Chapter 2: Another Mess to Clean Up
Another day, more reports, even more stress and headaches to deal with.
A repetitive cycle that Vice President – and current Acting President – Nanagami Rin had been unfortunate enough to be subjected to for an entire week. While normally Rin was no stranger to dealing with problems and stress every day, it was subject matter and the increasing number of the reports that were putting a toll on her psyche.
For this entire week, Kivotos has been dealing with several major problems: power grid failures, prison breakouts, civil unrest, bickering between academies turning violent, district wide relief efforts, and an immeasurable amount of complaints from the different representatives of other schools. With another group of them waiting for her just a few floors down.
To say that Rin was having the worst day- no, the worst week of her life would be an understatement. Endless hours of stress, fatigue, and even anger all built up in the span of a week. All because of her… Because she just simply disappeared…
The GSC President, her friend, just decided to completely vanish from the face of Kivotos to who knows where.
Worst of it all was the fact she didn't even tell anyone, not even Rin herself – her second and a close friend – about what was going through her head. No message, no heads up, she's just…! Gone…
And all she left behind was a note on her desk talking about someone that would replace her?!
"Rinny,
I'm very sorry for leaving you this way, but I needed to go somewhere.
Somewhere that I can't let you follow me to.
But I have full trust that you can hold everything together.
I have sent for someone to come help you. He's an adult, but please don't push him away…
The way he looks might initially give you the wrong impression but I promise you, he's a good person and he'll help you put things back together.
Please wait for him, you'll recognize him once you see him.
If you're still not sure of who you're looking for, ask him if he—"
Rin mentally snapped when she saw the last line.
'WHAT. THE. HELL. ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?'
If looks could kill, the note would've been incinerated by the hard glare Rin was giving it. Heck, one could practically see the veins on her forehead as she scratched her head in exasperation. Holding back a scream of frustration, she crumpled the note in her hands and slammed it back down on her desk.
Taking a few breaths to calm down, Rin allowed a sigh to escape from her mouth as she tiredly sat down and leaned back onto her chair, having used the poor note as temporary stress relief, and tried to get some semblance of rest.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
The telephone next to her rang, unfortunately bringing her headache back with a vengeance due to its incessant noise.
With a tired groan, she wearily moved to pick up the phone.
"Yes?"
"Acting President, there's someone here for you." Ayumu, her trusted secretary, spoke on the other line.
Rin suppressed another sigh, another representative…
"Ayumu, I said already that I can't afford to talk to any of the school representatives right now."
"I-I know you said that b-but it's someone else… It's… An adult."
That got her attention, her eyes widened in acknowledgement. Could it be?
"An adult?"
"Y-yes Acting President, he says he has something for you. He says it's from someone you might know…"
Glancing at the crumpled piece of paper on the desk as she internalized what she heard. It has to be the person the President mentioned on the note. Rin was getting desperate at this point, she silently hoped it would be the help she was waiting for. Them being someone backed up by the President only made things slightly better on her heart to trust them as well. Despite her friend's extravagant tendencies, she knew that whoever this person was, the President trusted them, which meant that she could trust them too.
"Send them up." She answered.
"Right away!"
Rin could hear Ayumu tell the unknown adult the directions to head to her office and heard one of those annoying representatives shout in indignance before the line was cut.
Sighing for what was probably the hundredth time, she put the phone down and stood up. She moved to fix any stray hairs that may have been showing. If this was someone that would help fix the current and future troubles of Kivotos, she should at least look presentable.
After fixing her hair, she grabbed her smartphone and opened the camera to check if there was anything she missed before nodding satisfactorily and fixing her glasses.
Now, she'll wait. Again.
For the adult to open the doors.
"This has to be it…" Michael stared at what he hopefully assumed is the GSC Main Building.
Incredibly tall tower? Check. Seriously, he couldn't even see the top of it.
Same symbol as the letter on the banners? Check. They even have the name General Student Council embroidered on them as well.
Welp, no time like the present! As he walked forward to the main entrance, he couldn't help but feel like he was out of his depth here. Everything here is basically the exact opposite of what he's dealt with in the past.
The place was very well maintained, as expected of what he assumes is the government of this city, at leadt based on what he could take away from both the letter and what others said when he was asking for directions.
Not only that, the people that he saw walking around here weren't any of the animal-men or robots that he'd seen before. More so it was teenagers! Like the one he'd talked to and seen before! They even had halos floating above their heads as well. Though he noticed they weren't as detailed as that of the light brown haired girl he saw before.
That wasn't what he was puzzled about however, what he was confused about was why were there so many of these teenagers here!? He swore he hasn't seen a single actual human-looking adult since he got here. It was all just teenage girls, all wearing very formal white uniforms as well. It only served to make Michael feel even more out of place with his very weathered and tattered coat and cap.
Immediately, he could feel the stares that these kids were giving him. His eyes scanned the area to see their faces, some were scared, others curious. Already, he felt very uncomfortable here with all those eyes on him. Even if he no longer looked like a rotting corpse, being out in the open and in broad daylight after hiding in the dark for so long was still a difficult thing to get used to. Wanting to lessen the intensity of the eyes on him, he walked along a little faster.
Arriving just near the entrance, he saw a security guard just by the door and lo and behold, it's another kid! She had short white hair, wore a security guard uniform with a vest over it, and a hat that looked a little too big for her as it covered her eyes. As with the other students he had seen before, she had a plain blue halo and held a gun in her hands. A shotgun if he remembered correctly.
Michael quickly shook himself from his stupor again. He couldn't afford to linger any longer, the sheer amount of questions he had were already piling on each other the more he stayed here.
"Halt!" The little security guard shouted, getting his attention.
'Ah damn. Of course she'd stop me.' Then again, she wouldn't really be a good security guard if she didn't stop someone who looked as suspicious as he currently did.
He turned towards her and like many others beforehand, the poor girl immediately got intimidated and slightly shrunk back from him. Like come on, he wasn't even trying at this point, give him a break!
"S-state your purpose here!" She tried to put on a brave face but her stutter and the subtle shivering of her body betrayed her true feelings.
"I-I'm here to deliver this to someone named Rin Nanagami. Is she here?" Michael slouched his stance slightly, trying to make himself look less threatening in hopes that the girl doesn't block him off while showing her the letter from the President. She cautiously checked the letter and nodded her head once she saw the seal.
