After a long day, evening and the end of her work had finally arrived for Serika. Gone were the customers and cozy atmosphere of the restaurant smelling of freshly made food, replaced instead by the subdued sounds of Serika and the cafe owner, Master Shiba, finishing up cleaning for the day to head home. Besides a few comments, the work had been mostly done in silence as the smallness of the shop meant locking up tended to be a reasonably quick affair.
"You can hang up your apron, Serika-chan. I'll take care of the last few things." Her boss's voice brought Serika out of the auto-pilot she'd set herself up in scrubbing a countertop.
The girl turned around to face the other, finding them sweeping one corner of the room, blinking in confusion. "Eh? Are you sure?"
"Positive. It's already late and you should be on your way home. Take care of yourself and watch out for any trouble, will you? I know you can look after yourself, but can't have anything happening to my newest and best employee." Master Shiba stated with a hint of casual warmth, yet underneath the words was clear concern and weight.
Serika let out a low groan. Arg, now he was also getting in on it. "Is that why you told Ragna-sensei when work ended? I'm not a little kid."
The humanoid dog stopped their sweeping, making a half turn toward Serika. "Yeah, it is. I wouldn't let it get to you though. You mentioned dealing with some gangsters at one point and he made it sound like they haven't given up. I think he's just being a responsible adult thinking about their students in his own way. Not everyone shows they care the same way or is the best about showing it. Least that's how I see it."
Serika frowned, looking down at the floor with a low grumble coming from her throat. Sure, the base idea of having some extra caution wasn't bad, but Serika still felt some kind of reflexive frustration and annoyance over getting reminded of that like she didn't know. And on top of that, Master Shiba was also defending Ragna? What did everyone see in him that she couldn't?
"… Alright, I'm heading out now." With a low voice, Serika removed the hair covering on her head and left to go change back into her school uniform, to finally put this whole day behind her.
But after she had changed and begun the walk down the largely empty roads of the nighttime Abydos District, cold air biting at her skin with the rays of the sun long since gone, Serika's mind wouldn't give her any peace. How had the situation gotten so complicated in mere days? The debt situation was bad enough, but now some evil benefactor was chasing after the school for yet unknown reasons and she had to deal with the damn adult that seemingly everyone tolerated. But…Why? Was she the weird one out for being so overtly hostile? Ragna had somehow known the truth of the situation the minute the Helmet Gang showed up while also being annoyingly persistent about her safety or trying to get to know everyone. By any account, the man was helping, even if he was kind of frustrating. Ragna had been right, that she didn't know anything about his history, but that went both ways because he didn't know that of Abydos. But was that really true? Was whatever situation he'd been in before that let Ragna simply know certain facts truly so close to the current one? If that was the case, was she being too harsh?
Something came right at her and Serika's hands shot up on reflex to grab it.
"Nn, hello, Serika. Heading home?" Exactly where the object had come from, Serika saw Shiroko standing about a body length from her. In her hand was a waterbottle, which Serika realized was an identical copy of what was in her hand, while beside her was a bike leaning against some rails.
"Shiroko-senpai…? What're you doing here this late?" Serika asked with a furrowed brow. She knew Shiroko would sometimes be out late cycling and for…Other habits, but seldom did Serika ever run into her. Shiroko almost looked like she'd been waiting here.
Shiroko's hetereochromatic pupils briefly flicked over to her bicycle and then back to Serika. "I was on my way home and stopped for a quick water break. I thought maybe I'd see you if I came this way around this time too."
… That was really coincidental.
"Nn, you look tired, Serika." Shiroko added before Serika could form a proper reply.
Serika turned her head away, opening up the water bottle Shiroko had handed her without meeting the other's gaze. "I'm fine."
The girl could see Shiroko didn't look entirely convinced as Serika downed a few gulps of water. She may have looked mostly the same as ever, but Serika had known Shiroko long enough to pick up on her classmates more subtle reactions. The slight droop of her ears, the barely there curve of her lips, and slightly narrowed eyes. Shiroko wasn't usually the most overtly expressive, but it didn't mean she cared any less.
That wasn't too different from what Master Shiba had said, come to think of it…
"I'll walk with you home for a little then. I'm still going that direction." Taking a few steps toward her bike, Shiroko suggested with a hopeful stare.
Serika let out a weak huff at the forceful invitation. She knew Shiroko was doing this out of concern and she appreciated the girl being a good friend, but the day had been a long one in part because of her. Yet, this time Serika held her complaints. Maybe Shiroko could help keep her mind off the day a little. There was still a decent walk toward her house and Serika didn't love the idea of being alone with her thoughts the whole way. If she remembered the layout of everything right, Shiroko would only be with her for several minutes anyway. A break would be nice. "Sure, fine. Let's hurry up and get moving."
Not a moment later, Shiroko had fallen in step right beside Serika, rolling her bike along at a pace to match. But the two walked in silence and Serika could see that Shiroko looked like she had something on her mind and was close to bringing it up, but appeared to be deciding how to say it.
"So, what did he yell at you about." Serika finally broke the maddening silence with a dry tone. Shiroko… Probably deserved a bit of a stern talking to now and again about her habits to help keep her in line. The girl behaved herself pretty well, but sometimes Serika wondered how far she would go if somebody wasn't there to give Shiroko a not so gentle reminder with how she would bring up the idea of robbery now and again as a money solution.
Shiroko turned toward her, ears flattening in confusion for a few moments, till realization dawned on her and they flicked upwards. "Nn, Sensei didn't yell or anything. He just cares in his own way."
The sudden heaviness in her chest brought a frown to Serika's face, the girl turning her gaze down to the ground in front of her as she walked. So even Shiroko was saying the same thing about Ragna… What the hell was it about that guy? Shiroko even had the slightest smile on her face while talking about him. And all Serika could wonder was why?
"You sure like him, don't you…" Finally finding words, Serika said in a low voice and with a sigh.
"I trust him." Shiroko answered plainly, as if already guessing what Serika truly wanted to say. With how…Uniqueher thought process could be, it waseasy to forget how perceptive Shiroko was about her friends.
