The Divide

by 501ar

There are many things you do not do in this world that is generally accepted as fact. You grow accustomed to pineapple on pizza, you're not just born liking it, you do not approach anyone with a watch blinking red, and you do not hire a (technical) high school dropout to become a teacher. Thankfully, this city also needs an Agent. I'm glad I have experience with both.

5. Crumbling Sand Castles

A/N: Hello! I'm back. For a bit. While I've been gone, there's been a Blue Archive anime announced, V3C1 Prologue came out, Problem Solvers are in the opera, and my view count has been fixed so I can now see how many people are reading my story. I've also gone back a few chapters and made a few changes, nothing major, just some stuff to make the story a bit more friendly for those who aren't too well-versed in either The Division or Blue Archive. I'll be doing the same for the next chapters but it won't be too noticeable, probably.

Anyway, I tried rolling for swimsuit Izuna and Minori and I got hot springs Chinatsu, which is fine, but it isn't swimsuit Izuna or Minori. I've also gotten around to watching the web show The Division: Origin, and decided to write a Mateo version of it which is at the end and, just as a random question, in the Federal Reserve mission for Warlords of New York, what loot did you get from Bullet Queen, because I can't remember if I picked up something that had 'gold' in the name or something else.

This chapter, I'll say it in the bottom, but this was one of the harder chapters to write as the most I know about tactics is what I learnt from games and online and then other things that will enter spoiler territory if I say it.

Now, enough about me, let's see what you guys have to say in the reviews.

Hutakata: The Vernes door is a very special thing that only the most unfortunate of sods will have to experience. Thankfully, the sods who'll experience it will deserve it.

GoldStar77: Ah yes, Corrections. He might just fall back to his old codename, Sandman, at some point. He might also need to bring out his collection of Ballistic masks at some point. Inevitably it might be, Mateo will give it his best. Also, nice, I've been wanting to get Hina, but she just doesn't come home.

Cier2.0(Guest): I hope you enjoy it.

That's it for reviews, don't forget to leave your own and check out the poll on my account, if you can. Especially if you want to answer the question above or the one at the bottom. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter.

---

The sound of a buckshot rings out within a dilapidated building, startled yelps following as the submachine rounds follow as they collide against something solid.

Inside, a short pink-haired girl with heterochromatic eyes, one blue and the other orange, while wearing a dress shirt tucked into a gray pleated skirt with a loose tie around her neck and a tactical brace on her shoulders, duking it out with a group of thugs.

Ducking into cover, she reloads her Beretta 1301 with practiced ease, pressing the release as the slot closes and she peeks out, dashing forward and unloading a spew of hot lead into the face of a helmeted thug before ramming the stock of her gun into the thug's throat, sweeping her leg out and forcing her to a knee as she follows. Resting the barrel of her gun on the thug's shoulder and fires twice, forcing the other thug into cover as the pink-haired girl falls on her back and unloads a buckshot into the chest of the thug she was using as cover, their halo disappearing as she rolls back with the recoil.

She dashes forward, unfolding a shield as a round collides with the shield as she ducked behind it, reloading the shotgun once more before the slot closes with a click. Tilting the shield, resting the shotgun on the slight extension as she fired round after round, shells clattering to the floor as the thugs were driven back and out of their cover. She folds the shield, the rounds hitting her skin only to clatter to the ground uselessly as she unloads multiple rounds into each of the thugs as they fall back and their halos flicker out.

In the silence, the girl looks around, holding her shotgun and ready to continue fighting. She only unwinds when she doesn't notice anyone conscious. "Uhee~, I'm getting too old for this." Takanashi Hoshino sighs as she slumps forward, slinging her shotgun over her shoulder. She stares at the shield on the floor, scrunching her face as she hobbles towards it. "Hnnngh!" She groans, bending at the waist and grabbing the folded shield as she stands up straight with a sigh. "There."

Stowing away the shield, she continues her nightly patrol, the singular train coming in and out of Abydos no longer passing by and leaving anyone trapped in their district. Her face scrunching at the thought of her school being seen as a 'trap'.

She hobbles away from the scene looking out the windows of the building and to the sand-buried district she calls 'home', the streets as empty as always as she sighs. To this day, she doesn't think she'll be able to see what her upperclassman saw in this district, but she now has a responsibility to keep it afloat no matter what.

She freezes, her eyes locking onto a man looking down at their phone as he looks around, his face scrunched up in confusion. If this was a lost student or someone else, Hoshino might've gone to help.

But her eyes caught a familiar tattoo on the man's neck, of a phoenix, as her eyes switched to the backpack he had. The M4 on his back slung over his shoulder beside the M870 shotgun, on his thigh holster was a pistol and a sniper rifle with the stock folded.

She knew her underclassman had sent a letter towards SCHALE, as a last-ditch attempt, but no one actually expected much of a response. At most they thought they'd send ammunition and supplies, but to see him there…

She narrowed her eyes, the suspicion ingrained into her from experience with adults causing her to come to the conclusion that he wanted something. Idly, her thoughts went to a more malicious side as she inwardly mocked his weapons, probably more decoration on his person than a tool he had experience with.

Shaking her head, she laughed under her breath, aware of the fact that every student in this city has a weapon, for an outsider, it probably makes sense to load up with as many weapons as possible and variety. If her theory concerning his halo-less status is correct, then it's doubly so.

In the midst of her thoughts he turns, the action causing her to instinctively hide behind a wall beside the window as she tries to control her breathing. "...What?"

She recognized those eyes.

Not the color or the shape, but still, she intimately recognized those eyes.

It was the same eyes she wore during her first-year in Abydos. Peeking back out, she watched as he scanned the building before relaxing, his posture still straight before turning as her eyes narrowed on the adult.

He was dangerous. Extremely so, it was like looking at a mirror of different times with a few stark differences. His eyes weren't alight with rage like hers were when she was younger, instead it was filled with curiosity and steel not seen in the students or even some of the more combat-oriented robotic citizens she's seen. How a man can seem more dangerous than people built and programmed for combat is something she'll never understand, but she felt it.

...She took the time to truly 'look' at him and…

A mirror is wrong, instead, it's like stained glass. Unlike her and the students who were rarely in danger because of their halo, he had an acute sense of danger and weapons he wielded with proficiency and experience. Though that brought up a new question.

Did the GSC President bring him from a war zone or in his retirement?

She scratched her head, groaning while mumbling, "Ehh~, this uncle has been thinking too much."

With little thought, she followed after the teacher.

---

I'm lost as a motherfucker. This damned place is a bunch of winding streets and dead-ends that wasn't made better by the damn misaligned dish messing with the data coming through the area.

Despite this, I look at the sand-wrecked district of Abydos and can physically see how far this place has fallen.

"ECHO detected." ISAC says for the tenth time as I follow the directions until I find a familiar sight.

In front of what must have been a store, the wall of an ECHO waits for me, bits of orange intermingling with blue as Arona appears beside me. "So," she starts, "that's what we used to appear."

"Affirmative." ISAC answers. "Usually, ECHOs are limited to one singular image, but thanks to you," he says looking at her as she brightens up, "we can now make it a video instead of a singular image."

"Ehehehe." Arona bashfully chuckles as I shake my head and smile.

In Abydos, the average person can feel how low the city's fallen. I can see it.

Entering the ECHO, I see the bits of data converge and become a group that, at first, surprised me, but I got over it. Though it's still a bit shocking.

A family of dogs and cats, and not the ones I'm used to, but those who walk on two legs, talk like people, and do things like normal humans would. I reach up and take off my hat, scratching at my head before placing it back as I sigh. "I really hope I don't freeze up when I see them."

With that said, the ECHO began to play out. Music played and children cheered as they ran around with me in the middle of it. Yet, like usual, things stuck out. I look at the citizens and gaze at their profiles and frown. Like the people at the station, in the major street, the ruins of what might have been an amusement park, almost all of them aren't in Abydos anymore.

The ECHO continues playing as I look at the recreation of the house, what would be considered high-class for someone like me was middle for these people. Not to mention it hasn't been that long since the ECHO took place, for it all to come falling down as quickly as it did…

It's strange. There are no signs, no warning, nothing, it just came and went. Sure, you can chalk it up as a coincidence, it's not like sandstorms weren't common before all of this, and natural disasters can't be controlled and some can even fly under the radar.

"Familiar, isn't it?" ISAC notes as I nod.

"Dollar Flu." I say, my mind going to the reports on the outbreak and the news. "Dr. Gordon was a psycho." I respond as Arona continues playing in the ECHO. "...You think the same could've happened here?"

ISAC doesn't answer for a few beats. "I am simply here to assist you, Agent."

That answer was very ISAC. Smirking, I shake my head. "Yeah. You're right."

We watch as Arona laughs and plays in the ECHO for a while until I call out. "Arona! We're moving."

