my transfer."
"I see." Nagisa's voice responded, "And what orders did you receive from the Arius Squad?"
The silver haired student winced but took a deep breath and let it out. "My first assignment was to destroy Tea Party member Yurizono Seia's halo."
The room went deathly silent. Hanako's eyes widened as Sensei frowned. He quietly reached for the tablet. "Nagisa-"
"-Sensei, you know I cannot remain silent! She literally confessed it in front of us!"
"-And that's because she knew that we would withhold judgment until after she finished speaking." Sensei replied. "And I don't think she has. In fact, I think she hasn't told us the full story."
"The full story? She literally-"
The teacher pressed the silence button on the tablet. "Nagisa, I will not allow you to speak until you calm down and listen to the rest of the story. You can't see her right now. I can. And what I can tell you is that I know what a murderer looks like and she doesn't look like one."
Azusa froze like a deer in the headlights. "What?"
"I've seen what a murderer looks like. The way their eyes think back on their kills, those whose lives they've snuffed out. And you don't look like one."
"Sensei…" Hanako muttered, "Have you…killed someone?"
The teacher remained silent for a moment and Azusa saw what he meant. The way his eyes glazed back, as though recalling the exact moment the person died before him, the way his hands twitched and his mouth clammed up before recomposing himself. "Yes…I have. Back in my days in the Expeditionary forces, I had to take a life. So let me tell you with certainty, Azusa…is not a murderer."
He unmuted the tablet. "Are you ready to talk?"
There was a faint sound of breathing before they heard a faint voice. "Y-yes. I am. Azusa, you claim that your mission was to assassinate Seia. If that is true and you really did meet her, then she must have known you were coming. Is that right?"
Azusa's eyes widened. "How did y-you know?"
"It's somewhat confidential information, but Seia has always had a gift for foresight. She foresaw things before they happened, she knew secrets about people that she had no way of knowing, and naturally, she tended to see threats before they even happened." The voice chuckled, "I always thought it odd that Seia of all people would be taken out so easily."
The silver haired student nodded, "She knew I was coming. She told me that she foresaw my arrival. She knew I was there to kill her."
"And what did she tell you?" The teacher asked.
"That…I didn't want to be a killer. I didn't want to walk down the path of a killer." Azusa admitted.
She looked down at her hands. "I…I didn't understand it at the time, but now I do. Arius students are taught at an early age that we are instruments of Arius' justice and revenge. That everything we do is for avenging our ancestor's hatred against Trinity and Gehenna. And because of that, our wishes come second to the wishes of our ancestors.
"But…living at Trinity made me realize," She looked up to face the teacher. "My ancestor's hatred is not my own. The anger, hatred, and resentment I had been raised with never was mine, but someone else's instilled into me. Which is why…I chose not to kill Seia."
"Then what really happened?" Nagisa's voice inquired.
"Seia already had a bomb prepared for me. I was to use that bomb instead of the halo killing one I had brought with me. She had someone else with her who would evacuate her after the explosion." Azusa explained.
Hanako frowned, "Which means that Seia…faked her death. But why?"
"Any ideas, Nagisa?" Sensei asked.
"Did she tell you anything else? Seia tends to give lots of riddles of the future and drives us nuts until we figure it out."
Azusa nodded, "She did, but I didn't understand it. She said something about how the future is always in motion and how we have the power to take it into our own hands. But then she started rambling about main protagonists, the fifth koan, and how "If you believe your bikini bottoms are panties, then they're panties". I…kinda tuned out after that."
Sensei stared at the silver haired girl, then over to Hanako. "I don't get it."
"I don't really get it either." Nagisa admitted.
Hanako's eyes were wide eyed. "I…I do understand it. But…how would she know that's my motto?"
""That's your motto?""
"It's about the power of perception." Hanako explained. "If we can never truly find paradise, then we can make paradise whatever we want it to be. I just find that interpretation far more amusing."
Nagisa sighed. "The point is, Seia knew Azusa was coming and willingly faked her death and hid it from the Tea Party, Mika and myself included. I'm willing to believe that she knew about Arius and their plans for Trinity and Gehenna. Which means that she knew who the traitor was and didn't want them to find out."
"Which means that she intended to fool the traitor…and the most likely candidate for that would be…"
"Someone in the Tea Party organization." Nagisa woefully admitted, "Shirasu Azusa, th-thank you for bringing us this information. I am grateful that you came forward and confessed, and I am even more grateful that Seia is indeed still alive. We will discuss how to proceed with your attempted assassination, but I believe there are far more pressing matters to discuss."