"The GSC Vice President? Yeah she's here, she should be in her office on the top floor." The officer replied. She pointed her thumb at a girl with long blonde hair and a blue crystal on her forehead who was currently trying to calm down a group of girls at her desk. "Just head to the main desk and talk to her."
"Though I wouldn't count on you meeting her anytime soon." She sheepishly laughed while scratching her cheek with her free hand.
"Why's that?"
"The GSC officials haven't been allowing anyone to meet with them and have been pretty radio silent for the whole week." She then pointed at the group of girls the poor soul was struggling to calm down. "Everything in Kivotos right now is currently in the red, but the GSC President hasn't said or done anything so a bunch of representatives have been trying to requisition their help for days now."
"No such luck for them either." She shrugged.
Michael grimaced, this added up with what was said in his letter. The GSC President had basically just upped and disappeared without telling a single soul. Now the entire city is in disarray without her. But if things were fine before, why would she send for him? Or rather, why disappear in the first place for that matter? Not only that but what sort of government allows for this sort of situation to even happen in the first place? Shouldn't they have at least some kind of backup just in case?
"Well, either way, thanks for the heads up." He thanked the security guard, earning a small nod from her in return.
He made his way through the entrance and the lack of any sound from the metal detectors, which normally would've detected the metallic bits that made up his internals, confirmed the words that were written in the letter addressed to him that this GSC President had the ability to somehow revive someone. Not perfectly mind you, but still.
Moving on, he went towards the main desk where the poor receptionist was currently being grilled by the representatives. As he approached, he could hear one of the members of that group angrily yelling at her.
"M-Miss Yuuka, I already told you that the Vice President isn't available to see anyone right now. I-I understand that you are frustrated but please bear with us, the GSC is doing everyth—"
The panicked receptionist was interrupted by a pair of hands slamming on her desk causing her to let out a yelp and flinch.
"I don't care if she's busy!" One of the girls shouted back in reply, she had long violet hair which reached her midriff, some of which was tied into short pigtails, and wore a white jacket over a black dress suit. Like all the other girls he had met, a halo could be seen atop her head, though compared to the plain ones of the others, it had a different design like that one girl he met outside the train station. It was a simple black ring with a line of blue tracing on the inside.
"We've been requisitioning for help for almost a week already and the GSC still hasn't responded to any of them! I'm not going to wait any longer while you all just hide in this damn building! Get her down here, now!" The girl, who he assumed to be 'Yuuka' based on her reply, demanded to the receptionist.
Getting closer to them, he could make out the details of the crowd much better now. Well, their appearances from the side at least. Four girls, all with very different looking halos and clothes were currently surrounding the blonde haired receptionist, barraging her with questions and demands.
The second girl he could see had long shoulder-length blonde hair also tied into pigtails with a red band attached to both on her head. She wore a white collared uniform shirt tucked in under a black skirt and had red stockings covering her legs, on her left arm was a red armband with text on it, but he could only make out the word 'Team' on it from where he was positioned.
She was also carrying a very large duffle bag for her size. From there, he could see what looked to be several syringes and bandages poking out from various pockets. Perhaps she's a doctor or at least some sort of medical professional. Her halo was a red circle with four red points forming a crosshair like design.
The third one had long white hair but the main thing that caught his attention was the presence of a single white wing on her head. At this point he shouldn't be surprised, especially considering everything else he has seen so far, but it was still interesting to take note of nonetheless.
This girl wore a gray sailor uniform with a white collar that had some kind of badge attached to it. Alongside that was a matching short cape, which had another insignia he didn't recognize, covering her shoulders; a black belted corset, black stockings, and brown shoes. Her halo was a pale purple bordering on light pink and also formed a crosshair shape like the second girl's with the main difference being the presence of a second ring.
The last one was by far the tallest and the most… Maturely dressed of the bunch. She had long black hair and wore a black sailor uniform with a long parted skirt, exposing her legs that bore black stockings all the way to her thighs. Curiously she also had the same insignia as the third one on her left sleeve.
Despite the rather interesting choice of clothing, he couldn't ignore the two large objects that were currently catching his eye on her person. On her back was a large pair of black wings, so large in fact that Michael was sure she could cover herself completely with it if she wanted to. He wondered if she could fly with them, it would be pretty cool if she could in all honesty.
That being said, in comparison to her back, the two large objects on her front were certainly quite… Appealing as well, but he wasn't rude enough to stare. He had to maintain some semblance of dignity and self-respect after all. To finish off, her halo was colored red with daggers pointed outwards, forming a star pattern that surrounded a circle which had another smaller star inside it.
Finally, he turned his gaze at the panicking receptionist that was currently taking the brunt of the quartet's grievances. She wore a familiar white uniform, similar to the one worn by the person who he assumed sent him here, the GSC President. She looked like she was about to cry with how much that 'Yuuka' girl was tearing into her.
Michael for the most part walked towards them unnoticed until he was a few feet away from them at which point the blonde receptionist noticed him approaching, her eyes went wide in surprise and she released a short gasp upon seeing him. This sudden change didn't go unnoticed by 'Yuuka'.
"Hey! Are you even listening to me?!" 'Yuuka' called out, but the receptionist was too focused on whatever grabbed her attention to notice, causing the violet haired girl to growl in frustration,
"AAAARGH! What are you even looking… At…"
She turned to see him standing just a few feet away, whatever rant she was about to go on died in her throat as her eyes widened alongside all the other girls that were with her as they collectively stared at him.
There was quite a swirl of emotions that erupted from Michael once they all turned around. He could see that some of them were confused and surprised to see him, while the rest were more curious at his presence. Gathering his courage, he made his way to the desk, their eyes following him as he did.
He could hear them whisper amongst each other as tried to move past some of them.
"Is that an adult?"
"Who is he?"
"What's with the getup?"
"What's he doing here?"
"He's a bit scary looking…"
"I don't think it would be right to judge him immediately."
"Is it just me or are his eyes glowing?"
That last comment got an eyebrow raise from him, but he decided not to question it for now.
As Michael passed through the group, he noticed a few things about them that he didn't manage to previously. For instance, 'Yuuka' had violet eyes, the girl with the duffel bag had golden eyes, wore glasses, a bow on her head that was mostly hidden by her hair and had pointed ears, the one with a wing on her head had vibrant red eyes and a mole under her right one, and the tall mature girl had dark red eyes and a mole similar to the previous girl, just under her left eye instead. To his alarm, he could also see that all of them were armed with a variety of different guns as he passed by. He hoped they weren't willing to get violent just because they were being ignored.