The grip on Serika's water bottle tightened, fingers starting to crumple the plastic as Serika's cat ears flattened aggressively. "He hasn't even been in Abydos, in Kivotos, for a week. We barely even know him, let alone have a reason to trust him."
"Is there a reason to not trust him?" Shiroko asked with a tone that made the question rhetorical, having already decided the answer herself.
Serika let out a low grumble. That was the important question, wasn't it? What was the reason to be so hostile to Ragna? Several answers immediately jumped into Serika's head, yet when trying to put them to words for Shiroko she found herself hesitating, doubt staying her response. She couldn't say he was being too helpful, Serika wasn't some cynic that thought everyone was out for themselves or hiding something, quite the opposite and might've been a reason why she was so quick to trust a sales pitch. Ragna had also been right, Serika didn't know much about him and sure that was a reason to not trust him so completely like Shiroko did, but was that a reason to be so actively hostile? That's what she had thought before, but that stupid, nagging question of his from earlier made her so uncertain if that was true. Sure, it was kind of weird how Ragna just knew things, but if there was anything malicious behind that, surely he would've done something already.
"Well, what reason do you have to trust him so much then, Shiroko-senpai?" Her usual fire not present, Serika finally answered, looking Shiroko up and down.
"Nn…" Shiroko flicked her head to the side, looking away in a surprisingly long silence as thoughts were visibly turning in her head. Serika had expected a little pause to organize her thoughts, but with how much faith she had in Ragna and the friendliness shown to the man, she didn't expect such a long one. It was like Shiroko was trying to figure out the answer as well. "... I just feel like we can. He's already helped us work toward finding out who's behind the attacks and definitely made an enemy out of them. Ragna-sensei's also worried about us too because of that. He's kind and wouldn't get so deeply involved if he didn't care. I think they've got experience with these kind of problems."
Serika's shoulders slumped with a sigh. "Did he say something to you about that?"
"Just a feeling." Shiroko shook her head, not meeting Serika's gaze.
Ugh, she'd been hoping Shiroko would say yes to that. Serika really had to ask Ragna more about himself, huh? Maybe she'd learn something to better justify her thoughts or… Maybe she was being too harsh.
Well, no matter. She'd leave that matter for another day as while double checking the street signs, Serika noticed something important that brought her to a stop. "Shiroko-senpai, I think we walked a little longer than we should've. If we keep going, your dorm's going to be in the opposite direction."
Shiroko abruptly stopped to check the street signs, turning toward Serika with a stone faced expression after a momentary pause. "Nn, don't worry about it. If I've come this far, why don't I go a little further till your dorm's in sight. I could use some extra kilometers on my bike anyway. I didn't get to ride as much as I usually do with the stop at Shiba Seki today."
"Ugh, Shiroko-senpai, you don't have to do that. Just go home already." Serika answered with a huff. She'd appreciated the break from her thoughts Shiroko provided, but now she was beginning to wish for some time alone to collect them. The neighborhoods in Abydos were so isolated now that getting one would be easy with her friend gone. Night time though it was, Serika definitely noticed most of her walk had almost nobody else on it. Abydos wasn't exactly a bustling place, but merely a month ago she at least saw a few people on this route. Things just kept going downhill, but she couldn't let it stay that way.
Undeterred, Shiroko shook her head. "It's fine, Serika. Your house isn't that far anyway."
"Your idea of distance isn't normal, Shiroko-senpai." The girl answered with visible exasperation. Sure, it wasn't more than a few kilometers, but the way Shiroko talked about it was the same way somebody would talk about going down the street.
"Nn, it's been a while since I've been down this area of Abydos anyway. This is a good excuse to see it again."
Serika groaned, crossing her arms. "You don't have to do that with me. Come back here and explore it in the day time or something, easier to see and safer anyway."
Once again, Shiroko's determined expression didn't falter. But there was something else, almost hard to tell with how muted the girl kept some of her emotional expression. Concern, maybe? "I'm already here. I may as well stay just in case."
Serika's ruby cat like eyes narrowed, looking Shiroko up and down. Sure, she had just mentioned safety and Abydos wasn't a peaceful place. It was borderline lawless if anything given the lack of her school's ability to enforce the law in a serious capacity. However, especially with that comment, something about Shiroko's insistence of staying with her and the fact she was even waiting for Serika to begin with didn't add up. "… Just in case what?"
Though her expression remained relatively composed, if still a little perturbed with a frown, Serika could see her friend was nervous. Their ears had flicked up in surprise, a dead giveaway Serika was onto something."Nn, well, the district's been getting less safe the last few months and we should see another attack any day at the usual rate…"
Are you kidding?
Serika gritted her teeth into a scowl, voice raising to almost a shout. "Shiroko-senpai! Did he put you up to this!?"
Shiroko stiffened up, her eyes momentarily widening before she had a chance to visibly try restraining her reaction. "Nn… o…"
"You can't hide an answer like that!" Serika lectured with a glare. "Ugh, I can't believe him! How stubborn can one person be? I thought I told him I didn't need somebody looking after me!"
That matter Ragna had come back into Shiba Seki for had been both to get a to go container, a rather unusual request, but he had also tried to talk with Serika about being careful on her way home, given whoever was behind the attacks was going to attack again. And, sure, that was a good point, but Serika didn't need a babysitter. She could take care of herself!
"Serika…" Shiroko raised her hands defensively, a frown on her face that bordered on distress. "Sensei's just worried. I don't want anything to happen to you either… I think he's right that they're going to try something new."
Seeing her friend upset, the fire of Serika's anger simmered down slightly, but only slightly. The behavior was coming from a place of worry and Shiroko meant well, so Serika couldn't be overly mad at her and even Ragna's actions did too, as he had been very pushy on the idea of upcoming ideas. But she couldn't help feeling frustrated and patronized. She could still be mad at Ragna for roping Shiroko into this silly waste of time though, that must've been why he asked her to wait outside the shop. But getting angry at her wouldn't solve anything.
"Senpai, how did you let him talk you into this?"
"He asked and I trust sensei." Shiroko answered plainly, not hesitating for a moment in her answer.
Seriously?
