A/N: Hello everyone, and welcome to the last chapter…
The last chapter I've had on my backlog for the Divide. AKA, this is probably the last thing I wrote during my time abroad in Italy half a year ago. Which is insane to think about. Anyway, updates are going to slow down, as usual, and I should probably think about getting social media for this, huh? Maybe Bluesky? Whatever.
Anyway, this begins the first 'Intermission' section between chapters. Here I'm going to try out a few things, and see how they work, how they do and don't. As a warning, I've already told people that the perspective will begin changing once we get into V2C1 as the stories start transitioning from Sensei being the main character to focusing on the students themselves, with occasional Sensei appearances, while the side events will be mostly from Sensei's perspective, though this was mostly inspired by UnknownSixth. I try to keep references as references, so please spare me Hivemind.
Speaking of, join the Hivemind within the Mojave Express, UnknownSixth's Discord server, I lurk there and other authors hang out there. We're currently trying to collect them all.
Now, with all that out of the way, time for responses:
Ikmalaizad11: Yup, gotta take some things slowly. It'll be a while before anything happens, so wait, for now. As for opening up, eh… who knows?
rollynolly: Don't really have a favorite faction. But, the Rogues if I had to choose one, after you remove all the killing and stuff, they're pretty cool. Just Agents forced to do bad things, though I'm not sure if they count.
fuji92: Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it. As for opening up… well who knows?
Yagami Kuzuki: Maybe… Still, shotguns aren't bad weapons for close-quarter combat since that's what he's mostly been fighting in. Around next chapter, he should be using a different weapon, maybe.
Kamizuma24: Depends… maybe. First, I need to take care of a few things I noticed in-game.
That's about it for responses.
Before I forget, thank you Random Boat for being my Beta reader.
Don't be afraid to leave your thoughts or to point something out while you read on the reviews. I hope you enjoy the chapter.
During the Dollar Flu and even after, people left things behind in their rush to leave, for example within vending machines you can get a drink, in fridges you can find some food, in abandoned luggage bags you can find the occasional tool or even a valuable or two. Even before that, Agents were taught to take anything they could, from spare wires, notebooks, kids' toys, medicine, components, and anything else. As someone whose specialization in machinery and technology is generally repair, it has helped me a lot.
Still, imagine my surprise when I was at a nearby park, scrounging through trash cans and recycling bins. The amount of unused ammunition and magazines I found there was a travesty, not to mention the electronics I disassembled and stowed away in my Go-Bag. I was performing a routine use of the Scanner Pulse, an old habit, and because my instincts were warning me, something set it off.
In a trash can.
Grabbing my M9, because I decided to leave Adam's Key behind for actual official duty, I slowly reach out and grab the top of the can. With a firm push, the top pops open as I raise it and peer in, gun ready to shoot.
"Hyuuu~."
That's a strange sound for trash to make. Except it isn't trash.
The girl in the trash can whines as she curls into herself, her red eyes open with fake rabbit ears, long black hair sprawling behind her with a few stray leaves on her head. Her halo was gray, resembling a cloud with raindrops coming down and her gun was white, covered in a tarp as ISAC identified it as a Finnish Mosin-Nagant M39, a Ukko-Peka model, ISAC describes it as.
Finnish… Mosin-Nagant… virtually no presence…
She continues staring at me in fear as I can't help but try to see any similarities…
For the moment, there are none.
"So…" I trail off, slowly holstering my M9 back to its place as I rest my hands on the edge of the can, "whatcha doing there?"
"Huh?" She starts, looking at me as she asks softly, "Y-You can see me?"
"Should I not be able to?" I ask, a bit more worried this time, ghost sightings weren't exactly rare during my time as an Agent, so could this be…
I can see a bit more details as I look her over once more, I can see the 'SRT' patch on her shoulder and her armor. "Still, that's some pretty good armor you got there." I can't help but note, "First time I've seen anyone wearing any."
"Uhh, ah, thank you." She says with a blush as I lean forward, placing a hand on my cheek.
"So...is this like dumpster diving or…" I trail off as she shakes her head.
"N-No, it's…" She trails off, panicking as I shrug.
"Well, it's fine anyway," I relent with a shrug to her relief, "so, you find anything?"
"F-Find?" She asks as I nod.
"Sure, a lot of people throw away a lot of things. If you know where they do that, you can get some pretty good stuff, like offices, for example." I explain as she leans forward in interest.
"R-Really?" She asks and I nod. "Like what?"
"You know, old monitors, phones, things like that." I start, "Not to mention-."
A static sound comes from her chest as she jumps, looking at it as she gives me an ashamed look, "U-Umm, I'm sorry, but can you…"
"'Course," I say as I step back a bit, ISAC listening into the comms.
"RABBIT 4, this is RABBIT 1, do you read me?"
"U-ummm, RABBIT 4, reporting."
"Good, Operation Cage begins in ten. Be ready."
"G-Got it."
The comms end as I can't help but frown, I could swear I heard static come from the trash can. Turning I go to the whining girl.
"You okay? I think your comms is broken." I note as she whines.
"And I just got a new one too." She notes as I shrug.
"Pass it over," I ask as she seems reluctant. "I'm not good at building things, but I've repaired things like this before. I'll be right here too."
She briefly considers it before nodding, "O-Okay, here." She passes me the device as I look it over. I can't test it, but the problem was the output. It kept breaking up despite the stable signal, so…
As I crouch down, removing my Go-Bag and grabbing my tools, I get to work looking for the problem. My time as a Support Agent usually led me to armories, not only to see cool guns but also to fix them up and even other things, after all, we had limited supplies at all times so making sure everything worked to its fullest was a requirement. Not to mention all the broken supplies we got from the loot that we had to clean or repair.
