Trinity Dormitories
It was nearly midnight when her phone went off.
Kyouyama Kazsua knew when she heard the loud buzzing vibrating on her nightstand. Groaning as she pulled her mind from the depths of chocomint ice cream and parfaits with Airi, the catgirl lashed out her arm in a vain attempt to silence the device. Realizing groggily that she had intentionally placed the phone out of reach, she pulled herself out of bed and picked up her phone.
She groaned. Why was Uzawa Reisa of all people calling her this late at night? Didn't she have a bedtime? And not only that, it was a video chat. The catgirl casually ignored the fact that they were the same age.
Sliding her finger across the screen, she yawned. "You know, just because I'm part cat doesn't mean I'm nocturnal."
"Get moving!"
"I'm sorry…I-"
"-I don't care about your excuses. Just keep moving!"
Kazusa frowned as she brought her phone down to look at the screen. Why was Reisa showing her a movie of all things? There were white uniformed girls dragging nuns into a kneeling position. Beside them, were a bunch of girls in gray uniforms holding rifles.
She squinted as she stared at the screen. Wait…those uniforms looked familiar.
One of the girls turned in the camera's direction and frowned. "What are you frowning about?"
"I was just trying to grasp how ridiculous this is."
The catgirl frowned. That was a male voice. Hadn't she heard that voice before?
"Explain."
The camera didn't move, but Kazusa could make out one of the girls coming closer. That's when she realized it. Those girls wearing the gray uniforms were members of the Vigilante Crew. She had seen them before on multiple occasions. Though from what she could see, her nemesis Suzumi was not present.
The ex delinquent's back hair stood up at the thought of the white haired vigilante. Damned psychopath and her team had completely annihilated her gang a year ago, with their incessant usage of flashbangs, traps, and absurd sniping. And to what end? After putting her gang out of commission, they merely left and she never heard from them again until she ran into Reisa.
Sure, Kazusa had given up that life and adopted the way of the sweets lover, but there was still a part of her that was bitter from that defeat. Regardless, there was no love for the Vigilante Crew as far as Kazusa was concerned.
So why was Reisa showing her a film of the Vigilante Crew arresting…a bunch of nuns…wait…
The ex delinquent's sleep ridden brain tried to put together the pieces as the male voice continued.
"It's just ridiculous. To think that the Vigilante Crew has been secretly colluding with Arius to launch a coup of this scale." The voice explained, "You convinced Tea Party member Mika to kidnap her fellow Tea Party members so that she could take over as an Arius puppet, and now you're going to use Trinity as a base to start a war against Gehenna?"
"Sensei," Another voice interjected, "I haven't been kidnapped by Mika. I actually think Mika's the most confused here."
"Nagisa, you were definitely kidnapped by Mika. She betrayed you after all. Right?"
A third voice spoke slowly. "Huh? Oh yeah…right! I totally am betraying you Nagisa. And with you out of my way…we can take down Gehenna and put an end to the Eden Treaty! Right!"
Sensei!
Kazusa now recalled where she had heard the voice. Reisa had mentioned how she had met Sensei and how he was a very nice person who just looked scary. Kazusa ungratefully recalled how Reisa said that she was the same and that was why she was apologizing to her.
It wasn't like she needed Reisa's apology, especially when it just made her look worse than if she actually was a villain.
But Kazusa now knew that Sensei was there as well. Which meant that this wasn't a movie or a film…this was happening live. She was literally watching a coup in progress.
Which meant that Reisa wasn't calling her to talk to her…Reisa was calling for help.
"Dammit Reisa!" Kazusa groaned as she jerked up, only to slam her head into the top of her bunk bed. "Oww…"
"You okay?" Her bunkmate's voice called from the top of the bed.
"Yeah…you awake?"
"It's very unromantic to ignore a plea for help." Natsu replied. "So…Miss Knight in Armor, will you respond to your damsel in distress' call?"