The answer had been so quick and certain it'd actually caught Serika off guard. That can't possible have been it. Why did Shiroko trust somebody she just met so much? Serika could take care of herself and to go this far just on a hunch? "Wh-"
"To hell with all this waiting, we'll just take both of them and charge extra!"
The sound of numerous footsteps silenced Serika and sent a chill up her spine.
Mind gearing into high alert, Serika threw the sling on her gun over her head and readied it, eyes darting around to watch a large group of the Kata-Kata Helmet Gang appear around the intersection from out of alleyways or around other buildings to quickly surround her and Shiroko. Serika could see her friend mirroring her own actions, quickly sending her bike rolling with a shove into a nearby building and away from the ensuring combat.
Right away, Serika could notice something was different about the Helmet Gang. The girls had come out in force, with up to 20, maybe even a few more, by her rough estimate, but all of them were wearing black, military like body armor. With how almost everyone in Kivotos was at least bullet resistant, body armor tended to be a rarity outside anything military with how much extra gear or ammo it let one carry. It was often more an inconvenience in daily life, where a gun fight could erupt at any moment, without much gain when even getting a full magazine dumped into one's head would only cause a moderate headache for most, perhaps knock a person unconscious if they were on the weaker side or lacked a halo. But well made body armor coupled with the natural durability of Kivotos residents, particularly those with a halo, could take most bullets from being an annoying, if painful, experience to one barely felt without strong weapons or person wielding them. A powerful edge if one knew a fight was coming.
Ragna… Had been right. This was the next move of whoever was after the school. If Serika had been all alone when she ran into this…
Ugh, she could feel guilty later! A fight was on their hands now!
A series of explosions, alongside panicked screams, erupted from behind Serika as the ground shook, making her turn around on reflex to the source. The girl saw small missiles impacting the ground around the gangsters, blowing them aside and covering the immediate area with thick clouds of smoke. Eyes flicking upward, Serika saw Shiroko's blue and white drone emptying most of its missiles into the group that'd blocked off her and Shiroko's rear escape.
"Get down!"
"Wha-"
So many things happened at once, Serika's mind only started to make sense of them when she was already tumbling through the air.
Shiroko had tackled Serika and pulled her into a bear hug, almost like she were trying to protect her from something. The reflexively turn from such an action had given Serika a fraction of a second to witness a brown blur the size of a person barreling toward her before everything exploded. The world shook, rattling her bones as fire and smoke blanketed Serika's vision before it all turned into a distorted mess as Serika spun through the air, causing the buildings and lights of nighttime Abydos to blend together and robbed her ability to even attempt orienting herself. The only constant was Shiroko's iron grip on her body, the only thing keeping both girls from being tossed apart.
Almost as quick as it'd come and before Serika could begin to orient herself, she hit something hard and Shiroko's grip loosened enough for the two to tumble apart.
Head pounding and ears ringing, Serika bolted up, reaching for a dark wall, the side of a building, to help push herself up and stay upright. Her mind fought to push away the disorientation the explosion had caused while trying to make sense of it. The impact of that had beenmassive,the already present smoke from Shiroko's rockets combined with the other explosion to blanket most of the intersection in a thick cloud that killed whatever visibility the remaining lights of the district provided.
Whatever shot her was powerful,artillery grade. A high caliber anti-air or anti-tank gun, maybe? Serika was still rattled despite not even being a direct hit, which was only avoided because-
Alarms blared in Serika's mind, as did the sound of bullets whizzing by through the cloud of smoke, eyes darting around till she found Shiroko lying a few meters beside her, trying to shakily push herself up with arms that trembled trying. Her cyan halo flickering a few times from being on the verge of unconscious and only stabilizing after a moment.
"Shiroko-senpai, hang on!" With a shout, Serika bolted over to the girl, gritting her teeth through some bullets bouncing off her body, and wrapped their arm around her shoulder, rapidly helping Shiroko to her still unsteady feet. The second year had been closer to and taken the brunt of the explosion shielding Serika and that left her to figure a way out of this situation.
Serika's eyes darted around the street, begging to find some inspiration to move. What was she supposed to do? They were outnumbered and outgunned against artillery.Her and Shiroko were sitting ducks out in the open and another round would be their doom against so many of the Helmet Gang.
Cover, the two needed cover. They needed to hide but arg where!? Serika didn't have time to think, it'd be seconds before someone charged through the smoke and saw where they went! Bullets were already blindly flying around her and Shiroko. She just had to choose something and pray it worked.
"Senpai, this way!" Serika shouted, practically dragging Shiroko to the nearest house and diving through an already broken window, arm around Shiroko's waist to get enough a hold to lift them one handed.
With a thud, Serika landed upright, holding Shiroko tightly toward herself to keep the girl from collapsing again. It did little to stop her from attempting to break out of the girl's grip though. "Nn… Serika, get down…"
"I know that…!" Serika hissed in a raised whisper, dragging herself and Shiroko away from the window and into the darkness of the abandoned house. She could barely make out any of the interior details, but Serika didn't care, they weren't important and worth the attention.
Carefully guiding Shiroko back down toward the floor to take precious moments to recover, Serika released her hold and gripped her gun tightly, leaning against the wall beside the window to keep herself out of sight but still let her see a glimpse of outside with a tilt of her head.
Through the rapidly dissipating smoke, the girl saw around a dozen of the Kata-Kata Helmet Gang emerge, the crackling spray of bullets falling silent as they began to start looking around the area.
"What a pain, that girl was ready for us."
"Hurry up and find her then so we can make her pay for it. This was supposed to be an easy job."
"I told you that was crap when they gave us a bunch of body armor 'just in case'."
"Whatever, just find them already! They've can't have gone far! Keep an eye out for that drone too! Flew off somewhere."
A nervous sweat appeared on Serika's brow while she saw a little movement from the slight peek she could afford. She could only silently pray that the Helmet Gang went to literally any other house first. This section of Abydos was somewhat rundown with a few buildings already abandoned and looted, something Serika had to hope would buy her and Shiroko at least a couple minutes in their spot.
Glancing over at her friend to see how they were doing, Serika almost did a double take seeing Shiroko on her phone, with the brightness turned down at least. Not that it'd do much to hide it in a totally black house.