Sensei nodded, "That's right. Azusa, thank you for being honest with us. It's my personal belief that everyone will eventually have to make a decision between protecting their loved ones and doing the right thing." He grimaced, "I have had to make many such decisions in the past. I hope you know that you did the right thing in telling us. I'm sure Arius will see this as a betrayal and will hunt you down for this. Am I right?"
Slowly, the Arius student nodded.
"And yet you still chose to tell us the truth."
"It's like Seia said." Azusa admitted, "The future is always in motion, thus even if it's in vain, I should still try. I…I don't want Koharu, Hanako, and Hifumi to live in a school controlled by Arius, to be forced to fight in a fight that is not our own."
Sensei was about to respond when the door to his office burst open and a certain tawny haired girl rushed in. "Oh Azusa! I'm so sorry!"
"H-Hifumi?" Azusa found herself tackled into a bear hug. "Wha…but…why?"
"You went through so much pain and I never knew it! I'm so sorry!" The pig tailed girl bawled as she pressed her head into Azusa's shoulder.
Peeking from the doorway, another student blushed. "Just so you know, as a JTF elite, I have a duty to protect Trinity students, whether they transferred from Arius or not."
Sensei looked past the Koharu to see a familiar white haired Vigilante Crew member. Their eyes met and the teacher gave her an exasperated look, to which the vigilante gave an amused shrug.
"I…I…I mean…"
"Just let me care for you, Azusa." Hifumi tightened her embrace, "You've got through so much and it tears me up inside to think that you've been suffering alone. I'm so showwy…I didn't know…I'm showwy for shooting you in da facesh…"
"Hifumi…I…" She paused as she finished processing what she heard. "Wait, when did you shoot me in the face?"
Sensei watched the Make Up Work club file out of the room and smiled softly. Perhaps he hadn't done as good a job as Haru or Yui could have done, but he was glad that everyone was on the same page now.
As he did so, he looked down at the mysterious device on his desk and frowned.
"An anti halo bomb. So that's what they look like."
The ex commando looked up to see the white haired vigilante standing behind him. Suzumi winced, "To think such weapons actually exist."
After coming forward with the truth, the silver haired Arius student had willingly handed the device over to the teacher. Needless to say, the teacher was visibly disturbed at the weapon.
"I'm no demo expert," The teacher agreed, "But I can tell that this isn't any ordinary bomb. Look at the wiring across the detonator. I bet you that once you arm this thing, it's not going to disarm."
"I see." Suzumi muttered thoughtfully, "What do you plan to do with it?"
"I plan to hand it over to my team of demolitionists at SRT. Between Niko and the others, they should be able to figure out how it works. I'll even ask Utaha and a few ex Abydos folks to come by and help as well." He gestured to his office. "But for now, I'll keep it locked up in here."
"Noted," Suzumi glanced back at the leaving girls. "So…Arius is real, huh? Always had thought they were some kind of little girl's tale to scare the children."
"Oh they're real alright," The teacher disagreed, "It's just this is our first proof that they're active outside of their hidden district." He sighed, "Sorry to drop this on you like this. Thank you for helping out tonight."
"It's my pleasure, Sensei." The vigilante replied, "To be honest, I'm thankful you let me be here. If Arius really is the threat that they're being made out to be, then we need to take them seriously."
She held out her hand, "I know it's not much, but you've got the Vigilante Crew's full support. Personal, equipment, intelligence gathering, you've got it."
"You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that." Sensei took the outstretched hand and shook it. "If there are traitors amongst the Tea Party faction, then there could as easily be traitors within the JTF. Knowing that I've got you and your girls' backing takes a load of my shoulders."
"Thank you, Sensei." Suzumi smiled politely and turned to leave. "Well then, I shall take my leave as well."
After the door closed, the teacher walked over to the back of his office and opened up the lockbox in the back. Traditionally used to hold exam scores and answer keys, the teacher safes were nigh impregnable against most traditional firearms. Carefully picking up the bomb with both hands, he placed it into the safe and closed the door, locking it with his personal PIN.
With that concluded, the teacher turned around and closed the curtains before stretching his arms and yawning, unaware of the prying eyes watching him from behind.
"Welcome back to class everyone!" The teacher warmly greeted the gathered Make Up Work club.
Noticing their silence, he took a moment to look over the students. Hanako was slumped at her desk, dozing softly. Hifumi anxiously sat at her desk, sneaking peeks at the pouting student across from her. Said pouting student, Azusa, had the most adorable pouty face as she refused to look at the paper bag wearing criminal. Between the two, a confused Koharu twitched anxiously. "Wait, why am I in between the two of them!?"
