A/N: Welcome back! This took a while, not because of any reason other than I was busy. For one, I've been replaying Cyberpunk 2077 and reading the Cyberpunk RED core book and it gave me some… ideas. Also, I've been writing stuff for people, and my own stuff, and school. You'd think that last thing would take up a lot of time, but, in fact, school helps me write a lot.

Also, I've been writing the Omake for this chapter. It took a while since I had to get it… 'right' for a lack of a better word. It also gives a peek into, what I believe, would be Mateo's attitude during the period after breaking up with his girlfriend (pretty badly too), fighting for around two and a half years almost constantly, and other things.

Now, onto responses:

Ikmalaizad11: Well, Mateo would probably not do that. He didn't have a technical 'superior' after the death of the President, but… god, the fucking timeline of the Division 2 is fucked. Anyway, as for the second question, well, you'll see, Mateo will relish being the one with the upper hand on this occasion.

whoopsteyrs: I'm fine, just a bit busy on a few things. Hope to see you too, but it might not be soon, I use Playstation to play and my PS Plus expired, it's expensive... And yeah, it's amusing that the meta hasn't changed much.

That's about it. I hope all of you enjoy this chapter.

Also, thanks to random boat from the Mojave Express Discord server, he was the one who beta read this. Thank you again for your help. Now, onto the story!

Black Suit waited within a casino, all of his thinking in Poker terms has him craving the sinful activity, and with Kaiser being, well Kaiser, it has no limit to its illegal or unauthorized gambling parlors it has available. Of course, this one was above the table, if you don't count the obvious cheating and price gouging.

At the moment, Black Suit recognizes his position in this 'game', in his hand he has a bad hand, not because it wasn't against him, but because of all of the unpredictability that has popped up. Particularly, Sensei.

From the moment he appeared, Sensei set himself apart from the students. His combat capabilities outdo even some of the stronger students while his tactical and strategic acumen leave him as an asset on and off the field, but there's also the fact that he's...hard to pin down.

Black Suit sees a soldier in Sensei, but a soldier follows orders, sure at the end of the day, Sensei is following the orders of the General Student Council President, but he never acted lost when he had no instructions. Confused, scared, happy, joyous sure, but he never seemed at a loss of what to do in any situation.

His interactions with students has also led him to more confusion, because he's kind to them, patient, encouraging, everything a teacher is despite being a soldier.

But he knows so much more than just tactics, strategy, and fighting.

So Black Suit is left at a loss on how to continue. He can threaten to raise the debt, but then he'd just shoot him and attack Kaiser. He can try to continue roping Hoshino along to try and force her into the contract, but then he'd be found out and still shot, but…

Decisions, decisions…

He heard the teacher before he saw him, cursing up a storm as he walks into the tables with disbelief in his brown eyes, lacking his backpack but still wearing his body armor as he stomps over in his direction and stops, his face contorting to confusion, even under his mask as he looks at him in confusion.

Okay, fine, adult being beyond human comprehension? That's fine, whatever, I can deal with it.

But what the fuck was up with those prices? Who do these motherfuckers think they are?

And they took my shit too. Just...I can't even describe how pissed I am! They didn't even wait for me to try to argue or anything, they just made me do it. I mean I punched him but still-!

Somehow, someway, the...thing talked, its ethereal and mist-like voice spoke as mist itself seemed to roll off its body, "Greetings, Sensei of SCHALE, or is Vernes better?"

"Mateo." I answer, my hand going to the pistol I have hidden in the sleeve of my hoodie. "Naming conventions are backwards where I'm from. What about you?" I ask, "You got a name or something I can call you? I'd love nothing more than to put a bullet in you but calling you a thing in my mind doesn't really go well."

"Is that so?" The thing in a black suit asks, amusement lacing his tone as he answers, "Then, I believe Black Suit would work best, Horus calls me that, and I've become a bit attached to it."

Horus...Egypt-Abydos!

Wait.

Waitwaitwaitwaitwait!

That's what it was! Her halo-!

…

Kaiser…

Caesar...

That pizza-ass looking motherfu-.

"Black Suit then." I say, keeping my internal ravings in check along with my expression as I begin connecting the dots. "I'd like to say It's nice to meet you but then I'd be lying." I say as I join him on the table, "With that said, it's nice to meet you."

"The feeling is not mutual." Black Suit says, to my surprise, "It's an honor to meet the sensei of SCHALE, the Federal Investigation Club, come join me for a game."

"Poker huh." I mutter, as I narrow my eyes at him and he nods.

"Yes. Uncharacteristically of me," he admits with a shrug, "I've been thinking of my current plan in poker terms, and have found myself curious about its functions. Would you be willing to teach me, Sensei?" He says, a hint of amusement in his voice as I sigh.

"Fine." I say as I sit down beside him. "I don't trust the robots to explain it well either. Like any game, you keep your cards hidden, the goal is to get the highest rank of cards. The ranks themselves are easy to guess, just count up with the highest being Jack, Queen, and King with the Ace-."

And so, I teach Black Suit how to play Texas Hold'em with chips of no actual worth, to the dealer's visible frustration and to my amusement.

Soon, we're ready to play as we begin the round. "How's your time in Kivotos been?" He asks as I give him a pointed look.

"Like you don't know." I answer while glancing at my cards, putting them back down as I glance at Black Suit. "If you're one of the people in charge of the debt, you know what I'm getting up to in that place. Only reason I see that you even wanted to invite me is to stop me before I do or to try to convince me to step back."

"I can assure you," Black Suit starts, while making a bet, "I have no intention to fall back to violence like many of the citizens of Kivotos are prone to doing. I prefer we deal with this like adults should."

I couldn't help but snort at that, "I have a few adults in mind who'd have rigged this place to explode and set it off with you in it before thinking that talking to you was a good option." I mutter in amusement before returning to the game. "So, if you're not here to attempt to dispose of me, what am I doing here?"

"We wished to meet with the enigmatic individual, chosen by the Student Council President and owner of the artifact known as the Shittim Chest, and the one who pitted the Mystic Students against a God and won."

Wha-How does he know about Arona? And 'we'? Is he speaking French or does that mean multiple people are interested in me?

I raise as I keep my expression in check. "Binah, right? Snake-like thing? Yeah. Thing was hard to scare off. So, what's it to ya and whoever's with you?"

"As outsiders to Kivotos, we in Gematria would obviously be very interested in the whereabouts of a fellow outsider," Okay, way too much to unpack there because I know for sure that mutations like Black Suit were never reported as a symptom of the Dollar Flu, and there are outsiders? Then could-, "and the biggest obstacle to our goals."

"Outsiders...goal." I mutter as he seems to realize something as he adds.

"Of course," he starts as he checks, "just because we're Outsiders doesn't mean we're from the same place."

"I'm guessing your goal is to set up a Base of Operations of sorts." I answer. "With Kaiser getting an Academy should Hoshino graduate or should something else happen to her. So why the interest in me?" I ask while raising before adding, "Beyond the whole 'obstacle' thing." Personally, that part still got me a bit confused.

"Because we do not wish to come into conflict with SCHALE." He admits as he checks, both of us revealing our cards and revealing that he won. "What a coincidence."

"I'd call cheating but it'd probably be the robot's fault." I mutter as I pass the cards as I continue. "Only reason you'd be afraid is if you couldn't fight, if you were like me." I answer as Black Suit shakes his head, accepting the cards as I do the same.

"Enigmatic beings we might be, none of us share the same...sturdiness as the Students here." He explains as I snort and chuckle as I continue laughing, resting a hand on the edge of the table as he waits.

Finally, I manage to calm down with a heavy sigh, "S-Sorry, just amusing to think that I have no idea what to think of you, but I could put you down with a 9mm bullet. Which I probably should." I admit as I return to the game. "So, what, Abydos goes under and you get the R Department or do I have to join to know more?" I ask as I raise the bet.

"You seem quite well-versed in this." Black Suit says as he calls. "Would you be interested in working with Us? Gematria?"

"If it's anything like what got me here, I'd rather just do us all a favor and bomb everyone here with me in it." I say as I see the robot still for a second before continuing to pass me a card. "Would save everyone a lot of trouble." Sure, the SHD had good intentions, but Calvin is an asshole and skewed it so we almost couldn't do our job to any extent that wasn't 'kill whoever isn't looking to reinstate the government'.

"So you are not interested in the mysteries of Kivotos?" Black Suit asks as he stills for a second as he gets his card, "Of all the mysteries hiding within it, all of the strange occurrences? All which we could elucidate, should you accept our proposal."

"I am." I admit. "I've always liked mysteries. I liked looking for them, liked some puzzles, and I am curious." I start as I check my cards one last time. "At what cost?"

Truth. These people, Gematria, seem to be people who look for the truth, who know a lot. Like adults 'should'.

