I scramble to get behind cover. I didn't even get to observe the area we were fighting in. The blare of submachine guns and mini-guns drains out any thoughts I could've had. I take a quick peek at a slight break of bullet fire before ducking again. I was able to spot shops on the right side of the street. A gun shop, along with a pet shop, I believe. I need to learn korean if my place of work is in D.U. central.

"Sensei, your orders, please!" I could barely hear who was screaming for me over the gunfire. It sounded alert, ready.

"He told me he's a substitute for the actual sensei! So he probably has no idea what he's doing!" That was Yuuka also give me a chance. I need someone to believe in me cause I sure don't believe in myself.

"Miss Hayase, perhaps don't insult the substitute. After all, he's probably afraid since he lacks a halo." That voice sounded elegant. It seemed to be coming from the roadblock behind me.

"I'm not sure about that! Given he ran into gunfire with a car door for a shield when we first met him." You know that calm voice has a point. After all, what sane person rushes into gunfire? I swing my arms in circles to loosen them up. I place both hands on the roadblock I'm behind. I take one more peak from my cover to identify the targets I want gone first.

"Alright, Miss Morizuki, if you can hear me, I'll need you to throw a stun grenade at the two mini-gunners at the crosswalk. North of me by about twenty meters!" I begin pushing the roadblock forward, which is surprising as it's made of cement. Who cut costs on this thing? Is it hollow inside? "Miss Hayase, please suppress the two sub-machine gunners west of me at the five-meter mark!" Eventually, I gained enough traction to push forward with the roadblock rapidly. I hope those two heard me over the loud gun fire. The loud bang, followed by the annoyed cursing of unfamiliar voices told me they both had.

I continued my advance forward with the roadblock. As I'm confident that I'm nearing the twin mini-gunners I look to my left. The two smg users noticed me, then took aim. Right before they can fire the sign connected to the assumed pet shop gets knocked off and falls on them, ouch. I don't think they're alive given the fact it looks like a half a ton just dropped on them. Eventually after advancing a little more I look up, noticing the traffic lights and peek to where the twin mini-gunners are. Only to notice the scorch marks of where the stun grenade went off and two unconscious blonde girls. Good god, how strong is that damn stun grenade Suzumi threw. There's no way these girls fell unconscious from it. I've seen some of these girls take bullets to the face like it's nothing! But a regular stun grenade does you in, how?!

I hop over the roadblock and move forward. Yuuka, Suzumi and Hasumi move with me. The only one unaccounted for is Chinatsu, however I notice someone shadowing us in the stores. God I hope that's her otherwise we've got another problem. Two more smg wielding wannabes bust out of an eatery as three mini-gunners set up behind them. Hasumi takes cover behind some roadblocks near the corner of the eatery. Suzumi hunkers down next to her. Yuuka takes cover behind a van parked across from the vending machines I'm at. Yuuka is looking worse for wear with scraped up knees, tears in parts of her clothes and a gash on her forehead. Along with bumps and bruises all over her body.

"Miss Hinomiya, could you heal Miss Hayase please and thank you!" As I say that I hear glass break as a syringe stabs into Yuuka's arm. Her wounds healed and clothes repaired. However now I'm curious about how the healing works, but also where did that syringe come from? I turned my head to where I heard the glass break and saw Chinatsu inside the shop. She waved at me but that's about it until another bullet storm starts. I peek around the corner to judge the distance between me and the wannabes. I had to pull my head back immediately as it was almost blown off by indiscriminate fire.

"Miss Hayase, please advance with your barrier on your side. I'll advance on my side. Miss Morizuki get another stun ready. If you don't have one, suppress the mini-gunners so Miss Hanekawa can pick them off." I quickly hit the cover in front of me when Yuuka sprints out with her barrier. I began pushing the cover forward, this roadblock moved easier than the cement one. I bash it into the two smgs girls which resulted in them being headshotted by Hasumi. The mini-gunners were trying to break through the barrier Yuuka had. They couldn't coordinate their fire due to Suzumi harassing them. Eventually, they gave way as soon as Hasumi joined in on the harassment. Causing the three mini-gunners to fall.

After the dust settled, I surveyed the surrounding area a bit better. Bullet casings, empty magazines and damaged property surrounded us. I look at the four girls that were selected to come and they all seem to be congratulating each other on a job well done. However I can only dread the after action report I'll have to write up. Knife ears already told me it's mandatory if I do operations like this which is fair. However she also asked to keep damages to a minimum if possible, since the GSC will need to make payments on severe damages. And judging by the destroyed van, fallen sign, broken glass and damaged roadblocks I'd say it could've been much worse. Actually would the damages caused here even be considered bad? From what I've seen here so far these wannabes weren't really packing much. The damages aren't as bad as the ones during the battle for Schale. I feel the Shittim chest vibrate and reach inside my jacket for it. The screen was on the second I pulled it out.