Within a few minutes, I nod, "Here," I say, passing it back to her, "it should be fine."
She looks at the radio in surprise, "Thank you."
"No problem." I say, waving her away, "I don't think you live in a trash can, or I hope you don't, so take care of yourself." I say as she smiles.
"Okay." She says before walking away and perking up as she remembers something, "Um, I'm Kasumizawa Miyu." She says with a bow.
"Miyu huh?" I mutter before smiling back, "Vernes Mateo. Good luck."
I wave her off as she walks off with a pep in her step.
Until she trips on a root and I flinch at that. That was unfortunate, like extremely so, almost cruel.
Regardless, we separate at that as I head back to SCHALE to a sleeping Hoshino.
Well, no longer sleeping, or there to begin with. I tilt my head in confusion before my phone buzzes, my ScanTek pulling up Hoshino's messages as I read them, slipping a light sweater over my clothes.
Sorry, had to go back. Seems like Ayane needs some help with some of the paperwork among other things.
I can't help but chuckle as I respond.
Just be careful, I don't think they're very happy seeing you disappear so suddenly.
There's a beat as a series of dots appear.
...Can I go back?
I don't answer as I head down to the armory and my workshop, cleaning all my weapons and ensuring they're all in the right place.
After that, I check the traps within the building and surveillance I have set up among the weapons I've hidden all over. Then, I finish setting up the perimeter outside as I check the traps and ammo boxes that are hidden around.
With that done, I stop by Angel 24. "Hey, Sora," I said, stepping in, the blonde girl perking up in recognition.
"O-Oh, hello Sensei." She says, smiling as she continues, "How was Abydos?"
"Oh, you know." I trail off, looking through the food, "Hot, sandy, the students were fine and so was the ramen, so not much to say there." I say as I grab a few things for Arona before checking out the bentos, to my surprise. There were quite a few.
Guess I'll grab one.
Slowly, my eyes land on the heavy weaponry, as I edge away from it. Sure, even before I was an Agent, I was used to the idea of guns being scarily easy to get, but Kivotos…
I don't think I'll be able to get used to having guns within buying distance to kids who can't even smoke yet. Well, except for Wakamo or Kayoko. I think.
Speaking of Wakamo, she didn't appear in the video, so I wonder where she went after that whole thing. I've gotta thank her for her help.
I talk with Sora as I grab my things and pay for them. Soon, I've had breakfast, my ration bars have been stocked up along with my ammunition, my Go-Bag is capable of fitting more things but has enough space for other things I find, my medicine, bandages, and other things are stocked up and I've got nothing else to do other than paperwork and preparing for that field trip that Shun wants to set up.
The planning was easy, they're kids, and they can't stay still for too long, so we can close off a section for them, the engineers can tell them what they do, show off some cool things, and then finish it off in time for lunch at the cafe with a small snack in the morning. Everything in between is mostly just sparsely planned to account for anything the kids would want.
Well, at least, that's my experience, hopefully, Kivotos kids are similar enough to the kids back home.
With that done, I get to the paperwork and decide to tune into Kronos, my audiometric earpiece going to it.
"...Now, let's get to our next topic for today! SCHALE and the mysterious Sensei. Barely two weeks have passed and he's already making waves across Kivotos with his skill and his actions…" A podcast? Good way to gauge how people feel about SCHALE, granted, it's not my problem.
I listen in as I continue writing, not expecting much to happen today after the entire shit show that was yesterday.
After a few more dozens of papers, I check the time to see that it's mid-day as I slump over and let my head hit the table. "This sucks." Reaching for my bag, I grab a ration bar and am about to rip it open.
"Wait." Serina warns stopping my hand, surprising me as I turn to her, "You shouldn't always eat something like that. You need something healthier since you're recovering."
"How'd you get in?!" I ask as I see ISAC manifest, his surprise obvious along with Arona who's generally just shocked. "I thought it was locked by default?"
"Was it?" She asked in confusion. "Still, you can't just eat things like these, especially since none of the injuries you got ever fully recovered."
"I'll be fine." I try to assure the pink nurse but she seems insistent, "Really."
"And don't think I haven't been noticing you using the technology you have to make yourself heal quicker," Serina says while glaring down at me, to my confusion.
How does she even know that?
"Using drugs to speed up your healing isn't healthy, you need time to heal, not just have your injuries close!" Serina says as she crosses her arm with narrowed eyes directed right at me.
"That's a lie." I retort, looking back to the paperwork, "I've been doing it for four years and I'm fine."
"Se~n~sei~." A familiar voice rings out behind me as I turn to see Fuuka there with her arms crossed, eyes narrowed, and foot tapping.
"Fuuka? How did you get in here?" I ask in shock as she walks towards me.
"I asked Haruna to help me and she let me in." She says as I look behind her but I don't see Haruna. "She's at the cafe at the moment."
"Hello~." A different voice popped up as someone leaned away from Fuuka's back. "I'm here~!"
What leaned to the side from Fuuka's back was someone I can only describe as mischief. From her red hair tied up into buns to her blue eyes glinting with mischief, a red halo with three smaller circles connected to a larger one with an inverted pyramid in the middle, her modified uniform, and the graffiti on her LMG. She stepped out as she waved at me while stepping forward, "I'm Konuri Maki, a member of Veritas and Chihiro's replacement."
"Wait, but I never-actually, how did you get in? We've been skipping over that part?" I ask while pointing at Serina as she tilts her head in confusion.
"Through the door?" She says to my disbelief.
"What door? There's one entrance leading to this area and it has a camera on it and you never appeared?" I ask as I bring up the camera feed on the computer and don't see anything. I look at ISAC and he shakes his head, so the SHD cameras don't catch her either.
"Yeah, that door." Serina nods to my continued disbelief.