He doesn't answer as he folds, revealing his cards as I do the same, leaving me with the lower rank, to his surprise as he forfeited which means I won, as I continue. "Gematria isn't interested in Abydos, you are. Isn't that right? And it's not Abydos you want, but Hoshino. The single student who's been there the longest, whose halo most directly references a god, who's been through the gauntlet of emotions no student probably could on her own and in a district whose history is buried under sand. Your partnership with Kaiser revolves around Hoshino and Abydos with the express intention of forcing her to fold before she can graduate, where she'll either be pressured into joining you behind the guise of Kaiser or you're already pressuring her."

Slowly, I place the cards down as I glance at him. "Did I get something wrong?"

He shows no other emotion aside from the faux-smiling face but I could still hear the regret in his voice. "Seems like I underestimated you Sensei. No, you are correct."

There was a beat of silence as I could hear the blood rush through my ears. "So you decide to take advantage of a crumbling district, crush it underfoot, salt the earth with their tears, make them bleed, for what?" I practically growl out. "For your curiosity?"

"Of course. I won't deny what we've done can be seen as evil." Black Suit states before pausing as I let my own anger simmer.

After all, I did something similar before, but never out of curiosity. "I dunno, I'm fairly sure that there's a circle of hell made particularly for people like you."

"But, within our rights." He says as I still, looking at him in shock. He starts before I can interrupt, "Don't be mistaken, Sensei. As you might have guessed, the disaster that struck was not our doing."

"Man is only man, and the only ones capable of creating natural disasters is nature itself." I answer while glaring at him.

"Exactly, I simply took advantage of it." He starts, "Imagine providing water to someone dying of thirst in a desert. Would it not be fair to expect that person to repay you with their life. This is no different." He elaborates as he continues, "Such stories are commonplace. What we're doing is not unprecedented nor can we be held accountable. We're not responsible for these natural disasters and they certainly wouldn't disappear if we left."

Finally, he leans forward, interlacing his fingers on the table, "Those with power exploit those without. Those with knowledge exploit those without. Every adult knows that to be true, isn't that right?"

...What is he talking about? Exploiting kids? Just trying to go to school and live their life? Kids…

"So walk away." He says and I smile.

"And let those kids suffer?" I ask, "While my body still works? While I can still talk? While I can do something for them?"

"Yes. Live your life, it's far more important than theirs, after all." He says as I want to do so much. I want to stab him, shoot him, force his head against the table, I want to see him bleed.

But…

I look at the cards on my hand. A two of hearts and a seven of clubs, not a very good hand.

Maybe it's a sign, or maybe it's a coincidence, but…

"No." I answer.

Black Suit seems to still, as if trying to understand what I said. "No?" He asks. "Why…? Why? Why? Why?…" He trails off until he slaps both hands on the table, not slams, but slaps, barely rattling the chips, "I don't understand. Why? I can't fathom it. Why would you refuse?"

"Why, Mateo, for what?" He asks and I turn to him, barely containing my rage as I answer.

"Those girls," I start, "they've suffered, they've begged, they cried for help and no one would listen until I did. So I'll see this through, as an adult should."

"But you're not their guardian," Black Suits notes, "you're a stranger who came in on business that happened to coincide with meeting them. So why go through all the trouble? Why put the onus on yourself?"

"Because I can." I answer, "Because I can see them suffer. Because I can see how hard they work and how much they sacrifice for a sliver of hope. Because I can do something about it." I close my eyes, memories filtering through. Of my mistakes, of my successes, of my time as an Agent and before and I come to a realization. "Because it's my responsibility."

It's what I've done every time I went into a new area. As an Agent, it's my duty and responsibility to re-establish stability, preferably in the form of a government but never to be a part of it.

"Oh." Black Suit perks up, as if understanding what I'm saying, "Now I understand. You're saying an adult is someone who takes responsibility. No, Sensei, that's where you're wrong." Black Suit explains, "Adults are the ones who transform society, set rules and laws, designate the norm and define the boundary between ordinary and extraordinary. Adults rule the aimless with authority, the ignorant with knowledge, and the weak with power. That is what it means to be an adult." He then points to me, "Someone like you."

"You could have ruled over all of Kivotos. You had it all for a brief moment: unfathomable power and authority over this city, its Mystics… Yet you threw it all away without a moment's hesitation." He said in disbelief. "Tell me, was your training so strong that you couldn't even make a decision for yourself, soldier?"

I gape at him before I can't help but shake my head. "You're lucky it was me here. You'd have been shot without hesitation for calling any of my fellow Agents that."

"Agent…" Black Suit trails off as I look at him.

"You won't understand. I can sit here, make a powerpoint presentation telling why I did what I did, and that'd only waste our time. But I'll try, after all, I am a teacher." I say as I look at him and he leans forward in interest.

"Because I didn't want to."

Black Suit looked absolutely befuddled at my answer, "...Excuse me?"

"I didn't want to have all of the riches, all of the answers, all the power because it'd all be wasted on me. We're outsiders, you and I," I say, pointing to the two of us, "what right do we have to say that we're correct? We're outsiders looking into a world so far beyond our knowledge, that we're the strange ones here most of the time. That doesn't change who I am. These girls need help. I can help them. I want to help them. I will help them."

A beat of silence passes through the casino as Black Suit seems disappointed. "It seems negotiations have fallen through."

I can't help but scoff, "It's a miracle I managed to stay as calm as I did. Now, I have to go before I actually decide to kill you."

"One last thing," Black Suit starts as I turn to him. "Though I can't see where the ensuing events will go, I suggest against becoming an enemy of Kaiser."

I blink and I smile under my mask. "They can try. I don't treat enemies nicely, after all most tend to become victims after a while."

With my part done, I walk away from the tables, snatching my bag and leave from the casino, my bike waiting for me as I stare at it.

Tomorrow, I have a meeting planned with Kaiser Corporation, then I have to give the Abydos girls the good news and plan it out. Hibiki should be done with my clothes by then, sadly, my Go-Bag isn't leaving my back, Kayoko should be spreading the rumor around, now, I just need to call Hifumi.

For too long has Kaiser been allowed to freely do what they want.

'Speak softly but hold a big stick'.

Oh I'll speak softly, softly enough for them to miss the stick.

The next morning, Hibiki is appreciating her handiwork as I am too in front of a mirror. "This is pretty good." I admit as Hibiki nods along.

At first glance from the top, it's a normal three-piece suit with a coat over it all in the GSC colors with the SCHALE insignia on the right shoulder and on the lower left of the coat. Under that, I have a black collared shirt under it and a white vest over it all with a pair of white slacks and a pair of black boots.

That is if you didn't take into account all the additions, from the white mask with blue accents that continue around my eyes, tempered glass hidden within as a tap from my watch reveals it and covers my eyes with a blue tint. With another tap, it's removed as it recedes as I look down to see the metal on my chest, similar to the Tardigrade Armor system.

"Let me explain," Kotori starts, "the coat is made from a material that allows it to stop most small-caliber bullets and allows for breathability and ease of movement. Meanwhile, the vest is a plate carrier made with a modified version of kevlar and lined with our own prototype of the Tardigrade Armor system you showed us. The inside of the coat is lined with pockets for the storage of extra ammunition and magazines with knee pads while the gloves are made to soften impact while also fitting well, it's the Engineering Departments least-technologically advanced invention but Hibiki's favorite-mmph!"

I turn to the blonde in confusion as Hibiki stops her from talking as I give her a confused look. "Errr-."

"Ignore them." Utaha says, her eyes landing on me with satisfaction, "It suits you well, Sensei."

"Thanks." I reluctantly nod as I look away, "Sorry if the request was a bother."

"Not at all." She admits, "The request itself was fairly interesting and Hibiki enjoyed it, so it wasn't that much trouble, not to mention what we got out of it." She adds under her breath while looking away before returning her gaze to me, "Speaking of, what are you doing today?"

This morning, Ayane messaged me that we had to meet soon. I figured it was about the land, so I told her to go ahead and do so without me. I'll be taking care of things on my end, after all.

After saying my farewells to Millennium's Engineering Department, I make my way back to the SCHALE building before heading to my armory as I stop by a window and I look at myself.

It's not bad, the Go-Bag kinda ruins the image, but the White Death slung over my shoulder matches the color scheme along with the multiple additions to it, like a laser pointer, a flash hider, and a scope capable of varying distances. Then there's the extra holster I sewed on my Go-Bag, the Backup Boomstick strapped tight along with Adam's Key on my thigh, hidden by the long coat.

Something catches my eye as I shift to hide what I just saw, inspecting myself one more time to make sure no one can see the surprise I prepared. The Mystery Tool that'll help us later.

After a few more changes, ISAC announces a visitor as I head to the main office, "Sensei." I hear someone call as I turn to see Rin enter, a folder in their hands. "I came to leave this here."

"Thank you, Rinny." I call out to Rin as her brow twitches.

"Don't call me that." She retorts as I get closer, her eyes roaming my figure before it stops at his chest as her eyes narrow, "Button up your shirt all the way, and why don't you have a tie?"

Sighing and slumping, I can't stop the groan coming from my lips, "Didn't feel like I needed it." I answer as Rin's brow twitches, again, before sighing.

"At least tuck in your shirt." She relents as I roll my eyes, feeling like I'm being scolded by my mother all over again as I do what she says.