"Well done on your first battle S.Sensei!" Arona greeted me with glow sticks. A congratulations banner appeared behind her. "You've got a S rank grade for this mission. As expected even if you're just filling in for the actual Sensei!" She waved them around like crazy. I see three stars appear, time it took, the mission completed and students survived. That last one does not bode well at all.

"Uh thanks I suppose." I say while looking at her. I don't feel like I did a good enough job to earn an S rank.

"Come on, be more energetic, smile for once! You did a good job." She was pouting now.

"If you say so." I look up from the chest towards the girls. They all seem to be looking over their remaining supplies.

"Then if my words won't convince you, this absolutely will!" I turn my head towards Arona again. She was holding a stamp.

"What's this?" I take in the stamps design. It has a giant blue S symbol similar to the boot up symbol of the Shittim chest itself.

"My stamp of approval of course!" She waved it towards me like I could grab it.

"I'm good, Arona." I look back towards the girls. They all seem done checking their supplies over. I decide to ignore the feeling of poutiness emitting from the chest. I shove it back inside my jacket's inner pocket.

I walk on over to the four. They notice my approach and look at me with varying degrees of concern or was it worry? I was never good at reading people's faces, eyes are simpler but show many emotions similarly. I raise my hands in surrender as I approach, a timeless classic negotiation tactic.

"So what ups, what's with the weird looks." I got no response at all, like the four are stuck. "Hello?" I waved my hand in front of Hasumi's face with no reaction at all. I walked over to Suzumi and touched the wing on her head, then I took Chinatsu's glasses off. I eventually put them back on when she doesn't squint and her irises don't dilate. I decided to ignore Yuuka since the other three didn't react. I doubt she'll react to anything.

I whip out my phone to see if Pandora knows what's going on.

"Blame the chest."

Okay I guess Pandora's saying to ask Arona then. I take the chest back out of my coat, it's still radiating a pouting aura. I flick it on and notice Arona sitting at a desk facing away from me. Her halo was all spiky, the color changed to an orangish red as well.

"Arona, could you tell me what's happening?" She doesn't even turn to look at me.

"Hmph." Don't tell me she actually took my disregard for her stamps that badly.

"Umm, I'm sorry about disregarding your stamp?" WOW I made that sound like a question

"You don't sound sorry." I don't blame you for not believing me. Welp looks like I'm going in.

"Look I'm sorry it's just I don't see the point of the stamps." I walk over to the desk she's sitting at. Her head turned away from me. It also seems like she doesn't want to talk to me either anymore. Welp I got only one option left. "Could you please forgive me."

"Why should I?" Alright, she responded to me, progress.

"How about I get you something? I'll also accept your stamp." Her halo changed from the spiky orange to her default halo style.

"I want strawberry milk." How can I even get that to her?

"Okay, so do I download it or.."

"You just have to hold it when you enter the chest." She interrupted me before I could ask for more info. But she gave me an answer.

"Alright little star, I'll do just that." I pat her head and notice her halo becomes a heart. "So you know why those girls seem to be stuck in time?" I ask Arona and the next thing I know we're both near the hexagon tiles again. Yuuka is on one tile and the thug with the boss text is on the next.

"Basically, the chest kinda froze them in place until you move them here." Arona points at the next thug.

"Alright, so the chest can warp time?" A hell of a cheat the actual teacher would've had.

"Only for a short bit, look up there." I follow Arona's finger all the way up and notice a timer. Twenty-eight minutes remaining and counting. "Originally the timer was supposed to have an hour. But it's only thirty minutes now for some reason." Damn it's probably because of me.

"Oh well little star no sense in crying over spilled milk or about time that I never had." I tap on Yuuka then the next hexagon where the "boss" was located. "Be back."

"Good luck S.Sensei." Was all I heard right as I was shot back out into the world. I dry heave once then force it down. Okay I didn't get used to it as well as I thought. I noticed the girls were walking towards me.

"Honestly, working while sick probably isn't the best substitute." I look at Chinatsu and wave her off as they all finally close the distance. I guess they unfroze the second I began dry heaving. I wasn't sick, just having severe whiplash. But I doubt they'd believe me if I told them I can hop into the chest and out. "Please don't wave off your health like it's an afterthought." I heard her sigh at me.

"It's just my adrenaline. You don't need to worry I'm not actually sick." I say while walking past the four while tapping the tablet to see the route we have to take to get there. Looks simple enough for a straight shot if I've ever seen one. "Alright let's walk on over."

"Walk, wouldn't it be better to take a transport vehicle?" Yuuka catches up to me and takes my right side.