With that, Arona turns to me and appears in front of me. "Right!"

I can't help it as I pat her head as I head in the direction of the misaligned dish, leaving the ECHO and leaving me to my thoughts.

The Dollar Flu was a man-made disaster, unleashed by a delusional darwinist and propagated by groups like the Outcasts and Keener's Rogues. Comparing them to this feels wrong, but also strangely appropriate in a very twisted way. In the end, I can't come to a conclusion until I know more, so I might as well follow ISAC's example and fall back on what I was trained to do.

After a bit of walking, I managed to find the location of the misaligned dish.

Well, I would consider it a success if there wasn't a gang waiting there. The girls were wearing red and black clothes with obnoxious helmets. They hung around like some demented mix between soldiers and thugs, or more like thugs trying to act like soldiers, something like the Outcast who tried to seem like an organized force being oppressed while sending people strapped with bombs to their death.

What happened to Emeline was a travesty of the highest degree and the entire thing concerning Roosevelt Island was a bigger mess but that's something else.

Tapping my Smart Watch, the Tactician Drone begins to fly, scanning the enemies as I hum. Fourteen thugs, two have miniguns, six have assault rifles and the rest have shotguns.

Yeah, I'm going after the miniguns first.

Twisting the suppressor onto my M9, I begin to sneak around the building until I find an area I could jump over.

Leaping over the wall, I crouch, gun extended as a Pulse was sent out, no one in the general vicinity as I continue stalking towards the minigun-wielding thugs.

I see the first, leaning on a crate as she looks around. While I looked around, spotting no one, I moved.

Finding myself behind her, I move into action, getting her into a chokehold as I tighten my grip around her neck, pulling her back as she tries to fight me off, her strength abnormal like most of the haloed individuals in the city. Unlike most of these haloed individuals, I had experience.

Hissing, I tighten my grip around her neck as she slowly asphyxiates, her eyes rolling into her head and her face becoming blue at a slower rate than I was used to.

Finally, she slumped over, unconscious as I sigh in relief. Almost instinctively, I pat her down, my hand grabbing a rectangular shape as I pull out her phone and open it. "ISAC." I mutter as the AI begins to look through the calls, performing something I have no idea how he did it, but it's there as a phone call concerning 'orders' to lock down the dish.

I sigh, rolling my shoulders as I stalk towards the other minigunner inside a room with a bunch of other girls. I wait by the door and roll the flashbang in my hands as I plan it out. Frowning as I sigh. Opening the door and removing the pin, I throw the flashbang in.

"What the-?" They start before the flashbang blows, blinding the girls as I open the door and reveal the Chem Launcher in my hands. I fired the canister into it as gas began to pour out. "Wai-!"

A gunshot goes off and flames burst out as the gas in the Firestarter canister lights up and knocks out the thugs inside but alerts everyone else. Sighing, I roll my eyes, "Here we go."

Raising my M4, I aim with the optic and wait as the panicking thugs try to file in.

The first appears and I'm reminded of the Descent simulation. In a burst of gunfire, the helmeted thug falls unconscious, their halo flickering as the rest try to backtrack but I release a hail of gunfire at the opening as some of the bullets hit true, knocking a few out.

Switching the magazine, I stalk forward, waiting as the Tactician Drone outlines their form as they aim at the doorway. Reaching back, I grab the Seeker Mine, the circular explosive activating as I throw it through the doorway.

It whirs, spinning as it gets closer to the group. "Huh, what's thi-."

The mine explodes, knocking the group out as I dash out, spotting a figure down the hall surprised by the explosion as I place her head in the crosshairs of my optic and knock her down in a burst of gunfire as I continue forward, stepping on the back of a thug trying to crawl away before releasing a burst of gunfire into their spine, their halo flickering as they pass out.

I flinch as a buckshot hits my chest, the armor bar lowering considerably as I duck into cover, evading the second shot before peeking out and releasing a burst of gunfire into their chest as they stumble out. Leaping over the cover, I ram them into the wall and hit them with my buttstock, sending them sprawling before being shot once more and knocking them out.

My HUD picked up more enemies coming as I left the small building and saw as they were all behind cover, the remaining shotguns and assault rifles.

Reaching up to my ISAC Brick, I remove the smooth sloped base and antenna of the Brick with a slight tug before replacing it with a rougher version of it without an antenna, a protruding device on the indicator ring, and a brown attachment at the bottom, clashing with the black of the rest of the Brick.

With a tap, my HUD lights up as the cone of the Banshee Pulse narrows. Once it manages to encapsulate them, I tap my Smart Watch once more as a strange pulse of energy comes out, the thugs stumbling disoriented as I bring up my M4. A series of bursts of gunfire knocks out the rest of the thugs.

Now alone, I sigh, replacing the magazine on the assault rifle before slinging it over my back. "Now, time to re-align the dish."

After a bit of confusion, I reach the controls as I begin to type away the dish moving audibly as I continue. "ISAC, lock this dish down until I say otherwise."

"Affirmative. Controls locked." ISAC says as I nod. "Map now operational."

"Good." I mutter, rubbing my eyes. "I'm tired so I should leave the others for later."

With that, I began my trek towards my temporary camp where I left the bag of ammunition. Hopefully nothing happened but ISAC hasn't said anything so it should be fine.

As I walk back to the safehouse I'm using, I take twists and turns that confuse my tail until I finally reach the house, entering as I locate the couch I'll use to sleep as I flop on it and close my eyes to get some sleep.

Except, I can't, every time I do, the nightmares come back. It's been easier the last two days as I've had nothing to actually worry about concerning the school, but now that I have something to worry about they're acting up. Releasing a shivering sigh, I hold a cup of milk bought from a vending machine and warmed by a small fire I lit up.

Still, vending machines with things other than snacks in them…

Sure, I've seen vending machines with school supplies in universities, but things like ammunition, incendiary grenades, and actual warm drinks? I've never seen one back in the States. I've heard they were a dime a dozen in Japan, but to actually see one is surprising.

I lean on the windowsill, sipping from the warm milk, praying that it's enough to let me sleep with some modicum of peace lest I have to pull out the makeup kit and hide the bags developing in my face as I usually would during the last months of my traveling.

In the silence of the dying district, I freeze. "ISAC," I mutter, grabbing the shoes I usually wear, worn and torn and in need of being replaced but they'll work, I swing my jacket over my clothes, grabbing a few magazines for my M9 and leaving the rest of my stuff back, "check if there are any deliveries being made into Abydos."

"...None at the moment." ISAC says, my eyes trailing the slow van driving through the streets followed by others as I put out the fire I made.

"Where are they coming from then?" I mutter, tapping my Smart Watch as the Scanner Pulse spreads, outlining the forms of…

Wait a second. Are those robots?

My eyes narrow at their outlined forms as their angular forms and weapons cause a pit of dread to open up in my stomach. The only outlier was the single robot lacking the angular frame held by the militaristic robots.

How…?

"The Black Market it seems." ISAC interrupts my thoughts as I narrow my eyes.

I duck as one of them nearly spots me and I hum. "Why is there a Black Market in this place?" I hiss, waiting until the caravan moves on, ignoring the revelation of robots until later.

"I wouldn't know. Just that most of them work within a local server. I can't access it." ISAC says, as the caravan continued.

...There's way too much I don't know. Who was in that van? Why are there robots? Could the people in the van be a part of Kaiser?

I don't think this is a situation where listening to the girls' request might be for the best, doing so might be an active detriment in fact. Yet, what can I do? If I was back in the States, I'd just go in and ask for what I want and deal with it with the help of the local authorities. Here, there is a lot more red tape, not to mention a bunch of laws I have to adhere to and follow, and being an example as a teacher.

Is Kaiser planning something? Did the GSC fuck up? A lot of questions and not enough evidence to answer them.

I was going to get some sleep and head to Abydos in the morning, but maybe I should move out now? At least get closer or something…

Should I even tell the students?

...What do I know?

Releasing a breath of air, I grab my Go-Bag, sling it over my shoulder before grabbing the bag of munitions and walking out of the room. "ISAC, show me the way to Abydos."

"Affirmative." A waypoint appears in my HUD, a line leading me to the location as I begin my jog towards the location.

Remember Mateo. A.N.S.W.E.R.

I'm not sure if this counts as an Activation, but it'll do. I already have access to the SHD Network so that's done. Now I have to secure a Base of Operations. I hope Abydos doesn't mind if I do so.

At least it's cooler now that the sun has gone down.

---

A pleasant tone and a, "Thank you for your purchase," follows a student as she exits the convenience store, her gloved hand grasping the cap of the water bottle as she twists it and removes it, taking a sip from it with a sigh as she rubs her eyes, gray wolf ears twitching atop her head.