"Better?" I ask, not hiding the sarcasm in my voice as she looks me up and down and nods.

"Better." She confirms before relaxing, the edge of her lips curling upwards as she adds. "It suits you well." Before he can comment, her expression returns to her usual and she brings up a folder, "Here, what you asked for." She says as she extends her arm and I grab it, skimming through it as I nod, satisfaction and anticipation coursing through me.

"Thanks. For all of this." I say as Rin nods.

"Good luck, Sensei." Rin says as she walks off.

"Good luck on your end too, Rinny~!" I yell behind her as I walk off before she would scold me any further.

Day one has passed, it's time for day two, let's put all those Social Studies classes and study sessions into practice now, shall we?

The President of the Kaiser Corporation is a savvy businessman, he got to where he is by being ruthless, cutthroat, and patient.

"What is this?" He asks the advisor of SCHALE, armed to the teeth with a pistol on his thigh showing his affiliation and a hand on his backpack, his eyes roaming, preparing to move at a second's notice.

"It's an order. SCHALE and backed by the GSC." He starts as he leans forward, surprising the President as he pushes the file towards him. The President opens it and takes a moment to read through the files as he finds himself at a loss for words. "Effective immediately, all land under Abydos held by any Kaiser subsidiary is to relinquish the ownership over to SCHALE."

"This is an outrage!" The Kaiser President stated calmly but sternly, looking to shame the adult into submission, "It's a gross misuse of SCHALEs extrajudicial authority. Why would I sign such a thing!?"

"Because," he says, moving the paper as the equivalent of a heart dropped as he realized what he was looking at, "recently SCHALE and Abydos have had a run-in with a very...mysterious creature. A creature that has cost Kaiser millions, has it not? Binah."

The picture was one of the Foreclosure Task Force fighting Binah, Nonomi unloading into it while it aimed at Serika as Shiroko's drone was releasing micro-missiles in its direction and Hoshino moved to help Serika. "Of course, such a huge problem falls under SCHALEs purview as a federal investigation club as its existence is not only unknown but has cost a lot to the district of Abydos."

The Kaiser President realized something, he was trapped, SCHALEs extrajudicial authority means that Sensei doesn't have to do this, he can just send an order and they'd have to listen to it. That said, such an act would be frowned upon and have him taking hits to his reputation.

Instead, as Kaiser's President looks through the paperwork, he realizes that all of it is legal, correct, and above all, within regulation except for one thing, but going down that path-.

"Of course," Mateo interrupts his thoughts as he instead slides a different file to him, "I'm not a tyrant who only takes what I want without suitable compensation." Reluctantly, the President opened it as he visibly made no reaction but was inwardly gaping, "After SCHALE has consulted with multiple experts, from Seminar's own treasurer to other companies, we believe the price is right for any and all land belonging to Kaiser and its subsidiaries within Abydos."

A fraction, that's what it was, barely a fraction of what the land was worth when Kaiser got their hands on it and probably worth more, but…

Admitting that, admitting that the land is worth more than what is stated in records will open up an investigation on Kaiser's actions there, revealing their illicit and unregistered businesses, which will open up multiple other avenues for the GSC to slam the hammer down on them.

What's more, the Kaiser President knows what's happening, he has no other choice, the elite PMC members are out and in training and he can't do anything as their single opportunity disappears.

Slowly, he huffs as he asks, "What'll happen to any pre-existing Kaiser subsidiaries in the land?"

"Oh, they'll remain." Mateo assures him, "The only thing that changes is the hand of who owns what, unless we find something that wasn't stated, then well, prompt actions will be taken."

The Kaiser President realized that there was nothing he could do but leave the Kaiser PMC Director to his fate.

With a heavy heart, he signs off on the paper, inwardly glaring at the adult that outsmarted them, at least they got something out of it.

He should prepare to cut ties with the Kaiser PMC Director.

Little did he know, a little bug listened in as Mateo left the area, a smile under his mask.

Meanwhile, Problem Solver and the Foreclosure Task Force were reeling at the revelation. That the only land they owned was the satellite school, their usual movements dulled because of this realization as Ayane waited for their teacher along with the rest of the Foreclosure Task Force, with Problem Solver while Ayane looked through the files they got from the servers.

A lot of them showed a time before the sandstorm, of students laughing happily and enjoying their youth, others were a bit more menacing, as early signs of Kaiser began to develop at certain points.

It was a very heartwarming experience. Then, the door opens, Mateo ambling in with a satisfied atmosphere as Shiroko turns to him, "Nn, Sensei."

"Hello, Sensei~." Nonomi says with Hoshino over her thighs, the sleepy pink-haired girl that might or might not be the Egyptian god of war yawning as she turns to him.

"Oh, hey Sensei~. How was yesterday?" She asks as she yawns and sits up, "Ours wasn't so good."

"That's an understatement." Kayoko adds, her expression sour.

Even Mutsuki didn't seem as up to her teasing as usual as Mateo shook his head. "Oh right, territories, that's been taken care of."

The Foreclosure Task Force's heads perk up at that, Hoshino in particular, "Sensei, what do you mean?"

"Here," Mateo says as he puts the file down on the table, "it's all in there, once you're done, I'll inform you all on our plan."

"Plan?" Nonomi asks as she tries to look at the paperwork from behind Hoshino, who was stiff.

"Sensei," Hoshino starts, looking up from the paperwork, "what is this?"

"I came to an agreement with Kaiser Corporation." Mateo explains as he sits down, "Legally, the government can seize land but they have to give just compensation, which means pinning down the worth of the land on acknowledged grounds." Mateo elaborates, placing the Shittim Chest in the middle of the table with a map. "So, these are Kaiser's operations." He continues as markers begin popping up. "From oil rigs, dig sites, military bases, all the works."

"That's a lot." Kayoko says. grimacing as she looks through it.

"That's impossible." Ayane says, looking through the files as Hoshino's frown deepens. "They don't have that much on record."

"Of course," He nods, "so, when putting the worth of the land on paper, this is what's 'legally' in Abydos' land."

The markers practically disappear as Hoshino begins to realize what happened along with Kayoko. "Not to mention," he taps the tablet and a picture of Binah appears, "boom."

"So," Kayoko starts, in disbelief, "you're telling me, in two days, you used Binah as justification to buy Abydos' land under the guise of an investigation while severely and legally undercutting Kaiser by not mentioning all the illicit and unregistered operations within Abydos that'd cause the price of Abydos to skyrocket. Legally?"

"Well," Mateo started, "extrajudicial authority is useful in speeding things up, but overall, yeah."

"Does SCHALE have the personnel or time to do this?" Kayoko asks as her eyes widen. "Unless…"

"You want the Foreclosure Task Force to manage the land," Hoshino says airily and in disbelief while the rest of the Foreclosure Task Force looks on in shock, "Is that it?"

"Of course," Mateo tells them, "Kaiser will still have their operations here...until the day after tomorrow. Kayoko, did you do it?"

"Yeah." Kayoko says, "It should have reached him."

"Good." Mateo nods while turning to the girls, who are still in shock, "You haven't thrown away the cash, touched it?"

Hoshino shook her head before turning to Mateo, "No, why?"

"Because, we'll use it for our operation. You see," he starts, the Shittim Chest zooming on three buildings, "the Masked Mizugi Gang, Sandman, and Faust are meeting with some cash launderers to clean the cash within the Abydos district. Kayoko, over here," he says, jerking his head to Kayoko, "managed to record Faust and Sandman talking about it and even saw where it was going to be."

"You're not saying what I think you're saying, Sensei~." Mutsuki says as she begins hopping as her smile becomes savage.

"I think so. Now, usually, for info like this, Abydos would move, but what if it got to Abydos? But also-." He continues before being interrupted by someone.

"Hello, Sensei, I'm here like you asked." She states as Hifumi steps in as everyone stares at her. "What's everyone looking at me for?"

"Faust." Shiroko says as she turns to Mateo with her eyes glinting.

"Exactly, it's a setup by Faust and Sandman to take out the Masked Mizugi Gang, but the ones who shows up aren't the Gang, but someone else, meanwhile, in the two other locations, Faust and the Helmet Gang will attack those two and take the cash there. While this is going on, I'm meeting with the Kaiser PMC Director and Problem Solver will be setting up explosives in notable stations. This huge oil rig operation among others, and sabotaging them."

"Wait, you'll be meeting with the PMC Director?" Hoshino asks in shock, "But he'll-!"

"Try to dispose of me." Mateo says airily, waving a hand as if that fact wasn't worth thinking about, "Doesn't matter, he's not the first to have tried and considering I'm still here, I have a good track record of turning ambushes on their head. We kick them out for illegal operations, show it to the GSC, let them investigate for that and other stuff, and, while you'll still have your debt, you'll have the land back among other things."

Clapping his hands, Mateo smiles under his mask, "Now, any questions?"

"Umm," Hifumi starts, raising her hand, "wh-what was the plan, why am I here? I was a bit late…"

"Then let's talk it over some ramen!"