Creeping over as quickly as she could while staying silent, Serika crouched down next to the wolf girl to help keep her words whisper quiet as well. "Shiroko-senpai, what are you doing on your phone now? They're going to see us!"
"I'm messaging sensei, he said…" Shiroko paused, wincing slightly. "Said that he would be in the area just in case. We need help for this and he already heard the explosion. He can't be far."
Serika bit her lip, forcing down an annoyed reply. Loath as she wanted to admit it, Ragna would've really helped about now. If her suspicions were right and it was a flak 41 cannon, it could be a problem even with backup, but without any the odds were bad. If she hadn't been so caught up in her own frustrations, Shiroko wouldn't have taken that hit for her. Serika wasn't used to seeing her so physically capable friend look so weak. Even with it not being a direct hit and Shiroko shielding her from it, Serika's body was plagued with a dull aching. Even if some of that was from the bullets that came afterwards, she could only imagine how bad it hurt if Shiroko was so unsteady. If Ragna hadn't been so persistent trying to help her despite constantly slapping away the helpful hand, Serika would've been all alone to take such a hit. And from there…
Serika shook her head, banishing away the unsettling thoughts before they could take too deep a root in her head. Now wasn't the time.
"Senpai, can you stand?" Serika, still keeping her gun prepared to shoot at a moment's notice, asked in a whisper, looking around the room and settling her gaze on the stairs. If Ragna was on the way, they needed to be ready for a fight and with the Helmet Gang sweeping the streets, going out the back was a trap waiting to happen. Upstairs would at least buy them some extra time. "Let's go upstairs and get in a better spot."
"Nn… I think so." Leaning a hand on the wall and with shaky legs, Shiroko managed to prop herself, still looking ready to tip back over from so much as a gentle push but at least she was standing mostly on her own again.
Trusting Shiroko's self-assessment, Serika crept up the stairs quick as she could, turning back to see Shiroko about halfway up after her, following a bit slower but quickly starting to recover from her initial disorientation. Maybe they could-
Serika's blood ran cold as front door was thrown off its hinges and too the floor.
"They're in here!"
With no hesitation, Serika raised her rifle, power flowing into it with a faint blue that had her gun spraying bullets even faster and harder than usually possible into the girl's helmeted face, sending her stumbling backwards out the doorway and to the floor with a shout.
Serika preferred being more selective with her ammo given how conservatively she'd gotten used to treating it, but right now wasn't the time to hold back anything and her covering fire gave Shiroko the time to stumble up the stairs to behind the corner opposite to Serika for cover.
A few more of the Helmet Gang started funneling into the front door only to meet a volley of bullet from both Shiroko and Serika, but with both their faces and bodies armored, it let the girls push through and set up at the bottom of the stairs, where as before it would've at least made them retreat through the door or dive off for cover.
Now facing returning fire, Serika ducked back behind the hardwood wall and inched away from the edge as a few bullets riddled the corner of her cover. Hands racing as fast as they could, Serika unloaded her magazine and retrieved another from her bag, loading it and racking her gun with lightning quick, practiced motions. She heard trampling footsteps coming up the stairs between the bullets and had to move fast.
Opposite from her while she reloaded, Serika saw Shiroko produce a grenade from inside her own bag, pull the pin out with her thumb, pivot out from her own cover, and shove her palm with the grenade in it into the Helmet Gang member at the top of the stairs with such force that with Shiroko's better leverage the girl went tumbling backwards into her allies, all the heavier armor worn sending each of them barreling down toward the bottom steps like knocked over bowling pins.
With the grenade.
A brilliant flash of fire and light erupted at the bottom of the stairs, briefly blowing away the darkness and the bottom steps apart, shredding sections of the nearby walls in the process as the sounds of pained yelling mixed with shattering furniture.
"How many explosives did you bring?!" Not waiting for a reply from Shiroko,Serika peered from behind her cover and started shooting once more, every flash from her muzzle lighting up the dim room as her bullets slammed into a few of the downed girls, sending one scrambling into a side room, but two more that'd been further from the explosion fought through the volley with only a light flinch and returned fire, striking Serika twice in the chest and forcing her back behind her wall before any more rounds could hit and throw her aim off.
"Nn, not enough." Shiroko answered as she replaced a magazine in her own rifle before giving Serika a quick thumbs up. "But they can't up as easy now."
Serika peeked out to fire a few more empowered rounds at a girl before ducking behind safety once more. "We're still stuck up here! Don't you have anymore rockets in your drone or something to help!?"
"I used them all to make a path."
Serika groaned in frustration. That was a good use for it, but it didn't make her feel much better about the current situation! While the front door and stairs prevented too many from swarming her and Shiroko at once with the 10:1 number advantage, the current position was one of attrition both would lose if something didn't change soon.
"Everyone out! We'll just do this the hard way!"
At all once, the sounds of gunfire ceased, only to be replaced by numerous footsteps retreating directly outside the building. That should've brought Serika some relief, but instead it only heightened her anxiety and the growing pit in her stomach. No way they were giving up that easily with how heavily armored the group was and hired specifically to target the school. If not for that stupid body armor, her and Shiroko would've been able to knock out or send a couple retreating by now with how combat with the Helmet Gang typically went. However, the most Serika could tell from her limited view of the street and the gang gathering in it, was they'd only managed to make a few girls unsteady on their feet with only two actually needing anyone to lean on.
"They're planning something." Shiroko said lowly, emerging from her cover with a tight grip on her gun. "I can hear what they're saying from here, let's wait a second."
Staying still while the enemy planned right in front of them was a terrible idea to Serika, but even a few extra seconds of peace was time they didn't have to stall for help arriving and so the girl strained her ears listening for whatever the leader was yelling about. She looked to be saying something over a phone…?
"Just shoot the house on the right in front of us! Who cares about collateral damage in this abandoned place? It'll flush them out or knock them out!"
Just shoot the ho-
Serika's eyes went wide, locking with Shiroko's as her's mirrored Serika's reaction with the same realization dawning on both girls.
Without another word, both girls bolted for the nearest window at the end of the hallway, Shiroko nearly stumbling and just managing to correct her stride in time to not fall.