Finding himself at the foot of the desk just in front of the 'Yuuka' girl, who at present was currently trying to crane her head to see his face since she was a full foot shorter than him.
Realizing that he wasn't saying anything, Michael suddenly coughed into his hand. "I-I'm sorry for interrupting but may I?" He asked 'Yuuka', motioning his hand towards the desk.
"O-oh! U-uhm sure?" Surprisingly, she moved aside without any argument.
"Thank you." Michael turned to the receptionist who was still staring at him. Now that he was face-to-face with her, he had a much better look at her. She had emerald green eyes, and he could see that she also had a pair black wings on her back similar to the girl with the sailor uniform, though they weren't as large. Said tall girl in question was also still staring at him as well, which just made him feel more uneasy. Focusing back on the receptionist in an attempt to ignore the looks, he stated his intent.
"Right, I-I need to see Miss Rin Nanagami." He stuttered out, an unnoticeable grimace adorning his face at his awkwardness. It was definitely going to take time getting used to being able to freely communicate in public again.
That seemed to get the girl out of her stupor. She blinked repeatedly before sighing defeatedly upon hearing his request. Michael felt some sympathy for the poor girl since this was likely the thousandth time she'd heard this kind of statement.
"I-I'm sorry sir but like I've been saying to the people before you, the Vice President cannot meet with anyone at the moment…" She repeated apologetically.
"Y-yes I heard that when I first entered but I have—" He paused, fiddling with his coat's pockets as he went to fetch the letter. "Something for her. It's—" He felt the letter in his hands and moved to pull it out. "This lett—AH!" Said letter slipped out of his hands in the middle of him showing it, eliciting a small gasp of surprise from him and the receptionist as he clumsily moved to try and grab it.
Luckily, someone managed to catch it before it hit the ground. It was the white haired girl, who caught it very quickly. Inwardly, Michael was impressed. His previous "work" had been one that necessitated quick reflexes and reaction times for continued "employment", so the fact that she managed to catch it so easily and effortlessly was quite commendable.
"Here you go." The girl spoke, handing him the letter he clumsily dropped, although he could see that she gave a look of curiosity upon initially seeing it.
"My thanks." Michael nodded to her gratefully as he took the letter back.
"It's no problem."
"Sorry about that. Anyways, this thing!" He exclaimed, holding up the letter and showing its insignia. "It's from someone she may know."
Upon hearing that, the girl's emerald eyes widened even more than before as she realized what exactly he was implying and frantically checked the letter. Confirming that seal did in fact have the GSC logo, she looked back up at him."Uh. If you'll please just give me a moment sir."
He simply nodded and motioned with his right hand for her to go ahead.
She immediately picked up the phone and started dialing the number of who was hopefully Rin. The phone rang a few times before someone picked up. "Acting President, there's someone here for you."
He could faintly hear the feminine voice of the Vice President on the other side but he couldn't understand anything of what she was saying.
"Acting President…?" He heard 'Yuuka' whisper to herself.
"I-I know you said that b-but it's someone else… It's… An adult." What did being an adult have to do with anything? Though now that he thought about it a bit more, he hasn't seen any actual adults here at all, animal creatures and automatons notwithstanding. The closest beings to humans that he's seen were all teenagers…
'That's concerning.' Is he the only human adult here? Actually, is he the only male here? He hasn't seen any boys with halos at all for that matter. The very thought of that worried him, but he didn't have much time to ponder on it since the receptionist angel girl spoke up again.
"Y-yes Acting President, he says he has something for you. He says it's from someone you might know…" The girl trailed off, seemingly waiting for a reply from the other end before speaking up again.
"Right away!" The receptionist's face adopted a serious look and tone at the last sentence, she turned towards him, phone still pressed at her ear.
"Take the elevator to your right and head to floor 21, then head left and look for room 2102. The Acting President should be there waiting for you." She said confidently, the sheepish tone she had when she was dealing with the representatives had vanished, it was almost like she was a completely different person. Michael briefly tipped his hat to her in thanks and started towards the elevator.
Or well, that was the plan.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" The firstborn Afton flinched slightly as he heard 'Yuuka' suddenly shout in indignation, prompting him to move a little bit faster as the wrath of the short girl immediately came back with a vengeance, her brain having finally processed what had just occurred.
"No! Wait! You can't follow him!" The receptionist gave a panicked shout.
"HEY! DON'T RUN AWAY!"
Michael stopped moving and hands raised in the air in surrender. Slowly, he turned around to see the violet haired demon currently losing all of her patience at being sidelined despite being earlier than him.
"Why the hell is he allowed in before us?! We've been waiting here for the past 4 hours!" She shouted as she turned back to the receptionist with an annoyed and impatient tone.
"M-miss Yuuka, that adult has something important that must be delivered to the Vice-President immediately, I understand that it may not seem fair but—" The receptionist went back to her panicked state as she returned to trying to calm down the indignant girl.
"I'm hearing none of it! You said that the Vice-President was too busy to see anyone!And now you're telling me, she just so happens to have an open slot for this guy who just got here!?" 'Yuuka' pointed at the former night guard.
The night guard himself, having lowered his arms back to his sides, simply stood there in silence as he watched the argument unfold.
"Don't bother lying to me at this point, where is the President?! I heard what you called Vice President Rin earlier and that could only mean that something happened and you're not telling us!" The violet-haired girl accused the secretary, the latter's eyes widening at her reckless slip of the tongue.
"I heard it as well…" The black haired girl with massive wings also commented. "What exactly are you hiding?" Her tone was much calmer than that of 'Yuuka's' but it didn't make the receptionist feel any better.
"Hey now!" Michael shouted, causing all of the girls turning towards him. An unnoticeable bead of sweat went down the side of his head at being stared at by all these people again, especially by 'Yuuka', but he soldiered on. "Now, I know that you girls aren't really all that thrilled about being kept in the dark and I'll be honest, I don't know much, myself."
"But I might be able to give you girls a hand." He once again brought up the letter that caused this whole commotion and waved it in front of them as he continued. "Afterall, I do have a meeting with the person you're all waiting for."
"Really now? You think you can get her to come down here?" 'Yuuka' gave an incredulous stare at him, her eyes clearly showing doubt. "What makes you think that you can?"
"Well Miss..?"
"Yuuka. Hayase Yuuka." She answered his query, fully confirming her name.
"Well Miss Yuuka, I can't really guarantee anything but I do have a feeling that whatever is in this letter may help move things along."
"That's not really convincing." Her eyes narrowed.