Having a Safehouse in a restaurant is absolutely awesome. Especially one as good as Shiba Seki.

Meanwhile, Hoshino was despondently looking at her ramen within a Safehouse, lined with ammunition and extra weapons while everyone was downstairs.

"Sensei," Hoshino asked, turning to me, looking more lost than I've ever seen, "am I dreaming?"

"I know," I start, my mask hanging from an ear while slurping at my noodles, stifling the moan that wanted to pop up, "but technically, I didn't pay for it for you guys-."

"No," Hoshino said, turning to me as some light returned to her eyes, "instead you practically performed what might be fraud."

"Well," I start with a shrug, "you can always buy it back from me by performing operations to find out about Binah among other things. Besides, it was technically for SCHALE use, so I can't be blamed much."

"You twisted my words," Hoshino started, looking at me with a storm of emotions conflicting in her eyes, "you took advantage of our situation and lied to us."

For a while, she didn't say anything else, instead, taking bites out of her ramen while I didn't offer much to defend myself. After all, I'd have been more than willing to let them handle it, but some part of me reeled at the situation twofold.

If it was just the land, I'd have continued on with my investigation on Kaiser's criminal actions within Abydos. That would have given me enough ammunition to kick them out of it, but Binah threw a wrench into that.

That thing had a halo. Why?

More and more questions come up the more I think about Binah until Hoshino interrupts them. "Liar."

I pause my slurping on my noodles as I turn to the pink-haired senior, her eyes glistening with unshed tears and a fragile smile that belies the, weak, venom in her tone. Slowly, and quietly, I slurp the remaining noodle in my mouth, swallow it before asking, "So…What? You're not happy?"

"Bastard." She adds with a kick to my thigh. "Next time, tell us your plan ahead of time so we can argue."

"Admittedly, this is more of a one-time thing." I admit with a shrug, "The land will, legally, still be in your hands, but that debt's still there."

Hoshino simply leans on her palm, her eyes gazing deep into mine, blue and orange as a light seems to come to life in them. Slowly, her fragile smile hardens and eases into her usual lazy one as she places both hands on the table and pushes her chair back. Standing up, she walks behind me as she tries to envelop her arms around my frame.

"Thank you." She says, her voice wavering as she continues, "For being such a shady adult. For caring when no one else did. For giving us hope."

For a while, I let her words register, after all doing things like this is my job, hell it was my job, but being thanked for it…

It felt nice.

Finally, I wave my arm as she removes her arms from around me, sitting back on the chair beside me as she begins eating her ramen "Compared to back home, this is nothing." And it isn't.

"Your home was not a very good one, Sensei. You hated Kaiser almost as much as we did before you even met them." Hoshino notes as I chuckle.

"I had bad experiences with PMCs," I explain, "corporations too, so anything that has a PMC branch is my enemy by association."

"Uwah, how horrible." Hoshino says with a sigh. "So there's no way I can convince you to take one of us with you to the meeting with the Director?"

"No." I say, shaking my head, "Or else he'll get suspicious. I'll be fine, this," I point to my clothes, "is clothing that can take a hit."

"Well," Hoshino says, a bit reluctant, "If you say so."

"Yup, now let's eat before the noodles get soggy." I start as she joins me and the two of us return to eating.

Just a pair of pseudo-veterans, enjoying some ramen in a Safehouse.

"Sensei!" Arona appears, panicking, "A powerful person is coming."

Even through the sound-proofed walls, I could hear Aru yell, "H-Head Prefect!?"

Head Pre-Oh! That must be Chinatsu's superior.

Hoshino and I glance at each other as we exit the Safehouse and head downstairs two steps at a time, well I was..

"...not Hina's style. But Ako? What's she doing here?" Kayoko asks as both of us come out.

"Aru, the room is soundproof and I heard you from all the way downstairs, hell's happening?" I ask as I keep my hand on Adam's Key, ISAC identifying the center of attention that is the two students, Amau Ako and Sorasaki Hina.

The attention lands on us with Ako making a physical effort to look anywhere but me and Hina's was on Hoshino. "Takanashi Hoshino?" She muttered out loud.

"Ueh~?" Hoshino muttered, lowering the Eye of Horus, "Do we know each other, Miss Head Prefect?"

Slowly, almost confused, Hina shook her head, "No. It's just…" She trails off before closing her eyes. "Nevermind, I'm here on business with Sensei."

"Sure." I start as Hoshino turns to me, "Is here fine or…"

"Private, if you can." Hina says, all of the students turning to her as some brandished their weapons but she ignored them.

Keener...Keener was terrifying in the fact that you had to know who he was, what he did, to be terrifying. His sheer charisma and charm allows him to get into places without raising suspicions. For all intents and purposes, Keener's only real flaw was his status as a Rogue Agent that made his status and general alliances obvious, but Hina?

Hina felt like I was trying to go against a tank. Doable if I was at my prime combat-wise, but not exactly an easy feat now.

Still, she was a student, so, "Sure, follow me. Want something to drink?"

"No, we'll be fine." Hina says as Hoshino follows, leaving Hina in an awkward position as I sigh.

I open the door to the safehouse as I let Hina and Ako in but stop Hoshino from entering. "Uah~."

"You wait outside." I say as I deposit her down.

"Well, if you're sure." Hoshino says with a shrug. "Just holler if you need anything."

"Sure." I say, quickly going in and grabbing Hoshino's bowl before giving it to her. "Here."

With that, the door is closed as I sigh. "Well, you didn't shoot the moment we met, so you're already ranked higher than some other leaders I've met. Good to meetcha. Head Prefect," I said sitting down while nodding to Hina before turning to Ako, "person that tried to have me arrested."

Ako flinches at that as Hina sighs, "I came to speak to you about that." Hina glances at Ako and immediately, the girl sighs and steps back before bowing.

"Sensei of SCHALE, I apologize greatly for my actions when you visited Gehenna." She says while continuing, "If there's any way I could make up for it, I'll do it."

A silence overcomes the Safehouse as I shrug, "Well, it's not like you succeeded or we'd be having a different conversation. So honestly, it's fine, really." I say as the two of them look at me in surprise. "We can just chalk it up to a bit of overzealous protection and some practice for me, 'kay?"

Ako seems shocked, but somewhat dissatisfied. "Alright, Sensei."

Still, I return to my ramen as I turn to see Hina still seated, Ako behind her as she looks around, trying to hide her curiosity while Ako makes no attempt to hide her interest, especially in the laptop in the room. "Was this here before?" Hina asks as I shake my head.

"No." I answered, "I added it, spoke with the owner about it and he gave me the greenlight. So, only a select few are allowed to enter places like these."

"And you're sure it's alright for us to enter?" Hina asks as I shrug.

"It's not that I'm sure it's alright, just that it doesn't really matter." I admit, "SCHALE is already seen with suspicion with the application process including a literal NDA, not to mention my recent moves, but it's not my problem."

"Buying up Abydos land from Kaiser?" Hina says as she leans forward. "So, you've noticed?"

"I hold no love for corporations, PMCs least of all." I admit while glaring at the map on the wall.

Hina seems to nod, "Then it seems that the two of us are in agreement on that."

"The intensity varies, but sure." I say as I take a sip from my soda. "So, you apologized, is that all the business you had in Abydos?"

"One more, and it involves Problem Solver." Hina says as I grimace. "I'm guessing you're not willing to give them up."

"For now, this is Abydos' district, even if the land is SCHALEs at the moment, and I think it's time Kaiser remembers that. Sadly, Problem Solver is integral to that." I say as I lean back. "I'm currently going through a plan in my mind, trying to iron out the kinks and make sure it's foolproof. Wanna hear it?"

Hina blinks in surprise and so does Ako, "A-Are you sure you're fine with us listening?"

"Are you gonna sabotage it?" I ask and Hina shakes her head. "Good enough. Now, Kayoko came across some intel recently, and it turns out that the Masked Mizugi Gang, Sandman, and Faust are looking to perform an exchange in Abydos to launder the cash they got the day after tomorrow. Kaiser would be interested in that much money and so would other unsavory sources. So, while Kaiser is getting it," I say as I grab the map of the Abydos desert and place it on the table as I point at certain areas, "Abydos is going to run a distraction here," I say, pointing and drawing an arch right in between the path between most of Kaiser's re-supply stations and the locations where the money should be as I frown, "while I meet with the Director here, and informing them about their...eviction concerning their illicit activities."

"But why the meeting?" Ako asks, glancing at me, "And that much land couldn't possibly be covered by Abydos on their own."

"That's because there's been a lot of movement from the Helmet Gangsters." I explain, "We believe it's a setup on Faust's and Sandman's end, hoping to get the Masked Mizugi Gang and take all the cash for their own, or maybe it's something else. All I know is that a lot of Helmet Gangsters are moving to a location that might be crawling with Kaiser forces."

"So you're hoping to take advantage of the chaos to cover up the ." Hina states as she points to the area, "Line it with traps and slow their advance, but that won't be enough. You still haven't answered the question about the meeting."

"Both of you know about my...condition?" I ask as they nod. "Well, the idea is to bait him into trying to dispose of me."