A tremendous rumble shook the ground before Serika could take more than a few steps. She expected to be blown aside, the roof blowing apart wherever it struck, the whole world to spin like it had from the near direct hit of the first round.
Yet, aside from a rumble that feltclose,but not disorientatingly powerful, none of that happened and the sheer confusion briefly stopped both her and Shiroko. "Nn, did they hit the wrong house?"
"Not YOUR right, MY righ-Ack!"
The leader's words were cut off by sound of a shotgun rapidly going on. A very familiar shotgun.
"Is that Hoshino-senpai?" Disbelief and worry for the sole third year in her voice driving her to move, Serika bolted back to where she'd been a second ago and saw Hoshino's small form standing in the doorway, blocking it off with her riot shield and firing into the street. It was hard to tell with the obstructed view, but it looked like a few of the Helmet Gang were already on the floor "W-What are you doing here!? Shiroko-senpai, I thought you called sensei!?"
Shiroko looked at Serika, then over at Hoshino, visibly confused. "I… did…?"
"Ojisan came rushing to help and I just get complaints about not being someone else. You're gonna hurt my feelings." With a fake hurt under the casualness of her voice, Hoshino turned toward Serika and Shiroko as numerous metallic pings from bullets echoed off her iron riot shield, waving her shotgun at them once. "Sensei's taking care of the artillery, so if you could give me a little hand wrapping up here?"
"Er, uh, right!" Serika wasted no further time, vaulting over the rails besides the stairs and hitting the ground running to take a position beside the window she'd broken to get in. Though, as soon as she looked out she questioned if Hoshino even needed the support.
3 girls were unconscious, one being dragged further from the firefight by another girl, a fourth was trying to pick herself off the ground with clear difficulty, two more were scrambling back clumsily for cover and clearly not in peak condition, while several others were returning while clearly looking for somewhere to hide on the mostly empty street. In total, perhaps there 10-15 of the Helmet Gang, slightly less than Serika recalled seeing. Where had the others gone? Had they surrounded the house to cut off escape, perhaps?
Whatever, it didn't matter, she had the chance to really fight back now!
Readying her rifle, Serika unleashed several bursts between the recovering girl and those trying to retreat, slightly staggering but not knocking any of them over because of the body armor.
"Where the hell is the flak 41?! It shouldn't take this long to reload it!" One of the girls screeched, slowly moving backwards.
"I can see the tank's flipped over, it's useless!"
"This was supposed to be easy, we are NOT being paid enough if we lost the Flak gun! Grab everyone and get out of here!"
With the brief opening, Serika reloaded her gun, joined by Hoshino doing the same, while Shiroko rolled down into a position by the opposite window for her own defensive position. It gave the Helmet Gang a few moments to grab the unconscious girls and start scrambling away, but it was also a perfect break to reload without anyone shooting at them either, just in case.
"That's right, you better run!" Serika furiously shouted at the retreating enemies. She was so tempted to fire some parting rounds to blow off some steam from this whole mess, but thought better than to waste the ammo and she still needed to make sure Shiroko was fine after covering for her stupid mistake.
Though combat was done, Hoshino kept her riot shield prepared, stepping outside to look down the street where the ambush had initially happened. Only after a few seconds scrutinizing the direction, did she truly appear to relax and folded her riot shield back up to let out an exaggerated yawn. "Iyaa~, looks like that's about it then. Sensei's done over there. Serika-chan, Shiroko-chan, you both still holding up?"
"I'm fine." Serika immediately answered dismissively. She definitely was feeling sore and expected to wake up that way in the morning, but nothing she couldn't handle. She wasn't sure if the same could be said for Shiroko, however, and Serika's gazed turned toward the 2nd year with some worry. "What about you, Shiroko-senpai? A flak gun hits really hard. I still think my teeth are rattling…"
The usual casual demeanor on Hoshino quickly took on a dash of concern in line with Serikas. "Huh? You actually took a hit from that? You sure you don't wanna sit down for a few minutes?"
"Nn… It wasn't a direct hit, or else that would've knocked one of us out." Shiroko shrugged off the concerns with a shake of her head, leaning on the bullet hole riddled wall for some support. "I'm still a little dizzy, but I'm okay. I'm glad you weren't hurt much, Serika. It would've been bad if we both couldn't fight."
Serika frowned, letting out a huff. "Nobody told you to put yourself in danger like that for me. But, um, thanks, senpai..."
Despite her protest and guilt over Shiroko getting injured for her sake, Serika knew things would've been a disaster without her and had to be thankful. Serika would've already been getting dragged off to who knows where to never be seen again… But if she'd just been less stubborn, then maybe Shiroko wouldn't have needed to do that in the first place.
Shiroko stared at Serika blankly, tilting her head. "Nn, but that's exactly what Ragna-sensei asked me to do. If you want to thank anyone, thank him."
Urg, Shiroko saw right through her. But… She was right. Serika had been almost nothing but annoyed at best to hostile at worst with Ragna. If somebody had done that toher,she would've almost certainly just moved on and not kept bothering with somebody who clearly had issues. Yet, Ragna didn't. He was still worried about her and persistent enough to look out for her and have some tact about it. She probably would've just ran off trying to avoid him had he shown up in person.
Gah… Not only was she going to have to talk to Ragna to learn more about him, she was going to have to apologize and thank him after all this. Her cheeks were already burning up at the thought.
"Uhe? That's why you two were together?" Hoshino spoke up, eyes darting between the two girls. "He didn't have much time to explain things to me."
Shiroko nodded, her expression drifting toward a smile. "Nn, sensei was right that whoever's behind this was going to step up their attacks. He thought something was going to happen tonight since Serika got off work so late and asked me to stay with her. Sensei's got a really good sense for figuring out what's going on with this situation."
It was brief, so brief in fact Serika was half wondering if she'd imagined it, but there was…Something in Hoshino's expression and eyes, something so unlike her usual demeanor that Serika wasn't even sure where to place the emotion she thought she saw. But just as quickly as it'd come, Hoshino was back to her usual self.