How? That makes no sense. I mean, ISAC can tag her easily now, but that makes no sense! Idly, I tap my watch, an orange sphere extending with the Brick as the center as it begins to outline everyone within a certain area. There she was, Serina. How?
The Scanner Pulse was probably the single most reliable piece of SHD Tech I've used, it can't be turned against you, it has a pretty wide area, and even if it marks an enemy as friendly, you can confirm that, and even if nothing appears when you know something's or someone's there, I have pretty sharp instincts.
And somehow, Serina just...evaded all of this? That makes no sense at all.
I turn to the nurse as she suddenly becomes a lot scarier.
"Sounds like someone might have hacked in," Maki says amid my confusion, leaning back as she places both hands behind her head, kicking the floor as she looks away. "Chihiro must've missed something on her check a few days ago. But, you're in luck," she says, cheering as she continues, "You've got just the gal for this."
"Do I?" I can't help but ask, raising my brow since Veritas is known as a notorious hacker group except for Chihiro, who is a security contractor.
"Sensei!" Fuuka interjects. "Have you eaten something these past few days that wasn't the ration bars?" She asks as I hold up my hands to calm her down a bit.
"Yeah, ramen," I answer easily, Shiba Seki's ramen is delicious and, as such, incredibly easy to remember. "And a bento this morning."
"That's it?" Even Maki seems worried at my answer for some reason. "Are the ration bars that good?"
"Wanna bite?" I offer to Maki as she glances at the bar in curiosity. Slowly, she grabs it, opens it, and takes a bite. For a second, she resembles a chipmunk in my eyes before she grimaces, forcefully swallowing it and nearly gagging.
"Why does it taste like cardboard?" She asks as she looks at it before turning to me, "C'mon Sensei, you can't tell me this is all you've been eating?"
"It's not that bad." I retort, feeling weirdly offended, "I mean sure, it's not that good, but it's palatable."
"It is not."
"It's not healthy."
"You need to eat better."
Maki, Serina, and Fuuka said one after the other. "Fine, I'll just get a coke or something from a-."
"Nn, Sensei," Shiroko says, walking in, wearing her cycling clothes and looking behind her with a bit of an edge to her eyes. "I came to help you."
"And I said you don't need to, I'll be-." Yuuka starts, walking in to see the chaos as her eyes land on Maki. "Ma~ki~. What are you doing?"
"Oh, y'know," Maki starts, suddenly more interested in looking anywhere but at me or Yuuka, "just stepping in for Chihiro...the cameras aren't working well."
"What are you talking about?" Yuuka asks, "Chihiro submitted a report saying that everything was fine, speaking of," she says before perking up in realization and turning to me with her hands on her hips, "Se~n~sei, why was Chihiro acting weird when I talked to her?"
"Nn, who are they?" Shiroko asks, looking at the other students.
"What do you mean 'get a coke'? That's not lunch. That's not even enough to get you through the hour!" Fuuka points out as Serina nods along with her.
"Sensei!" Yuuka groans, "You need to eat more than that."
"Here." Maki says, passing the ration bar to Yuuka, "This is what Sensei eats usually."
Blinking, Yuuka looks at the bar as she seems to explode in embarrassment, to Shiroko's frustration, and my confusion, "D-Did-."
"Nn," Shiroko grunts as she takes a bite out of the bar before Yuuka can finish asking her question to my dismay.
"Hey!" Yuuka says, glaring at Shiroko with a slight blush while Shiroko released a superior huff before that became blank to Yuuka's surprise.
Slowly, Shiroko chews the bar, her face scrunching up minutely before swallowing the piece of the bar she ate and commenting, "Cardboard…"
"I-I was gonna-." Yuuka starts but is interrupted by Maki.
"Yeah, I took a bite out of it," Maki says as Yuuka stiffens with Shiroko, "I thought the same thing."
Shiroko's eyes dull as she realizes what she just did while Yuuka puffs out her chest in smug superiority, to Shiroko's frustration. Slowly, she glances at her while bringing a hand to her mouth, and mutters, "Kanpeki~."
"Have you stocked up the kitchen?" Fuuka asks as I find myself incapable of looking at her as Serina adds.
"He did not, he barely came back yesterday from Abydos," Serina reports as I look at her.
Maki whistles with something resembling respect in her eyes, "And already working hard? Couldn't be me."
"What are you doing here then?" Yuuka suddenly asks Maki, whirling to her and narrowing her eyes at the redhead as she crosses her arms. "Nothing illegal, I hope."
"What?" Maki says, holding a hand to her chest as if personally offended while sweating buckets, "Me? Illegal? No… Not at all."
"So I can call Chihiro and ask her?" Yuuka asks as Maki leaps forward, frantically swinging her arms out and laughing sheepishly as she looks away.
"W-Well, she's busy, no need to get her involved~."
"I think there is," Chihiro says as she walks in with two more students behind her while I'm overwhelmed by the reminder that these girls are ridiculously attractive.
"I didn't think she'd figure us out." One of them says, her white hair in a ponytail with a lab coat over a hoodie and a Kel-Tec RFB bullpup rifle. Her green eyes look around in interest, her neon green halo with three other circles inside following her every movement as a set of drones followed Omagari Hare.
Behind her, another member comes in with purple eyes roaming around, a pair of headphones around her neck while wearing a white dress with a black hoodie that was orange on the inside, a similar color scheme on her gloves. Her long pale blonde hair is braided at a certain part while the rest reaches her waist, a strand of it standing up. Her halo was pale purple and circular with dashes on the rim and two parts extending outwards like needles diagonally from each other. Otose Kotama had a Glock 19 and a radio transmitter with her.
Each one of them exudes the aura of someone who'd rather be inside than outside and they look seconds away from falling to their feet, did Chihiro make them walk from Millenium to here?
