They say any landing you can walk away from is a good one; clearly, whoever said that never got involved in an actual crash. Well, Fu Hua and Welt could walk away from it, but that's beside the point. Several of the ship's crewmates were not so lucky.

"Are you alright?" She worriedly asked Welt as she helped him and the other survivors out of the wreckage. He answered with a slight nod; with the exception of a busted leg, he was otherwise fine. That left one more pressing issue, however; Ritsuka had been pulled out of the ship and Senti jumped after him without a second thought. While a part of her tried reassuring herself that they would be fine, they needed to find their missing friends fast. Their destination was supposed to be just past the mountains but that didn't mean there wouldn't be danger along the way.

Especially since… "What attacked us…?" She muttered mostly to herself. That was no accident; something or someone shot them out of the sky.

"Fu Hua, could you go find the others," Welt instructed her with a slightly pained grunt. "I'll stay here with the crew to await rescue. Theresa and Tesla should have received the distress beacon and sent someone to pick us up."

Knowing Welt should be able to take care of everyone here, Fu Hua gave him a nod. "We'll return as soon as we can." With that, she rushed off into the woods to search for Senti and Ritsuka.

Of course, things could not be that easy. It did not take long before she heard movement to her left; her instinct honed over thousands of years took over and she deflected the attack with a kick, sending a Quantum Shadow into the nearby tree. A few more than came out of shades, surrounding her. "So they're headed this way?" She muttered to herself; the report from the Schicksal agents stated they were further up north. That meant either they were moving or there were a lot more spread out than their initial assessment. She got in a combat-ready stance— they'll be nothing more than dust once she is done with them.

Meanwhile, the other group was facing a similar problem— Honkai Beasts as Senti called them. They were weak but numerous. At least it gave Ritsuka the opportunity to see what Senti was capable of. Turns out the answer was pure destruction. The way she fought reminded him of Kagetora; swapping quickly between her swords and spears, dishing out pain just as fast as the Honkai Beasts were appearing all while laughing maniacally.

"Where do you keep finding people like these, Master…?" Xu Fu deadpanned as she stood behind him. "Either way, I won't complain, I guess. It just means I don't need to do anything."

"Fou!"

"No, I'm not giving you any more," the Alter Ego replied before popping another piece of sweet into her mouth as Ritsuka sighed.

Xu Fu was right though; they had little to worry about with Senti around. They were more likely to get hurt by Senti's many quick and sweeping attacks than the Honkai Beasts. "Come on you insignificant insects! You gotta try harder than that!" Senti cackled as she slaughtered more and more without even taking a moment to breathe.

"Does she have the concept of being sneaky? I'm sure she's just attracting more of them with how much noise she's making," Kama grumbled as she flew down next to Ritsuka, settling on sniping any that somehow got past the battle maniac and got close to him. "You really like the crazy ones, huh?" She asked, giving her Master the side-eye.

"Are you including yourself in that?" Ritsuka shot back. Kama just pouted but didn't say anything. Still, she probably had a point though… about attracting more attention, not the other thing. He'll neither confirm nor deny that one. "Senti! Calm down!"

"What?! Can't hear you over the—" Reeeeee!

A screech ripped through the air, cutting Senti's joke short. They felt the grumbling before something big burst through the trees; a white beast with glowing pink lines charged at them, crushing everything in its way. It ignored Senti and headed straight for— "Master!" Kama was quick to grab him and Xu Fu, saving them from getting skewered by the charging monster.

"Ritsuka!" Senti quickly moved to defend him as the Honkai Beast stopped charging and spun around. Ritsuka noted it was built like a boar with tusks and horns, even pawing the dirt like one. However, they heard more rumbling before a few more joined the first."How the hell are there Emperor-Classes here?! Theresa said nothing about them!" yelled Senti in shock before calming herself and noticing which one they were. "Ganeshas, huh?"

"Gane-what now?" Kama immediately asked before shaking her head. This was not the right time for that.

Ritsuka, meanwhile, knew that letting Senti handle it by herself might not be in the cards anymore. It was time to be a Master again; his brief holiday from his job was over. "Kama, Xu Fu."

"Ready when you are." "Do I have to? Fine…"

"Oh come on, Ritsuka. I can handle this, I don't need these chumps getting in my— Hey!" This time, Senti was cut off by Kama shooting forward and taking one straight on. The Assassin was swift— drawing her bow and shooting pink bolts of energy that tore through one of the Ganesha's platings. "Tsk, you want a competition? You got one!"

"…You sure I need to help too?" Xu Fu asked again with a small grin. Oh how she loved it when things were made easier for her~

Her Master could only sigh in exasperation as Senti and Kama competed to see who was better. This was starting to get tiring to deal with; he could use Fu Hua's help to rein her "sister" in right about now.