And that was why, ten minutes later, Kazusa found herself hiding behind a pair of desks as bullet fire rained upon her position, cursing her luck. Beside her, Yoshimi grunted as she slid another magazine into her SCAR. "Why did I agree to do this?"
"Because you too are a believer in romance and will come to an ally's aid when she calls." Natsu replied, crouched behind a classroom door, peering out into the darkness. "Sounds like they're reloading."
Kazusa shook her head. "Unlikely. If they're anything like the Vigilante Crew, they're waiting for us to push forward. Then they'll circle around and catch us from behind."
"Then what do you propose we do?" Yoshimi grunted as a grenade exploded behind her. "We can't just sit here!"
"But that's exactly what we should do." Kazusa shook her head. "Airi went to go get the JTF. We just need to hold out until they arrive. Shouldn't take longer than a few minutes."
"But we'll be overrun by then!"
"Then we should push quickly." Natsu replied. "I've got a smoke grenade. Follow behind me."
"But-" the catgirl protested but the philosopher had already thrown the grenade over, sending a plume of smoke into the air.
Natsu gave her companions a thumbs up before placing her shield forward and rushing forward. Following behind her, Yoshimi and Kazusa followed behind, spraying bullets towards the intruders.
The Arius students weren't even fazed in the slightest, sending a wave of bullets into the smokescreen. Natsu grunted as the bullets struck her shield with increasing intensity. "This…isn't working."
"Any other bright ideas?" Yoshimi groaned as she took cover behind her friend.
"Actually yeah." Kazusa spoke. "Stay back. I'll finish this."
Kazusa took a deep breath, listening closely to the sounds of bullets being ejected from their barrels. She observed the sound of shell casings striking the ground, the sound of gas masks inhaling and exhaling, and the sound of boots striking the ground. Taking in all the information, the former enforcer known as Cath Palug opened her eyes. She exhaled and…popped a macaron into her mouth and bit down. Allowing the sugary goodness to flow through her mouth, the catgirl felt a rush of energy spring up inside of her. Then…she moved..
The only thing the squad of Arius students saw was a black blob blurred into sight in front of them. The first student didn't even have time to respond as the butt of the Bren gun struck her in the stomach. Kazusa grabbed the student by the shoulder, spinning her around to be a living shield before she gunned down the other three Arius students. Once the other three went down, she spun the dazed shield around and finished off with a burst from her machine gun. Then she went for the other squad.
As the smoke cleared, Yoshimi and Natsu's eyes widened to find their friend standing in the middle of a heap of knocked out Arius students. "What the heck Kazusa, since when were you that strong?"
"Truly, we live in romantic times." Natsu concluded.
The ex delinquent blushed as their praises. "It's not something I advertise."
"With you at our side, we'll save Sensei in no time." Yoshimi exclaimed. "Come on."
Kazusa was about to respond when she heard someone speak behind them.
"Foxtrot."
A life of street fighting flashed through Kazusa's eyes as she tackled her friends to the ground. "Flashbang!"
The brilliant light and loud noise tore through the narrow corridor. Kazusa rolled to the side to avoid the shots that followed up the move, the standard procedure of the Vigilante Crew, as she had learned from experience.
Unfortunately, her friends did not have such experience. The shots struck them, leaving them writhing on the floor. The ex delinquent looked from her fallen friends to the white haired vigilante lowering her rifle. "So you did learn your lesson."
"You'll pay for that." Kazusa's fur bristled at the sight of the vigilante leader turned traitor.
"You know, a lot of people have told me that recently." Suzumi admitted. "I guess you'll have to get in line."
She shrugged, "So, the infamous Cath Palug comes out of retirement because her pest came crying to her, what a sob story."
"Let me make myself clear." Kazusa corrected the vigilante. "I'm only here because this is my chance to give you the beatdown you deserve from last year. Reisa has nothing to do with this."
"Fair enough." Suzumi slid a new magazine into her rifle. "So then, you ready to repeat last year's beatdown?"
"This time, it'll be different." Kazusa reached into her pocket, pulling out a second macaron.