"True, but it's better than shouting at the poor girl over there." He pointed at the receptionist who was just standing behind the desk, still somewhat on edge as she watched the conversation between them.
"..." He was met with contemplative silence as Yuuka scrutinized him.
"I think we should take up his offer." The white haired girl suddenly spoke up as she approached Yuuka.
"Eh?" Yuuka gave a surprised look as she turned towards her.
"I am in agreement with Suzumi, it may be our best option for the time being." The black haired girl voiced her agreement with Michael's offer.
"I think we should give it a chance as well." The blondie with glasses joined in as well in favor of Michael approaching Rin.
"W-why are you all saying something now?!" Yuuka gave an exasperated look towards everyone.
"Well, like he said, it's much better than just shouting at her all day." The white-haired girl, 'Suzumi' if Michael heard what the black haired girl called her correctly, said bluntly as she tilted her head towards the blonde receptionist.
"T-that's! Ughhh!" Yuuka flinched before giving a defeated sigh, as she scratched her head in frustration.
"Alright! Fine! Just make sure you get her down here!" She huffed as she crossed her arms.
"I'll try at least." Michael tipped his cap before making his way to the elevator and heading through the open door. The door closed as he went inside and pressed the button to the 21st floor.
Seeing the elevator number go up and feeling the sudden motion made him sigh in relief at having managed to resolve that situation peacefully. It wouldn't take long for him to reach his floor but with what little time he had, he let this entire situation finally settle in on his mind.
What exactly was he getting himself into? From what he could deduce, things here were going pretty bad. Everything here seemed to have just fallen apart the moment the President left. Did that girl seriously leave knowing that this would happen? He wasn't sure what exactly her plan would be if he didn't come here like she asked.
DING
Michael's thoughts were interrupted when the elevator stopped at floor 10. The door opened to reveal a girl with short navy blue hair and white uniform similar to many of the people that worked here, carrying a stack of paper. The halo above her head was light blue, had two more halos within it, and had a plus at the center.
She had the same type of ears as that one blonde girl with glasses he saw back at the reception area. He didn't pay much attention to it initially because he was in a rush at the time, but looking at it now, he could definitely say those were elf ears. Like almost every other teenager he saw before, she had a weapon on her, a pistol holstered on her hip.
Once she saw him, her eyes widened in surprise for a moment before quickly returning back to a neutral expression.
"Oh? Who might you be?" She asked curiously.
"Ah. Michael." He gave an awkward wave at her, earning a raised eyebrow from her before she walked inside, the door closing with her and him inside.
"I see… If that's the case what business do you have with us Michael-san? Last I checked, the GSC didn't arrange any meeting with an adult." She tilted her head as she questioned him.
"I-I'm here to see Ms. Nanagami." That got a look of acknowledgement from the girl.
"The Acting President? She hasn't even met with the academy representatives yet but she's letting you in? What for?"
"I have a letter from… Her friend." Her face showed confusion for a moment before her jaw dropped as she realized who he was talking about.
"You have a letter from the President?!" She exclaimed, the stack of paper almost falling out of her grasp in the process but she acted quick and managed to rebalance it. As soon as the stack was stable, she began barraging him with questions.
"When? How? If you have any information of where she might be, please tell us immediately!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down!" He raised and waved his open palms in front of him, luckily getting her to stop. "I'm sorry but I don't know where she is. I only saw her on a train but I fell asleep and by the time I woke up she was gone. She just left me a letter and told me to head here to give another letter to Rin."
"...Is that truly all that you know?"
"Yeah. Sorry."
The girl looked into his eyes, light blue meeting white and purple as she looked for any sign of deception but found none, causing her to sigh defeatedly.
"I understand… I apologize for being aggressive. Things have been rather troublesome recently." She bowed her head apologetically.
"Don't worry about it." Michael assured her.
DING
The elevator stopped again at floor 19, just two more to go.
"I won't take up any more of your time. Please deliver that letter to the Acting President at once." She gave him a serious look as she walked out the elevator.
"Already on it. Miss…?"
"Aoi."
"Miss Aoi, don't worry I got it already." He tipped his cap in assurance, earning a nod of satisfaction from Aoi before the door closed again.
…Yeah this is one hell of a mess he's getting himself into. Michael thought while rubbing his face in exasperation.
DING
Looks like this is where he gets off. Michael stepped out of the elevator, followed the directions he was given by the receptionist, and headed right.
2204… 2203… Aha! There we go, 2202! Relaxing his demeanor slightly, Michael grabbed the door knob and gently opened the door.
Rin wasn't sure what to expect when it came to what kind of adult would come through the door, but when they finally did, she sure wasn't expecting this.
From the doorway emerged a figure dressed in weathered and tattered clothing. He wore a brown trench coat; the collar hid his lower face, leaving only his purple eyes visible – which she could swear were glowing – under the worker's cap he wore. She couldn't make out any other distinct features however, his entire body was almost completely covered. His hands bore black gloves and he wore a purple pair of pants and black shoes. All in all, he looked rather old school, like one of those characters you would see in old tv shows.
As for his build, the man had a lean body, and seemed to be on the taller end in terms of height, being at least a few centimeters taller than her.
The adult's purple eyes stared at her in recognition, clearing his throat he moved to address her. "Hello, I take it you're Rin Nanagami?"
He was saying her first name first? Curious, perhaps he's not a native from Kivotos.
"You would be correct." She adjusted her glasses. "Before that however, I wish to confirm something. If you would allow me." Rin felt her eye twitch, she couldn't believe she was going to ask this…
"O-oh uh yeah sure…" The man nervously scratched his head but agreed nonetheless.
"If I may ask…" Rin slowly spoke. While the man stood straight in attention.
"Are you…?"
"…?"
"Eggs Benedict?"
Rin felt herself die inside as she said those two words.
She could see that the same feeling had also hit the adult in front of her as the man's eyes lost a bit of their glow and looked almost vacant as he stared at her. Somehow, Rin knew he was giving her the most 'Are you kidding me?' face she has ever seen without actually seeing his face.
"..."
"..."
"Excuse me?"
"IamsorrypleaseignorewhatIhadjustsaid!" Rin could feel the embarrassment rush to her face as she spoke.
As for the adult, he just gave a defeated sigh as rubbed his forehead. "No…" He said.
"No… I… Know that name…" He said in an exasperated tone.
"Of all the goddamn…" he muttered.
Wait. He's familiar with that name? Then… That must mean—!