Sunaookami Shiroko leans beside her bike, short gray hair swaying in the night wind, heterochromatic pupils looking around as she took another sip from the bottle, her blue eyes revealing a bit of exhaustion as she tightens the scarf around her neck to hide the slight yawn that tried to escape. The skirt of her school uniform sways as she tries to ignore the chill of a desert night as she looks at the water bottle.

Her and the rest of her schoolmates were staying within the school ever since the siege started, their supplies dwindling and their hopes with them. Currently, she's on a snack run for the rest of her classmates at the nearest convenient store that's still in business. At the moment, though no one wants to admit it, they're waiting for a single thing: a miracle.

Either they manage to fight off the siege or SCHALE's Sensei gets Ayane's letter, or they win the lottery. Either one would be nice, but none of them are holding onto too much hope.

She glances at her gun, a black and white SIG 550 with a magazine loaded and another in her pocket.

It'd be nice if SCHALE at least sent them a bit of ammunition. If not that, she also has a Plan B she can bring up at their next meeting

Before her thoughts could continue, the telltale sound of gunfire goes off, her head whipping around as she waits for it to pass, probably another skirmish between the gangs that are in Abydos. It was normal at this point.

There was still a chance that it wasn't a skirmish between gangs but the gangs harassing one of the residents of Abydos, and she couldn't stand aside and watch them harass the people of her home.

Grabbing her gun, she begins to jog to the location, following the sounds as she flicks her gun to single fire as she leans against a wall, looking around as she tries to find the origin of the gunfire.

A shotgun goes off and Shiroko's eyes widen as she watches an adult hop over an obstacle, ducking under it before peeking out and firing twice, pumping the forend as the shells clatter to the ground and the thugs flinch.

Near him, a thug peeks out, trying to shoot him but he moves, the barrel pointed at them as he shot her twice, the power behind the shotgun greater than what she usually sees as he ducks once more, loading shell after shell into the shotgun before pumping the forend.

Her eyes spot his neck with a familiar tattoo on it as he reaches back into his backpack and grabs a strange gadget.

It had wings and that was all she could recognize, as he finished switching parts out as he taps his watch, the gadget coming to life as it flew up before it moved, swerving in between the thugs as it finally found its target, a thug with a sniper rifle as a bright light came from it. The thug jumped out, blinded as she rubbed her eyes from under the helmet she wore before falling under a hail of gunfire from Sensei.

In his hands was an M4, reloading the magazine as he hops over the roadblock and moving forward as the thugs scrambled back.

To her surprise, the back door of a building was forced open as a shotgunner aimed at him. She moved, deactivating the safety on her gun as she tried to fire but was too slow, the thug already had a shotgun to his head. "Bastard! Don't make me shoot you!"

She aims at Sensei's head but a hand stops her shotgun from moving as she fires off the shotgun in surprise, the pellets going through the image, distorting it, to her surprise with the actual Sensei holding her shotgun away from her.

Before she could react, he jerks his head forward into hers, disorienting her in surprise as she loosens her grip on her gun and he pulls it away, letting it clatter onto the ground as he follows with a punch to her jaw. The thug's eyes roll up and her halo flickers before disappearing completely, unconscious before she can even hit the ground, much less fight back.

Her eyes land on the origin of a hologram, a circular dish on the floor he must have thrown before moving.

He whirls around, M4 up and aims at the other thugs, gunfire ringing out in bursts as they hit their targets, the girls moving in surprise as they try to run only to get flashed by the flying gadget and becoming easier targets for Sensei. He switched targets with ease and speed, barely using more ammo than needed as they ran from him.

Finally, the alley was empty sans Shiroko and Mateo, the former watching the latter reload with curiosity and respect in her eyes. She walks out of her hiding spot, her shoes crunching against the sand as she begins, "Are you okay?"

Blue meets brown as the two marvel at each other for a second.

For Mateo, he wonders why every girl he's met is incredibly attractive, and leaves such thoughts for later as he engages the safety of his M4 before doing the same with the Cuelebre, the M870 head and shoulders above most shotguns he's ever used even before he modded it.

Meanwhile, Shiroko was just surprised to see SCHALE's Sensei in person, not really expecting to meet him.

In the end, Mateo answered. "Yeah, just a bit of a surprise, that's all." He says as he releases a breath of air and leans on a roadblock. "You...Sunaookami right?" He asks as she nods. He smiles at that, not visibly of course, instead his eyes close and Shiroko can tell he's smiling. "That's good." He says as he leans off the roadblock. Extending a hand, he reaches up and removes the mask he wore, "Vernes Mateo. I've come in response to a letter sent by one of your own, I've brought munitions and would like your permission to set up a base of operations at Abydos."

Despite the smile and his youthful appearance that would have had Shiroko confused on whether he was a student or a teacher, all that confusion was blown away as he spoke. His tone was somewhere between authoritative and gentle, a strange combination but a lot of it comes from the gentle expression on his face with worry in it, Shiroko's eyes roaming over his form as she notices a few things. From the slight fidgets to shifts in his weight, not to mention the bags under his eyes. He seems tired, but willing to continue fighting.

Grasping his hand, Shiroko shakes it. "Shiroko is fine, Sensei. And You'll have to speak with Hoshino, our president, about it."

"Then, if you'll help me." He says, the two letting go as he walks towards a corner and pulls out a bag, practically bulging. "I think," he trails off, eyes looking in the direction of Abydos as Shiroko notices his eyes glow a slight orange, "the school is a bit of a distance away."

"Sure." Shiroko says as she begins to walk away. "Wait here."

A few moments later, the bag is loaded onto the bike and they're at a conundrum. "So," he starts as he looks at the bike. "How are we doing this?"

"Nn," Shiroko grunts, "I'll carry you and the bike." She says as Mateo, now with his mask on but his face as expressive as always, his disbelief is shown by the quirk of a brow. "It'll be fine."

"Shiroko," Mateo starts, "I am nearly six feet and weigh upwards of one-eighty last I checked my weight." Shiroko's eyes widened as she looked Mateo over.

Bluntly, she said, "I don't believe you."

"It's been a while, but yeah, one-eighty pounds." Mateo says and she blinks again.

"How many kilograms are those?" She asks as Mateo realizes that he probably shouldn't be using Imperial in a place that seems to be based off of Japan, that uses the metric system.

"Er," Mateo trails off as a number appears in his HUD thanks to ISAC, "Eighty-one kilograms. With my gear though that practically becomes around one-seventeen kilograms."

"A fine workout." Shiroko immediately answers as I give her an incredulous look. Despite this, she doesn't seem to be joking as Mateo sighs.

"Lord, give me strength." Mateo mutters under his breath as he remembers something.

Slinging his Go-bag, he begins to rustle through it, Shiroko looking at him curiously as she hears a bunch of things, from ammunition to porcelain and other odds and ends. Finally, he brings out a pair of short metal pipes. He looks at them for a second before he slumps, amusement in his very being, "Who would have thought…"

He goes to the bike and sets them up on the front wheel as he explains. "Here, I'll ride and you sit up front."

Her ears perk up at that, "I can-."

"I'm heavier than you." He cuts in, "If we try to go uphill we'll swerve if I'm in front and you won't be able to see. I'm taller than you and you're lighter, so as long as you don't mind, I'll pedal."

Reluctantly, Shiroko nods. "Fine."

"Right, well, let's hope I don't fall, haven't been on a bike in a while." He mutters under his breath but Shiroko hears and she is a bit less confident about this plan.

Regardless, Shiroko sits up front as she places her feet on the extra pipes he set up. "Ready?"

"Nn." Shiroko hums.

"Right, here we go." Despite the extra weight, the bike held and he pushed off and began to pedal in the night.

Slowly, Shiroko closes her eyes and enjoys the desert breeze, her hair flowing as she sighed, a bit of hope blooming in her chest.

Meanwhile, Mateo couldn't help but notice how good Shiroko's hair smells as he shook that thought away.

---

The last time I was on a bike...Sheesh, that's practically ancient history.

If I remember correctly, I was speaking with one of the other adults in the black belt class, after getting my ass beat by him, and he suggested a bike trail in return for being a good punching bag. He also apologized for going so hard but I did the same.

Anyway, that ride was one through a forest that I went with my family, it was a good time.

I'm still a bit peeved that I couldn't even complete most of the classes before it all went to hell, but I must have done something right if I'm still alive. From gangsters to Rogue Agents and even Hunters, a half-assed agent like me managed to survive through Silver Creek, New York, D. C., Boston, and more.

Damn, what kind of shampoo does she use?

That's a fucking student you horny fuck! Lay your hand on any of them and you might as well shove your M9 into your mouth.

While I hurl abuse and insults at the mental image of myself, I follow the orange line leading me to Abydos.