"Because I refuse to sit next to her." Came the curt answer from Azusa.
"I said I was sorry! I didn't realize how you would react to that." Hifumi protested.
"I had literal nightmares! I thought Faust was going to feed me to Peroro!"
"I would never do that!"
"Doesn't stop the nightmares."
The teacher sighed. "If you'd please give me your attention. We have a lot to go through."
"Why are we here, Sensei?" Koharu raised her hand. "Shouldn't we be focusing on Arius?"
Sensei internally gave Koharu a mental high five for taking initiative. "Excellent point. Thanks to our recent information, we know that Arius is a very real threat and should be taken seriously. That being said…it's not your problem."
"Huh?" Azusa jerked up. "But you just said Arius was a real threat and-"
"-Nagisa, the Vigilante Crew, and myself will be handling it. I understand that you all care for Azusa and want to help her, but there's not a lot you can really do at the moment. However, there is something extremely important that you should be focusing on."
"What's that?" Koharu asked.
"Your grades."
The JTF elite winced as she slumped into her seat.
"Now, given recent events, Nagisa has been kind enough to postpone the exams by a week. That should give you sufficient time to ensure you all pass the exams. Just because Trinity is under threat of a coup doesn't mean you can slack off on your studying." The teacher gestured to his blackboard.
Koharu nodded slowly. "Yes, Sensei."
"...understood, Sensei." Azusa replied obediently.
"That being said…" The teacher smiled, "That doesn't mean there won't be a time in the future where I may need to depend on you and your assistance. Which means that every afternoon, after classes, I'll be hosting a special training camp for all of you. We'll be going over squad tactics as a whole as well as personalized training seminars for you all. Suzumi and the Vigilante Crew have agreed to assist in the training as well. You are not exempt from taking your exams, but that doesn't mean we won't do the necessary preparations to get you girls into combat shape."
Azusa and Koharu's eyes lit up. "Understood Sensei!"
Hifumi nodded quietly while Hanako gave a sleepy grunt.
"Right then," Sensei returned to his blackboard, "Let's go over Prime Factorials!"
"Ready…and…GO!"
Koharu dashed forward, running to the first cover point. Taking a knee, she raised her rifle and released six quick shots into the target. As the last shot struck her target, the elite was already moving, sliding another clip into her rifle.
Sensei watched the girl make her way through the training course with a calculated eye. "Not bad, not bad at all. You put your girls through this exercise?"
Suzumi nodded, "That's correct. It's a good way to practice shooting on the move and target identification. It also hones in her battle senses, ensuring that she never stays still for too long. You disapprove?"
"I'm not disagreeing at all. It's a fantastic drill." The teacher chuckled, "It's almost what I would have done."
"What would you have done?" The white haired vigilante raised her brow.
"Koharu is already a crack shot and sniping comes naturally to her. While I do agree that in the long run, learning to move from position to position is a good plan, the more immediate concern lies in her ability to coordinate strikes with her teammates. I would have paired her with Hifumi or Azusa and had her practice sniping with her teammates on the field. Have Hifumi or Azusa go through the course while Koharu focuses on taking out targets outside of their peripherals."
Suzumi considered the concept. "That way Koharu gets practice evaluating threats while the others practice getting used to having a sniper behind them. That's brilliant. I never considered that."
"It's something you learn when under fire." The teacher shrugged it off. "Don't undersell yourself. Your exercise is an excellent one and is what I'd use as standard training for trainees. It's just that when you are in a crunch, you learn to merge multiple lessons into a single exercise. It comes with practice."
"Speaking of which, is that Hifumi over there?"
The two looked over at a small gazebo located a short walk away from the club building. Inside the gazebo, Hifumi was nervously seated across…from Nagisa. The two seemed to be having a rather energetic conversation, with the tawny haired girl anxiously flailing her hands about trying to explain something, while the Tea Party host had an amused expression on her face.
"I do not envy her position." Suzumi muttered.
"How about hers?" The teacher pointed across the field at another awkward situation.
On the other end of the field, Azusa was practicing close quarters combat against…Uzawa Reisa. And it was not going well for her.
Azusa had never met Uzawa Reisa. And now that she had, she didn't like her.
"Justice shot!"
She barely avoided the flying kick aimed at her head. "That's not a shot! That's a kick!"
The small vigilante deftly landed on her feet and spun around, sending a kick at the Arius student. "Hehe, if you can handle my justice shot, then take my Super Duper Anti Cat Cannon!"