"Miss Hayase, the next area to clear is only a hundred meters away." I look at her, showing her the map in the process. "Unless you're telling me you can't walk a measly one hundred meters?" I ask while scanning her. "Huh maybe that's exactly what you're telling me." Judging by Yuuka's build it's obvious she's fit, but her legs are kinda flabby.

"Insulting your students is quite bad, substitute. Also we weren't informed of the distance." She tried to grab my ear like earlier yesterday. However I'm ready this time and evade effortlessly. She didn't stop with one attempt, she kept trying until we finally hit the fifty meter point. "Besides we'll need a vehicle for all the thugs we've incapacitated. Unless you plan on telling me we'll carry them back?" She huffed.

"I concur with Miss Hayase, we can't just leave them there." Hasumi states while both Suzumi and Chinatsu nodded their heads in agreement. "Surely Schale has some type of transport vehicle for lawbreakers?" Hasumi caught up to my other side. I have to slightly look up to make eye contact. Hasumi has to be 5'10 or 5'11. I look away from her towards the chest, Arona gives me a thumbs up while wearing a radio operator headset. A Valkyrie school icon appeared on the map showing they were coming to arrest the wannabe thugs we defeated. I showed Hasumi the chest.

"Valkyrie was alerted after we cleared the area so we're good." The four seemed content at the idea that Valkyrie was picking up the wannabe thugs. Also the fact Arona already called Valkyrie afterwards was nice, she definitely earned that strawberry milk. "So, that being said, anything else you four wish to ask? Because now's the time before the next engagement." We're ten meters away, I can see multiple enemies getting ready for us. Some of them behind more roadblocks others standing out in the open.

"This is less of an ask and more of a demand. Please don't take to the front lines again.You don't have a halo and it doesn't look like there's any cover for you to push forward here." Suzumi sounds very steadfast. I would argue but the other three seem to silently agree with her. Yeah arguing here is a losing battle even if I point out the open cover to use.

"Alright fine, I'll sit in the back." I wave my hands to let them take the lead. Hasumi, Yuuka and Suzumi walk forward. Chinatsu stays by me in the back line. I eye the cover nearest to us.

"Don't even think about it." Is what I hear Chinatsu say.

"I can dream." Is all I say causing Chinatsu to sigh. Though after scanning the area a bit more I can see all construction signs. I'm sorry in advance to all you lovely construction workers. All your hard work will probably longer exist.

The fighting was more of the same, in all honesty not being an active participant is boring. Though I was afraid for my life in the first engagement and the battle to retake Schale, it felt fulfilling to be in the thick of it. Now though, I'm sitting in the back giving orders.

"Miss Hayase, deploy your barrier and press forward. Miss Morizuki, throw a stun grenade at the three mini-gunners north of you by ten meters." Watching them fight is kinda interesting, but doesn't give the same rush. I still feel like they shouldn't be fighting at all.

"Miss Hinoymiya please get another syringe ready. I think Miss Hayase will need one very soon." I say as I watch the three advance forward engaging another group of enemies. Almost on cue Yuuka's barrier gave way allowing the new batch of enemies to pelt her. Chinatsu practically healed Yuuka the second she hit cover. Suzumi's stun grenade knocked out the three mini gunners allowing Yuuka some breathing room.

"Miss Hanekawa please deal with that smg user to the east of you by fifty meters. They seem to be trying to get an advantageous position." Bam headshot from Hasumi, that wannabe thug is down for the count. Especially given it was a pterion shot no less. That girl is definitely dead, no doubt about it. She may not be bleeding externally but she's definitely bleeding internally. After all, I'm pretty sure even if they are bulletproof, the weak spots of the human body if struck can still get you killed easily.

I proceed to watch as the young ladies tear apart another group without any of my input. Hell I bet they could've done this without my help if they truly wanted to. I watched one of the two smg girls scamper away. Honestly I thought it was the same thug that got knocked out. I guess she decided that this fight wasn't worth it.

Actually now that I think about it a lot of these wannabe thugs have looked the same. Now if their outfits just looked the same I wouldn't be confused. But they literally all have the same faces, same hairstyles, same eyes and even same guns. Hell so far their personalities have all been the same. It doesn't make a lick of sense, period. I'm so confused right now, how can so many people be so similar that you could confuse them for all being twins?

Eventually we encountered the leader of this group. Upon examination she looked like every other mini gun wielding girl. Why was she in charge, was she a tactical genius compared to the others?

"You must think yourselves really tough for busting up my girls like that huh?" Good god even her voice sounded exactly the same as the last three's it doesn't make sense! "Well it's a shame you came so far only for us to bust your teeth out!" No,no,no I need answers before we fight.

"Can I ask a question before we do this?" I ask while walking out of cover. Chinatsu tried to stop me by grabbing my jacket. Only for herself to be pulled out of cover.