"We're going too far, take a right." Shiroko's voice interrupts me from my thoughts as I look at the second-year with wolf ears.

Well, wolf ears and human ears, that part is still surprising, you'd think animal girls would only have one or the other, but Shiroko has no tail.

She knows this place better than I do, so I should follow her instructions.

I can see the sun begin to rise as I turn into the street and continue looking around.

I've been in many places in my time as an Agent, from deserts to forests, and tropical places. It's during these trips that I realized something. I hate hot places. I also realized something else.

No natural disaster I've seen would ever compare to Abydos.

Sure, I've seen cities destroyed because of hurricanes, buildings falling in earthquakes, and houses left abandoned. I've dug up corpses because there was simply no one to help these people when they needed to and I've seen bodies frozen during the winter because there was no way to keep warm.

In all of those situations, someone could have done something. And many did, some started fires, others tried to limit their breathing, or went to more atrocious routes. Those who were displaced didn't have a lack of places to go after the Dollar Flu practically killed off most of the population and with no law enforcement to stop anyone, they went where they wanted.

Abydos though?

It has no one.

I look around at the sand-logged houses, some of them broken and dilapidated as sand seeps in through the holes on the roofs.

The people of Kivotos and students are hardy, they're more durable than I'm used to and students even more so, but I wonder, were any trapped in the sand?

I shake my head and continue riding and listening to Shiroko's directions.

There's no one. Yet, the students still stay instead of moving.

At this point, one thing is obvious, what these girls feel isn't pride, it's love.

They love this place for one reason or another.

Shaking my head, I see the building come closer. "There it is." She says, shifting as her skirt bunches up as she moves to fix it and-.

I wish I was alone so I could hit myself.

Instead, I'm fine with pummeling the mental image of myself.

While I'm doing this, my ScanTek outlines the building as information is pulled up.

An Annex? Jesus, how big was Abydos?

"We're here." Shiroko says as I stop the bike, my foot dragging against the floor and kicking up sand as I come to a stop. "Thank you, Sensei, it was an experience."

"No problem." I say as I remove the bag of munitions. "This is a good bike, it's a miracle and a half it didn't break."

"Nn." Shiroko said, her eyes sparkling with pride. "If you want, we could go for a ride together?"

"Er," I start, but despite Shiroko's passive expression, her eyes practically shone, "I'll...see if I have the time."

Shiroko nods but her eyes are still sparkling. "Then let me introduce you to the others."

With that, I nod as I look around, "It's a bit of a mess, I hope you don't mind."

"Nah," I answer, looking around, "It's fine, I did come pretty suddenly."

"…" Shiroko seems to realize something as she whirls around, "Umm, are you tired?"

I blink at her as she seems to fidget and seems worried as I shake my hand. "No, not really. That was a good ride and I feel limber." I say as I stretch a bit to get my point across.

"Really?" Shiroko asks, a bit confused as I nod.

"Really."

"…" Shiroko blinks as she relaxes. "Your stamina is impressive Sensei."

"It had to be." I answer with a shrug. "Now, let's meet the rest of the students here."

Shiroko nods and I follow her into the school, passing by swathes of empty classrooms and other things as we go up the stairs and reach a clubroom with a paper that translates to 'Foreclosure Task Force'.

"I'm back." Shiroko says as I follow after her.

"You're late! You should have been here hours ago." A voice spoke from within as it revealed a catgirl with red eyes and her black hair in twintails with a red crosshair for a halo as she was performing maintenance on a Beretta AR-70/223 if ISAC is correct. She also wore the uniform of Abydos so she was obviously a student.

Her eyes look at Shiroko but they move to me almost immediately, her red eyes narrowed and her hand stopped cleaning the components in her hand. "Shiroko," Kuromi Serika, ISAC informs me, starts, her voice a harsh whisper as she slowly and gently places the component down along with the rag as her hand slowly reaches for the pistol to her side. Her eyes shaded by her hair never leave my form as she grabs it but doesn't rest her finger on the trigger but doesn't keep her finger off of it either, "who is this shady person you brought with you?"

Immediately, I hold up my hands, "Now hold o-."

"I didn't ask you." Serika shuts me down with her glare. "Outsiders like you have no business here."

"Now that's a rude way to talk to someone." I say back, narrowing my eyes at her. "I even came bearing gifts." I say, nudging the bag at my feet but Serika doesn't even acknowledge it.

"Take it back. We don't want whatever you're selling." Serika retorts as Shiroko places a water bottle on the table, surprising her but I kept my eyes on her.

It wouldn't be the first time I'd been turned away from a possible Base of Operations, especially after the whole Keener and Lau debacle. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop though.

"Your water." Shiroko says as Serika looks at it in surprise.

"Th-Thanks." She says as she glances at it then at me. "Wait, you didn't answer, who is he?"

Before Shiroko could answer, the door was opened. "Morning~." A motherly voice spoke as the sliding door opened and I turned, moving so as to not interrupt the people coming in. "Serika, has Shiroko retur…" The blonde with green eyes trails off as she looks at me, her long hair tied into a side bun with fingerless gloves on her hand. She lugged around a weapon usually seen by Agents with a preference for weapons like Machine Guns or the like, a M134 Minigun.. "Oh, hello." She says with a smile, a green halo floating behind her head resembling a crossbow but with three instead of four. "What brings you here?"

"Business." I answer, smiling as I extend a hand while removing the glove and my mask. "I should have said something but I was in a rush and it was the middle of the night when I came."

"Ah!" Another voice spoke behind Izayoi Nonomi as I looked behind her to see a short-haired girl with black hair and amber eyes, red glasses framing her face and her ears longer than normal with a butterfly hairpin. "You're Sensei, right?" Okusora Ayane asks with a disbelieving stare.

I smile and step back. "Yes, my name is Vernes Mateo. Forgive me for holding up Shiroko, while I could have carried the ammunition," I say as I grabbed the bag I left on the floor and raised it up, "it would have taken too long to do it on my own. So I asked to borrow her bike and it took longer than I thought it would."

They all seem to be in shock as I place the bag beside the table. "Here, it's yours and so am I. Until an answer or something can be thought up, I'll be sticking around. I hope we get along."

Slowly, they all seem to brighten up somewhat, even Serika as she releases the hold she had on her pistol. "Aren't you a bit too shady to be a teacher?"

"Probably." I shrug as that seems to surprise them again. "Anyway, grab your fill, there's more than enough."

"School supplies~." Nonomi sings as Ayane follows after her as Serika moves to rebuild her gun in record time. The bag was then placed on the table as Shiroko, Serika, and Nonomi went through it, cheering when they found the ammunition and other dangerous things.

"Sensei." A voice spoke beside me as I turned to Ayane. "Thank you for the ammunition and for coming so quickly. I'm Okusora Ayane." She introduces herself, her red crosshair halo following behind her, as I extend a hand and she begins to bow and we freeze as we realize what the other is doing, the two of us caught in the middle of this awkward exchange as I pull back and she tries to grab my hand and suddenly, we're back in the beginning as she's blushing and my lips are twitching.

In the end, I rested a hand on her head, "No problem. You sounded like you needed it so I moved as fast as I could."

Her face begins to heat up as I remove my hand as I pointedly ignore Serika's disgusted glare being pointed in my direction. "Wait, didn't we send the letter a few days ago?" She asks as she turns to the others and they nod. "It arrived yesterday, right?"

"Yeah, I didn't manage to read it until late at night." I confirm as her eyes widen.

"Then, did you manage to sleep?" She asks, worried in her eyes as I do the singular thing that makes sense.

Slipping my mask back on, I lie, "I did, but I had trouble staying asleep so I decided to come here."

"You didn't get lost?" Ayane asks and I shake my head.

"No. I was always pretty good at finding my way around." I answered, which was true.

"He biked all the way here." Shiroko answers as she slips a grenade under her jacket, her expression the same as before but with a glint of respect in them. "I also found him fighting with some gangsters."

Before they could continue, they heard the telltale sound of gunfire and yelling. "Kata-Kata Helmet Gang." Shiroko hisses as Serika moves.

"Oi, Hoshino, wake up!" Serika yells, her voice slightly muffled from the wall as she comes in carrying a pink bag with her. "The Helmet gangsters are here!"

Except, it wasn't a bag but a person. She had long pink hair with a cowlick sticking out from her head, her eyes were closed as her halo flickered to life, a pink halo that made me freeze as she opened and I froze once more. Her heterochromatic eyes were a blue and orange as she sighed. "Can't even take a nap in peace." She grumbles as her eyes land on me and I feel something course through me.

She isn't normal. Not in any measure of the word.

"Yo, Sensei," Takanashi Hoshino says as she grins, "I'd like to welcome you to Abydos, but as you can see, we have a few rude guests to take care of."

"It's fine." I say as I jostle my own bag. "I'm up for helping if you need it."