"What made you think I wouldn't? Especially since Yuuka asked me what Maki was doing at SCHALE?" Chihiro asks as she looks Yuuka in the eye, her mouth twitching as she turns to me, "Besides that told me about the attack these kiddos were trying and I was already on my way to apologize with them."
"What is that?" Yuuka asks, her brow twitching in frustration. "You said the same thing last time we talked."
"Oh." Shiroko says, perking up in realization as she turns to me, "She knows about that."
"No idea what you're talking about," I say as I try to return the derailed conversation to the origin. "So, how did you get in here?" I ask Serina again.
"Sensei, did you stock up on food?" Fuuka interrupts as I look away again and Fuuka sighs in exasperation. "At least tell me there's something in the fridge."
"There is."
"That isn't the gun."
"There is not."
"Kotama don't try and leave your bugs. Hare, recall Athena 3." Chihiro scolds Kotama as she pouts and Hare huffs, a particular circular drone floating to her as the three youngest members of Veritas are on their knees in seiza, I think it's referred to.
"That's kinda sad." Maki points out as Chihiro points at her, causing the redhead to flinch and brace herself.
"You are not wrong but all of you are due for another ethics lecture." She says as all of them sigh, and Chihiro starts scolding them.
"Why is the fridge still empty after nearly two weeks of being in action?" Yuuka asks rhetorically as I'm suddenly the one being scolded while Fuuka nods in agreement.
"I knew this was going to happen," Fuuka says as I can't help but turn to her, a bit offended. "I'll go get the groceries from the truck."
"Let me help you," Serina says as Fuuka nods with a grateful smile.
"Nn, me too," Shiroko adds as the three go after the bags.
"Right, hello, I'm Sumi Serina." Serina introduces herself with a smile and a bow as Fuuka perks up in realization.
"Oh, I'm Aikyou Fuuka, good to meet you miss…" Fuuka does the same before trailing off.
"Sunaookami Shiroko." She says as the three walk off.
Quickly, I checked the cameras and there she was, walking through them like nothing happened to my shock. "How-?"
"Se~n~sei." Yuuka starts, her bangs shadowing her eyes, "what are you hiding?"
"Well...things." I try to evade as Yuuka glares me down.
Finally, she relents as she seems a bit hurt, "Sensei, can you not trust us? She asks before fidgeting as she mutters, "Can you not trust me?" The pain and uncertainty in her voice hurt me as well.
"No, that's not it at all." I assure her, "You're all reliable, but that...well, it's very integral to my well-being with a fairly big weakness," I say under my breath, "Chihiro found out because I thought it'd cause you more trouble since you sent her for an audit without informing me. She thought you were insulting her."
"Really?" Yuuka asks, almost surprised but at the same time pleased and curious, "You did it for me?" She mutters under her breath as she fidgets, her frown turning into a smile as she holds them to her cheeks, giggling with a silly grin as I can't help but smile at her expression. Suddenly, her eyes widen as she slaps her hand to her cheeks, surprising me as she shakes it and turns to me. "Well, can you tell me what it is?" She asks, fidgeting shyly
"I…" I trail off, not sure how to answer that, "It's integral to my continued survival considering my...condition." I explain, which is severely understating ISACs capabilities but it's accurate enough as Yuuka seems to understand.
She doesn't seem happy, but she seems to accept it with a nod, "Fine."
"Thank you, Yuuka," I say with a smile as she harrumphs, crossing her arms and looking away with a slight blush.
"In return, you need to call me over more, honestly," she says, looking at the pile of paperwork on my desk, "how did so much pile up?"
"Wouldn't that just be a bother though?" I ask as Yuuka glares at me as I raise my hands, "But okay, I'll call you when I need you."
"Hey Sensei," Chihiro says, coming over as she presents her three underclassmen, each one as dead as the last as she continues, "I forgot to introduce them, but these are my juniors from Veritas, it seems like they've been causing you some trouble for a while."
"I was just trying to see what Sensei was texting," Kotama mutters as Hare looks away.
"Yeah, we were just curious," Maki adds as Chihiro sighs.
"As you can see, they're incorrigible unless they get what they want," Chihiro says as her juniors glance at her. "In order, their names are Otose Kotama and Omagari Hare, and you already met Maki."
"You make us sound like children," Hare grumbles. "And we can introduce ourselves.
"Sure," Chihiro says, glancing at her juniors pointedly, "at least children know when to give up."
"It's fine," I start, trying to assure Chihiro as she whirls to me with a raised brow, "I think they learned their lesson."
"Don't encourage them." Chihiro says, exasperation clear in her voice, "It'll just get them to try harder."
"It's fine, isn't it?" I say with a shrug, "It's not like they got much, or anything."
"That is true." Chihiro says as she holds a hand to her chin and turns to them, "Alright, if Sensei says it's okay, then I'll let it slide this time. Got it?"
"Whoop!" Maki says as she jumps up and the others begin to stand up as Chihiro grabs Maki's shoulder. "Sensei is the best!"
"But…" She trails off, tightening her grip on her junior as Maki's expression falls, "Using that excuse was smart until Yuuka came along. Now, let's go over our ethics once more, particularly in correspondence of lying to invade an extrajudicial organization." She says as the three returned to their kneeling position and brought up their hands this time. Chihiro leans towards me as she asks, "You got any ideas for punishments?"
"Make them count the ammunition in the armory by hand. It'll take a while but not too long and it's mind-numbing." I say as Chihiro nods in agreement.
"Thank you." She says as she turns to the rest of her club.
"We're back." Shiroko says, bags of groceries in hand as she follows after Fuuka and Serina.
"Welcome back," I say as I lean back on my chair. "Guess I'm waiting for Fuuka to finish." My eyes trail to the half-eaten ration bar as I grab it and throw it away.