"Well~, I guess he does. Serika-chan's sure lucky to have an adult that's as stubborn as she is and not pushed away so easily."
"Hey!"
Ignoring the outburst, Hoshino took a few steps down the street, beckoning for Serika and Shiroko to follow. "But, we shouldn't keep sensei waiting. I might start to feel sorry for whichever unlucky girl got left alone with him for interrogating."
On Hoshino's instruction, Serika made her way down the street with her friends, though not without a short stop for Shiroko to retrieve her bike which had thankfully remained in one piece from her rolling it out of the way before the battle begun. Soon, she saw Ragna in the middle of the street, a tank on its side with a massive flak 41 gun mounted to the top, next to him and a few of the armored vests the Helmet Gang had been wearing at his feet. The man had a pensive expression on his face, granted, he almost always looked slightly annoyed with one eye closed to Serika, as he stared up at the buildings, like he were looking for something. Whatever search he was making was interrupted as his working eye flicked over to the group and he turned his head to face them. "You three sure took your sweet time coming over here. Good to see you're all still in one piece."
"Well, since there's nobody here, I'm guessing you already tried 'talking' to the Helmet Gang to see if there was anything you could learn?" Hoshino greeted with a wave.
Ragna let out a guttural groan, face falling to a scowl. "Yep, not that it did much good. Didn't know anything new, so I told them to drop what their employer gave them and get out of here and find a better line of work. Don't think anyone's gonna listen to me there."
"Uhehe… Robbing somebody and offering advice is an interesting strategy, sensei." Hoshino said with a dry sigh. "You're not planning to make that a habit, are you?"
"Hey, I've seen some pretty messed up people change so can't blame me for trying. Don't exactly have the time to do much about it right now anyway. Felt like somebody was still watching, but couldn't find anything..." The man grumbled, taking one last, quick look toward some of the taller buildings around the area. "I'm sure as hell not gonna let them have this back to use it on us again and maybe we can figure something out with what's left behind. With how many tanks are in this place, I'm gonna assume one of you can drive. I'm not dragging this all the way back to the campus."
Serika glanced over to the sideways trank, then back to Ragna, ears flattening with her dull stare. "Sensei, that's not in any condition to drive."
Turning toward the tank, Ragna reached up his working arm, grabbed the side of it and, with a grunt, proceeded to turn the vehicle weighing at least double digit tons back upright with a loud and creaky thud.
Wow, Serika knew Ragna was strong but this man was a monster if he could go around flipping a tank with one hand. She almost felt bad for the Helmet Gang that had to take a punch from him.
"Hope you're not expecting me to drive it with one hand." Ragna sarcastically added.
Shiroko gave an affirming thumbs up, already loading her bike around the folded down back flap. "Most people in Kivotos our age could drive a tank, sensei."
"Yeah, alright. Guess that's one problem done then. Figure best thing to do tonight would be to take it back to the campus and rest there. Think everyone's had a long day." Ragna said, hand on his hip and taking one more look around the area.
Hoshino let out an exaggerated yawn, stretching in an equally over expressive manner. "I won't complain about that. Ojisan doesn't have the same energy to stay up all night you kids do."
"What were you doing out here with him anyway, Hoshino-senpai?" Serika asked with a hand on her hip, looking up and down her shorter senpai curiously. Going out for a night time stroll was one of the last things Serika would expect from Hoshino with how much she loved to nap.
"Err, well…" Hoshino's word turned unexpectedly meek, holding a shaking hand up.
"I found her taking a nap on a bench." Ragna flatly interjected. "Since she was already here, decided to keep her around just in case.
Hoshino spun toward the man with her jaw hanging open and betrayal written over her face. "S-Sensei!?"
Serika slooowly turned her head toward the smaller girl, giving her a dirty, exasperated look. She could believe that with all the places they fell asleep in at the school. It was good Hoshino had been there, but still.
"Nn, that sounds like Hoshino-senpai." Shiroko commented, starting to climb up the tank and around the folded up side flaps.
Hoshino slumped forward even more deeply than she usually did, a look of resignation spread over her the likes of which could only come from someone who knew they were fighting a hopeless battle. "Hah… Whatever happened to respecting your elders…?"
"Hey don't look at me like this is my fault. You're the one who didn't say anything earlier." Ragna flatly added, starting to pick up the armored vests and toss them onto the back with Shiroko's bike.
Why did it feel like there was something Serika was missing behind those words…
"Uhe… Ojisan's gonna take a nap on the way back." With one of the most resigned 'Uhe's Serika ever heard, Hoshino shambled after Shiroko inside the tank, leaving the girl alone with Ragna.
Part of her wanted to wait till another time, to give a proper thanks when she wouldn't have to worry about anyone else listening in, it was especially kind of embarrassing with Shiroko around after their earlier discussion she had been proven entirely wrong in. But on the other hand, not thanking the man right after his planning saved her and things were calm again just furthered the growing guilt in her chest. Might as well get this over with now, at least Hoshino would be asleep in record time and not hear this...
With a deep breath to compose herself, Serika gently tapped Ragna on the shoulder a few time as he tossed the last vest onto the tank. "Hey…"
"Hm?" Ragna turned his focus over toward the girl.
"S-So…" Serika trailed off, nervously avoiding eye contacting with Ragna. "Thanks for the help and stuff… I'm not sure what would've happened if Shiroko-senpai wasn't here."
Ragna's face twisted in an amused grin, smug even. "What do you know, you being nice once wasn't a freak accident. What did I tell you? I've got some experience with heavy shit like this and know what we're dealing with."
"Arg, fine, you were right about that." Serika said with a grimace, doing her best to push down the instinctive angry response this time. "You don't have to look so smug about it, geez…"
"Look, I'm just glad you're alright." Ragna said, leaning on the side of the tank. "Met some stubborn people before. Sometimes, you gotta be just as stubborn to help. Gonna take a lot more than a bit of screaming to chase me off. I've been that hardheaded idiot before and caused trouble for myself or others for it, so I get it."
Personal experience huh… That would explain why he was so determined to lend a hand no matter how many times she slapped it away. He was still a bit prickly, but maybe she had been too harsh on Ragna and the others were right he still cared in his own way.