She smiles and nods as she slips shell after shell into the pockets of her skirt. "Right. With this we'll be able to hold them off."

"Personally, I'd rather we ran them off completely." I answer as that surprises them. "I have a plan, if you're willing to listen. Or you could just have me fight alongside you."

At that, all of them turn to Hoshino as she seems to blink in surprise before she smiles, slumping in relief. "If you're offering to ease the burden on these old bones, then sure. So, Sensei," Hoshino starts, her eyes not mirroring her expression, "what did the man who saved Kivotos in one day think up?"

I told them my plan and connected to their frequency as we moved.

---

Slowly, the Helmet Gang neared the school building, kicking up a ruckus and shooting into the air as they laughed like a bunch of Hyenas.

One of these gangsters blinks as they look up and squint in curiosity, "What the-."

She's unable to finish, a round hitting her head as she falls back, silencing the crowd as they quickly move, "It's Abydos!" Another shot and the gangsters' eyes widen, "And the Sensei from SCHALE!"

The gangsters move behind cover while the Foreclosure Task Force moves up, Nonomi releasing a burst of minigun fire and keeping them suppressed while Hoshino moves forward slowly, bullets clattering to the ground harmlessly as Serika lagged behind slowly.

"Damn it, where did they get all this ammo? Weren't they supposed to run out?!"

"Call for reinforcements!" A gangster yelled, another moving for their phone only for their phones to short-circuit. So did the phones in the other girls' pockets as they moved to remove them to stop the electricity as they sighed in relief.

"Eh, so that's where you are." A voice spoke beside one of the frontline gangsters as they whirl around.

Their visor broke behind the force of Hoshino's shotgun, their halo blinking out as Serika hopped on top of a car, a blue flame coming from her as if manifesting her anger, "Get the hell out of our district!" She rained hell on the gangsters as they were forced back under Serika's accurate onslaught.

A round rings out, knocking another gangster as one of them curses, "Damn it! Where the hell did they get all of this? Millenium?"

Before anyone could answer, they hear a vent whirl behind them as the gangster's eyes land on a strange gadget on the floor and a bunch of micro-drones floating in the air like dandelions.

"Damn it, go support the frontlines!" A voice hears and the original wave turns in confusion as their reinforcements turn the corner despite none of them contacting them.

Then, as if waiting for them to enter their range, the drones move.

"Ah!"

They target the gangsters from both ends of the street, swarming them like insects while causing miniature explosions as chaos overcomes the group.

"Now!" A voice rings out, authoritative and disciplined as Shiroko and Mateo pop out from one end and unleash a burst of gunfire as Hoshino, Serika and Nonomi do the same, overwhelming the gangsters trying to find cover.

Shiroko and Mateo throw a grenade and flashbang in the midst respectively as they land in the middle, the gunfire easing up as the Foreclosure Task Force close their eyes to block the flash as the gangsters stumble blindly for the pickings of Serika, Shiroko, and Hoshino.

One was left and they stumbled, in an attempt to get their bearings.

Once they're done, they see the Foreclosure Task Force pointing their guns at her as she tries to escape.

The back of her knee is kicked in as she yelps only to have the back of her collar tugged as she tried to move to stop them only to have an arm grabbed and force her hand in a hold, her helmet against the floor as she sees a sneaker as the one holding her speaks, "Don't struggle." She stops her struggling, attempting to move to look at Mateo, her mind conjuring the image of SCHALE's Sensei glaring down at her with a mask covering her face, her voice revealing everything he felt.

"Wh-What the hell do you wa-argh!" She starts but stops with a yelp.

Mateo twists her arm, his mind going back to Kelso's lessons on interrogations and his experience, but each one of his victims were adults, people who were unrepentant of the suffering they wrought. These were just teens who didn't know better.

While psychological warfare was never his forte, Mateo had some experience. Is it better to use on a teenager? Probably not, but Mateo really doesn't like gangsters, especially those trying to destabilize the order of a place already suffering.

"Quiet." Mateo practically growls out, watching as the gangster's body tenses. Almost idly, he shifts, twisting his foot on her back and tightening his grip on her arm. "I asked a few of your friends, back there." He jerks his head towards the unconscious bodies of the other gangsters, the girl under her foot watching as Shiroko, wearing a blue balaclava, was taking their wallets. "They had quite a lot to say."

"Wha-hrngh!" She starts but Mateo twists his foot on her back and twists her arm.

"I said, quiet." He hissed before easing his grip, turning to Shiroko. "Hey, Bonnie, pick up their phones."

Shiroko tilts her head at that, "...Me?"

Mateo nods, grabbing the phones that weren't short-circuited from the Jammer Pulse, Shiroko passes them to him as ISAC hacks into them, unlocking them. Sifting through data, messages, calls, videos, ISAC compiles the information while Mateo slowly twists her arm.

"Waitwaitwait! Ow, I-I haven't even said anything!" The gangster yells as Mateo ignores her.

Finally, ISAC finishes, "My partner was taking too long."

"How's that-!" Mateo releases her arm and she tries for her gun.

Electricity courses through her as she tenses and groans once the shock passes through. Slowly, Mateo kicks away the thug's gun, crouching as their eyes meet. Mateo's eyes were wide, unblinking as she tried to look away but her body was unresponsive from the shock induced from Mateo's bullet.

"The Public Library." He began as she froze up, smiling gently while not breaking eye contact despite the fact that she felt he wasn't looking at her, "the Supermarket, the Old Mall?"

With each location he listed off, the Foreclosure Task Force watched as her reactions varied until she began to nod at a few of them.

After the seventh location, Mateo nodded, bringing out a phone and dialing a random number as the ringtone rang out. A second later, someone picked up, greeting it before grumbling about accidents while something that sounded like a party rang out in the background.

Grinning, Mateo stepped back, "Scram, we've got all we want, tell the others not to come back as well."

With that, the Helmet gangster ran away as Mateo sighed.

---

Turning, I'm witness to the expressions of the Foreclosure Task Force, "Sensei," Nonomi starts, her smile twitching as she continues, "that was…"

Sighing, I run a hand through my hair, "Right, right, a bit overboard." I can tell and I can still feel the regret. I'm so used to going all-in when it involves gangsters that when I'm confronted with a junior that I forget this isn't a Hyena. "Old habits die hard."

Serika narrows her eyes at me, "What the hell kind of job did you work for that to be a habit?"

"First Responder." I answered, which was technically the truth, and even I could tell they didn't completely believe me, "Security." That cleared it up as they nodded in understanding.

My audiometric earpiece rings out, "Sensei, what were those locations? When I searched them up, all of them were old and in disrepair."

Turning on one of the phones, without a lock screen, I open it to their MomoTalk. "Here, read it."

Hoshino looks at it with curiosity as she scrolls through it with Serika and Nonomi looking over their shoulder. Meanwhile, ISAC was updating my map with familiar additions.

Control Points and Strongholds.

"These…" Hoshino mutters, Shiroko leaning forward with her ears twitching and slowly stowing away a blue mask.

"What?" Serika asks, "It's where they hang out? What's so important about that?"

"Looters and thugs tend to stick around after a disaster." I interject, gaining a lecturing tone, "Unlike an army that usually has disciplined forces and a chain of command, gangs and mobs don't have this. Going for the head will only leave you open for a sneak attack from another force, whether it be from a different faction or another gang."

"So we go for the remnants first?" Shiroko asks and I couldn't help but smile.

"Correct." I say, Shiroko's ears flickering as the whir of a drone comes near as it sets itself on its port in my Go-bag. "It also lowers the chance of a sneak attack once the main group has been run off from these splinter forces and allows for us to survey our situation."

The Foreclosure Task Force stew in thought, their faces scrunched up except for Hoshino's whose eyes linger on my form as I ignore it. "That said, good work, all of you." I interrupt, clapping my hands together to gain their attention. "You all performed perfectly."

"Whoo~! Thanks~." Nonomi says while hugging her minigun with a smile.

Slumping forward, Hoshino sighs in relief with a smile, "Haaa~. Can't believe we won! The Helmet gang seemed pretty determined."

"You shouldn't say that Hoshino." Ayane interjected with a worried tone over the comms. "Those thugs would have taken over the school had we lost."

Shiroko's eyes glinted with pride, "Nn, Sensei gave us the edge we needed to turn the tide. We couldn't have done it otherwise."

I couldn't help but chuckle with embarrassment at Shiroko's praise. It's been a while since I got praise like that for just doing my job as an Agent. "I didn't even do much." At most, I set up the Decoy with the Sniper Turret, set my Drone to follow Shiroko and reflect any bullets, and used the Jammer Pulse to stop the gangsters from calling for backup. Hoshino had the Hive while Serika had the controls to the Jammer I set up.