…
Who in the world names their kid, Eggs Benedict? No wait, more importantly!
"I see, then allow me to welcome you Eggs-san—" She tried to continue before the adult swiftly cut her off.
"Nope! No! Hell no! That's not my name! That is not my name!" The adult cringed, looking like he wanted to jump off a building.
"My name's Michael. Michael Afton." The adult, now identified as Michael, introduced himself. "That name came from a slight computer error that tried to autofill my name at a place I used to work at."
'But… Wha— How?' Rin thought in disbelief at how a computer could make such a grave error.
Realizing that they were getting sidetracked however, she coughed into her fist in an effort to recover the formal tone of the meeting, mentally cursing her friend for this stupid joke. "I-I see then… Afton-san."
"I am aware that you have a letter for me." She continued, her face adopting a serious look. "One that I can only assume is from the GSC President. Am I correct?"
"Yeah." The man brought out the letter, the GSC insignia plainly seen on the red seal. "Right here."
"Then you must have met her! Please if you know anything!" She immediately started asking him, in the hopes of knowing anything about where her friend might be. Unfortunately, her hopes would be dashed.
"I'm sorry but I only saw her once and even then, she didn't tell me much of anything about what was going on or that she was a missing girl in the first place." He replied apologetically, well aware of how people felt when a person they knew and cared for went missing. He knew it all too well.
Those days when he would see those parents still searching to absolute desperation for them when he knew the full truth of what happened still haunted him to this day.
He handed the letter to her and she immediately took it, as she motioned to open the letter she softly asked. "Where did you see her?"
"I saw her on the train but… I didn't see much else." The adult looked down in regret.
"I fell asleep shortly after our conversation. By the time I woke up, I was on the station to this place, no blue haired girl to be found, and only told to go here." Of course… Rin was just getting her hopes up, but it seemed even the person her friend sent didn't know of her whereabouts.
"I see…" She looked away trying to hide the slight hurt and sadness in her eyes.
"I'm sorry…" He apologized.
"No, it's fine." She opened the letter to distract herself but as she read through it, her eyes widened at the information contained inside.
"What else were you told?" She asked as she scanned through the letter, her eyes narrowing at each word inside.
"Like I said, she just said to go here. Told me that I should help you out and that I would get my answers here, but nothing else other than that." He shrugged.
And yet despite saying so, he couldn't help but feel like he was forgetting something he was told much earlier before he received the letter.
"And nothing else? Are you sure?" She then looked at him with an incredulous stare.
"Yeah… Why?" Michael raised an eyebrow as he stared back at her, or at least she assumed he did so since his face was still obscured by his cap and collar.
"Because it says here that you are to be a teacher here in Kivotos and assist us in regaining control of the Sanctum Tower."
Michael blinked a few times as he processed what he had just heard.
"I'm sorry. I think I misheard you, what did you just say?" He asked again while taking off his hat, revealing his brown hair and very pale skin as he scratched his head.
"It says that you are to be a teacher for the students here in Kivotos and assist us in regaining control of the Sanctum Tower." She repeated, getting slightly worried at the adult's reaction.
"Me." He pointed at himself as he looked around in bafflement. "A teacher. You can't be serious."
"I am afraid that I am very serious." She said before handing him the paper. "It says here in the letter that you will be assigned here to become a teacher and help in the recovery in the Sanctum Tower."
"To be more specific, you're to become an advisor of the Independent Federal Investigation Club S.C.H.A.L.E., which according to the letter given by the President, was made specifically for you to manage." She finished explaining.
"No, no, no, this can't be right." He looked over the letter and sure enough it was as she had said. "I can't be a teacher! I don't know the first thing about teaching."
"You're not exactly going to be a teacher. It says you are to be an advisor, a person who helps guide the students." Rin explained in an effort to try and calm Michael down, but to no avail.
"Advise them how?! Advise them on how to stay up from midnight till six in the morning?! I'm a night guard for God's sake, hell I never even went to college!" Michael screamed as he held his head, panic steadily starting to take over him. "And how is an 'adviser' supposed to help you take back a bloody tower?! How did you guys even lose the tower in the first place? Isn't it the one right beside this place?!"
"What the hell is going on?!"
"Afton-san!"
Michael looked at Rin with a panicked, almost desperate expression as she called his name.
"I understand you are very confused right now, but if you'll allow me to explain then perhaps I can get you to reconsider." Rin softly spoke as she attempted to calm the firstborn Afton down.
"..." Michael didn't say anything and instead continued to look at her, although to Rin's relief, it looked like he had slightly calmed down now from his initial outburst.
"Please… You're the only one that can help us…" She pleaded with him, showing her desperation, and as Michael looked into her eyes, he could see tiredness and stress in them.
Suddenly, something in his memory triggered and he remembered the flashes he had earlier in the subway bathroom. His memory particularly focused on the first one, which had a girl with glasses pleading for his help. While that 'vision' was somewhat hazy on the other details, he couldn't ignore the parallels between it and the scene happening right now in front of him. As he steadily remembered it, the image in his head suddenly got clearer, showing him that the vision he had was in fact of this very moment.
Michael stared at the girl for a moment longer. As he looked into Rin's eyes, all he could see was a silent desperate plea for someone, anyone to help her. It was something he just didn't have the capacity to ignore.
'I know that you did everything because you have a kind heart.' A familiar voice echoed through his head, reminding him of why he was willing to do this in the first place.
Letting out a drawn out sigh, Michael collapsed into one of the nearby chairs. Placing his cap onto her desk, he tiredly turned his head to look at Rin.
"Okay… How am I supposed to help?" He asked as he leaned back into the chair.
A relieved and grateful look appeared on Rin's face and she gave him a small smile. "Thank you, Afton-san. No, Afton-Sensei."
"Please just call me Michael. Afton was my father's name anyway." Sensei huh? That was another familiar term now. Supposed he'd just have to get used to it. It was better than the name provided by that stupid Hand Unit anyway.
"Very well, Michael-Sensei." Rin corrected herself. She could tell there was some history behind that name, but decided she had no right to pry into someone she just met and who was sent to help her.
Michael nodded and clasped his hands together on his waist. "So! How exactly am I supposed to help?"
"It has to do with the club you were assigned to Sensei." Rin explained. "To give you some background, SCHALE was the last club to be formally established by the President before she disappeared for the purpose of helping students and the various academies throughout Kivotos. To help the club in carrying out this role, SCHALE has also been given extrajudicial authority by declaration of the President as well."