"I guess I can give you that at least. So let's hear it, I bet it would be really funny." Every gun on her side aimed at me now. It's obvious what this move was for.

"Why are you in charge?"

"What?"

"Yeah, why are you the boss?" I watched her lackeys start whispering among themselves. At least I think they are given the way they all began to look at each other. Hard to tell since they're all wearing face masks. "Like what makes you different from the mini gun girl next to you?" I pointed to a look alike that was standing next to her.

"Simple, I'm taller and more badass." I couldn't believe what she just said. They even looked to be the same height from here. Also what makes her more badass? She looks as homeless as me, I don't understand!

"Elaborate on the more badass please." I completely walked away from the brick wall me and Chinatsu were once hiding behind. Dragging poor Chinatsu the whole way since she hasn't let go of my jacket. I watch the "boss" thug rub her chin trying to figure out what made her more badass. Her own lackeys stared at her expectantly. I look at my motley group of teenage girls and signal them to take better positions. Chinatsu stayed right by my side however.

"I've robbed and beaten down the most people outta of our group." Her lackeys seem to nod their heads in agreement. I don't think that constitutes as badass but what do I know, literally.

"Alright I guess, stun." The thug boss looks at me confused for a second. Only for a stun grenade from Suzumi to appear in front of her and explode. Causing almost all of her lackeys to go down. Leaving her and one other minigunner. "Miss Hanekawa think you can hit a bullseye?" The second I finish my question the boss is shot clean in between the eyes. Yuuka guns down the other minigunner before she can recover. With that I believe that's everyone taken care of.

Chinatsu and I walk towards the other three as we almost make it, but I stop. My hairs stand on their ends, I also feel like I'm…. drifting. I quickly turned back to where me and Chinatsu hid. The second girl that scampered away earlier peered around the corner. I decked her. Her body crumbled like a sack of potatoes along with her halo flickering off.

It was enjoyable watching her go limp.

"You have sharp instincts substitute." Suzumi states while jogging over with Yuuka beside her. Her words snapped me back to reality.

"I'll say, and a mean left hook to knock out someone who's used to being hit by bullets." Yuuka mutters while hoisting up the thug.

"Here, let me Miss Hayase." I gesture for Yuuka to hand over the thug. She passed off the thug to me. I lift her with one arm cradling her carefully. "Light little thing." I state.

"She felt heavy to me." Yuuka says watching me effortlessly carry the thug. We turned towards Hasumi and Chinatsu. I saw Hasumi look over herself and mutter something. Chinatsu chuckles, responding to whatever she says. Hasumi's wings fluttered a little then relaxed after Chinatsu's comment. Huh, wonder what they're talking about.

"Welp this mission is completed, good job you four." I say to the four. They seem proud of themselves and honestly I don't blame them. They pulled off a four versus thirty-seven or was it forty, either way it's commendable. I pull out the tablet and notice we still have seven areas to clear. A couple were called training stages, however they had some weird corruption on them. Oh well Arona will fix it, it's probably a glitch due to me not having a covenant with her.

"I hate to say it, but it looks like we still have to clear a couple more places. If you girls want you can come with. But I won't stop you if you wish to leave now since I'm sure you have your own lives." The four looked at me like I dumb.

"Of course we'll go with you! You don't have a halo, also how do you expect to beat them on your own." I laugh a little at Yuuka's remark, causing her to grab my ear. The other three laugh at my poor misfortune.

(D.U Central 11:57am)

We eventually finished the grueling task of taking down every single group causing trouble in D.U central. It took about ten minutes which was quick. Honestly you think back to back firefights would be a slog, yet Kivotos proved me wrong. The strangest ordeal through the whole thing was the conversation between me and Arona.

Apparently I shouldn't have been able to skip the training stages. When I told her about the weird corruption on the mission icons for them she gasped. As that was the same corruption on the energy counter deep within the chest's systems. So it pretty much explained why the energy was showing ???/??? instead of the numbers it should've shown.

So not only do I not know everything the chest is capable of. I also am now aware because of this corruption that certain systems have been compromised. Arona doesn't know what it is or how it got into the chest in the first place. She also told me if she finds anything of great importance while trying to clear it she'll tell me.

For now however, I got kinda hungry since I haven't eaten anything. So there's only one place to go, Magenta and Mochi's eatery. Once again I ping pong myself through D.U central until finding the mall I met Tob in. I quickly walked to the alley we both used to get out of the mall then walked down it. Finally retracing the steps taken back to the eating street. I don't know the actual name of the street so eating street is the best name I could think of. The smells of all the food is tantalizing as ever but I focus on the smell of a cat covered in grease. I follow it until I spot my destination.

"Hey Mochi!" I shout waving toward her. She lifted her head and upon seeing me, dropped the glass she was holding. Then began frantically waving at me.

