Hajime was done with his rant, but as mentioned earlier, he was pretty much pissing in fear at the expressions on his two constant companions till now.

(You know it… don't bother trying to tell me to describe their expressions again)

Yue was confused for multiple reasons- why she was taller, why her hair gained platinum streaks, and other questions flooded her mind. The biggest question was why Hajime was pissed at his comrades… schools existed, Yue didn't experience them. Which is why a detailed explanation of their origins was necessary… for her at least.

Hajime felt a tug on his sleeve, and when he looked at it, he saw the question mark that was so dense, it almost was physically present… and floating on top of Yue's head. He sighed, having calmed down somewhat, and patted her head with what looked like a reassuring smile. It worked like a charm, since she closed her eyes and smiled contently, but it just made the Angelic Duo quite jealous.

Throwing the jealousy away, Kaori was wondering how he remained kind, and managed to act as if nothing had happened through all the happenings of his life. So she asked "Hajime-kun, why did you not tell a teacher? It would've been as easy as telling them to end it, right?"

"Since Amanogawa was cowardly enough to do this outside school grounds, I couldn't tell them… besides, if I reported Hiyama, Amanogawa would defend them, and with my word against theirs, I'm pretty sure my odds were low. Besides, I wasn't cowardly enough to let others handle my problems- if Dad ever found out why I was being bullied, he would've made a tweet with their faces and names, asking his clientele not to sell to people lacking humanity, and Mom would've made a bullies arc in one of her stories, deliberately naming them… ruining their reputation and hers in the process.

"Before you ask, yes, they would, without even thinking twice about it. I never accuse them of magnanimity… especially in their quest to spread happiness to the world- why else would they choose such outlandish professions? If someone makes others unhappy, they don't hold back in their rage- even more so if it were me. It's also why I prefer peace over violence on Earth- if I release my or Mom and Dad's rage on the world, World War 3 wouldn't be just a pipe dream, it would be an absolute reality" chuckled a peaceful Hajime, showing his true personality for the first time since the Fall.

Kaori also smiled a peaceful smile, realizing just how Hajime could be so kind, even to his enemies- at the time at least. Shizuku felt more at peace with her decision to follow Kaori's lead when they talked. Never would she have realized that Hajime was kind because of his parents, especially when his father manages a company producing violent games. Only Kaori would be able to notice his charm when no one else could- she was always the strange one of the two.

Noticing her confused state, Hajime started explaining their current situation to Yue. This was after the quartet got out of the room, of course. Hajime noticed that their supply of Ambrosia was starting to run low a few floors earlier, despite Hajime refilling the Stone with mana at relatively fixed intervals, meaning the Ambrosia had to be used less liberally.

Over the next two floors, Hajime, Kaori and Shizuku filled Yue in on each of their past lives, while also informing her of why they were each in this shithole. At the end of it, Yue was starting to weep like a baby- she was still elegant as a queen, but that's beside the point.

"I c-can't believe- *hic*- it. Ka-kaori and Shizu-ku- *hic* - and esp-pecially Hajime! All three of you led hard lives, and still feel kind enough to save me… Yet here I am, not even feeling an ounce of- *hic* - happiness at my situation…" she lamented, knowing that she should've been happy to have companions at all.

It was then that the seriousness of the situation dawned on all of them- they were all betrayed by those they've considered close to them, and ended up falling into the Pits of Hell or the True Labyrinth- Yue by her country minus her uncle, Kaori and Shizuku by their best friends, and Hajime by almost everyone in his life (the exceptions are the three present girls, Kousuke Endou, and his parents). A normal person would want death at this point. They want to return to their lives and change it for the better.

Hajime at the least was no longer the pushover that he was in the past. He learnt that life was unfair, and that you had to fight for what you want. Kaori lost the illusion that everyone was as good as they appeared to be, she learned to look beneath the surface and read between the lines. Shizuku learnt that not all that glitters was gold, and that what doesn't glitter can glitter after it's growth was complete {1}. Yue learnt that everything happened for a reason, and that there is always hope at the end of the tunnel.

It was then that the bonds connecting these four were complete. It took a person stating her unhappiness to show the truth. Hajime also felt a bit of love for Yue, though he felt even more love for the other two and knew that he would be in trouble if he told them so now.

Kaori and Shizuku began falling for Yue and each other, and felt their love for Hajime reach the pinnacle, though the same fear penetrated their hearts that Hajime would hate them, ironically.