"I'm looking forward to it."
The air stilled between the two…and then like lightning, the two sprung into action.
Contrary to popular belief, Morizuki Suzumi respected Kyouyama Kazusa. She had met her the year before, the young delinquent's gang making a move for territory against a nearby gang.
The Vigilante Crew gathered intel, weighed the odds, and agreed that both gangs needed to be curbed back a bit, else their turf war began to harm Trinity students. The rival gang was a breeze, having simple numbers of ill equipped middle and high schoolers. But Kazusa's gang, they were few but they made up for it in quality. Cath Palug was but one of the well acclimated brawlers that made up the gang.
They were good enough that Suzumi immediately put them on the high threat list and immediately put her Crew to work, utilizing the most effective lesson the Instructor had ingrained in them. Alone, they were weak, but as one, they were strong.
Carefully choosing their battlefields, setting up well planned ambushes and taking advantage of their weak points, the Crew systematically tore apart the gang until they literally had to disband. Needless to say, only the most dangerous delinquents and thugs got this treatment. Hence, Suzumi respected Kyouyama Kazusa as a fighter.
However, by no means did she even remotely believe that Kazusa was a better fighter than her. The legendary "Cath Palug"'s strength was her insane stamina, reflexes, and a background in street fighting.
It just so happened to be that Suzumi also trained herself for stamina, reflexes…and like many of her peers, she had grown up in the worst slums in Kivotos: the slums of Arius. Suzumi and her peers had learned to fight as soon as they could walk, for that was the way to survive. It wouldn't be until Suzumi was six when the Instructor found her and her motley crew and turned them from a bunch of street rats into the second deadliest fighting force in Arius.
Thus, as Suzumi spun past the fist full of dirt thrown at her face, a smirk crossed her lips. "So, still resorting to those dirty tricks of yours, aren't you?"
Kazusa didn't respond, swinging her leg out in an attempt to close the distance between the two. The vigilante casually weaved out of the way of the kick…and the following elbow, knee jab, and rifle butt thrown in her direction. "So…is there really anything new?"
The delinquent violently lashed forward with her left leg, sending dust and debris towards the vigilante. Suzumi stepped back only to trip backwards on a piece of plywood. She stumbled backwards, only to regain her footing a second later, the second Kazusa needed to raise her Bren gun at her.
Wordlessly, Suzumi dropped to a squat and rolled behind as the bullets began to fly. "So that's your plan. You try to make me believe you want to fight me up close, but in reality, you want to use your massive Bren gun to your advantage."
"Will you just shut up?" Kazusa snarked back as she let loose another burst of machine gun fire.
"No can do." Suzumi politely retorted. "My teacher always taught me to speak my mind."
"You mean through all the lies and filth you spew?"
"What is the best lie but a half truth?" Suzumi really hoped she sounded smart. It sounded smart when the Instructor said them, after all.
Counting to three, Suzumi dropped a flashbang and tossed it behind her. "Foxtrot!"
Spinning around, she hopped over her cover, rifle aimed only to find…an Uzi in her face?
Kazusa held her fallen friend's gun in her hand. "What was that about using my Bren gun?"
Suzumi peered back to see the Bren gun carefully propped up on a desk with the trigger mechanism held back by a thin rope.
"Ahh…so I'm not the only one who plays with smoke and mirrors." The vigilante smirked. "But unfortunately, you're ten years too young to be playing tricks on me."
The Instructor would call this move utter suicide, but Suzumi believed in her halo. She smacked her head forward into the Uzi, knocking the delinquent back momentarily. The moment that she needed to lash her left arm out to grab the magazine of the Uzi and yank it out from the barrel.
Kazusa stared at the white haired maniac in disbelief. "Wha-"
Suzumi didn't give her the time to respond, as she raised her pistol rifle in one hand to waist height and sent a burst of rounds into the shocked cat girl's body.