Michael felt his jaw fall to the floor at that last sentence. "Extrajudicial? You mean like 'I can do stuff without anyone being able to stop me' type authority?"
"While I wouldn't recommend that course of action, you are essentially correct Sensei. SCHALE has greater authority than even the GSC in that regard." She answered. "Should you accept the position of club adviser, you would effectively have authority to act outside of regular Student Council powers."
And here was another bombshell dropped right on him. The GSC President had basically given him a position that had more power than even the government of this place.
"Next is the situation at hand and the other reason you were brought here. The Sanctum Tower is essentially what allows the General Student Council to govern Kivotos. However, there was only one person that had the proper authority to access the tower. I'm sure you can guess who that is."
Michael's expression hardened and turned a bit more serious as he processed that information. So essentially the only person that really could do anything was the President. Well, that's how he understood it and if that was correct then essentially everything in this city relied on one person to make sure it didn't all fall apart. And now, said person had suddenly just disappeared. Michael couldn't help but wonder how this place survived with such a glaring problem in the system.
"With her gone, we no longer have control of the tower. But now that you're here, we can regain access to it."
"How?" He asked.
"There is a device the President had asked us to place within the SCHALE Club Room basement thirty kilometers from here. The device should allow you to grant us access to Sanctum Tower once more, which is why I will be bringing you there." Rin clarified.
"Yeah well before any of that…." Michael quickly interrupted. "I think it's about time you answered some of my questions. It was why I came here in the first place anyway."
"Very well, what would you like to know?" Rin sat down on a chair perpendicular to Michael.
"Where are all the other adults?"
"I'm sorry? I'm afraid I do not understand." She tilted her head in confusion.
"Like, where are all the parents? All the people I've seen here are teenagers, taking up police jobs, representatives, and even you as a government official! No offense."
"None taken." Rin was beginning to get a much clearer picture of how much Michael knew of this place.
"Not a single adult to be seen and I'm pretty sure a good amount of those people downstairs aren't even of age! And while we're at it, why are you all armed with guns?! I've never seen a city just allow a group of kids to just waltz around and openly carry lethal weapons!"
"...You truly do not know anything about Kivotos, do you?" She gave him an analytic stare.
"Nada, I've never heard of a place called Kivotos until now. I'm just a guy from Utah." Michael crossed his arms as he leaned even more into the backrest.
"I'll be honest as well, Sensei. I've never heard of a place called Utah either." Rin admitted, but that statement already answered Michael's question of where he might be. In all honesty, if what she said was true, then this is by far the most outlandish situation he has ever found himself in. "To answer your question, there aren't any adults here in Academy City, well at least none that are like you, Sensei."
"No adults? None at all?"
"Yes, that would be correct. All of Kivotos is managed by its students." Rin affirmed.
"Students? Yeah I've been hearing that alot, you guys even call yourself the General Student Council… You mean to say this city is just one giant school?" Michael asked with a look that expressed both fascination and incredulity.
"Several schools in fact, Kivotos houses over a thousand different schools all within their own district." Rin confirmed with a nod, her demeanor showing that she wasn't lying at all.
"Ok then… That's new…" An academy city managed by the students that learn and live in it. Definitely wasn't expecting that among everything he could have thought off.
A chuckle escaped his lips at the ridiculousness of it all. "And the guns?"
"That is a bit more simple to explain, it's because of our halos." Rin pointed to her dark blue halo that had three stars attached to the ring.
"Your halos?"
"Yes, to put it simply, guns don't kill us." Rin explained.
"Pardon?" Michael's eyes go wide as his mouth gapes under his collar at the statement.
"You heard correctly, Sensei. While you may know that guns are indeed capable of killing people like you, here in Kivotos, when a student is shot by a gun, it can effectively be categorized as punching someone." Rin continued.
"As such students make use of firearms in order to both defend themselves and, more distastefully, to fight each other if necessary. Should a student suffer too much injury however, they will be knocked unconscious." She finished glancing once more at the stunned adult who, after a few more moments of seemingly contemplating what he had just heard, let out a chuckle.
"You know, I was already gonna say that I've heard everything." He shook his head in disbelief. "Then you gotta go and hit me with that."
A smirk of amusement made its way on Rin's face upon seeing Michael's disbelief.
BOOM
That small amount of brevity wouldn't last long however, as all of a sudden a loud explosion was heard a decent distance away from the building. Both teenager and adult abruptly stood up at the noise, with Rin's face returning to a serious expression. "I am aware that you may have more questions Sensei but time is of the essence."
Rin walked towards the covered windows and opened the blinds to reveal the beautiful city. If anything, they had quite the view from up here. However, in line with what Rin said, a plume of smoke could be seen in the distance just a few kilometers away.
"Allow me to reiterate what I said before Sensei. My name is Nanagami Rin, I am the Chief Administrative Officer, Vice President and currently the temporary Acting President of the General Student Council. Just five days ago, the President of the GSC mysteriously disappeared without a trace leaving the Academy City in disarray." Rin looked back at Michael who was just beside her.
"But, with your arrival we may just be able to save Kivotos. I and many others would be deeply grateful if you would help us regain control of the Sanctum Tower, Sensei." She gave a low bow as she asked for his help once more.
Michael took a deep breath and exhaled to calm himself down then made his decision. Grabbing his cap and placing his back on his head to hide his face once more, he turned to Rin. "Alright, when do we leave?"
Rin's eyes lit up in sincere gratitude. "Thank you, Sensei. Please follow me."
Rin began to walk out of the room with Michael not far behind as they made their way to the elevator.
DING
Michael and Rin made their way inside the elevator as the former continued to explain how he got in Kivotos.
"You mean to tell me you don't even know how you got here?"
"Yeah, pretty much. Was in one place at one moment, then next thing I know, I was on a train headed here." He replied.
"Hmmm, I'm afraid that even I'm not sure how that is possible." She gave an apologetic look for being unable to find an answer.
"Figures, I take it the President wasn't one to share tricks?" The question earned a mirthful chuckle out of the Acting President before she replied.
"HA! No, the President for the most part loved to speak in a cryptic manner and as you may have figured, she also has a rather annoying sense of humor. She especially enjoyed delving into the occult and the mysteries of Kivotos, which irritatingly, only fueled her love of being the mysterious and secretive type." Rin's eyes twitched at the old memories she returned to.
"The occult? Wasn't expecting someone like that to be the type. Actually no, with everything that's going on so far it makes a lot of sense." He was no stranger to the supernatural afterall.