Even if the Cocktail and afterward the BSAV made me practically impervious to being sick, some habits are hard to kill, and seeing people you knew drop because they shared a cup or something else sticks with you. It's probably where my paranoia started.
Soon, Shiroko is down with us as she leans forward in front of me, both hands behind her back, "Sensei, are you busy?"
"No, not really." I say as I look at the clock, "I was about to get back to work since I have to wait for Fuuka to finish eating. Why?" I ask as I can see Shiroko's eyes go to Yuuka's as she seems to be amused before it returns to me.
"Then, can you train me for a bit?" She asks as I think about it, before shrugging.
"Sure, I need some exercise myself," I say as I begin to walk towards the gym, Shiroko trailing behind me, leaving Yuuka to organize papers with the others.
I change into something more comfortable with Shiroko, the two of us meeting at the mat as I stretch for a bit. "Right then, let's start."
Slowly, within SCHALEs armory, the sound of shuffling paper rings out as Chihiro supervises her juniors as they individually count the ammunition found within SCHALEs armory, an armory composed of weapons from every district and manufacturer with myriads of calibers found in medium-sized ammo boxes.
And Veritas had to count each one individually by hand.
"Urgh!" Maki groans, slumping back, "This is so boring! Can't Sensei just scan these and have them counted up?"
"It's called 'punishment' for a reason." Chihiro points out. "And unless you want me to add my own into the mix, I suggest you continue counting." Beside her was Kotama's wire transmitter, the pale blonde looking at it with a slight whine to her voice.
"Sensei's voice…" She trails off as Hare glances at her.
"You can't even hear his actual voice." Hare points out as Kotama's eyes sharpen.
"I hear that he introduces himself to students after removing his mask." Kotama says, "And he meets a lot of students in SCHALE, so if I listen in at the right moment, I can catch it and it'll be satisfying."
"True." Hare says before blinking while she sways for a second, "Mmh, I need more energy drinks in me."
"Hibiki also said he likes listening to music," Kotama adds as Hare freezes with Maki.
"So you're telling me we can…" Maki trails off with bright eyes and a growing grin.
"He might start singing." Hare says, "Maybe it might even be something from outside Kivotos."
"And we can even catch his unfiltered singing one day," Kotama says, her own eyes shining before sighing. "If only we could get through that firewall."
"I've seen that firewall, and the only person I could see getting through that is President Himari." Chihiro says to the surprise of everyone, "Now get back to it."
Pouting, the trio return to their punishment, until a familiar drone jumps up to Hare's interest. "Athena 3?" She asks.
A second later, a hologram pops up, static going through as Hare sighs as she prepares to deactivate the troublesome drone if it reveals something it shouldn't.
Well, it reveals something good as she nearly topples her half-done box of counted ammunition as she scrambles to keep it from falling while simultaneously hiding the screen from Chihiro. "Something wrong?"
"N-No," Hare answers quickly, just barely stopping her box from toppling as Maki turns to her in frustration and Kotama looks at her in curiosity. Chihiro was suspicious but she shrugs it off.
Maki glares at her, "What the hell! You nearly caused me to start over!"
Hare looks around, holding a hand to her lips as the other two look at her in curiosity as Athena 3 rolls closer to show its screen.
"Woah…" Maki mutters and Kotama swallows audibly as the three look at what's on the screen.
Mateo wearing basketball shorts and a white shirt with Shiroko wearing shorts and a tank top are on a mat, with Serina to the side with a first aid kit in hand. The two are circling each other as it allows for the Veritas member to appreciate Mateo's physique.
A blend of broad and slim as his muscles visibly tense, his mask still in place as he rolls his shoulders and shifts his legs, causing parts to stand out as the group of three hacker teenagers enjoy the sight.
Then, Shiroko lashes out with a high kick but is too slow as Mateo closes the distance, sweeping her singular foot off the ground as she falls to the mat, Mateo on top of her as the trio's imagination goes wild.
Helping her up, Mateo starts, "You should go for lower kicks, faster and easier."
"How?" Shiroko asks, her ears perking up in interest as Mateo steps back.
"Get in your stance." He says as Shiroko does so, looking as Mateo does the same as he slowly performs a low kick. "This, to the calf or the thigh. It hurts a lot."
"Nn," Shiroko says, nodding in understanding. "Again."
"Right, try to block it." He says as the two get closer and in their stance as they circle each other.
Twisting her foot, Shiroko chambers the kick only to collapse, the sound of skin hitting skin ringing out and her body hit the mat while she held her calf where Mateo kicked her, leaving the observers reeling as even Mateo seemed worried. "Oh shi- Sorry, you okay Shiroko?" He asks as Shiroko slowly raises a thumb.
"...Fine." She leaves it at that as Serina quickly stops by and checks her leg.
"...You're fine, it'll bruise a bit, but Sensei." Serina says, whirling to the larger man and pointing at him, "You need to learn to hold back more."
Mateo scratches the side of his cheek as Serina continues scolding him. Considering his teachers were fairly rough with him and any time he had to use a move it was in a life-or-death situation, he tends to default to either 'I'll break your leg' or 'it will hurt', and rarely is there an in-between.
"Sorry." He says as he scratches the back of his head. "I'll be careful."
"Please try to be," Serina says as Shiroko gets up and rolls her foot and nods.
"Nn. Again." She says as Serina sighs, already used to Shiroko's stubbornness at this point.
"Alright," Serina says, stepping out of the mat as Mateo sighs.
"Sure you're good?" Mateo asks as Shiroko nods.
"Nn." She nods as Mateo sighs.
The two continue training, with Shiroko taking the lessons to heart with surprising ease while also enjoying being around Sensei.