The cat girl buckled forward as Suzumi followed up with a knee to the stomach, sending her falling to the ground. Kazusa cried out in pain as a powerful foot stomped down on her right wrist, losing her grip on the Uzi. Said submachine gun was knocked out of her grasp with the vigilante's other foot.
Suzumi panted as she looked down at the fallen Cath Palug. She wearily raised her rifle and sighed. "You were good, but Arius is better."
Fighting the pain coursing through her body, Kazusa looked up at the white haired villain…and then beyond her. "Wha-"
She didn't get a chance to respond when a hand patted Suzumi on the shoulder. The Vigilante turned her head just in time for a white gloved hand to grab her face and slam her into the wall.
Suzumi tried to cry out in pain, but no noise left her covered mouth. As her eyes focused in on her attacker, she found herself face to face…with a pissed off Misono Mika.
"That…was for lying to me."
The next moment, the vigilante crashed through a door and into several desks. Pain shot up Suzumi's spine as she felt something break in her.
"That…was for manipulating me."
Suzumi laid on the shattered desks as she tried to put together what had just happened. She never got to finish her train of thought as the pink haired monster grabbed her by the neck. "And this…is for calling me your pawn."
Suzumi flew through two walls before crashing to a sliding halt on the gymnasium floor, the rest of the Crew and Arius students crumpled on the ground nearby. As the vigilante looked up at the ceiling in complete confusion, she found the barrel of a familiar shotgun placed inches from her face, followed by a teary eyed junior.
"It's over Suzumi. Please give up." Uzawa Resia shakily pointed the gun at her friend's face.
Suzumi considered trying to come back from this. But then she remembered the failed bomb, her inability to make Sensei angry, Reisa's hurt face when they betrayed her, and then Mika turning against them. She coughed up blood as she smiled softly. "Ok…I give up."
Reisa sighed a breath of relief as she lowered her shotgun. "Ok…just stay there. I'm going to-"
"Kazusa, I found the JTF!"
The gathered group of nuns, vigilantes, make up work club members, Arius students, and Sensei turned to see a black haired girl run in, followed by a dozen uniformed JTF members. Leading them, Hasumi looked around at the commotion and frowned. "Looks like I missed the fun."
Nagisa, now freshly released from her binds, sighed. "Hasumi, you have the absolute best timing."
"So basically, you and Nagisa explained to Mika that she hadn't actually killed Seia, who I didn't even know was dead to begin with, and thus convinced her to switch sides. Am I getting that right?" Hasumi stared at her notes.
"Mou, it wasn't switching sides!" Mika pouted as she stood between two JTF guards. "I was always on my own side. Those Arius thugs were the ones who switched sides on me!"
"Uh-huh…" Hasumi muttered. "And then…she agreed to surrender and then we arrived."
The teacher nodded, "That's right." He sent a glare at the girl looking over him. "Serina, for all the spirits of Abydos, I'm not injured. It's just a few bruises. You should be treating the Sisterhood and the Arius students."
The Remedial Knight sent the teacher a glare. "You are clearly the most reckless Sensei I've ever worked with. You need a lesson in taking care of yourself. Besides, we already have sufficient staff handling the other students."
She gestured to the number of girls helping the wounded into stretchers. "Speaking of which," Sensei muttered as he got up and strode over to a group of nuns laying on stretchers, "There's someone I need to see."
Wakaba Hinata lay on her stretcher staring up at the ceiling until she noticed the blue haired teacher strolling up to her. "Ahh…Hin- I mean Sensei."
"Feel free to call me Hinata, Hinata." Hinata gave Hinata a proud smile. "You did well out there."
Hinata grimaced, "But I failed. I failed to protect you all."
"You stood strong and refused to give up." Hinata chided Hinata. "You acted with honor and bravery out there. It makes me proud to be a Hinata as well."
"T-thanks…Hinata." Hinata smiled softly as the stretcher carried Hinata well.
On another stretcher, a certain white haired traitor lay uncomfortably, her wrists and legs cuffed to the rungs. Suzumi looked up at her junior. "...what are you looking at?"