Yue had developed a slight Damsel-in-Distress syndrome, which made her slightly inclined toward falling for the trio, but that had dissipated as their life story was explained… turning into a true love along the way. At that point, she felt warm and cozy at heart.

Aiko Hatayama was a woman born into a family of farmers. As such, she was fully inclined to be helping people in their livelihood, not war. In order to help as many people as possible, she had chosen to be a teacher, as her role model had been.

When she heard about Hajime, Kaori and Shizuku falling in the Labyrinth, she felt guilt at not being able to help her students, and dread at what she was going to tell their parents when they returned.

To that end, she decided that she wasn't going to stand back and watch as her students plunged forward on towards their death anymore. She walked straight up to the Church, called out the Pope, and flat out declined to help the Church in their objectives unless they allowed those who didn't wish to fight to stay behind. As her job was an important non-combative job, as Farmer (ironically), she was important for the survival of the people of Tortus.

Needless to say, she was shackled to the church, in exchange for the freedom of her students. And her first assignment had just come-She had to travel to a small village called Ur, where she had to revive the agricultural land.

She entered the class' dining room, where her closest students now- Yūka Sonobe and her party- were present. This group was in the group that witnessed the three fall, and decided that they didn't want a part in this war, instead choosing to protect their most precious (and only present) teacher.

" Everyone! I've got an assignment! I'll be leaving for Ur in a few days!" Aiko exuberantly shouted- even when in desperately hopeless situations (lessnotgettoohasty), Aiko was delighted to help people in trouble.{2}

Yūka took her new job seriously, seeing as she was trying to uphold the memory of Hajime, who had saved the entire class in exchange for his own, and two of their top frontline party members fell in straight after, Kaori and Shizuku. Thus, she wasn't amused at the exclusion of her party.

"Aiko-chan, you aren't planning on making us stay back, are you?" Yūka said, eyes closed, a wide smile on her face, and light brown hair slightly floating. She was considered slightly beautiful, but mostly cute due to her cheery personality. When she got angry though, she could intimidate a bear with her smiles.{3}

Aiko, with her child-like personality, didn't stand a chance, making Nana Miyazaki, her best friend, sweatdrop. Inwardly, Nana asked herself 'Who's the teacher here?'

Aiko was trembling now, as she stuttered "N-n-n-no, Y-y-yuka-s-sa-n-n, o-of cou-course n-n-ot!"

The oppressiveness left Yuka as she just nodded and said "Good, now, who else is ready for their first escort mission?" as if nothing had happened.

Most of her group joined in- the group, consisting of Atsushi Tamai, Noboru Aikawa, Akito Nimura, Yuka Sonobe, Nana Miyazaki, Taeko Sugawara and a slightly creepy male called Yukitoshi Shimizu, were committed to protecting Aiko, though the creep was being quite creepy, so they decided to keep him at arm's length just in case.

Some Paladins had been dispatched by the Holy (lol) Church, who were suspiciously handsome… clearly meant to seduce her into giving her loyalty to the Church, but they needn't have worried- They fell for her instead, due to her naturally cute disposition… Then again, most of her students want to cross the border between student and teacher in the depths of their minds… Hajime being a rare exception even before the Fall- he could separate admiration and love.

1- My adaptation to the old adage. The first part is the same (All that glitters is not gold), and the second part actually refers to the process of creating diamonds- To absolutely nobody's surprise, a diamond is created from carbon- the coal brickettes usually used in grilling (Not that I would know anything). The process to turn lump coal into diamond, however, is similar to Hajime's change- He had to go though extreme conditions in order to become the ass-kicker that he is, similar to the extreme amounts of pressure and heat to change the molecular composition of carbon to fit diamond.

2- Here, I tried to overshow the natural disposition shown by Aiko. I also showed something that isn't normally shown in Arifureta (even canon)- her willpower. If Aiko Hatayama were to go through the same metamorphosis that Hajime goes through, she would come out as even stronger than him... Not that we shall ever find out

3- I like Yuka. In the small amount of time she is featured, she shows a rare amount of character- for Arifureta- and thus makes it a shame that the main story didn't end up placing her into his harem especially since the after story shows the other girls being wary of her. Therefore, she is going to be an addition to the harem. I'll place a poll up to see if she will replace Aiko, or if both join in... the deadline is the upload of the next chapter.UPDATE: I took down the poll... Google Form links don't work apparently, and the in-site polls are just too slow to show up... Just answer in the reviews