"What happened?" Serika couldn't help the curiosity in her voice. She was wanting to get to know Ragna better and so much of his past was still a big mystery.
"That's… A long as hell story and I'm ready for this day to be done already, so ask me again later. Come on, let's get going. Ayane and Nonomi are gonna have a hell of a surprise when they show up to this thing tomorrow." Ragna answered dismissively, stepping onto the tank.
Well, Serika couldn't deny being a little disappointed at the answer, but the man had a point. It was late, she was tired, and even if it would be on one of the futons at school Serika couldn't wait to lie down and rest after such an eventful day.
There was sure to be many more like it with someone after the school, but despite how daunting a prospect it was, something in her felt a little more at ease now. They'd managed to fend off an attack like this and even came out ahead, Abydos could take whoever was after them.
She wasn't entirely sure what to make of Ragna yet, but the man deserved a fair chance after today.
The hour may have been late, yet with all that needed to be done before the day was over, the night still felt oh so young to the person waiting inside Kaiser's main office building within Abydos. It was honestly quite the sterile, gloomy environment with scant few lights on in the lifeless waiting area. He was quite used to such decorum as a Captain of the NOL's intelligence branch, but even in other worlds the upper class couldn't help being soboring,could they?
Huh, that was a new one. Is this what contempt felt like? Hm, no, on second thought, that was a little too strong from how he saw people use the descriptor for emotion. He was still trying to figure out exactly how something should truly feel instead of merely knowing it academically and how to exploit it in others. Something not as extreme, but still negative...
Annoyed! That was it!
…
…...
Yeah, this one wasn't that great. He'd gotten a lot more out of kicking that annoying vampire to death a bunch of times, but not all emotions could be winners. At least he could check this one off the list. Interesting feedback loop of being annoyed at being annoyed. Maybe that was something to look into later.
Oh, well. At least he had some decent company to talk with.
Off to his right was a man in a black suit, who had so creatively decided to name himself "Black Suit" after it. Though, "man" was perhaps a generous description as his face was similarly black, but with white cracks that glowed with an energy spread across it, the only notable identifying features being a large and pure white eye alongside a similarly colored mouth.
Well, not like he could knock the fashion too much, even if he'd definitely dig at the naming sense. He was wearing something similar, a simple black long dress coat over a standard black suit and leggings, held up with two belts, with white undershirt. Completing the look was a similarly colored fedora atop his short green hair.
Actually, now that he thought of it, Black Suit kind of reminded him of the form Terumi's spirit took if it got turned monochromatic and put on a nice suit. That was a picture he never expected to imagine, let alone see.
"Now then, Hazama. I think I've told you all you'll need to know going into this meeting, so let's go meet the PMC Director. I think having someone so knowledgeable about this new factor, Ragna the Bloodedge, will be quite the benefit based on what you've told me about him this last week." Black Suit stated, taking a few steps down the hall.
Hazama quickly fell in step alongside the other. "Say, you mentioned there was supposed to be some kind of plan going on tonight. I'll bet-"
Hazama ramping up his condescending tone was interrupted by the sensation of a telepathic call. He could feel it in that ingenious little addition that let him walk around despite the lack of seithr in the air, even if he was basic and most of his powers were still restricted. That could only mean one person was calling him, they had created it after all. "Oh, hang on a moment. I think we're about to get something interesting on the new 'teacher'.
With a quick application of Ars Magus to answer and project his words to the other end, Hazama answered. "Why hello there. You sure picked a bad time for some late night chit-chat, but I suppose you must have something interesting to report about Raggy?"
"Correct, Hazama. This matter also concerns your dealings with Kaiser and Black Suit. Is he with you?" The deep, masculine voice Hazama had come to know so well as his creator answered.
Hazama briefly looked over to Black Suit, flashing a grin. "Ah, perhaps I was wrong and your timing is perfect then. He was just about to introduce me to the PMC Director and the sharply dressed fellow just happens to be right next to me. You caught us right before our little meeting could begin."
With another light application of Ars Magus, Hazama 'connected' Black Suit into the exchange. "Go right ahead, the floor is all your's."
"What have you discovered?" Black Suit asked plainly, yet with a clear curiosity infecting his words.
Almost immediately, a reply came. "I will make matters brief as you have business to attend to, the full implications of this are better discussed with the rest of Gematria present. I have reason to believe Ragna the Bloodedge's existence is related to the strange ripples in Kivotos."
"Is he…? You and Hazama are more familiar with him and the Azure than we are, perhaps that's why you found it so quickly. I take it you felt something once in his presence?" Black Suit answered slowly, as if working through the implications in his head while he spoke.
"It is the opposite, in fact. There is something about his existence I can't comprehend, cannot Observe. I see him, yet it's almost like gazing upon a mirage. I believe it related to why neither Hazama nor I could recall Ragna's existence until we saw reports of his presence here." The man stated matter of factly, as if giving a research report.
Hazama's near perpetually closed eyes flicked open with unrestrained surprise, revealing the yellow snake like orbs beneath them. Had he heard that right? "Excuse me? First he pulls off a disappearing act not even the Master Unit could, and then you can't Observe him even after winning that game of hide and seek? Oh, dear. That can't be unrelated. Rags certainly has gotten up to something interesting…"
There was simply no way those were unrelated. Hazama knew Ragna almost as well as Terumi did and the both of them were clearly heading for something special near the end of the whole pain in the neck with the Embryo, but Hazama had never gotten to find out exactly what it was since he'd jumped into the Cauldron to escape and well, then he'd completely forgotten Ragna existed till Hazama saw his sour face over the news reports about some new teacher at SCHALE.
Ragna the Bloodedge, feared across the entire world with a list of crimes that'd take longer to read off than a whole phone book, the man who's default mood was "grumpy and frowning", being a SCHOOL TEACHER?
The thought was so stupidly funny Hazama had been certain it had to somehow be an alternate universe version of the guy he knew for a solid 5 minutes.
He'd then spent another 5 minutes laughing about it after realizing it had to be the same Ragna he knew. How in the world did that even happen?