"No. Experience was likely the deciding factor. It was amazing how you handled resources, equipment and support." Shiroko refutes resolutely as Hoshino smiles mischievously behind her.

"Sheesh, Shiroko. You sound like you have a schoolgirl crush." Hoshino says as I promptly ignore that and Shiroko's reaction of blushing and hiding her mouth with her scarf. As cute as she is, that's not a path I wanna go down.

"We did use a lot less ammunition than usual." Nonomi points out as she begins to head back. "C'mon, let's go celebrate with Ayane!"

"What the heck was in those bullets he gave us?" Serika asks as she removes the magazine and looks into it, revealing gray-tipped bullets.

"High-velocity ammunition." I answer. Serika just narrows her eyes at me and harrumphs to the side, walking back to the school building with the rest of the Task Force. "Good work with the comms, Ma-I mean Ayane." I almost said Manny.

"Thanks, Sensei. Would you like to join us?" She asks and I blink in surprise.

"You sure. I mean…" The only ones who seem comfortable with my presence are Shiroko and Ayane. Even Nonomi seems a bit on edge after my little performance. "Won't I just make it awkward after that little...performance?"

"...It was a bit scary." Ayane admits as I shrug. "But you're still our guest."

"Sensei!" Someone called as I turned in curiosity to see the other girls waiting with Hoshino waving her arms, "C'mon! If this old uncle can walk all the way back, you should be able to!"

"And you still helped us, it'd be rude to just let you walk away." Ayane adds as I shake my head.

...I do want to continue to help…

Jogging to the girls, I can't help but retort, "You're not that much younger than I am!"

---

The Foreclosure Task Force and I sit down in their clubroom, Ayane standing up as she coughs into her fist. "Now, I believe it's time for introductions. We are the Abydos Foreclosure Task Force. I'm Ayane and I'm a first-year in charge of the task force's records and operations." She points to Serika, "This is Serika, also a first-year." Serika gives a gruff greeting as Ayane continues, "And these are our second-years: Shiroko and Nonomi."

"Hello, Sensei!" Nonomi greets me with a smile.

"Nn…" She starts but her cheeks flush red as she adds, "Ignore what Hoshino said before."

"And this is our president. Hoshino is our lone third-year student." Ayane says while pointing to the mass of pink leaning her upper body on the table.

She sends me a smile and waves a hand, "Nice to meet you, Sensei."

So they follow the Japanese school system? Huh. Interesting.

"Once again, I'm Vernes Mateo, before becoming the Advisor of SCHALE I worked as a first responder and a teacher when I had the time. I hope we'll get along well." I say with a nod.

Ayane smiles before continuing, "I'm sure you've noticed by now that our school is in crisis. That's why I reached out to SCHALE for help, and you've already managed to come through for us."

"Don't thank me yet, I've just gotta set up a few things, then you can thank me." I interrupt as I tap my finger against my lap. "Besides," I add, "You could've done just fine without me."

"Still, those thugs would have succeeded in taking over the school if not for you. We can't thank you enough." Ayane insists despite my own feelings on the subject.

This is a perfect situation for me. A tangible and physical enemy I can fight, a place in dire straits, and a bunch of people to help me should I need it. Hell, if they told me to do it alone while they protect their building I'd understand. That's literally my job as an Agent.

Now, I'm just waiting for the ball to drop. "It's fine, but something's been bothering me." I add, turning to them as I continue, "What's the purpose of the club?"

Ayane's eyes dash to the side but return to me as the atmosphere gets slightly more tense, "The Foreclosure Task Force's goal is to bring Abydos back to its former glory."

Is that it?

I mean sure, sandstorms and gangs are a devastating combination, but there has to be something I'm missing.

"Okay, and the first step to that is to kick out the Kata Kata Helmet Gang?" I ask as they nod.

Nonomi adds, "It'd be nice to have a few more schoolmates."

Shiroko agrees. "It's too difficult to defend the school on our own," she glances away, muttering, "and a bit embarrassing to see the state it's in."

Ayane adds with a sigh, "If you hadn't come to help us when you did, we would've been in big trouble, Sensei."

"He~, talk about timing, right Sensei?" Hoshino adds as she glances at me, something in her glance unnerves me.

"Personally," I start, "I think you could've done it on your own. Sadly, our job's not done yet." I say, grabbing a paper and a pencil as I write down the locations in Japanese to the best of my ability with the help of ISAC. Once the locations were written down, I turned it to show them, "These are the hideouts of the Helmet Gang. It's in our best interest to knock'em down before going for their stronghold."

"Or else they'll attack us while we go for the head?" Ayane asks and I nod.

"Not to mention lessen any attacks on the residents and remaining businesses." This gains their interest as he continues. Reaching back, I grab the Shittim Chest as I open a map of the Abydos district. From there, I hear Arona hum. "Here I go!"

With that, the map zooms out, revealing the five locations in red with a helmet beside a flag. The Annex is green with the symbol of Abydos on it. A legend appears as most of the options were disabled. "Here are the hideouts, or Control Points as I call them." With a tap, a bunch of locations light up. "These are businesses and residential areas."

"Sensei, most of these are by residential districts and the shopping district." Hoshino points out with disbelief.

"That's the train station." Nonomi notes the distance between the station and the nearest Control Point.

"Yup."

"But not that many people enter or leave much." Nonomi says, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"On trips, sure, but what about anyone who has jobs outside the district?" I point out, their eyes widening in realization. "They also have supply chains."

With another tap, lines begin to surge, revealing the flow of goods and people within the district as Abydos begins to notice something.

"Those damn-!" Serika starts, her anger the most obvious as Shiroko points it out.

"Sensei, can you show us their movements throughout the day?" She asks and I nod.

Arona was silent, while ISAC sighed, "Loud and clear."

Arona yelps in surprise, "O-Oh! Yeah, Sensei."

After a few buttons, a time lapse plays out, the Foreclosure Task Force watching with interest.

In the morning, the Helmet Gang are the most active around the train station before moving to the shopping districts. The pattern continued, as if deliberately evading the Foreclosure Task Force and only occasionally meeting them.

They were circling Abydos as if trying to choke it out.

The lapse ended and the outrage in the room was palpable.

But my attention was on something else. Specifically a white question mark occasionally appearing and moving in between these Control Points. Someone is pulling the strings with confidence…

No, they're yanking them around.

...This will need to be investigated.

The Control Points are another problem. Abydos doesn't have the manpower to hold them after capturing them. Then what can be done? I can't just conscript random people to do it.

No, all we need to do is force them out for now.

"They're choking this place." Nonomi says with a serious face.

"Then let's force them out." I say, watching as the fire in their eyes grew. "The Stronghold will need to be left for later because if we want to finish this by tomorrow we can't just storm it exhausted, and trust me, this is going to be exhausting."

A bit hypocritical on my end since I did that when the Black Tusk invaded the first time.

"You can't tell us what to do after-." Serika starts, yelling while slamming a hand on the table.

"Serika." Hoshino's voice cuts through Serika's argument as she looks at their president. "Look." She says, her eyes moving to the tablet as she dragged it towards her and pointed out to a few lines as Serika looked. "If we take them out, the Stronghold won't have access to supplies. We can expand our patrols to them and make sure none of them try anything and either starve them out or force them out."

Serika, thoroughly ashamed, her ears drooping, nods.

She doesn't apologize to me for yelling, but that's another thing entirely.

"Then load up on ammo." I warn, standing up as I stretch. "This is going to be a tough one. Ayane," I turn to the first-year, "you'll be in charge of monitoring the situation. We'll start on both ends and meet at the Library, the one in the middle." I point to the Control Point as they blink.

"Are you sure, Sensei?" Hoshino asks, a bit surprised.

I shrug, "I'll be fine, these don't have as many people in them and it'll be quicker to separate here and force them in the middle where we can take them out in one sweep."

"Then, I can-." Shiroko tries to join but I stop her.

"No. All of you work well together and you can finish it quickly. Besides, you'll be able to help me if I do have some problems if you finish earlier." I say, leaving the girls to stew in it.

Before they could refute, I left the classroom. "Call me if you need any help."

Stepping out of the academy, I mutter under my breath. "Thanks ISAC."

Arona's muffled cries ring out as ISAC sighs with exhaustion in his very voice, "No problem."

Hopefully Arona will let me off after giving her some food or something.

---

A few hours later, the Old Mall is broken down, Hoshino charging in with Iron Horus out and her shotgun propped up against it, releasing an arc of pellets that pushed those caught in it back, what few bullets managed to hit her clinking uselessly against the ground.

A sniper rifle goes off and Hoshino's head jerks back. "Shiroko!"

With the pull of a cord, a modified drone floats to life, releasing a barrage of mini-rockets to fly towards the sniper as it moves once the sniper is down to another.