Meanwhile, Yuuka, who stopped by, was watching with a bit of jealousy and fear as the two trained but also glanced at Mateo's form, something Serina herself couldn't stop on occasion when neither needed any medical attention. Considering how intimately she was aware of the human body, more so than anyone else in the room, it was a bit more enjoyable for her.
Especially for Veritas as they imagined themselves in Shiroko's position on occasion, when it didn't include performing grapples on her...
Usually.
"Hey." A voice says, causing the three voyeurs to freeze as they slowly turn back, their flushed expressions turning pale in horror as they look back to see Chihiro looking at them in disappointment and a slight flush on her cheeks too. "What are you three doing?"
Our training was interrupted by Fuuka announcing that the food was ready, so after Shiroko tried to hide her attempt at sniffing herself and beating a hasty retreat, I entered for a quick shower and came to the dining room to see no one looking me in the eye.
Everyone is there, waiting for us, even Veritas who all look particularly exhausted, and none of them would look me in the eye.
"Something wrong?" I ask as I sit down and Fuuka sets down the food, normal spaghetti with meatballs and a coke for me. I pop open the tab and the carbon comes out with a satisfying hiss.
"N-Nothing," Fuuka says first as she joins everyone else after serving, the others nodding along with the cook.
I just shrug and remove my mask, setting it to the side as Hare, Maki, and Kotama look at me doggedly while I eat the spaghetti. The girls begin to relax, somehow, and enter into small talk with each other.
"Speaking of, I heard Yuuka participated in a mission yesterday." Chihiro points out. "and considering what I've been hearing, especially concerning Kaiser, I'm guessing it has to do with Abydos?"
"Nn." Shiroko nods. "They're gone and the district is ours." She says proudly as her eyes glint with pride and satisfaction.
"So I've heard," Chihiro says, her eyes landing on me, "seems like Sensei made a very dangerous enemy, they're not exactly happy with SCHALE."
"Their PMC wasn't much to note," Shiroko says, a knowing look in her eyes. "Much less to Sensei."
"Oh right, I saw that video." Maki says as she perks up, "It's like something out of an action movie!"
"Yeah, seems like someone sent it in to try and scare the people, seems like it had an opposite effect." Hare points out. "Still, I'm having trouble believing some of these comments."
"Which ones?" I ask as Hare shows me her phone and points to the one she's talking about.
"That you gave some medicine to someone who needed it," Hare says as I shrug and nod. I did do that, it's something I did in my time as an Agent when people needed it. Whether it be food, directions, ammunition, medicine, or something else, I was more than willing to provide. Even fixed up a few things.
"What about this one?" Maki asks, pointing to a student I gave some ammunition for their test and I nod. I remember doing that.
"This one?" Kotama asks, pointing to one where I helped get the code for a bike chain. Again, I nod.
"This is making SCHALE look like an Odd Jobs rather than an extrajudicial organization," Yuuka notes as I shrug.
"Not that different from what I did." I can't help but note it out loud.
We continue chatting until we finish eating.
The clock hits three and I frown as I look at the reduced pile of paperwork, Shiroko sits silently as she organizes the paper alone once Yuuka leaves after some Seminar work comes up. Chihiro left with the rest of her club so they wouldn't get any ideas to add any wiretaps.
They did while she wasn't looking, I sussed them out quickly and left them there, after all, having a second set of ears is pretty handy, and sacrificing a bit of my privacy was worth it. For a while anyway. I don't want to give them the idea that SCHALE is free to hack or wiretap freely.
Still… "Shouldn't you get going Shiroko?" I ask the gray-haired girl. "It's not exactly late, but wouldn't the rest of the Task Force worry?"
"Serika is working and Nonomi is helping Hoshino and Ayane go through the paperwork." Shiroko points out. "I decided to come here since it seems like we can stay the night." She says as she reaches into her bag, "I even brought some cards."
Cards, oh that brings back memories of Gematria and that damned Black Suit. Or the times I used them as projectiles against the Black Tusk when we went to that building where I got the Dodge City holster.
Regardless, "I'm not gonna teach you how to cheat in cards." I inform her as she seems to understand that I have far less scruples in breaking the law than normal. Still, cards are a sacred thing, and people have lost fingers over a misunderstanding.
Shiroko's ears droop as suddenly the door is forced open, and considering no gunfire followed, the person who's coming in is friendly. "Oi, Sensei! What's the meaning of this!?"
"Afternoon Iori." I greet the student as she glares at me with her arms crossed. "What's up?"
"Wha-The Hot Springs Development Department said that you helped them get the permits to make a Hot Spring. Is this true?" She asks as she glares at me.
"Well, yeah. They helped us with stuff and they wanted the permit to do stuff like that so I cleared it up and let them do their thing. Why?" I ask as I continue signing off on the paperwork.
"They're lawbreakers!" Iori exclaimed, "Delinquents!"
"That so." I mutter as I glance at her, her eyes wide in disbelief, "And?"
She seems to slump forward in shock as if she can't believe what I'm saying as the doors open once more. "Hello, Sensei. Sorry for dropping by uninvited." Chinatsu says.
Beside her, Hina walked in next her eyes roaming around the office. "Sensei, Shiroko." Hina curtly greeted. "Sorry for our field captain's...overzealousness."
"But-." Iori starts, trying to defend herself only to crumble under a single glance from Hina's glowing eyes.
"It's fine." I wave off. "So, I'm guessing you're here about the Hot Springs Department?"
"Yes," Hina confirms with a nod.
"Well, sit down, take a break, re-stock on ammunition and if you find any weapons ignore them," I say as I point to the lounge section of the office as even Hina seemed confused at the last part. "Well, it's only a worry if you find any," I assure them, which doesn't do much, strangely.