Well, he could think on it later, couldn't get too distracted by that hilarious mental image right now. Back to business. He was starting to understand why Terumi had been so extreme in all his displays.
"You are correct. There will be time to discuss it more later, however. Concerning your affairs, I assume the assault I just witnessed miserably fail was under the orders of Kaiser."
Hazama let out a sharp laugh, putting an elbow onto Black Suit's shoulder and leaning on it. Exactly how he'd expected things to go. "You'd almost certainly be correct. See, what did I tell you, Black Suit? You both need someone like me, experienced with what's becoming the biggest pain in the neck to the whole operation. I didn't become captain in an intelligence department just because I could count on some good ole nepotism from my friend here."
Black Suit let out a soft sigh. "I suppose it isn't surprising. There has seldom been any true complications in this long project. Complacency is an insidious enemy. We'll discuss things further with the PMC Director."
Riiiiiiiight, still had to get to that. Hazama had been waiting for this. Kaiser Corporation, based on what he had learned so far talking with Black Suit and research he'd done, acted exactly up his alley. He just needed a quick way to integrate himself with the organization and side step all that annoying grunt work and 'climbing the ranks' rat race. And Black Suit was the perfect key to open up that shortcut. Gematria was an interesting bunch from the brief time Hazama had known them, but the analytical and dry scientist types were so much more his companion's speed than his.
"Well, hate to just talk business and run, but we'll all busy people and I'm sure our robotic friend will be even more fuming if we're late after his brilliant plan went up in smoke, so we'll talk more afterwards. Until next time." With a casual, borderline patronizing tone, Hazama disconnected the line and removed his shoulder from Black Suit, taking a few steps ahead of him with a grin. "Well then, shall we get going?"
Without another word, Black Suit lead Hazama to a wide set of double doors, opening them without bothering to knock or announce their presence.
Inside the large room with an ornate black marble floor with only a few basic furnishings, there was a stockily build, tall robot seated at a desk. He was dressed in a professional looking black suit with a coat possessing orange highlights and two lines of fabric going from the sides of his metalic silver neck down past where Hazama could see. His face was distinctly non-human, but still close enough to display human like emotion. The clenched mouth that looked like it was nothing but jaw, four horizontal slits of glowing orange "eyes" that were ever so slightly narrowed. It was clear the man was feeling a touch frustrated.
Good note for himself, that emotion sure sucked when Hazama felt it, but it was oh so much better looking on another person. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all.
"Hm?" The machine spoke up with a voice that sounded distinctly robotic in the way the voice was modulated, yet it wasn't emotionless, quite the opposite in fact. "Black Suit and... I take it this is the ally you mentioned before?"
Black Suit stepped forward, with Hazama following closely behind. "Correct. This is the man I briefly told you about yesterday. And who I believe may help in a reassessment of the current situation with the unexpected new factor. I presume that your latest attack did not go to plan, from your demeanor."
"You'd presume right."The PMC Director grumbled. "A tactical tank and body armor as insurance, yet still failing to utterly in their job. It's almost as if that new teacher at SCHALE knew what was coming with how quick the response was. Someone must be leaking information in advance with their knowledge, but I can't pinpoint where it could be coming from…"
Hazama stepped forward, putting on a perfectly practiced mask of business professionalism, much of the more playful or casual tone he spoke with earlier banished. "Well now, it sounds like Ragna the Bloodedge is proving to be quite the headache. Rest assured that I will do everything in my power to help deal with it. He's proven to be very difficult to handle back where I come from, but in his current state it should be a significantly easier ordeal than it otherwise could have. You should consider yourself lucky he only has one arm right now."
"You're from outside Kivotos, just like he is, correct?" The Director's gaze scrutinized Hazama closely. "I wasn't told much, but Black Suit informed me you have significant history with that man."
"Oh, yes. Ragna the Bloodedge and I go a ways back, in a manner of speaking. But before that, where are my manners?" With a polite voice, Hazama removed his hat for a quick, mild bow, putting the fedora back on his head the moment it was over. "Honoka Hazama, at your service. Just Hazama is fine. May I have a seat? This may turn into quite the extended discussion depending on how much about Ragna you wish to know."
The PMC Director gestured toward two chairs in front of his desk. "Take a seat. I want to know as much as I can. Ragna himself is a capable fighter from what's been observed so far, but even the data we had previously on the Abydos students doesn't match the capabilities we have seen recently. It can't be a coincidence he showed up at the same time. There was a fixer agency known as Problem Solver 68 with a good reputation I was planning to hire in hopes of better results than common criminals. But, if I can know more about this annoyingthreat,it will be easier to prepare the right response."
Hazama, with a quickly muttered 'thank you', took the offered chair, alongside Black Suit, as the Director spoke, waiting for him to finish. "Then, I think I can help. I'm not much of a fighter myself, I deal more with information and intelligence. I'm sure a man such as yourself can appreciate how the right knowledge and leverage can be stronger than any brute force."
"Hah," The robot let out an approving chuckle. "I like you already. With the right black mail, not even a single finger has to be lifted."
Hazama grinned a rehearsed, fake friendly smile. Oh, yes. He could definitely work with an easy target like this. "Well then, let me tell you what I know..."
The PMC Director had absolutely no reason to know even 1/10th the full truth of Hazama's relationship with Ragna. But, well, there wasn't anything wrong with sharing some of the "official" history that would've been at play while filling his role as "Captain Hazama". He'd just need to censor a few extra bits here and there, keep it to broad strokes, no sense in inviting further questions or trying to explain being from another world aspect. Just the bare minimum to establish some trust and authority on the matter. The Director may have thought he held all the cards, but the machine was simply a means to an end for both Hazama and Black Suit.
And he couldn't wait to see the eventual look on Ragna's face once they met again.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
GUESS
WHO'S
BAAAAAAAAAAAACK.
Oh, did you think Ragna was going to be the only Blazblue character featuring in this story? OH, NO. NOT AT ALL.
If you're here just for Blue Archive and don't know who this duo is and why I've been waiting the whole story to get to this chapter for them...
Oh, you're gonna LEARN.
And if you are familiar with Blazblue, it shouldn't be hard to guess who Hazama was talking with.