"Little Vagues, how have you been!" She yelled back while waving at me.

"Oh just peachy." I say taking a seat on the stools outside the cart.

"Both sorry and glad to hear that!" Her voice was unbelievably energetic compared to the last time I heard her. "Magenta dear Vagues is back!" She called toward the weird back area of the cart. I could hear a racket coming from the back area. Suddenly the door burst open. Magenta came rushing out, his bahamas shirt slightly open, revealing a large spoof of orange fur being now very visible.

"Vagues, I didn't think you'd be back so soon! Hell I didn't think you'd be back at all!" What?

"Why not? I promised I'd be back to eat, didn't I?" I shot him a confused glance. He smiles a toothy grin.

"I suppose you did, didn't you? Well what will it be?" He said, handing me a menu.

"Hmm how about the pork bowl. I've never had one." I say setting the menu down. Only for Mochi to swap it for a drink menu. And just like before I just tap a random drink allowing her to take it back.

"Grand just one moment then." He hit a switch and once again the entire cart shifted inside again. Seriously, how was this wooden cart made? He got some pork out, turned the burner on inside then pulled out a bowl and pot.

"Thanks for stopping by." I turned to look at Mochi who was making the random drink I selected.

"Why?" I tilt my head.

"No reason." Okay, guess I'll go fuck myself then. I wasn't truly curious about what you meant.

"So Mochi, I didn't ask before but how do you know Magenta?" Since I was in a rush to get back to Schale I didn't really talk the first time around.

"Oh, well you see it was a crisp summer night. I was a damsel on the run." I feel like I've made a mistake. "Being chased by rowdy hooligans who wished to do away with me." I watched as she expertly spun the mixer in her hand. "Then low and behold a gallant man had come to my rescue. Sweeping me off my feet!" I stole a glance at Magenta only to see him mutter something. "He beat down the hooligans with ease. Then whisked me away to a place of comfort and warmth." She had finished mixing my drink, sitting it down in front of me with dramatic tension. "So I decided to reward my hero with the best prize I could've thought of." She showed me her ring finger which had a wedding band. I looked at Magenta not buying her story, since he finished making the pork bowl during it and was bringing it over.

"It wasn't grand, we met back in our younger years. We meshed well together, then dated for awhile. You can piece the rest together." He stated while putting down my food.

"I like my version better." Mochi said with a pout aimed at Magenta who seemed to shrug it off.

"Alrighty, so how about you ask me a question and I'll answer in turn. Well, if I can?" I say while taking some of the pork bowl for a bite. Its texture is quite heavenly, shame I can't taste it.

"Hmm questions answered for questions asked, fair trade." Magenta rubs his chin trying to think of something.

"How are you liking Kivotos so far?" Mochi decided to ask the first question.

"Atrocious, I'm thankful I'm still alive." Mochi shrugged as if to say what could I do. Though Magenta didn't look happy at a wasted question. "Well since it was an easy answer for me, I'll give y'all an easy question as well. How long have y'all been married?" I ask between mouthfuls of the pork bowl. The texture of the pork, rice, onions, avocados and corn are amazing together.

"About ten years now." Magenta said, Mochi nodded her head along with his answer. "Now then, can you tell me anything about your home?" The second he says this I begin to rummage in my hazy mind. Just like the last time I can only see the architecture and landmarks, so I push deeper. Eventually I made out a fort, not one but several in ruins. They look like they're from a medieval era just repurposed for modern use.

"Architecture is similar to Kivotos but different. We had some interesting landmarks, even some old medieval era forts." Magenta seemed intrigued by my answer.

"You know it could be that Kivotos and your home followed a similar building philosophy when making cities." Magenta has a point. "Although I'm intrigued by what you mean by medieval era forts." He seemed laser focused on that.

"Well I guess some were still standing. Off my memories they seemed to be repurposed for something." I shrug at him, it doesn't matter how much I push, I can't seem to recall the innards of the forts. Just the outer area were desolate old trenches and weapons were left behind. Along with a uniform or two, made good kindling those uniforms.

"Hmmm I'd like to know more yet, I must let you ask a question first as part of our game." Magenta waved a paw to let me ask.

"Well then thanks for playing properly and not being greedy. Let's see, what do you think of Kivotos?" I'm honestly curious how people who've lived here think of the place.

"It's hard to say, the constant shooting and explosions in some areas is horrible no doubt. Yet I've grown used to it by now. That's not to say that certain areas aren't quiet and quaint." Magenta began twiddling his whisker while thinking.

"Yeah, Kivotos is a noisy place in most areas. So some of us older folk tend to plant our roots somewhere a bit more quiet. Though you get the occasional gun wielding thug who dropped out of school thinking they can boss older people around." Mochi added on to Magenta's statement. "But it's home."