The elevator was already reaching the 10th floor before Michael remembered something, his eyes widening as he did. "Ah crap!"
Rin's head turned towards him in surprise. "What's wrong?"
A wince came from Michael as he remembered a certain quartet of teenagers waiting for them at the ground floor. "You know those representatives that were waiting for you on the ground floor?" He asked warily as he looked back at her.
Rin understood immediately what he meant, as an exasperated sigh escaped her lips. "I take it they didn't exactly take all too kindly to you being able to meet with me?"
"Yeeeeah, I kinda told them that I would bring you down to talk soooo…" Another sigh escaped from Rin's mouth as she lightly rubbed her temples.
"I suppose things would never be so simple but do not worry, I should be able to handle it." She reassured him.
"Sorry about that." He apologized.
"Again, it's not a problem, it was inevitable that I would have to deal with them anyway."
DING
The Vice President and former night guard walked out of the elevator door, only to immediately hear a certain violet haired exclaim in surprise.
"Oh my god! You actually managed to make her come down here!" Yuuka's face was one of astonishment as she ran up towards Michael.
"Well, I did say I would try at least." Michael gave a small smile underneath his collar.
"Yes. I'll have to thank you for helping us." Yuuka smiled towards him, a much better look on her than that angry face she had before.
"Now, if you'll excuse us…" The smile was short lived sadly as her annoyed expression returned as she turned towards the Vice-President standing silently beside him.
"Greetings, Miss Hayase." Rin gave a flat greeting as she held a neutral expression.
"Oh don't you Miss Hayase me! Do you know how long we've been waiting!?" Yuuka met her greeting with impatience. "Where is the Student Council President? Get her in here already!"
"I've been waiting to see you, Chief Officer." The black haired girl stood beside Yuuka as she addressed Rin.
"I've been waiting as well. I wish to speak with the Student Council President. The Head Prefect has terms she would like to discuss." The blonde took the free spot opposite Yuuka, with 'Suzumi' wordlessly standing behind the trio. With the way they were positioned, it was clear that they wouldn't easily let Rin slip by them.
"Greetings, guests that represent the neighboring academies' student councils, disciplinary boards, and those who otherwise have too much time on their hands." Rin gave an empty smile as she greeted all of them.
'Not one to sully words, eh Rin?' Michael thought as he glanced at the Vice President with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm well aware why you irksome— I mean, important representatives have come here today." Her tone, despite being accommodating, was laced with venom.
'Oh yup, definitely don't like them.' Despite himself, Michael couldn't help but give an amused look at the sight in front of him.
"You're here to blame us for the fuss happening in the Academy City. Isn't that right?" She spoke bluntly, finally dropping the 'courtesy' and letting annoyance slip out completely.
"If you're well aware, then do something already! You represent the General Student Council after all!" Yuuka brushed off the annoyed tone in stride as she continued. "Thousands of academy districts are in panic! Our academy's wind generators shut down just a few days ago!"
Huh, that doesn't sound too bad, should be easy to get things up and running once everything is under cont—
"There are also rumors a student under the Federal Corrections Bureau's custody has escaped." The blonde added.
Is that what they call the police force here? Well, okay an escaped criminal is bad but it's only one per—
"There has been a sharp increase in the number of thugs attacking our students on their way to school. Public safety is not being properly enforced." This time it was the girl that was being quiet for the most part that added to the list of problems.
OK. That's pretty bad but maybe he can fix it? Possibly? Hopefu—
"Illegal distribution of tanks, choppers, and other unknown weapons have increased by over 2000 percent. At this rate, ordinary school life in Kivotos will be a thing of the past." The black-haired girl finished.
…
…
…
WHAT THE FU—
Michael's eyes were bugging out more and more at each added problem, but the final one was the last straw. How, in the world, does one manage to increase the illegal distribution of FUCKING MILITARY HARDWARE to 2000 PERCENT?! How is this city even still alive!?
"And what is the General Student Council President doing during such a sorry state of affairs? I demand to see her this instant!" The argument continued, completely ignorant of Michael's internal meltdown.
Rin closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she prepared herself to finally reveal the truth. "The President is not here at the moment. To be frank, she's gone missing."
"What?!" Yuuka exclaimed, joined by a shocked gasp from the bespectacled blonde.
"So the rumors were true…" The girl in black's eyes only narrowed as she mumbled to herself.
"Allow me to cut to the chase. The General Student Council has no authority because the top administrator of Sanctum Tower has gone missing." Rin explained.
"We had been searching for a way to bypass the verification, all to no avail… until recently." Her tone became lighter at the end.
"You mean you've found a way now, Chief Officer?" The black haired girl questioned.
"That is correct." She looked towards Michael, continuing.
"Sensei here is the answer to our problems." She said with all the confidence in the world.
'Oh please don't say it like that.' He couldn't help but think that way when she gave such a hopeful expression at him.
"...!"
"...!?"
Which only made him even worse as more of them looked at him.
"This person?" The girl in black tilted her head questioningly.
"Y-yeah, h-hello everyone…" He gave a weak wave at all of them as sweat dropped from his brow. Thank goodness they couldn't see it.
"Hold on! You're the one who's going to help us? Is that why you were here in the first place?" Yuuka directed a questioning look at him.
"He doesn't look like someone native to Kivotos… And those clothes…" The girl in black stared inquisitively. Her last comment getting a wince out of the former night guard, who was well aware of how he looked. Not really inspiring much confidence here.
"Yes. This is Michael-Sensei. Not only will he be teaching here in Kivotos, he was also personally selected by the General Student Council President herself." The Acting President confirmed.
"He was chosen by the President? The one who's missing? Things are making less and less sense…" Yuuka couldn't help but be confused by the situation.
'You and me both, Yuuka…' Michael sympathized with Yuuka's dilemma. 'Well, may as well introduce myself.'
"Hello everybody, my name's Michael Afton! As of today I'll be teaching here in Kivotos, so I hope we can all get along." He confidently introduced himself, figuring that he may as well act the part of being a teacher since he's fully committed himself to the role now. His sudden introduction briefly earned a surprised look from Yuuka before she quickly recovered and reciprocated his greeting.
"R-right! It's nice to meet you, Sensei. Although we already me— Actually wait, I already introduced myself…" She quickly stopped with a flustered expression.
Michael gave another amused smile under his collar at her flustered face.
"Please ignore that annoying girl, Sensei. Let's just move on…" Rin, still very much irritated by Yuuka's presence, interjected.