"Here we go!" They're forced down as a minigunner releases a spray of bullets as Nonomi appears with her own, releasing a barrage of bullets in an arc, forcing some of the thugs back and the enemy minigunner to move.

"Take this!" Serika yells, slapping a fresh magazine into her gun while she is wreathed in flames. She peeks out, aiming as her gun sprayed its ammunition at a faster rate than usual, as she moved and shot down the thugs with fewer shots.

Hoshino gets closer, missing a shotgunner behind her as she stumbles from the buckshot, biting her lip as the thug falls down from the retaliatory shot she buried into the thug.

A sense of confusion falls over the group like a cloud and Hoshino feels pinpricks of self-loathing and jealousy in her heart as Ayane drops another medical case beside her while hearing Nonomi yelp as a burst of bullets hit her and she's forced behind cover again.

The ammunition on their person was already halved and it was only because of Shiroko, who would loot the bodies of the thugs, that they didn't have more than just a third of their original ammunition after going through the other Control Points. With this, their three Points should be about done before meeting with Sensei at the Library.

At the memory of the adult, Hoshino slams her shield against a thug with more force than necessary but none of them noticed, they were too tired to. They've had to deal with the patrols along with the Control Points themselves, extending the time they had been walking and the ammo they expended. Nothing should have changed, it should've been like normal, it'd be a struggle, but they would've come out for the better, yet that's not the case.

Shiroko leans behind a pillar as she reloads and aims, jerking back as a buckshot hits her side as she aims at them while falling back, knocking them down in a burst of gunfire before getting back up and re-joining the others.

All of them tried to hide it, but they could feel it, the missing presence of Sensei as they fought, and Hoshino hated it. She hid it well to the point that the others truly didn't notice anything, but she hated this feeling of...ineptitude as she fought.

With a final pull of the trigger, Shiroko knocks out the last Helmet gangster as she releases a sigh, the rest looking for any surprises.

With an easy-going smile, Hoshino waves at them, "Ehhh~, guess that's it."

While Shiroko was indulging herself in her looting habit, purposely looking away from the rest of the task force to hide the dissatisfied expression on her face and Serika was on the lookout with Nonomi, Hoshino leaned on a seat buried by the sand as she looked at the faded poster of Kaiser.

Why? Why is she feeling dissatisfied?

Because Shiroko was right. Because Sensei was wrong and they're proving him wrong.

Now that they had better access to ammunition they could be more aggressive against the Helmet Gang but they could still feel the emptiness of their pockets or magazines so they were still cautious with their shots so they should've been better. They mowed down Helmet gangsters at a faster rate and with more efficiency than before.

Yet, they weren't as good as they were with Sensei.

They were slower, got hit more, and got injured more. Granted, if they simply got the ammunition and Sensei didn't come and they did this exact thing, they'd have seen an improvement, but compared to the improvement they had when following Sensei's orders, it was nothing. Now they could see it after being led by Sensei, the inefficiencies of their tactics, the flaws in their strategies, minor as they are, but Hoshino can't help but see them as glaring weaknesses.

His confidence assuages everyone, his orders are precise and clear, his durability despite his haloless status inspires a sturdy feeling, and his accuracy helps ease the burden on them.

How he does this is irrelevant, but the fact that he can is a boon, especially with the information he shared with Ayane.

Hoshino desperately wanted to hate him, to despise him for 'abandoning' them except for two things: he was never one of 'them' and the confidence he had in them.

She knows she's making something out of nothing, that despite her worries she and her underclassmen are more than a match for the Helmet Gang, but this feeling of inferiority and confusion she feels when she meets the adult only worsens.

People have never been her forte, fighting always was, but she's not the same girl suckered into joining a dying school she was a few years ago. Constant contact with adults made that so.

So what could he be hiding?

"Shiroko, you done?" She asks as she stands up, wiping the sand off her legs.

"Nn." Shiroko responds with excitement in her eyes.

"Ayane, how's Sensei?" She asks as the task force leaves the old mall.

"He says he's on his way." She says, typing away before smiling at the group. "He just sent me the plans for the building with instructions."

Hoshino sighs imperceptibly, what would usually be seen as a prideful act only brought relief to the group.

They were doing great, but compared to what Sensei thought up, it was clear who was better at strategy and tactics. "Tell us."

"Wait a sec-!" Serika tries to refute only for Ayane to add.

"He says it's for a grade and if we do well he'll pay for some food." At that, the others leaned in interest. "It says to find a back entrance and go up the stairs after letting Nonomi attack first. Lead them up the stairs and let Ayane and Serika take them down. Hoshino will follow and take care of anyone at the bottom."

Hoshino looked at the schematics, wondering how he got it before shaking her head. It's a solid plan.

"Alright. Let's go." She says, the rest of the task force following after.

Soon, they found the entrance, Nonomi up front as she shakes. "Here we go!" She yells, forcing it open with a kick before unloading into the library, surprising the gangsters and knocking out a few as she began to move to the stairs, Serika and Shiroko joining her in suppressing the gangsters as they ran up.

As the gangsters wondered what to do, a shot rang out, a .50 BMG round hitting the head of a gangster as they fell, the shockwaves damaging the nearby gangsters as they ran in an attempt to get away.

An assault rifle and a flamethrower rang out, corralling the gangsters towards the stairs as the sound of a rifle echoed in the library as some tried to leave through the back entrance.

"Sensei!" Hoshino said with a stern tone as she unloaded a buckshot into an unaware thug before ramming her shield into another, resting her shotgun against her shield and releasing a spread of buckshots.

Atop the stairs, Serika and Shiroko mowed down the gangsters trying to climb up as silence overcame the area.

"Well done!" Mateo said, stepping out of hiding as he closed his eyes and smiled, hidden behind the gas mask he wore. "I give that a ninety. All of you pass!"

Hoshino watched as Shiroko, Ayane and Nonomi brightened visibly as he came closer to them. Her gaze still on the adult as he folded the stock of his rifle and holstered it on his backpack. Her eyes roamed his form, from his mismatched ammunition to the slight scratches on him.

He doesn't seem to have used too much ammunition and his scratches are practically non-existent despite the trails of dried blood on what little of his body was exposed.

She was missing something, she knew it.

"Uhe, you can take it from here, Sensei. Take them where I can't." She says, making a performance out of it as Serika rolls her eyes and Nonomi just smiles.

"You sure?" He asks, worry clear in his eyes as she nods.

"I'll catch up, but you still owe us some food." She warns and he smiles, nodding.

"Then, we'll wait for you there." Sensei said, turning to the girls as he talked with them, mostly Shiroko, Nonomi and Ayane. Serika was still being stubborn.

She watched them go, waiting until she stood up once she felt they were far enough.

Quickly, she made her way to Sensei's Control Points to see what the feeling she had was.

The feeling was shown true as she saw the veritable bodies left in his wake, her count showing that he had to deal with twice, if not thrice more than they had.

She realized then and there that they were being fed false information.

Two thoughts popped up in her mind. The first insisted that she take care of a possibly dangerous element by her underclassmen before he acts, like all adults did.

But the second stopped the first in its tracks as it asked: Why?

Why did he hide the actual number of gangsters on his side? Why didn't he ask for help? Why did he do this by himself? Why is he trying to hide it from the others?

Hoshino sat down on a bench, holding her head in her hands as she tried to make sense of this.

Adults were selfish, using students like her and the Foreclosure Task Force to their benefit to profit. Adults were liars, always acting as if they cared only to ask for something in return, even when they had nothing to give. Adults were willfully ignorant, looking away from the struggles of students while profiting. To Adults, students were just a number to profit from.

Hoshino hated liars. She hates the man who tricked her into coming here, hates the Senpai who gave her hope, hates the Adults who took her away, hates the people forcing her down, and she hates people who lie.

Sensei is also a liar.

He lied that their side was harder. He lied that he's a first responder.

Sensei also had confidence in them. That their efficiency would be better if he wasn't around.

It wasn't.

Hoshino rubbed her head, trying to understand why he'd lie.

Wouldn't it have been easier if he told the truth?

As the sun went down, the first chilling wind swept by Hoshino as she shook, Hoshino cursed her Senpai.

"Hoshino~! Look! A shooting star, quick, make a wish!"

"Hah? What the-."

"I wish for Hoshino to see the rebuilding of Abydos!"

"Idiot! Aren't wishes supposed to be silent?"

"Oh right…"

As the memories passed by, she released a sigh, "You said it out loud, Senpai, now everything's so complicated."

---

I wait atop a wall, swinging my legs with a sigh as I watch the stars in the sky, far easier than I could back home, waiting for Hoshino to leave the Library.

Well, waiting for her to come back from 'inspecting' the Control Points I took.