"Hmm, I guess people adapt to their environments huh." I say earning a snicker from Mochi, Magenta just nodded his head at me. "Well then, don't keep me in suspense, what's your question?" I wave for another question.

"I'd like to know more about these forts you remember." Magenta's nose wiggles a little.

"Hmmm, well in all honesty I can't remember the interior. However there were plenty of old weapons and uniforms left in trenches outside of the forts. In fact they were immaculate in their condition." Honestly the more I focus on the memory it's kinda weird no one took those things back to their base. It didn't even look like they left in a rush, more like they vanished.

"Are you saying they were just left there perfectly fine and unused?" Mochi looked intrigued now as well.

"Pretty much." I say while getting up from my stool. "Welp I'm done with my food. So I'll be going." I stretched my arms and got a credit to pay for the meal.

"Hold on, what about the drink I made you?" Mochi pointed at my untouched beverage. I looked at her and chugged the drink. Maintaining eye contact the whole time, as a burning sensation goes down my throat. "Uh, how was it?" She asks, looking at me like I'm a weirdo.

"Average." I don't even know what it was. It was cold but fuck it burned, I hope it wasn't alcohol.

"Really just average?" Her head tilted.

"You're right, it was horrible." You should've just taken my original comment.

"Geez alright asshole." She seemed a little displeased.

"Hey, you should've taken my original comment instead of making me think about it." I shrugged

"Fair." She shrugged back.

"Welp happy trails you two, I've got paperwork to go do." I wave while walking away.

"Don't be a stranger!" Mochi yelled.

"Be safe friend, after all you don't have a halo!" Magenta gave a more cautionary goodbye. You know one of these days I should get a helmet from Tob. Would prove useful for the brain case.

(Schale Building 12:57pm)

I eventually made it back to Schale. I check the time on my phone. It's only 12:57 pm so I've got time to make that report. Actually now that I think of it, I should probably go ask Sora if there's journals in stock. Since it'll be a good idea to write down my experiences here if I perish. Maybe someone will get a kick out of it upon plucking off my corpse.

I marched on over to the residential hall. But I noticed some girls outside in the garden. I would have thought of them as part time maintenance workers. However their outfits look way out there, a nun and a young girl wearing a fake mustache? Okay I'll just go through the main door. Entering the front entrance I hear immediate noise from the arcade and dining hall. It's hard to pick out voices or what they're saying.Doesn't help that some are speaking different languages. As I walk over to the store a girl with white hair and black horns comes out. She's wearing a medical officer uniform. I nodded my head to her and she nodded her head to me as we walked past each other.

"What the hell is going on?" I mutter while entering the store, the jingle going off while I enter. I notice multiple other teenage girls inside, why? Each one is wearing a different style of outfit set with its own school emblem. How did any of them get into the Schale residential hall? I'm pretty sure you need an id to enter into the hall and I doubt they all have Schale ids. Sure knife ears told me that students can access Schale, but I had to authorize areas for them to access. I'm pretty sure I haven't yet, unless I did by accident somehow.

I walk on up to the counter and tap the bell. Sora quickly scampered to the counter, almost tripping in the process.

"H-h-hello substitute, is there anything I can help you with?" She seems more panicked than usual. Probably because of all the people coming and going.

"Yeah I just need a notepad." I say.

"S-sorry but the store sold out." She looks away from me.

No way did all these teenagers just buy every single fucking notepad. Didn't their parents buy them notepads? Or god forbid they bought their own somewhere else. But instead they came here and bought every single goddamned notepad.

"Okay I'll be leaving then. Happy trails Sora." I sigh while beginning my walk out.

"O-o-oh goodbye." I hear Sora say as I exit the store.

Welp I guess I better go to the main office. Walking to the lobby was uneventful until I entered the lobby. Numerous people were walking around. Once I get to the main office I'm making a announcement to tell them all to fuck off. Seriously, Schale just opened today. Why are you here? I hit the elevator for the 30th floor, waiting for it to come down. The door opened. I walked in when a girl was approaching the elevator. She had her hand outstretched while transitioning to a jogging motion.

"Bitte halten Sie die Aufzugstür." The blue haired girl who had a rather interesting attire shouted. But I know one thing, I'm sure as shit not letting her on this elevator. I hit the close door button rapidly. "Ja, bitte halten Sie die Tür weiter." Based on her pleased voice she must be assuming I'm pressing the open door option. Thankfully she's wearing boot heels I think, so she has to be a bit more careful while running.

Eventually the door begins to rapidly close. As it shuts completely I hear one final piece from her. "Nein, nein, nein bitte halten Sie die Tür davon ab, sich zu schliebeBen!" The utter despair in her voice as the door shuts in her face was something else. Well, have fun waiting for the next one or taking the stairs. Actually are the stairs finally unsealed?