Chinatsu sits down first, Hina following with Iori standing beside the diminutive third-year, almost like a miniature…
I suck in my lips and take a deep breath to stifle my amusement as I roll my chair towards them. "So, want something to drink?"
"Nothing at the moment." Hina refuses as Iori doesn't answer and Chinatsu shakes her head. "We just wanted to confirm that the Hot Springs Department where working on their current project with SCHALEs approval and not a forged signature."
"They are," I confirm, Iori's brow twitching at the answer and Hina's confusion. "They helped with a few things involving Abydos so I let them have their fun. As long as it doesn't bother anyone."
"Aside from the usual construction complaints," Hina starts, "not really. Thank you for clearing it up, Sensei."
"That's it?" Iori asks in shock, "He admits to helping a group of lawbreakers and we just let it go?"
"Well, it's not like we can do much." Chinatsu points out, "SCHALE is an extrajudicial club, so it's not like it's outside of what they can do. Besides, it's not like the Hot Springs Department is actively breaking laws," she starts before muttering under her breath, "this time."
"Still-!"
"Well, why don't you join?" I ask as I push my chair back to its original position, Go-Bag on my lap as I set it down again. "It's not like I'll say no, and you can work on your CQC with Shiroko."
Iori seems reluctant, but Hina is less so. "Alright. Where are the applications?" She asks as she looks around to Iori and Chinatsu's surprise.
The printer started up a second later, Arona waiting as I pointed at it. "They should be in there. Grab one and fill it out."
With that, Iori and Hina grab it and sign off on it, and a third one for Ako. "I get the feeling it's better to just let her have it than have her try some other way to snoop in."
Hina doesn't answer but the way she looks at the paper is obvious that she agrees.
I sign the applications and Arona processes it as I smile at them from under my mask. "Congratulations, you're both officially registered as SCHALE students. You can come around at any time or I might ask you to stop by and help one day, but I'll do it in advance so you can refuse. Aside from that, occasionally I might ask for help with certain things and you can accept or refuse."
"Nn. Can I fight her?" Shiroko asks, perking up to the surprise of Chinatsu and Iori while Hina just looks bored.
"That's another thing entirely." I retort as Shiroko deflated.
"Thank you, Sensei," Hina says with a nod. "Then, goodbye for now."
"I'll come to monitor you one day, Sensei," Iori says, narrowing her eyes at me as Chinatsu chuckles sheepishly.
"Goodbye, Sensei," Chinatsu says as the three leave.
Once again, I return to the paperwork while Shiroko silently helps, though I could see her fidget on occasion.
The pile of paper continues to be cut down gradually until it's gone as I sigh. "Finally, that's done."
"Good work, Sensei," Shiroko says as I nod before she asks. "Now what?"
It wasn't too late, so there was still something they could do. "Let's go out for a walk, should be easy enough." He says as Shiroko perks up, her eyes lighting up while she nods. Grabbing his bag, he slings it over his shoulder while adding, "I'll let you lead."
"Really?" Shiroko asks, her eyes shining a little bit too bright for my comfort, but it'll be fine, right?
Why are my instincts telling me I'm being naive?
Casinos aren't exactly...known for having cold hard cash, they're more in the business of chips and such, but occasionally, some of the better-off ones have something to show off. A car. And sometimes, a luxury car.
According to Shiroko, it'll be easy, in and out, it'll take longer but still easy enough that we won't need extra hands.
One problem though.
"Who translates 'walk' to 'robbery'?" I mutter under my breath. "It's insane."
The two of us are wearing disguises provided by Kaiser PMC, with them suddenly lacking two members. What a shame.
Anyway, the robbery is simple, rob one of the podium cars and leave smelling like roses. So, currently, I'm in the security where one of the Kaiser PMC mooks was taking a nap as I look for the key to the car and Shiroko is waiting in the storage after short-circuiting the card reader.
She proceeded to use a handsaw to cut it open.
Finding the keys, I quickly make my way to Shiroko's location and enter after her.
Quietly and quickly, we remove any trackers, bombs, or anything located in it after barricading the door. After using a few cars, that same explosive we found in that car, and even some radio parts, I managed to make something resembling an EMP. Well, more like a set of jumper cables clamped onto a car batter and Shiroko ready to clamp them onto a generator in another room.
Slowly, the car purrs as I turn her on. "Go," I say as I put on my mask.
"Nn," Shiroko responds, putting hers on as well.
Soon, the lights go off as the hard part begins. I drive out quickly through the long tunnel as I can hear Shiroko's gun go off occasionally as I reach the outside first. She follows after, slides in and we drive off in one of the easiest robberies I've ever seen or been in.
Neither of us remove our masks though as Shiroko looks around. "Take a right." She says as I follow her instructions. "There's a garage near Abydos. We can hide this there."
"You know, I've been wondering." I start. "Why a car?"
"Hm?" Shiroko hums in confusion.
"You never seemed interested in things like these, usually it's banks and I know I gave you the disguise idea," I add as Shiroko pauses and looks away.
"It's my thanks." She answers, "For helping us."
Raising a brow, I can't help but ask, "So your way of thanking me is by inviting me to a possibly dangerous robbery where I can either be injured or lose my standing because of getting caught?"
"Nn." Shiroko nods as I sigh but chuckle, reaching up and patting the wolfgirl's head.
"Alright. Thanks a lot, Shiroko." I say as Shiroko snuggles her head into my hand. "Also, good job on picking the target."
A Kaiser loss is a victory to me.
After depositing the car in an old abandoned garage at the edge of Abydos, Shiroko and I go our separate ways as I head back to SCHALE and Shiroko returns home.
Unbeknownst to her, they got a good picture of her and a blurry one of me.
Ayane is going to be so mad.