"Who are you calling annoying!?" Yuuka gave an indignant shout, she then turned back to him with an annoyed expression. "As I've already told you, I'm Hayase Yuuka from Millenium Science School, 2nd year. Remember that name, Sensei!"
"It's nice to meet you, Yuuka." Michael moved to shake her hand, which she took.
The moment their hands met however, Yuuka gave a small gasp and cut their handshake short as she abruptly pulled away from his touch. Realizing how rude she must've looked, she immediately apologized. "I-I'm sorry Sensei, I was just surprised by how thin your hand was."
'Oh, right. Forgot about that.' He may have been revived, but he still looked like a dead person underneath all the clothing. "Ah, don't worry about it. I know that some people can get surprised by it." He waved it off in an effort to reassure her.
Despite his attempt at reassurance, Yuuka still looked rather ashamed about shying away like that. Luckily for both of them, the others decided to save face by introducing themselves as well.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Michael-Sensei." The black haired woman with wings was next to introduce herself. "Hanekawa Hasumi, from Trinity General School, 3rd year and Vice President of the Justice Task Force." She bowed her head slightly as she spoke.
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Hasumi." Michael greeted, though he opted to just keep his hands in his pockets this time.
"Just Hasumi is fine, Sensei. You're an adult after all." Hasumi corrected as she raised her head back up from her bow.
"I suppose you're right, Hasumi." Michael turned to the next student.
It was the blonde this time who stepped forward to introduce herself. "I am Hinomiya Chinatsu from Gehenna Academy, a 1st year and medic of the Gehenna Prefect Team."
Ah, so she is a medic. Makes sense, nobody else would be carrying that much medical supplies. Although that massive bag still seemed slightly impractical to carry around all the time. Then again, considering she was carrying it just fine, he didn't pay mind to it that much and just chalked it up to Kivotos shenanigans.
"Nice to meet you as well, Chinatsu." He tipped his hat towards her before the last person of the group decided to approach. 'Suzumi' if he recalled what the receptionist had called her, the white-haired quiet girl that caught the letter for him earlier.
"I suppose I'm last. Welcome to Kivotos, Michael-Sensei. My name's Morizuki Suzumi. I'm also from Trinity General School, 2nd year, and a member of the Trinity Vigilante Crew." Suzumi motioned to shake his hand much to Michael's surprise. He thought that she wouldn't want to touch after how Yuuka reacted.
Perhaps this was her way of making him feel welcome. Michael gave a grateful smile under his collar before shaking Suzumi's hand.
She didn't show much reaction to it besides a slight widening of the eyes at the feeling of his thin hands. "Thanks for having me, Suzumi, and thank you for the help earlier with the letter."
She merely gave a nod of affirmation before letting go and standing beside Chinatsu.
"Sensei, we should get moving before things get any worse." Rin who stood aside during the introductions finally interjected.
"Right. We should get going." He agreed.
Rin brought out her phone to call someone, probably their ride. However, instead of the call that he expected, she instead held out her phone and a blue light suddenly emitted from it. The light coalesced into the form of a girl with pink hair tied in twintails with small black horns with white tips on her head who was currently eating a bag of chips.
Horns? How many of these students had some kind 'extra feature' on them? Even Rin had elven ears on her like Chinatsu, not to mention the wings that Hasumi and the receptionist had on their backs and the one Suzumi had on her head.
"Oh! Hey there, Rin! What are you callin' me for?" The girl asked as she shoved a fistful of chips into her mouth, an act that Rin elected to ignore.
"Momoka, I need a helicopter to take us to the SCHALE Club Room." Rin requested.
"Oh? What do you need to go there for?" The now identified Momoka gave a curious stare.
"We finally have a way to regain control of the tower." Rin turned her phone to face Michael. "The President had sent him, Michael-Sensei. He's been given the authority to grant the GSC access to the Sanctum Tower."
The man in question gave a small wave towards her.
"Woah! For real? Took you long enough." Unlike everyone else thus far, Momoka seemed to be taking the entire situation in stride, much to Rin's irritation.
"Momoka…" Rin scolded but the pink-haired girl didn't care.
"Well either way, no can do Rin." she spoke bluntly, eating another chip. "A suspended student escaped the Corrections Bureau and is wreaking havoc all over where the SCHALE Club Room is located."
"What?" Rin's tone became darker as Momoka continued to explain the situation.
"They teamed up with a bunch of the other thugs to get revenge on the General Student Council, blowing up everything nearby. I hear they even got one of those Crusader Tanks." That didn't sound good.
"I hear they're trying to occupy the SCHALE Building because they know the General Student Council controls it. Maybe they think there's something valuable inside."
"…" Michael could practically see the veins on Rin's forehead as she just stood there in silent rage.
"Well, either way it won't make much of a difference since the city's already a dump. Oh hey! My food delivery is here! Anyway, see you later!" Momoka hung up the phone abruptly, not even giving Rin a chance to reply.
And at that moment, Michael could've sworn Rin was going to break something with how hard she was gripping her phone.
"H-hey Rin, you good?" Of course she's not, you fool!
"It's fine… I'm fine. It's just a minor setback. No problem at all." She tried to reassure Michael with a smile, but the aura she gave off said otherwise.
"H-hey, maybe there's another way we can get there." Michael tried to offer but Rin only sighed.
"Unfortunately not. Considering what Momoka said, any attempt at getting close would inevitably result in a firefight…" She put a hand to her chin, a pensive look on her face, as she tried to think of a way to escort Sensei to SCHALE. She took a look at him then to the academy representatives.
"…!" A light bulb lit up in her head as she stared at them. An evil grin appeared on her face.
The representatives noticed this with worried expressions as did Michael. "R-Rin you're scaring me here, what are you planning?" He warily asked but she just waved him off.
"Nothing at all Sensei." She smiled, thinly veiled malice seeping through it. "It's just reassuring to have such trustworthy academy representatives here with us…"
It took Michael no time to realize what she was planning as sweat dropped from his brow. "Oh dear…"
"We are going to need your help to bring peace back to Kivotos. Let's go." Rin was all too happy to drag the other four into this mess, already moving despite their protests. Though the quartet still followed her nonetheless.
"Wait, what? Where are you going?" Yuuka shouted but Rin was already heading for the exit.
"Come Sensei. We mustn't waste any more time." She turned to him, her glass smile still on her face.
Not willing to see what would happen if he said no, Michael could only hope that he could fix whatever mess Kivotos had gotten into as he followed suit after her and out the building.