The elevator ride is quite relaxing. Soon the door opens and I'm greeted by a familiar hallway. Taking the hallway down to the main office I hear all sorts of racket. Seriously who's up here, why are you up here? I walk toward the hexagonal portion of the hallway where the origin of the noise is coming from. I walk around the hexagonal outcropping toward the double doors behind it. I poke my head into the room and notice a helicopter and three girls standing inside the room. One was by a control panel in the upper right corner. The other two down below doing something? Yeah no I need to make this announcement I feel tomfoolery afoot.

I dash to the main office passing by rooms I didn't really pay attention to before. Like a theater, lab, classroom, and library. Note: I really need to get to exploring this floor specifically. I get into my office and turn the P.A on cough once then finally speak.

"Attention all trespassers, I don't know why you're all inside the Schale building. But know this, the building itself was NOT to be entered until final preparations were completed. There was even a sign outside. Please vacate the area immediately and thank you."

I turn the P.A system off and peak my head out of the main office door for a quick second. Three girls exit the theater room muttering the whole way. I pull my head back into the main office and sit at the main desk. I let my body relax a good bit then prop myself up in the chair properly. Now then with all these girls leaving I can work in peace. I open the drawer that has copies of the report sheet I need to fill out after every excursion. I take one out, grab a pen and set the chest down against the computer screen. The chest flickers on and I see Arona standing in front of the lesson screen.

"What's wrong?" The second the question leaves my mouth Arona practically jumps out of her skin whirling around.

"Please stop scaring me like that, it's not nice!" Her halo for a split second went back to being spiked and orange again. Thankfully it swapped over to its default appearance.

"Sorry, sorry so what's up? What's got you standing here?" She points at the lessons then clicks on the Schale office. Each square in every room was empty.

"I opened up the Schale building for lessons. There were students here but they all suddenly vanished." Arona then swaps to the Schale Residential showing more empty squares in separate rooms. "Even here the students just vanished." Oh I think I know what happened.

"That…maybe my fault. I told them to leave because I wasn't ready for anyone yet." I say while looking at Arona.

"Oh…I guess I jumped the gun letting students in huh?" Her halo turned dark blue and liquid like again.

"You're alright, just maybe ask first before doing something like that." I state as I start on the paperwork in front of me.

Silence stretches on for a little bit as I write down what happened earlier. The first couple bits were easy enough. Who participated in the missions, what school they were affiliated with, time required for mission completion and damage done to the area. Pretty much everything me and knife ears went over when she came by with my contract. There was more bits like ammunition spent, civilians harmed and enemy faction name. The ammunition one is the only one I can really answer. Since there were no civilians there and really the wannabe thugs we fought didn't look like a proper group. The location where we fought was easy. I could pull it up on the chest.

"Hey Arona, mind helping me with these papers? I could use the assistance with the locations of these fights." I saw the chest quickly show me where me and the girls fought earlier. Down to the street names.

"Is this helpful S.Sensei?" She asked as her halo became a yellow question mark.

"That'll do little star, that'll do." After I speak her halo turns into a heart for a second before going back to normal. Well I've got about four more reports to fill.

(Six hours later.)

You know I thought these reports wouldn't be that bad. Until I need to contact the owners of said vehicles, businesses and homes.

"Yes Miss you will be completely compensated for any damages done." I stated for the forty-fifth time in about four hours.

"You better! Otherwise I'll take this to court!" The angry lady shouted before hanging up her phone.

Ugh, I get why she's angry but I literally said she'll be compensated. It's not like the twenty-eighth guy, since his was a family car that was passed down. I even looked up the model and found out it was no longer in production for that guy. So instead I made sure to jot down that his car has to be a custom repair due to the parts no longer being in production. Meaning its cost practically triple due to rarity.

Honestly I finished all the main parts of the report I could fill out on my own. But the victims or property damages section specifically required me to contact said people. Thankful Aorna could trace who owned what in these areas. Meaning it was easy finding their number in a phone book. Arona called me an old man when I busted out the phone book too.

"I'm not old, I'm not, I'm only twenty." I mumble to myself.

"You are old!" Arona appeared on the computer screens. I was using the computer to find going rates of parts and repairmen fees.

"Yeah right, so says the a.i on a prehistoric junk tablet." I say while writing in the last bit I needed for the reports.

"How dare you! I'll have you know the chest is the pinnacle of miracle making technology." She beamed confidently as she spoke.

"It's a shame I don't believe in miracles huh." I snicker when she pouted after my comment. I yawn, I don't feel physically exhausted but I'm mentally drained completely now.

"Oh S.Sensei I almost forgot I found another problem in the chest." Suddenly I see an assistant selection screen in front of me. Similar to the training mission it's covered in that data corruption. "This is where you'd usually select a student to aid you. But, well it's also corrupted." Arona seems a decent bit upset.