They seemed shocked at the very idea, "But, Sensei, that'd be suicide on their end!" Ako points out.

Hina nods along, "It would be, what makes you think they would?"

"Hina," I say as I look at her, "when I say I don't like PMCs, I was underselling it. After all, I have personal experience in becoming the victim of a PMC and making them my victims."

Sure, the Black Tusk tended to take us off guard, but I have experience clawing my way through it and making sure they have nothing to show for it, and taking a limb to, while I'm at it, not to mention other similar groups.

"It's still dangerous." Hina says as I turn to her.

"Hina, either they leave or they'll make Abydos' life a living hell, more than it already is." I tell her, my expression darkening more than it should as I can see her shift uncomfortably, "If I need to put myself in the line of fire to do so, fine. Anything to show Kaiser and the PMC Director what happens if they think they can pull the same stunt again." Turning away, I can't help but mutter, "I can't let it happen again."

For a second, I feel the exhaustion weighing on me before I shake my head. It seems like the only one who caught it was Hina, who seemed surprised for a second before returning, but I could still see the interest. "I see. Then, while the meeting is going down and the troops are going for the money, Problem Solver will be on demolition duty, I guess?"

"That's the plan." I admit. "Though the idea for the meeting is to, ideally, take place before Kaiser decides to move to get the cash, it's going in and telling him to get out, how long could that take? So, the troops will move to help and then Problem Solver blows it all up and I teach that prick up top how much it hurts to be-." I stop before I let my intentions leak out. "So, what do you think?"

"The only weakness I see is this part." Hina says, outlining the area as I grimace. I can't exactly say I have the Helmet Gangsters in my pocket, right? "If you'd like, the Prefect Team could participate."

"Really?" I ask, surprised as she nods. "Are you sure? I mean, I did kinda drop a building on some of them."

"They'll be fine." Ako assures me. "Aside from that, there's not much to add to it."

"Then," I say as I smile, "I can't wait to work with both of you, for now, I have to go check on the others and update them on the situation. Wanna join us?"

"Sadly," Hina says, grimacing, "as things stand, there won't be much peace in Gehenna for long, Iori will be overwhelmed soon. So, until next time."

"Don't be afraid to stop by SCHALE." I say as she turns to me and I smile, "It's a good place to take a load off."

Slowly, I could see some of the cracks on her horns and halo recede as she seems a bit flustered, "A-Alright, Sensei."

With that, the two make their way out of the shop I follow after them, my own bowl empty as I finish sipping my soda. "What happened?" Serika asks as I chuckle.

"What, sound-proofing is too good and you couldn't hear anything?" I ask as Aru yelps and I shake my head. "Let's just say we got some help we sorely needed. Now, let's head back and go through the plan."

Unlike usual where I'd go back to SCHALE once my business was over, I decided to stay at Abydos, mostly to talk with Problem Solver and get to know them better.

I didn't think this would happen.

Humming happily, Mutsuki, seated on my lap, hums a tune as she talks, "I didn't take Sensei for someone so devious, I love it. A sting operation and an eviction all rolled into one~, and the destruction will be beautiful."

"Thanks," I say as I try to ignore Mutsuki, "I think."

"A plan worthy of an outlaw like Sensei." Aru compliments as I perk up at a memory.

"I suggest you get on the Foreclosure Task Force's good side, because if they're not happy once the job is over, then well…" I trail off as Aru yelps in realization.

Meanwhile, Kayoko sighs, "Mutsuki, get off of him, he looks uncomfortable."

"I wonder why~." Mutsuki muses with a wiggle and a teasing smirk as my brow twitches.

You damned imp, you know why!

Thankfully, I had better discipline than most so I managed to keep my cool, to an extent.

"U-Umm, Sensei," Haruka comes closer, "i-is it really alright to take as many explosives as we can?" I turn to her and she yelps, "I'msorryI'msouselessIshouldjus-."

"Sure." I interrupted her, "Just be careful, I know you can probably take it, but I'd rather you not blow yourself up, please?"

She pauses before smiling, "A-Alright."

"Speaking of," I start, turning to them in curiosity, "What's your guys' next step? After all of this?"

"Well," Kayoko trails off, "we're not exactly welcome in the Black Market anymore."

"And with how much Sensei's paid us, we don't need to live out of tents anymore." Mutsuki says as Aru's face blanches as I raise a brow.

"Tents?"

"I-It was a necessary sacrifice, sometimes luxury needs to be sacrificed for the greater good." Aru interrupts in an attempt to save face.

"I don't think a place to sleep is a 'luxury'." Kayoko mutters as I shrug.

"No judging here, I'm used to sleeping in the wilderness." Which was true, while the SHD had multiple safehouses in different places, sometimes it was better to sleep outside than it was to enter one.

"Ah right, you were a first responder." Kayoko says as I nod.

"How does a first responder get an EMP grenade?" Mutsuki asks as she leans back and smiles, "Well, not like I'm complaining."

"That's for me to know and you to never know." I retorted as Mutsuki pouted.

"Stingy~!"

Finally, Aru spoke up, "Well, we'll need to find a new office." Aru says, "We can probably afford better with the payments from Sensei."

"Well," I interject, "just remember that SCHALE will always have its door open to all students. So don't be afraid to stop by."

That seems to surprise them, "Are you sure, Sensei?" Aru asks as I shrug.

"I wouldn't say it if I wasn't."

Aru's smile was nice along with the other's.

The next morning was filled with movement as Hoshino signed off on the Foreclosure Task Force becoming the owner of Abydos in SCHALEs stead, of course, there were tears of happiness, but there was also work to be done.

The meeting is prepared, the details are ready and all that needs to be done is to finish preparations. Something ISAC is doing as he uses the drone and satellite imagery, among other things, to scout out the area to the best of his abilities, making sure that there's no way for any mistakes to happen.

I lean under a wide hook from Shiroko as she tries for a kick, strong but untrained as I caught it and pulled, her eyes widening a bit before she fell as I grabbed her by the jacket and pulled, arm cocked back to punch as we freeze, neither of us moving as I let go. "You lose."

"Nn." Shiroko groaned with a bit of disappointment. "Sensei, why aren't you fighting back?"

"'Cause then I'd go for your hair." I say as Shiroko pauses for a second and nods.

"I don't mind."

Ignore it, ignore the double entendre, ignore it.

"Besides, I don't exactly have a certain way to fight." I admit to Shiroko as I crouch, "It just comes natural."

The brutality, the savagery, the ruthlessness, all things I learned from my time as an Agent, especially in DC. I don't want to teach Shiroko that.

"I still wanna learn it." Shiroko says, "I feel like it'd be useful."

Useful…

"Well," I start reluctantly, grimacing as my mind goes to my teacher, our resident Gunner and the Marine of the group, Ares, his designation in our cell, taught me how to turn my desperate flailing into something worth fearing, "there's something I can teach you that comes to mind."

"Really?" Shiroko asks as she comes closer and extends a hand.

I grab it and lean back, kicking her leg as she trips onto the floor as I move with practiced ease, grappling her as Shiroko had trouble breathing with me behind her. "Grappling."

After all, most executions are mostly just grapples when buried down to their basics.

Letting her go, I get up and sigh, "It ain't exactly going to be very useful, but anything else is just practice."

Slowly, Shiroko reaches up to her neck in confusion, a slight blush on her cheeks as I close my eyes and look up.

I genuinely do not know if that's the heat or something else and I'm not looking to find out.

Nonomi...she's probably the only member of the Task Force I know the least of, other than her doting mother attitude and the minigun she lugs around.

I also found out she could be pretty insistent.

"Se-n-sei~." Nonomi insists while pouting as she pats her thighs. "You've been working too hard, come and relax."

"And I already told you." I insist. "I'm fine."

"Even if you are, you've been working too hard, are your injuries even completely healed?" Nonomi asks with a pout as I make it a point to look away.

They are, mostly, all of the cuts I had from the Flak 41 shell are healed and even if they were re-opened by the battle with Binah, injuries are more than just closing the skin and that's it, people need time to recuperate. Thankfully, the BSAV is very useful in that regard. "I am." I finally answered.

Darkly, Nonomi smiled as her hand inched towards her Mini No. 5, "Sensei~, come here." She orders in the same way my mother would when I was getting on her nerves.

"...It's inappropriate for a teacher to be on a student's lap." I try one last time and Nonomi's hand latches on to Mini No. 5 as I sigh in resignation. "...Fine."

"Then c'mon." Nonomi insists, patting her own thighs with a bright smile as I sigh.

Slowly, I make my way to the chairs, leaving my Go-Bag on the floor as I sit down and rest my head on her thighs.

Good Lord in Heaven, they're sof-Don't lean forward!

"So~," Nonomi starts asI internally panic, looking down at me as she leans forward while I turn, her breast resting on the other side of my head as her thighs are on the other, "how is it? Hoshino really likes it."

I don't answer for a bit, trying to keep my blush down, "It's...fine. Just thinking about other things."