Reisa shook her head. "I'm just making sure that you're being taken care of. You are going to receive justice for what you did today, but I am here to make sure all you receive is your justice."
Suzumi groaned, "Just…leave me alone. I'm fine."
"Your broken arm and cracked back begs to differ."
"For Arius' sake, I've got a halo. I've literally been through worse. Give me a week and I'll be back on my feet."
Reisa raised her brow. "That's why I'm even more worried." She noticed the teacher walking over to them. "Sensei, Suzumi is being stupid."
"I can see that." The teacher chuckled, "You girls doing alright?"
Suzumi glanced at her comrades, who were in similar stretchers. The girls in question gave the teacher a collective thumbs up. "I mean…as well as I can after being thrown through the wall by that gorilla of a Tea Party member."
"You did call her a pawn. I'm pretty sure that would set anyone off." Sensei pointed out.
The traitor rolled her eyes. "Whatever, just leave us alone. The plan failed from the start. We clearly underestimated you."
"I take no credit for what happened." The teacher chuckled, "You actually managed to catch me by surprise. I…I hadn't seen your betrayal coming." He sighed, "You've got Reisa here to congratulate for your demise."
Suzumi looked her junior in the eyes, who was unable to meet her gaze. She sighed, "Hey Reisa…"
"Y-yes?"
"...you did good." The traitor admitted, "You're…a real Vigilante Crew member in my eyes."
The younger vigilante remained silent before she smirked, "That's right. And don't you forget that!"
With that, the pair of JTF students showed up to take the traitor away. Reisa watched her friends be taken away, one by one, her face remaining expressionless.
The teacher noticed her rigid figure. "Reisa…"
"Sensei…why does it hurt?"
She looked up at the teacher, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "Why does doing the right thing hurt so much?"
Sensei smiled bitterly, "I don't know. I don't know Resia. But it's okay to feel hurt. It's…it's okay to cry."
The dams flooded as the youngest vigilante broke into a loud bawl as she pressed her face against the father's chest. Sobbing softly himself, Sensei placed his hands on the girl's shoulders. "I'm sad too Reisa. I'm sad too."
As Reisa continued to use his coat as a tissue, the teacher looked around and noticed a quartet of students walking over to him. Noticing the taller girl's cat ears, he smiled. "Thanks for coming, Cath Palug."
Kazusa groaned, "For the last time, I haven't gone by that name in over a year."
"Cath Palug, what a romantic name for a knight in shining armor." Natsu complimented her friend.
"I think it sounds quite cool, Kazusa." Airi added.
Yoshimi huffed but nodded in agreement.
The cat girl looked at the sobbing girl in the teacher's arms. "If it's alright with you, we'll take Reisa home."
"A true damsel demands the company of knights after all." Natsu added, "It's the most romantic option."
Sensei looked down at the crying vigilante. "How does that sound? You okay with going with them?"
"Don't worry," Kazusa smiled, "I'll kick out Natsu and you can use her bunk if you'd like."
"The knight offers her lady her lodging, truly a romantic choice…wait what?"
"I'll also break out the deluxe chocolate set that I kept hidden from Yoshimi."
"You did what?!"
Reisa pulled her face out of the teacher's shirt and turned to the sweets club. She nodded, "I'll go with them."
"Right then." The teacher smiled, "I'll let Hasumi know where you went and she'll reach out to you later for questions."
Kazusa raised her brow, "She's going to be questioned?"
"Naturally," Sensei nodded, "It's just Hasumi and I asking questions about her perspective. I'll arrange for it to happen in a few days. Also, we'll be wanting to meet with you all as well."
"Us?" Yoshimi muttered aloud. "But we're not-"
"I understand." Kazusa agreed, "We'll be around Sensei."
The teacher watched the group leave the gymnasium before addressing the presence behind him. "Hope you're okay with my choices."