Azusa was ready for that one, side stepping out of the way and lunging out with her knife. The vigilante deftly dodged the blade by backstepping several steps before raising her shotgun. "Hero of Justice punch!"
The silver haired student dropped to the ground and rolled to a crouch before noticing a familiar gray object thrown in her face.
"Justice Foxtrot!"
Azusa winced as she tried to get the ringing out of her head. "You're supposed to shout that before you throw the flashbang!"
"Hehe!" Reisa gave the girl a thumbs up, "And that's why villains never expect it! For I am the People's Knight of Justice, villains and evildoers beware!"
Azusa really didn't like her. "What about your teammates? How are they supposed to know you're throwing a flashbang?"
"Suzumi doesn't mind at all." The vigilante shrugged, "The rest of the crew knows not to get close to me when I'm fighting. After all, if my friends don't know what I'm doing, then how are my opponents supposed to know?"
The silver haired commando frowned. She might actually have a point. Unpredictability was a valuable asset…
"Oh by the way…"
"Yes?"
"Apostle of Justice spamming blast!"
Azusa reeled back from the sudden headbutt and groaned. "That's it! You're going down!"
"Hehe, try me!"
The teacher gave Suzumi a knowing look. "Did you train her to fight like that?"
Said vigilante didn't meet the teacher's gaze. "I cannot claim complete deniability. She was already unpredictable when we met her. Training her was almost impossible until we figured out how to tune into her unpredictable nature. She's very fervent and aggressive and we just needed to hone her randomness to her advantage."
Sensei nodded, "That is a fair assessment. If you can't train them to work within the system, train them to work outside of it. What is her weakest link?"
"Sensei, that's rather insensitive of you, asking a girl her friend's weakness." Suzumi chided, "Many would say that her over the top behavior is her weakest link, but I'd argue quite the opposite. Her dedication to justice and unwavering belief is what makes her strong. She may constantly suspect people of wrongdoings and occasionally attack the wrong target, but she'll never truly see them as evil. She'll find a way to believe in them and uphold them to that standard."
She sighed, "If there's one thing that she's weak to is that she can be far too trusting."
"Naivety?"
"I won't beat around the bush, Sensei. The rest of the Vigilante Crew and I have been around the block. We've seen both the best and the worst of Kivotos, even within Trinity itself. We're dedicated to justice, but we're jaded." Suzumi bitterly looked back at the two students fighting. "We know not to trust everyone around us, to suspect those who appear kind but are hiding a darker intent. Reisa isn't like that. She will trust anyone if she believes they are a good person."
"Which can be a crippling weakness." Sensei admitted.
"And that's what scares me, Sensei." The crew leader sighed, "There will come a day that Reisa will be betrayed, hurt, and scared by those who she holds closest, and I fear that she won't be able to handle that."
She turned to the father. "So please Sensei, when that happens to Reisa, can you promise to hold her tight?"
The father remained silent for several long seconds before he nodded. "I will. I promise."
Suzumi nodded, "That's good enough for me. Ahh, it appears Hifumi has returned. I'll get started on her training."
"Please do," The teacher watched the white haired vigilante walk over to the frazzled Hifumi and lead her over to the training grounds. He remained silent, watching the students until a new presence joined him. "I see you took my advice."
"Indeed I did, Sensei." Nagisa responded calmly.
"You see a lot more at peace. I take it your conversation went well?"
"That it did. It went quite well." the ash blonde chuckled, "I did as you suggested. I asked her why she put on the paper bag. And she told me a rather whimsical story about the Black Market, a struggling school, and a corruption scheme. Apparently you were there too."
"That I was."
"And you didn't tell me."
"Because you should hear it from your friend rather than a grown up like me."
"Fair enough."
"And did you like the response you got?"
Nagisa smiled softly. "That I did. Hifumi is such a gentle and compassionate soul. Of course the only reason she would ever associate with a criminal group is to help them correct wrongs. Now I understand that Hifumi never changed. It was my belief in her goodness and kindness that changed."
The two remained in comfortable silence before the Tea Party host spoke up. "Thank you Sensei, for helping me restore my faith in my friend."
"You are very welcome."
The days passed as the Make Up Work club continued their studies and training. Even amidst a rather surprising "swimsuit emporium", the group continued onwards.
It would be the night before the exam day, as Sensei stretched his arms from grading that a panicked knock struck the door.
"Yes?"
The door flew open as Azusa dashed in. "It's tonight! Arius is going to attack tonight!"