Nonomi pouts as she brushes some of my hair. "Sensei~, you're supposed to be relaxing."

"It's hard." I admit, unwilling to admit that I don't want to relax, I want this to be over already. To let the girls be free already.

Nonomi's smile saddens as she scratches at my scalp, "You're really working hard for us, Sensei. Thank you."

"Of course." I say, "It's my responsibility and my choice. Anyone would have done the same."

Nonomi giggled softly, "I didn't think Sensei was this idealistic, it's nice."

Anyone can say that ideals are just dreams, that they're nothing in the face of reality, but ideals are what helped me. They gave me a goal to reach, for the re-establishment of everyday life and people also wanted this. A good leader is the moral of the group, the one who leads his group through the darkest of times, and if the leader is lost in the darkness, then it'll just be a case of the blind leading the blind.

I was a kid when I first killed someone, not even capable of joining the military. I don't think I've grown up much since then, but compared to some of the other Agents, Rogues, or Black Tusk operatives I met, I think I've come out better. My fellow Agents could probably attest to that, though they'd probably describe me as a 'monster' when combat was at its highest.

Compared to what I've seen though, I don't think I could have held a candle to the Students here.

"It's the truth." I answer, "I'm not very special in what I did. Besides, I get to stick it to Kaiser."

"Maybe it is." Nonomi says, neither agreeing or disagreeing.

In the end, while comforting, I had to leave before I could relax.

"Mmm," Hifumi groans beside me within the Abydos district, watching as Shiroko occasionally biked by, "I didn't think I'd have to use this again." She says, playing around with the paper bag mask with the number five on it.

"At least you won't be doing it alone." I try to comfort her, surprising her as I lean on the bench she was sitting on. "Your job is to lead the group you're meeting and corral them towards the other two locations, boxing them in."

"That is true." Hifumi relents, before turning to me, "But is that really all I can do?"

"It's what you should do." I correct her, "We'll be cooperating with Gehenna's Prefect Team, which all seem fairly gung-ho on following the laws. And if they find out you're from Trinity…"

"Oh, right…" Hifumi trails off, leaving her open for me to reach over and rustle her hair.

"Don't mind it. We're just grateful you're even helping, I just rather it'd be you than the Tea Party." I admit as Hifumi sighs.

"I'm not sure what I can do," she says before nodding, turning to me resolutely, "but I'll do my best."

"That's good." I say as I remove my hand from her head. "I'll be trusting you then."

"That said," Hifumi starts, "who am I leading?"

"The Helmet Gangsters."

"Excuse me?"

"How is it wrong!?" Serika yells, scratching her head as I sigh.

"It's wrong because that's not how equations are supposed to look." I answer as Serika slumps onto the table, her ears red out of embarrassment.

Yes, I'm actually doing my job as a teacher, for once in my time in Kivotos.

"Equations have a look?" Serika asks as she turns to me, "What kind of teacher relies on how an equation 'looks' to check if it's right?"

"You're not even believing it's right, yourself!" I counter as Serika pouts while looking away as she fixes her problem.

Turns out, Serika has the worst grades out of all of the Foreclosure Task Force, mostly due to all the part-time jobs she's working, which brings up the question on how that is.

Sure, math and part-time jobs aren't exactly the same, but you do need math to work well as a part-timer.

Not to mention how sincere and straightforward she is, things like literature seem to leave her struggling when it comes to finding 'meanings' to certain things.

Of course, all of the Foreclosure Task Force do well in PE, but in their combat tests…

By the original Abydos' standard, they'd be really good, a few steps away from getting perfect, but compared to the other schools?

There's not a single student in Abydos that can be considered 'average' or less outside of Abydos.

Of course, grades-wise…

"You're supposed to flip the sign if you divide by a negative." I point out.

"Oh, you're right." Serika says before turning to me with a smile, "Thank you, Sensei."

Ohhh, satisfaction… I missed you.

"No problem." I answer.

Ayane's glasses reflect the video she was watching on her tablet, her eyes sad and her frown prominent as she restarts it.

It seems to be the project from a student to make a video before the desert began to take over, there was a lot of laughter and joking. A very youthful thing.

Despite her status as an operator, Ayane was simply looking at the video over and over. A familiar image.

"Beautiful, ain't it?" I mutter as Ayane jumps.

"S-Sensei!" She jumps before sighing and smiling, "It is. Very well done too." She adds as she looks back to it, "It almost feels like a different era."

"Sure, but the one watching it isn't that different either." I say, winking as her face flushes before I interrupt. "So, how were the files? ISAC didn't find anything malicious in the surviving files."

"Ah right." Ayane says as she begins going through them and shows me to them as I lean forward, "I've organized the files into different sections and did a sweep of the files we also originally had. These are files of students that might have been unable to access them while these are previous records and this is for the General Student Council to peruse. While these…" She trails off, "Are the records of land transactions between Abydos and Kaiser." She notes with a sour expression.

"Yeah." I note, "What a bunch of assholes."

Ayane swats my arm again, "Sensei, watch your language!"

"I'll try." I relent. "So, how've you been holding up?"

"Me?" Ayane asks, "What do you mean?"

"All of this. Learning that Kaiser was doing all of this, the transport records, the land, regaining the land, how I did it." I elaborate.

Ayane doesn't answer for a second before she answers, "I don't like it. It feels...dishonest. It goes against every principle we have. Like we're stooping to Kaiser's level." She looks at me with a pout, "And you don't seem like you even regret it."

"You probably hate me for it." I say, shifting slightly as I look away, incapable of looking at her.

"I don't know what to feel." Ayane admits, "I-I want to be happy, what we need to pay back has been drastically reduced so we can relax more, maybe be able to use some of the cash to improve our situation, but I also want to yell, that it's our responsibility. That you shouldn't have to stick your head out for us more than you already have. Already, people are saying things about SCHALE and its actions-."

"Ayane," I interrupt, "leave SCHALE business to SCHALE, to me." I say as I place a hand on her head. "You worry about your-."

"Will you worry about yourself?" Ayane asks, her amber eyes boring into me, "Y-You act so differently, so contradictory, everyone can tell where you're from...it wasn't very nice." she says, looking away before returning to me, "But instead of defaulting to yourself, or even to ask for help, you worry about everyone else first, the Acting General Student Council president, us, the Hot Springs Department, the only time I ever saw you worry was when you froze in front of Binah. Even then, you fought with us." She says before pausing, taking a deep breath as she asks, "So if we worry about ourselves will you worry for yourself? Will you take care of yourself?"

For a second, I think, but not about my answer. But what should I say? After all, "I'll do as my duty says I do. I'll perform the responsibilities I've taken on."

As an Agent, an Adult, and a Teacher.

Ayane seems to understand what I'm saying as she frowns. "...That's not an answer, Sensei."

"Oh it is." I retort as I smile. "Just means you've got some growing to do yourself, and I'm not just talking height-wise."

"Sensei!" Ayane yells, jumping up while covering her chest, glaring at me in embarrassment. "Y-You shouldn't make jokes like that!"

"Like what?" I ask, a bit confused myself, as she turns to me. "I meant emotionally."

"Oh." Ayane stops, suddenly finding it difficult to look me in the eye, "Right…"

I shrug at that, "Alright. Then I'll leave you to it." I say as I begin to turn but Ayane stops me.

"I-I don't know what to say, nor what to feel." Ayane admits, a slight flush to her cheeks. "But…" Finally, I stumble back, her arms enveloping my torso as she digs her face into my clothes, her shoulders shaking slightly. "Thank you, thank you so much, Sensei, for helping us, for giving us hope and-and-."

I stop her as I pat her head. "'Course, no problem at all."

It's times like these where I find myself unable to regret the training I went through before and during my time as an Agent.

It feels like a kid version of me is back on the couch, one leg on the armrest with a towel around my neck like a cape and celebrating while my moodier teenager self is looking on with a smile.

Being a hero has always been out of the cards for me, but a person doesn't need to be a hero to do good, and despite all the bad I've done that'll surely reserve me a spot in hell, if the experience and lessons I learned during it can help others, then I'll be happy.

Like Sisyphus, the rock I've rolled up to the top of the hill might come rolling back down but I learned something, and if I can use that to help others while still learning more, it'll be good.

Over my time as an Agent, I've gained an appreciation for...a certain type of atmosphere when it comes to my buildings or places where I set up camp. High up on abandoned buildings is one such thing, on the roofs or balconies of hotels, basically places that allow me to look out into the monoliths of society and see how far they've crumbled or how proud they stand. If none of those are available, a small patch of grass is good too.

So, entering an abandoned block above where I'm supposed to meet Hina is a new experience since I don't know why she wants to meet. Probably to finalize the plans as I fiddle with the Shittim Chest, making sure I have all of the positions in place. At the moment, I'm fairly calm, I'm not raving to get back at the Kaiser PMC Director or anything, but I am hoping, to some extent, that he does something a bit more...personal.

Loose ends aren't good for anyone, and while I'm willing to extend kindness, I'm just as willing to break them down.