Arona was currently munching on the sweets I had hidden while refusing to accept my apologies or ISAC's considering he did tie her up to stop her from revealing the actual number of opponents in the Control Points.

Though it seems like Arona's angrier that I 'put myself at risk' instead of 'doing my job' like I said.

They're students, students with guns and very good with those guns if not a bit over-reliant on their halo-given endurance, but students nonetheless. They should be studying, not kicking out intruders from their homes.

Slowly, in my thoughts, I hear footsteps close in, taking a second to make sure no injuries are visible even if the visible scratches were already healed.

"Hoshino!" I called towards the pink-haired girl, slumped over as her heterochromatic eyes land on me. She smiles despite her eyes not showing it.

"Uhe~, Sensei, what are you doing here?" She asks, straightening up as I jump down the wall. "Careful, wouldn't want your knees to pop."

"Very funny." I retorted, not mentioning how that did happen once. "C'mon, the others are waiting for you."

She nods, walking beside me under the darkening sky, "Then let's."

We walked through the district, buried in sand as I watched it pass in silent contemplation with Hoshino.

In one of the buried mailboxes, a paper sticks out, worn from age and time as he reaches out towards it. Hoshino has gone ahead and left me behind so I looked at the paper.

I frown at the characters, ISAC translating them as I could tell it wasn't good. At the top was an image of an octopus with a crown and the word 'Kaiser Corporation' under it. It was an eviction notice.

But…

Shouldn't the ones passing out eviction notices be the Abydos school?

"Sensei~! Hurry!" Hoshino insists as I turn, crumpling the paper on instinct as I sigh.

"Wait up you fake uncle."

"Ah! How mean."

---

A/N: Hello! I'm back! Now, I've been busy with stuff, originally, the meeting was going to be similar to canon but I thought that how it came out wasn't good enough, so I wrote this new one. I actually like it, though I hope I didn't make Serika too aggressive, considering Shiroko can cross kilometers in minutes if she tries and with how sincere Serika is, she'd be worried if Shiroko took too long to come back and imagine she came back with a strange man with her who came with 'gifts', I felt she'd be pretty aggressive and suspicious, especially since at this point all of them were in the school to protect it.

One of the harder things to do here was speak for Hoshino. The first part was easier than the last, but I think I got close enough. Also, their tactics, that was difficult too. I had to find a balance between experience and inefficiency, they are students after all, as many fights as they've been in, the Agent has been in worse situations for a longer time. But they've fought together and for a long time as well, so having them bumble around wouldn't make sense either. I hope I got that balance.

Anyway, V1C3 came out for JP, and, as respectfully as I can, I wanna know how and where Yume dies. It's integral to the story.

Speaking of integral to the story, I have a bone to pick with Ubisoft. It's not what they've said or anything like that, but the fact that in the next season Kelso is missing.

Kelso...A character important to my story.

Kelso.

And we have to fight Hunters. I think.

I'm currently studying abroad and have no access to the Division 2, and last I played I still haven't finished the Warlords of New York.

I also haven't gotten through Hieronymus, which sucks because my access to the internet that allows me to log into Blue Archive is limited.

I believe that's it for now, but, I do have one last thing to add. It's a question that I have a poll for on my profile and it's more or less to gauge your guys' feeling on the matter as I might do it, might not, but how do you guys feel about the Agent having a relationship?

So far, out of six people(quite a lot) no one's said 'no' but three have said they'd be fine with him having a harem(multiple partners) and three have said they'd rather see him in a relationship with a single partner.

What do you guys think? Again, this story won't have an emphasis on romance, but it will be there, and this story is rated M for a reason aside from more freedom, trauma and violence. Also, the poll is to gauge what you guys think, I might just go ahead and do the harem anyway.

Please, be courteous and polite when you're saying your opinion.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, even if it did take a while to put out, so, until later!

---

Orange Archive: First Days

---

Have you ever seen society crumble around you? For many, this answer would be 'no', for some the answer is 'there never was much of a society to begin with', but among the intent and the context behind these questions, there is one all-encompassing experience.

A family, sitting as they hug each other for comfort as they listen to the world change.

Me? I...never really thought about it.

Sure, I practically blackmailed the recruiter into letting me in and none of the others had any real problem with it, all of them were impressed, for some reason, with my skills with a gun.

Those skills translated into other things, survival, martial arts, leading, planning, but never to the point that I was 'amazing'.

I was 'good'. For the recruiters, this might as well be a gift.

'Adaptable' they said. 'Room to grow' and 'quick learner' were words I heard in what little time I could listen in while they talked.

By the end of it, I was given a watch, setting it on my left wrist, opposite of the watch my mother gifted me.

Sure, ISAC has access to my actual files and what was written on it to justify it to the government, but I was there in the initial testing, in the VR missions, the simulations, the arguments, the matches. They never said it, but I could see it in the way their faces were by the end.

I was 'sufficient', for a young man who has them by the balls. The only times I saw the impassive facade break was in solo or missions where I was a leader. Their gaping expressions is one I'll treasure.

Regardless, thinking about something that'll break won't do anyone any good. Sure, I was in a secret program to make sure that if that does happen, there'll be someone with the skills and power to circumvent anything and everything for the continued survival of the country and the people, but no one really expected much. Maybe a large blackout or something, but nothing like the breakdown of our very way of life.

I didn't even finish the initial training.

The…

Mateo leans forward in his seat, his brows shadowing his eyes and making him seem older than he is as he takes a deep breath.

I remember it, it was loud…

Mateo's hand goes up and they shake around his head as he tries to describe the sound.

It was a screech, everyone knew it, I knew it, and we heard it in the middle of the night, me, my mother, my father, a cousin and their parents. I remember holding my mom's hands as I tried to calm down and to assure her. My father was knocking back some alcohol with my uncle while my aunt, paranoid she is, was going through our stuff and making sure we'll be fine.

The day before I was working with the man training me in machinery and vehicles, how to fix them and stuff, someone came into the auto shop and tried to take one of the cars.

We let him and neither one of us did anything to stop him.

He saw the writing on the wall and he closed early. Instead we went around fixing cars through the night with what we had and giving advice when we could. We stopped a few robberies, fought some people, but the fear was palpable.

To worry that something might break is futile. Feeling the futility that-that comes with seeing something break is…

He stops, moving his hand from his chin to his eyes as he leans back, his hands going through his hair as he tugged at it and leaned forward, a smile on his face.

I had to smile for a few days, the apocalypse right outside our door as we locked ourselves in. We weren't at the heart of it, that was New York on Black Friday, but it began to affect other places.

It was sporadic at first, gatherings of different people just trying their best, but then they became violent.

I was activated a little bit after the First Wave sent to New York, but communications were spotty and news outlets weren't the most reliable when they said everything was under control while soldiers died behind them.

Before he left, my uncle gave me a gun, a M1911, and told me to protect my mother and father.

I accepted it and I used it the day I was Activated.

We were being robbed. By some twist of fate, luck, and genetics, our family was hardy, hard to make sick and even harder to keep down, so when supplies stopped coming in, we were fine, it was cold but we could make it and most of the medicine we had was over-the-counter stuff for colds, and the like.

As a result, people thought we had stuff stashed up, didn't need to move or anything and we weren't exactly poor.

They found out quickly that not only were they wrong, but that pointing your gun at a kid was a bad idea.

Six in total came in and I went to meet them, they searched but all they found was a generator too heavy to lug around and over-the-counter medicine, not what they were expecting and they were angry. One of them pointed a gun at me and my father took him down with an axe.

I shot the other five, the act easy and almost natural with my training. My watch turned orange a second later.

Little time to explain to my parents why their child had to go after seeing him kill five grown men with a gun, I gave my dad the gun and left. We met again afterwards at the Base of Operations where they gave me one last gift.

A wooden rosary. Not being the most religious but unwilling to let my parent's heart break, I tied it on my bag and continued.

Still, a lot of those times I survived are practically acts of-.

Mateo stops, holding a hand as he reaches for his bag and grabs the M4 tied to the side. Turning to the camera, he frowns, any sign of his exhaustion, feelings, or even hesitance is gone. He signals for the person behind the camera to crouch and they do as he reaches behind and throws a plate-like object in front of the door. A second later, it lights up and a hologram pops up.

The door was broken open, the lead Hyena shooting the hologram as Mateo pops up, shooting the leader through the head as it jerks back and the others reel back, one of them with blood on their masks.

Mateo walked out, tapping his watch as a drone on his bag flew up and stood in front of him, a wall appearing as bullets bounced off of it and he shot the rest with well-placed shots.

The recording cuts there.

---

And that's what I wrote in a fit of inspiration after watching the Division: Origins. The webshow wasn't revolutionary, but it did clear up a lot of my questions, not to mention enjoyable. Now, this is it for tonight, so until next time, and I hope all of you enjoyed it.