"It's alright little star. Let teenagers be teenagers, they have lives to live and dreams to chase." I stretch getting ready for a cat nap to hopefully replenish some mental energy. "Besides I rather they focus on themselves. After all the highest responsibility those girls got is to take care of themselves. I can't drag them through the muck and mud of my work." Seriously, they have better things to do with their lives.

"Hmm, I guess you're kinda right. But what if they want to help you." Her halo turns into a question mark again.

"I'd tell them to kindly fuck off." I bark.

"That's not nice!" Uh oh spiky orange halo is back.

"Make no mistake, I'll thank them for wanting to help. But let's just say, I don't want them to come here and waste away like I just did." I feel kind of nostalgic for some reason.

"Why didn't you say it like that!" Her pout was on full blast, but her halo is back to normal at least.

"Simple I hate lying to the younger generation about important things." I say while grabbing the chest. "Well I'm going to take a quick catnap so I'll shove you inside an empty drawer alright." She nodded her head, so since she confirmed that she's okay with it I put her in an empty drawer. I turn off the screens in the office and nestle my head into my arms to catch some sleep.

All though for some reason I can't sleep. I raise my head only to look into a pale void.

"Hello fool, glad to meet you in the flesh." A person is sitting across from me all of a sudden. But we're also not in Schale this…

"Yes this is the place your phone displayed as a background screen correct?" The figure's voice echoed, sounding male and female simultaneously.

Yeah it is the same misbegotten worn out desk. Even having its chain like vines clamping it in place. I can feel the air, it's so still like it's frozen in time. The deteriorating walls with more vines growing all over. The hole in the wall letting me see outside. The eclipse that hangs above us.

"Peaceful this place isn't it. Tranquil in a twisted way." The figure spoke again.

"Who are you?" I ask the figure. Getting a better look, it wears tattered robes with blood and muck staining the once porcelain white. The white void for a face does me no favor in understanding its emotions.

"You know what I am." The figure doesn't move when it speaks.

"Pandora?"

"Precisely and we have precious little time." Pandora moves its hands above the desk and suddenly five chibis of girls I've never met appear. One has black hair and black cat ears, the next is blonde with green eyes, pink hair with one blue and orange eye. The second to last wore red glasses and had knife ears like Rin. Finally was a white haired girl with strange irises, and jackal ears.

"Tell me Vagues what do you make of fate and time?" I look at Pandora away from the little chibi girls on the table.

"Time and fate are ever changing. Even the small differences can have the most profound impacts why?" I feel cold.

"Yes indeed, sadly I regret to inform you that there's only one option for you to get home in a surefire way." Pandora finally lifted an arm slowly, steadily, purposefully.

"And what's that?" The second I ask Pandora brought it down with immense force crushing the black haired girl with cat ears.

"To turn your heart off to their plights." Pandora made the blonde one vanish, broke the pink haired one then flicked her off the desk. Finally he killed the one wearing glasses. Leaving only the white haired one to mentally break. "It will be hard but it's the best path to going home."

"Really?" Why do I feel somewhat content with that?

"I understand it's a waste of perfectly good lives that all have limitless possibilities. But you have a responsibility to yourself." Pandora's echoing voice sounds sad? "Know this, I'm here to help you, to guide you. Only you, however, can make the choice to lead us home." Pandora sits still again.

"Okay I just have to close my heart right?" I feel lighter

"Precisely, though it will be difficult." Pandora shakes its head.

"Alright I'll try. I'll try to get us home." I feel happy at the thought of going home yet guilty.

"I'm sorry this is the most surefire way." I feel like Pandora genuinely is sorry. "You'll wake soon, meaning events are now in motion, be careful my intrepid fool."

Before I can speak white light that's incomprehensibly bright comes from Pandora's face.

(Schale Office 5:23am)

I wake in a cold sweat still tired eventually I shake it off. I open the drawer where I left the chest and pull it out. It flicks on and Arona immediately greets me.

"Good morning S.Sensei! I know you just woke up but we've got a request from a school." Arona says with a exclamation mark above her head.

"From who?" Is all I can ask my mind still reeling.

"From Abydos High School. Specifically the Foreclosure Task Force." Arona says allowing me to see the email. Welp no rest for the wicked huh?

My phone buzzes almost in a dreadful manner.

"S.Sensei I'm expecting my strawberry milk! Remember you promised me." Thankfully Arona broke the tension I felt.


A/N that's my first time writing fight ever. Hopefully it was somewhat enjoyable. I feel like writing fights with melee weapons would be easier than with guns. But who knows maybe it's not. Welp I hope you enjoyed got a chuckle or smile. So until next time happy trails.