Still, all of this peace and quiet veiling chaos leaves me time to think for the first time. Gematria, Hoshino, Mystics, there's so much to think about…

And SCHALE…

That's…

I don't even know where to begin there.

Throughout the day, I was busy talking with the kids, unwinding them, preparing for the next attack until I finally had the time to truly look at SCHALE beyond its finances after Black Suit specifically mentioned SCHALE as an enemy.

At first, I compared SCHALE to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or the FBI, because clearly, no one in their sane mind would give a random organization that much money, that much power, and let them roam free. Right?

You're right.

Because SCHALE is worse.

There is no technical goal to its existence, and the only clue there is its name, the Independent Federal Investigation Club, as in genuinely Independent, the large number of weapons and heavy equipment under SCHALEs name? Mine to use. The huge amount of cash under SCHALEs name? Also mine unless Rin thinks otherwise, and if I convince her, it will be mine, not to mention the fact that it's budgeted in a way that as long as I don't use over a certain amount of money, no one will question it, to an extent.

The SHD was the fail-safe of the government, one supported by multiple people all hidden in society, ready to be activated at a moment's notice.

As far as the people and the government care, I am SCHALE. The institution and its employees, skeleton crew it might be, all listen to me, not anyone else.

Me…

All of these kids who might or might not be references to deities of their respective factions have to listen to me.

Oh yeah, I can't forget that. "Egypt...If it's Egyptian then…"

If Hoshino is Horus, Serika must be...Bast? Shiroko...the only one that comes to mind is Anubis and I'm not sure I like that comparison. Nonomi...Iris? No. Ayane has to be Thoth.

Still...strange, Millennium...I could be wrong but wasn't it the fallen angels that fell that taught humanity tools? The only place I could find a fitting description is Hasumi and Tsurugi in Trinity but Gehenna, a school of horned and more demonically-featured schools, has Chinatsu and Ako…

Alright, so haloes might or might not be fragments of gods, that's fine, whatever.

Gematria…

Adults...outsiders…

I've met with my fair share of immoral scientists, and have worked with a few too.

Morally, I'd have rather killed them on the spot. Practically, they're the reason we survived as long as we did. Of course, I made sure all of it was over the table, everyone knew the dangers and whatnot, willing I might be to work with them, I was just as willing to pop them if they go too far.

But Gematria…

They have no reason for this, they just want to know, to reveal more of the secrets Kivotos has, even at the price of the students.

The fuck kind of logic is that?

I'm getting pissed.

Smoking was never a vice I indulged in, but all of this?

I think I need one.

Slipping out the box, I shake it as I jerk it upwards, one of the cigarettes coming out as I catch it in between my lips. The third time I smoked with four missing cigarettes. The first was with Kelso after the NOA mission where my injuries made my heart stop during my time in the infirmary. If it wasn't for her, I'd probably be in a worse place mentally at this point. Her blunt aggressiveness was very useful in that regard.

The second was a few days before I appeared here. I was looking at the moon after checking the last Settlement under government oversight in my path, all of them peaceful for the first time in a while with similar reports all over. Well, except for that outpost that sent me here.

Regardless, I open the lighter and light up the end of the cigarette. "I never took you for a smoker, Sensei." A voice rings out behind me as I glance back, watching as Hina steps out of the shadows, her purple eyes glowing in disapproval under the shadow caused by the roof.

"I don't." I admit, trying to ignore the horrible taste in my mouth. "Hate the taste, hate what it does, honestly, all-around horrible thing."

"Then why not throw it away?" She asks as I take a drag from it and my face scrunches up.

"It's the only thing I have to remind me of home." Which is a bit sad, in a way, but the smell...It's comforting. After all, I was raised around smokers and even after, smoking was fairly common among Agents. Sighing, I pinch the end, making it go out as I let the smoke go from my lungs, away from Hina's direction. "Anyway, what's up? Shouldn't you be asleep or something?"

"I simply wished to confirm the Prefect Team's position in tomorrow's operation." Hina confirms. "Sadly, as much as I'd like to do it in the day, it'd be more of a detriment to you if I was spotted with you."

"Like a celebrity?" I ask and Hina blinks before shaking her head.

"Not exactly...but I guess it's similar enough." She says before looking away, "I'm not exactly the cute or glamorous type. I know what it's like to have no time to myself and be constantly aware of my surroundings."

I scoff as I lean back on the aged railing of the building. "I feel ya." I admit under my breath as she perks up in interest as I continue, "And trust me, you're pretty glamorous in your own right."

"You really know how to put your foot in your mouth, don't you!?" She started, surprising me as I looked at her in confusion.

"What did I do?" I ask and her own brow twitches as she glares at me.

"You think you can say what you want because you're an adult?" She continues as my brow twitches. "Learn to behave."

"Learn to listen!" I retorted to her surprise. "Sure, I'm not exactly a fashion guru, but I know style, and you're incredibly stylish, fly as hell in fact."

She quiets down as I huff and shake my head, "Jesus…" I trail off as I look at myself, "Is it really that impossible to believe I can understand fashion?"

"I-I'm sorry." She starts, blushing as she fidgets with her glove a bit, "I'm not trying to call you a liar, I just know better than most that I'm not cute."

"That's a lie."

"Enough." Hina cuts me off, glaring at me as I can't help but chuckle under my breath before she sighs, "I didn't call you to talk about this kind of nonsense!"

"'Course, we're very serious individuals." I nod as I take a moment to reorient myself and nod to a nearby table as Hina follows. Placing the Shittim Chest in the middle, I begin, "Right, so the plan doesn't change. We've set up monitoring equipment in the desert, so now all we need is to find any movement from Kaiser." I explain as a hologram appears, something I also recently figured out, "once they do, they'll move and possibly stay in hiding for a maximum of one hour at most thirty minutes at least, or they'll enter guns blazing, the latter has the highest possibility. By that point, their objective will enter or will already be there. Once five minutes pass after a complete mobilization I'll announce myself and draw them to me." I start as waypoints appear to make a point as Hina nods along, "At this point, ten minutes should have passed and the personnel in the main re-supply base should be low, that's when Problem Solver will rig it to blow. There might be interference, but we'll have to see." I shrug before continuing, "Now, should Faust make their move once the oil rig is blown once Kaiser moves, they'll probably attack this area," I say, pointing to the building marked as 'F' for Faust, "while this one," I point to 'M' or Masked Mizugi Gang in the middle, "will also be warded off, where Kaiser will either escape or retaliate, leaving this one," I point to point 'S' for Sandman, "as the deciding factor. The Foreclosure Task Force and the Prefect Team will be here." I explain as more markers appear, signifying the Prefect Team, and Foreclosure Task Force, while other markers, signifying resupply bases, appeared behind them "If they retreat, they'll be walking into a trap but if they don't, we'll be pushing them towards Faust and the Helmet Gang she has with her."

With that, I swipe through the hologram, dispelling it, "And that's as far as your assistance goes, anymore and you won't be able to say you were unaware of circumstances should things go wrong. At most, the Foreclosure Task Force requested the Prefect Team's assistance in capturing the Masked Mizugi Gang, and Kaiser, who was there for some reason, was caught in the crossfire of a club of students defending their district. Any questions?"

"A few," Hina asks, leaning forward, "what do we do if we experience interference?"

"Continue as far as you need." I explain with a roll of my shoulders. "All Prefect Team members will be stationed here anyway with the Foreclosure Task Force, so ask them on how to progress or stick around for a celebration if you're up for it. Ako and Ayane are the only ones who might experience interference, but the main base I'll be in should have the origin of the jammer. I destroy it and we'll be fine, if not, Problem Solver will work through major bases and look for something."

Nodding, Hina turned to me, "What about you? You have the most dangerous job out of all of us."

"I have some backup prepared." I assure her. "With Chinatsu." I admit.

"But how long will it take for that backup to get there?" Hina insists as I take a moment and smile under my mask.

"Long enough. After that, he'll run away." Or leverage the debt. Personally, I hope he does.

I don't have amazing weaponry or anything similar, but I was always pretty quiet when needed, I wonder if I've still got it.

"...If you're sure." Hina relents as I can't help but smile under my mask.

"I am. After all, my talent lies in kicking PMCs teeth in." I say as I can't help but remember all my battles with the Black Tusk. The successful ones anyway. I turn to her as I smile, "I'm glad you're worried."

"Of course." Hina answers, "Despite your actions and what other people may think, you have the best interest of the students, and Kivotos by extension, in mind."

"Well, you're not wrong." I admit. "Now," I reach over and rustle her hair a bit as I smile while her eyes widen and her mouth gapes, "get some sleep, it'll be a busy day tomorrow, for everyone."

Before she can shake herself out of it, I'm already outside and making my way out of the area and towards the bike I 'requisitioned' from Kaiser and had modified in SCHALE, the gray and green replaced by a blue and white with the SCHALE insignia stamped on it.

I drive off, waving away Hina as I return to the Abydos school building.

Soon, I sneak my way in as I sigh in relief. "Time to sleep."

"It is." Hoshino pipes up from beside her, lazy smile in place as I stare at her.

"...What?"