Must be a heavy burden being such a sensible person in such an insane world, much less surrounded by such insane people.
Regardless, I return to SCHALE and make my way to the last thing left for me today. The Hot Springs Development Department.
They should be by the nearby mountains, a long walk but also a fairly short bus ride, even shorter if you have your motorcycle. I could hear the ruckus before I could even see anything, power tools, explosions, and vehicles moving around as the excited club moves.
Reaching the entrance, I replaced my hat with the hard hat provided to me by the students and nodded to them. "Afternoon."
"Hello, Sensei." They greet me as another pipes up, "Are you here to check up on the progress?"
"Yeah, Iori seemed pretty pissed," I note as the members look at each other in excitement.
"You should have seen her expression when she saw the paperwork!" One of them says, slapping her thigh as she laughs. "She was fuming!"
"Y-Yeah, she was all," she stopped as her face went blank except for a pout as she stomped away with exaggerated motions before stopping, "like that!"
"Finally!" Another says, "We get to develop Hot Springs in peace, thank you, Sensei."
"Thank you very much!" The others say in unison while bowing as I find myself feeling a bit sheepish.
"It's fine." I say, "You guys helped us with that whole Abydos thing, it's the least I could do."
"Oh, I saw that video of you fighting the Kaiser PMC!" One of them says as they nod. "Good job on the placing of those explosives." She compliments as the others nod in agreement.
"Well, I had a good teacher," I admit. Kelso was nothing if not willing to impart her knowledge of heavy explosions to me along with my other teachers.
We talked for a bit before they let me in to go find Kasumi and Megu.
"Good lord in Heaven, what the hell!?" I yell out as I look around in shock once I enter.
Because the Hot Springs is nearly complete, as in the groundwork has already been laid out and the frame of the building is currently taking shape as some of the members are, happily while singing might I add, taking material from some flatbeds and setting them up. I'm never been interested in urban development but I've seen my dad work in construction, and I didn't expect something like this to be nearly done already.
"Ah, Sensei!" I hear Megu say as I turn to her. What I instead see are a pair of orbs in front of my face being held back by a shirt as I step back and catch the excitable redhead in my arms. "Hi!"
Why do I have to be wearing armor? I can barely-.
Pummeling the side of me thinking such unholy thoughts I smile at Megu. "Megu, it's good to see you, how are you feeling? You took a pretty harsh beating."
"I'm fine!" She cheers, resting her hands on her hips and puffing her chest out. "And like I'd ever miss the opportunity to make some Hot Springs! We already have the springs ready, but Kasumi was wondering when you'd send the tools for the room you asked for?"
"I didn't think it'd be this quick." I admit, "It's amazing." I compliment her as Megu seems to blush with a smile and a hearty grin.
"WAHAHA!" I hear as I spot the familiar visage of Kasumi, "Hello, Sensei."
"Kasumi," I say with a nod. "How's the space been treating you?"
"It's good." Kasumi admits before scrunching her face up, "The location offers a good view, there seem to be no problems with the spring itself, and we were able to make a smaller section to dip your feet in, but we could've made a better one-."
"I'd rather you didn't blow up city infrastructure." I cut her off before she could continue. "It'd be a nuisance to me and many others. Still," I trail off, looking at the frame of the hot springs, "looks nearly done."
"Yup." Kasumi cheers before that smile becomes a devious grin, "You should've seen Iori's expression when I showed her the paperwork, it was so cute~."
"Must've been, she stormed right into the office with Hina and Chinatsu in tow," I note as Kausmi's eyes widen.
"Hina was here!?" She yelps, looking around to my confusion.
"Well, not anymore, I'm fairly sure she went back to Gehenna," I answer as she relaxes.
"W-Well," she starts again, "like Megu said if you can send the materials for the extra room you want, that'd be appreciated."
"Sure." I answer, "I'll get it sent as soon as possible."
"Wonderful. It should be ready by tomorrow if you want to try it out." Kasumi says with a smile. "After that, it'll just be a round of inspections and it'll be open to the public!" She cheers before blinking and adding, "Minus SCHALEs room and the hidden one you want, of course."
"Great." I say, reaching out and rustling their hair, "You did a great job, both of you, well done."
"Ehehehe~." Megu giggles.
"Thank you," Kasumi says as I smile.
We talk for a bit until it gets late as I go and grab something to drink for all of them like my own dad's foreman would when they were working.
After a break where I talked some more, I head back with a can of coke in my pocket.
Sighing, I sit down in my chair as I review the last few days. Chaos. A lot of it.
But, at the same time…
I smile, satisfied, "Yeah, you'd have loved this place ma."
I've lost a lot of people, because of the Dollar Flu, and even after, just a normal boy looking for meaning in a place he shouldn't have and saddled with responsibility beyond his capability. But he did it.
I did it.
The hero of a story who can't see the end of it just gotta have faith.
I puff out a laugh at the realization of my thoughts, a stark contrast to the depressing ones I usually have. That's fine, it'll just come back tomorrow, it always does.
And so will I.
Tomorrow will come, and I will meet it. Good or bad. Easy or hard. It's a day worth seeing, like always.
One must imagine Sisyphus happy.
…
Well, whatever, I'm no philosopher, I'm an Agent and a teacher in a city that needs both. Maybe my experience won't be enough, but I'm not alone.
I glance at Arona's holographic form as she rests on me, snoring as ISAC is reading through a report or another.
Still, I should follow Arona's example and sleep.
With that, I turn off the lights in the office and head to prepare for bed.
A/N: Now, there was a section with Veritas, do you think I should change it to past tense rather than present? That's about it for my questions, I hope all of you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review if you did. Until then.
Fun fact, the casino part at the end? Wasn't sure what to do with it, but my beta reader didn't say anything, so it's good, I guess.