If she wasn't convinced something was going on before, she was now; Fu Hua could hear fighting in the distance. It was undoubtedly Senti going on a rampage and tearing through the Honkai Beasts that all suddenly appeared. They mostly ignored her until she got too close to one of them; the sound of battle was more attractive than her.

"Nothing about this is normal…" She muttered to herself as she weaved through the woods towards the flashes of red and pink. There were way too many Honkai Beasts for this to be simple "remnants" like Theresa told them. Fu Hua didn't believe she lied, but there were going to be lots of questions after this.

At last, she could hear Ritsuka and Senti shouting, joined by a couple others she did not recognize. Senti, naturally, was the loudest— "Stop getting in my way already you shameless brat! Aren't archers supposed to fight from a distance?!"

"I'm an Assassin, not an Archer—" was a deadpanned response before the sound of an explosion tore through the area.

"Hey, careful! You nearly blasted us away too!" "Fou!"

Whoever was with them, they were reckless. With added urgency in her steps, Fu Hua finally reached the clearing where they were fighting. Just as she thought, Ritsuka and Senti were now joined by two unknown individuals. The first was a woman with long white hair that reached past her shoulders; she was armed with a bow and what Fu Hua recognized as a Vajra. Her attire was also vaguely Indian— a light pink and purple form-fitting garb with golden accessories. She was skilled and swift, able to dance around the Honkai Beasts and take them down with the expertise seen in high-ranked Valkyries.

The second person, who was standing close to Ritsuka, was dressed more "modernly"— a simple black and white short dress. However, what made her stand out (besides her loud crying while trying to avoid getting hit by flying debris) was the large red vial that served as a necklace, an equally large hat on her head, and a doll about as big as a child.

Behind them deeper in the trees, Fu Hua saw a glimmer of light. "Ritsuka!" She called out, moving like the wind and just barely protecting him from yet another surprise attack. Now, it was abundantly clear that he was the main target in this entire ordeal.

"Fu Hua?!" He was initially startled by her appearance but quickly got over it. "Are you alright? Where's Welt and the others?"

A part of her wanted to smack him for being worried for others in his current situation but refrained from doing so; she could do that later once they were out of danger. "They're fine. Worry about yourself first," she told him before glancing at what she deflected— a simple blade and only that as it quickly dissolved to ashes. As much as she wanted to chase after whoever threw the sword, she had to stay and defend Ritsuka first. Fortunately, Senti and the unknown arch… assassin were obliterating the Honkai Beasts at a near-unparalleled rate. With her added help, it did not take long before all the Beasts were wiped out.

"Is that the last of them?" asked the white-haired woman with a yawn as she lay down while in the air. "It didn't take much to deal with. Their numbers were all they had going for them." Her voice reeked of confidence but it wasn't completely unwarranted. Fu Hua could tell she was a force to be reckoned with from what she saw of her combat abilities. The self-proclaimed assassin glanced at Senti with a small but cocky grin, "Regardless, I believe I scored more than you, pigeon."

"Pigeon?!" Senti naturally raged at the insulting nickname. "I'll have you know that not only did I kill more before you butted in, I'm a—"

"Alright, calm down, calm down," Ritsuka quickly stepped in, grabbing Senti's arm as she was winding up for a punch. He also gave the assassin a disapproving look, "And Kama, what did I say about picking fights?"

"Make sure I win?"

"Don't." Ritsuka corrected, his disapproval turning into exasperation. Clearly, this was a normal thing for him.

"Excuse me for interrupting, but I believe we should get moving," Fu Hua said, getting the others' attention.

"Oh, old timer. When did you get here?" Senti grinned, seemingly forgetting all about the woman named Kama. The latter, meanwhile, stared at her for a few seconds before turning towards Ritsuka.

"Twins again?" She pouted, evidently annoyed at him. "What was that thing humans say about coincidences? Too many and it's intentional. If that's what you like, you know I could provide~"

Ritsuka grumbled again with a faint blush gracing his face. "Can we not do this right now? Besides, we both know how well that'll go for you." A soft chuckle escaped Ritsuka as Kama's face flushed in turn.

Fu Hua felt annoyed at their interaction for inexplicable reasons, but put it aside for now. "Follow me; Welt and the others are waiting," she interjected again, motioning for them to follow her. Introductions can come later. As they returned to the crash site, however, Fu Hua could not ignore the sinking feeling that there was now something at work behind the scenes…

It did not take long for them to be picked up after reaching the crash site. Theresa and Tesla elected to take the AE airship, sending down minor ships to bring them up. Once they were all rescued and brief introductions out of the way, it was time for yet another deep discussion— one that Senti actually attempted to follow.