Hasumi sighed, "It's fine. I knew that questioning Uzawa Reisa in such a sensitive time would go badly. As for Kyouyama Kazusa and her group, they're definitely worth keeping an eye on. We were…actually unaware of Kazusa's background as a delinquent, probably the result of the Vigilante Crew's deception."
She groaned, "It's definitely a major oversight on our part. I was so focused on using the Vigilante Crew to complement the JTF that I never considered they might be double agents. Naturally, I'll be extra vigilant to tie up loose ends."
"Speaking of which," The teacher frowned, "I heard the Vigilante Crew had an out of campus hideout. Do you know where that might be?"
"As a matter of fact, we do." The JTF vice commander nodded. "I've already sent a full assault team to secure the facility as we speak."
Vigilante Crew Hideout
Ichika pressed her back against the wall before raising her radio. "We're at the entrance. How many?"
Mashiro's voice chimed through the radio. "Infrared says about nine. Four on the ground floor, five on the upper floor."
The JTF officer nodded, "Roger that. Roof team is ready to go. Ground team ready?"
"Ground team…ready…"
Ichika winced at the raspy voice of their president. There was no ground team. There was only Tsurugi. "Right then, on my mark."
Ichika pounded on the door. "JTF, open up!"
She counted to three before nodding to her squad, who set off the breach charges on the back door. The door blew open, followed by a set of smoke grenades. Ichika's squad of officers rushed into the building, rifles raised, followed by Ichika.
The squad immediately came under fire by white uniformed students from the stairwell. One of the JTF officers went down while the other three dove for cover.
Ichika grunted as she heard the steady breathing of gas masks. "They're using masks." She muttered, turning to her two remaining officers. "Cover me, I'm flanking them."
The two girls nodded, training their rifles in the direction of the returning fire before letting loose a volley of machine gun fire.
Ichika dashed from her cover, spinning around the corner, rifle raised. The quartet of Arius students reacted quickly, training their collection of firearms on her, but Ichika was faster. A burst of fire from her EM-2 rifle gunned down the first two. The other two managed to get their shots off, but were gunned down from the side.
The JTF squad leader turned to her remaining officers who gave her a thumbs up from their position. Looking over the four fallen Arius students, Ichika winced. Whoever these girls were, they were good.
"Room clear." One of the officers called. "Identifying two bedroom doors. What's your call?"
Ichika winced. Standard protocol dictated two officers per door for breaching, but there were only three of them. "Mashiro, I'm going to solo breach. Can you cover me?"
"I'm on it. Take the closer door."
"Roger that." Ichika nodded. "You two get the rear door."
The two officers raised their rifles and moved towards said door, taking out a breaching charge.
Ichika turned towards her own door and knocked tentatively, "JTF, open up!"
When she got no response, she raised her leg and slammed the door open. Carefully, she peeked the corner with her rifle only to find a set of four tied up and gagged girls. "What the-" she muttered as she lowered her rifle.
Walking over to the students, she frowned when she noticed the demonic traits on the girls. "Gehenna students?"
The white and black haired one seemed to be trying to tell her something. Ichika carefully approached her and pulled off her gag.
Kayoko gasped for air as she gestured towards the door. "She's in the other room!"
Ichika spun around just as a burst of gunfire was heard from behind. She dashed out of the room to find her remaining two officers collapsed on the ground and a tall girl in a crop top and white trench coat dash through the main room. Ichika didn't even hesitate, raising her rifle and opening fire at the escaping suspect.
Said suspect threw herself through the window, landing with a practiced roll on the pavement a story down. Ichika ran towards the window to see the girl duck under one of Mashiro's shots before making a dash down the street. "Did you get her?"
"Negative, she was too fast." Mashiro's voice came from the comm. "I'm sorry."
Letting out a sigh, the raven haired JTF officer shook her head. "It's fine. We got the rest of them and…" she turned back towards the Gehenna students. "We got some unique prisoners."
She looked over the group of fallen JTF officers and Arius students and groaned. "This is way above my paygrade. I'm calling in Hasumi."