"I didn't take you for the type to put your hands on a student." Hoshino says with a teasing smile and a narrowing of eyes. "Was it the Head Prefect? Or maybe her assistant~?"

I release a long sigh as I ignore her and head to the showers. "Night Hoshino."

"Night, Sensei."

By the next morning, everyone was up and ready to do their part, "Right," Mateo starts within the room, "I've already debriefed the Prefect Team on the final details, but I'll go over it one last time."

With a nod, everyone inside the room watches as he places his tablet on the table as a hologram comes to life. "First off, here are our points of interest, Point F," a tag with the letter 'F' appears, "Point M", another with the letter 'M', "and finally Point S."

The three are right by each other in a line, with the furthest to the left, or West, being Point F, Point M in the middle, and Point S to the right, or East, the closest to the myriad of resupply points in the area with the main base being off 'above', otherwise known as Northwest.

Hifumi already has her orders, but the only ones who know are the FTF, so Mateo has to play it up. "These are where the meetings are supposed to take place, our job isn't to catch them, but to catch Kaiser in the act, so we'll wait until the various bases stop sending soldiers to one of these three places. Once that's done, I and 68, or Problem Solver, will begin to move. My job is to inform the Director of the varying changes happening to this district while Problem Solver will go around and destroy any resupply bases in the nearby vicinity."

"Why's that?" Mutsuki asks, seated as her legs swing forward and backwards.

"That's to deter them from trying to break through the line that will appear once the Prefect Team and Abydos meet up right here." He says, drawing an arch a distance away from Point S and the resupply bases. "With this, they'll either cut their losses and go the other way or assist one of the other points. From there, the job of the Foreclosure Task Force is to gradually force them to the West and out of Abydos. By the time they clear Point F, the order to retreat should already be given and the Prefect Team should already be with you, assisting. Any other questions?"

Raising her hand, Shiroko asks, "What will you be doing?"

"I will be at their main base, breaking the news to them, and if it goes how I believe it will, fighting my way out. Don't worry," he adds with a raised hand as he continues, "I'll have some backup from SCHALE in this fight."

Ayane raised her hand this time as Mateo nodded to her, "What about the various bases behind us that didn't send all of their infantry and heavy machinery?"

"That will be the Prefect Team's job, they'll have a detachment running around and taking care of any groups that arise. Problem Solver," he adds, turning to Aru, "once you're done with the resupply stations, go assist them."

"Understood, Sensei."

"Any more questions?" He asks, turning around as no one brings up anything else as he nods. "Then let's do this, I have faith in all of you, so chin up and let's kick a PMC out of this district!"

"Right!" Was the general answer as everyone began to stock up on supplies.

Mateo performed maintenance on his weapons one last time, slinging a Missile Launcher over his shoulder as he makes his way to his bike and revving it.

He drove off to his position as he felt the wind on his face, ready for whatever Kaiser threw at him.

A/N: Well, here it is, I hope all of you enjoyed it. Next up is the beginning of the Kaiser battle. Don't expect it to be long, I tried my best but long battles aren't my expertise, I still hope it's good. I don't have much to say, so enjoy this Omake, it's kind of important, I want to gauge how strong people think Mateo should be, especially since I have some… plans.

Anyway, leave a review if you like it, please.

Orange Archive: Underground

To Saori, it was a simple job, look for the troublemaker that's been wreaking havoc within the Black Market, fighting a war against all its forces. She did not expect for Squad to find her as soon as she found her target.

Saori's heart froze as she stared into the eyes of her target, lacking a halo but younger than Sensei, bags under his eyes with a familiar mask over the bottom of his face…

But…

No one could speak, not in front of the man that seemed to remind them so much of their teacher, but…

Atsuko, being the observant one, noticed that the man was looking at her in particular.

Behind her mask, she glances around, noticing how everyone is crowding around her, similar to how they did after the first few minutes of fighting Sensei the first time.

Before anyone could act, the man moves, drawing his pistol at unprecedented speed, the pistol going off with unnerving accuracy as Atsuko's head jerks back and so does Hiyori's, the blue-haired sniper falling to the floor as they try to reach for their weapons. The man rolls and switches his weapons, an M870 shotgun as he aims and fires twice, the spread hitting Misaki and Saori as the former falls back, hand going for the revolver strapped to her boot while Saori fired back at the corner the man hid behind.

"Princess, are you okay?" Saori asks as she stops shooting, watching as Misaki helps Atsuko up and behind cover.

Atsuko signs her condition as Saori sighs in relief as she peeks over her cover.

A bullet nails her in the head, knocking off her hat and sending her back as she clicks her tongue. "Hiyori, go-!"

Before she could finish, a familiar shape flies over, Hiyori's eyes widening as she watched the Hive land in front of her before the pods began to separate, a hail of bullets hitting her as she falls back while the micro-drones converge on her, explosions ringing out and knocking her out.

"Hiyori!" Saori yelled, biting down on her rage as she turned to her target and…

She froze, her heart pumping and the grip she had on her assault rifle tightening as he stared her down in surprise.

It reminded her of Sensei, not the kind, accepting, and slightly stubborn Sensei, but the one she caught a glimpse of the first time when they were trying to hunt him down. With eyes alight with anger, all directed at her.

This one, on the other hand, was filled with rage, unreasonable and directionless fire that'd burn itself and everything around it, and if it caught fire once more? It'd do it all over again.

She shook her head, narrowing her eyes as she aimed and fired, forcing the figure to duck behind cover, "Misaki, get Princess out of here."

"Right." The gloomy girl says as she pulls the younger girl along. "C'mon, Princess." Misaki insists as Atsuko lets her lead her away while Saori returns to firing, aiming at his form-.

Why isn't the gunfire coming from his gun?

The thought makes her pause as she turns to see Misaki and Atsuko's form as they turn a corner. She turns back only to see the sole of a boot as it lands on her a second later, stumbling away from her cover as she brings up her arms to block the ensuing punch.

She didn't expect for her opponent to grab her arm, pulling her as he grabs her other arm and forces them down, kneeing her in the stomach as she pushes down the instinctive cough before jerking as an elbow hits her temple. She grabs the wall of the hall and pushes off it, swinging as he weaves under it. He steps around her quickly, his back foot circling her and revealing their back to her, as she tries to step back to disengage and evaluate the situation, except he slid his leg, swinging as something hits her head, throbbing as she spots it.

It's an ax, a familiar ax someone used to hold off a certain someone. Slowly, her arms looked up, the realization coursing through her as she looked into his eyes, glowing orange and a tattoo peeking at his collar.

"Sen-?!" She started before he swung down, his ax not breaking skin as she passed out instead, her halo flickering before it disappeared completely. He looked down at her, nothing coursing through her mind other than hunting down anyone, an event going through his mind as he jogs in the direction the other two went. Looking for anything to distract him while going through the motions of enforcing the mission given to him.

"Hurry." Misaki insists, Atsuko following after her, guns out as Misaki brandishes her revolver, her FM-92 Stinger not exactly a weapon meant to be used in enclosed spaces.

"What about Saori?" Atsuko asks, finding her voice instead of signing her words.

"She'll be fine, we have to-!"

Her words are cut off, glass shattering followed by gunfire as the two duck behind cover. Atsuko peeks out from the lull, CZ Scorpion ready to fire as she aims, desperately looking for a target as Misaki grabs her Stinger.

"Get down, Princess!" Misaki pulls her back under cover, pinned down by suppressive fire from a different direction. Fast. No. He had gear similar to Sensei, so…

Misaki's eyes widen as she aims at the area where the gunfire came from originally and fires, the missile sailing before splitting into pieces, landing and exploding. She frowns under her mask. "Come on, Princess."

Atsuko's body flew at her, her halo flickering followed by the sound of a familiar anti-material rifle, Hiyori's. She looks and her heart drops as Atsuko lands on her and he spots their hunter.

Slowly, he drops the weapon, going, instead, for a shotgun on his back, a familiar one as his eyes resemble a corpse rather than someone who's alive. His movements practiced, his footsteps not making a sound, finger on the trigger with his breathing barely audible, a rhythmic and subtle thing that Misaki noticed as she aimed and hesitated.

She was there, after all, to see what happens when someone without a halo is shot. Multiple times at that.

Her grip on her gun shakes as he gets closer. Instead of a fighter or a warrior, he resembles one of the many Arius students, robotically doing each action. Unlike those students, fueled by a hate shoved down their throat, his eyes were a contradiction, full of life yet empty. Defiant but resigned.

She's seen similar eyes before, in the mirror before her attempts on her own life.

The cold steel of the muzzle was placed against her forehead, jolting as she fired, the hammer of her revolver hitting the chamber as the round hit his armor and he pulled the trigger.

She never got to hear the entire sound as the back of her head hit the floor and her halo flickers out.

Mateo, expecting a shower of blood, lowers his shotgun, relief coursing through his body at the thought of not having to take the life of someone so young again. Only a few years younger than he was.

The relief was replaced with steel as he crouches down and begins inspecting their forms, taking their ammunition and grenades as he stands up and runs off.