After sharing enough details, they quickly reached a conclusion: someone was targeting Ritsuka. "We were attacked at the right place for him to get sucked o—" snort "Please be serious," Welt sighed at Senti's reaction before continuing. "For him to get sucked out of the ship, the appearance of a horde of Honkai Beasts, and lastly a sword heading straight for his head. Once is happenstance, twice is a coincidence, and thrice—"

"—is an enemy's action." Ritsuka finished with a serious face.

"I'm surprised it took four days for someone to come for your head, Master. Usually it takes a couple of hours; a day at most," Xu Fu voiced her thoughts which made Ritsuka sigh.

"Yes, I'm well aware, Xu Fu. No need to remind me," he sarcastically replied.

"If that is true then that brings a lot of questions." It was Theresa's turn to sigh out of exhaustion. Why would someone go after Ritsuka, how could they (assumingly) send the Honkai after him, and— the most important one — "Who is trying to kill him?"

That bit— ur… Kama responded with a deadpan voice, "You'd be surprised how many people want him dead. I'm sure more than half of everyone he's met tried to kill him at one point." She made a not-so-subtle glance at Xu Fu, who immediately tried to defend herself.

"I wasn't trying to kill him! …I was trying to kill someone else and he happened to get in the way a couple of times… Besides, didn't you try to kill Master before too?!"

"Along with everyone else, yes. I have no shame in admitting that."

"Not the only thing you have no shame in," Senti rolled her eyes, earning the silent ire of Kama yet again. What stopped her from retorting was probably Ritsuka giving her another disapproving frown; the same one Fu Hua was giving her too.

Her counterpart added her own two cents. "If finding out who will be a problem, then we should figure out why."

"That's easy, too easy: someone thinks he'd be a wall in their plans. That's the usual reason," Xu Fu answered. "Doesn't help narrow down the suspect pool at all though."

If they could not look into who or why, then they were stumped. 'Come on brain, you've got 50,000 years of memories. Surely there's something,' Senti mentally grumbled— heck, she was once even a detective!…'s assistant. She should have the deduction skills to solve a mystery like this. "If who and why won't work… then how?" She thoughtlessly mumbled before having a eureka moment. "Hang on, I'm sure the Honkai were going after him specifically!"

Their ship getting attacked as well as the sword Fu Hua mentioned were more "mundane" assassination methods. Using Honkai Beasts, on the other hand… leaves them just as stumped. It was impossible to command any now; or to be more accurate, no one left who could do so had a motive. However, it was still a step in the right direction even if they were stumbling in the dark.

Soon enough, they came to another decision— they should get some rest after their ordeal. Anything else can be decided later once everyone gets back to the school. It should not take long but any moment to rest was sorely needed…

The bell rang, signaling the end of class as well as stirring Ritsuka out of his nap. He shook his head to rid himself of his drowsiness before glancing around to confirm that, yet again, he was back here. But why? For what reason?

He quickly remembered what happened last time and looked around again to look for her. "Fu Hua!" He called out to her just as she was leaving her seat.

The apparent class prefect stopped and turned to face him as he went up to her. "Rits… Fujimaru, can I help you?" Fu Hua's voice was detached and distant, not like how she usually sounded in reality. Sure, she was serious most of the time, but she was much more professional here than out there.

Realizing that he actually had nothing to say, Ritsuka panicked internally before coming up with something. "Are you alright? You came in later than usual this morning." Or was it yesterday morning?

Fortunately, Fu Hua did not seem to think much of it. "Oh, I ended up sleeping through my alarm. I've been pulling all-nighters lately."

"I see… Anything you need help with?" Ritsuka asked as politely as he could only to get a shake in response.

"Don't worry. It's… It's nothing that involves you," she answered before glancing at the clock. "We best be going before the cafeteria line gets too long."

Right… lunch… He was feeling famished now that he thought about it. He didn't get anything to eat after getting rescued. Ritsuka turned his eyes towards the door to see… a familiarly fluffy white tail just poking out. He blinked…

And his vision was completely overtaken by the fur.

"…Fou? Can you please get off me?"

"Fou!"

"Thank you."

A/N: And next chapter up. Finally got some action here after the brief one near the start of the story and this one is only a slight escalation from that. I'll be honest in saying I'm better in writing up character interactions rather than fight scenes (tho I won't say I'm that bad in that aspect). Either way, the skirmish while brief is very important for lore considering this is after Part 1 of HI3. I know that by APHO time, it was said about 99% of Honkai Energy is trapped on the moon so Imma say that right now, Kiana is slowly working towards that so there are some still kicking around.

Anyway, character dynamics have been established (mainly between Kama and Senti) and another nudge towards not-OC2~ See you all next time!