Chapter 4: Today Is Yesterday's Tomorrow

"So, what you're saying is, you didn't disappear for two system days to play video games with Silver Wolf, but because she kidnapped you." A motherly, gentle voice came from the beautiful red-haired woman in a white dress with golden adornments. She had a warm smile and an air of regality.

"Yeah. Please believe me, Ms. Himeko." I was sitting in the lounge of the Astral Express once again, and I had finally experienced why the wrath of this tiny grey furball of our conductor known as Pom-Pom had a temperament which was feared even by the man besides me; the man with thick-rimmed black glasses wearing a white shirt, grey overcoat, and black pants who always carried a cane with him. I was hoping to wrap this up within a few hours, and despite the usual protests and continued pouting, March 7th had begrudgingly accepted my explanation for my vanishing act. However, Pom-Pom had shouted at me for so long that by the time he was finished, the rest of the Crew had ate breakfast, departed to various locations to take care of their own business, and then came back for lunch and finished that too. Only then did Pom-Pom have enough of marinating me with guilt did he finally call an emergency meeting to discuss my disappearance, during which March was surprisingly silent, simply looking at me with pity and nodding along with Pom-Pom's ranting and raving. I wasn't sure how to take it, and neither did the Crew; only when Pom-Pom had finally stopped to take a break by downing an entire gallon of water at once did Himeko ask me to recount the events of the past few days. It was too late by then, I had been reduced to a sobbing, prostrating mess; a form that I was still assuming to this second.

"And now you are the sole authority figure of an organization that has the same amount of, if not more power, than the actual current government." The man spoke up with a stern and fatherly tone that betrayed he wasn't as convinced as Himeko was.

"Yes, Mr. Yang." I responded weakly.

"And Silver Wolf had somehow snuck onto the Express, listened to our conversation with Black Swan about our next location, and smuggled a Space Anchor out without our knowledge," came the neutral and stoic voice from the Vidyadharan male with short black hair and matching pants, as well as dark green armor underlaid with a white jacket.

"Yes, Dan Heng." I moaned out in my best imitation of the undead.

"And...she traveled to another planet and convinced the old leader to appoint you as her successor, and the old leader then disappeared? After that, you fought in a war between a bunch of school kids and won it singlehandedly? And what does smashing a reporter's camera have to do with anything?" March asked in disbelief. If it wasn't apparent, of all the Crew members, only Ms. Himeko believed me; and I suspected it was mostly because I regurgitated Silver Wolf's summary of the importance of a halo and its properties. She had written some notes down while I was recounting this, and being a scientist, I expected her to do some research into halos to see if there was anything that could be of use to our expeditions. Mr. Yang, meanwhile, seemed conflicted; he clearly wanted to believe me, but there was something else gnawing at him.

"I also promised the Vice President to at least visit once every few days." I pathetically spat out.

March groaned, and then fell back into her seat. "And now the government of an entire planet is depending on you."

"City, not a planet. But yes." I whimpered.

"Didn't you just say this city was bigger than the habitable parts of Belobog and the Luofu combined?" she retorted.

"By magnitudes. I think I even saw a desert on the flight." I replied.

"So it's an entire country."

"It's not a country. It's a city. I wasn't the one who decided it was a city."

"I'm starting to see the problem, March." Dan Heng piped in, somehow oblivious to the fact that this wasn't helping my case. Knowing him, his thoughts were on something else entirely rather than our argument.

"Oh, I think the problem is far greater than you could possibly imagine." March sighed. "Well, I'm glad you're safe, at least. Even if it took you two days."

"March, I was unconscious for at least one of them." I sniped.

"Alright, you two, stop bickering," Mr. Yang stepped in before me and March could fill the ears of everyone with a repetitive back and forth about the tiniest details. "Stelle, you've resolved the most pressing crisis on Kivotos, so even if you were to visit and do your administrative work only twice a week, the city won't fall apart just because you're not there all the time. You should probably get a secretary for SCHALE; we've been doing our jobs without supervision so far on the Express, but a dedicated administrative position could cut down on your workload at SCHALE. As for Silver Wolf, I'll let Black Swan know to keep an eye out for her in the future. This wasn't part of Elio's script the Stellaron Hunters are following?"

"I don't think so," I replied. "Silver Wolf cares most about doing whatever she finds fun. It's just her idea of fun is to be a jerk most of the time."

"That's an understatement." March pursed her lips in irritation.

"Hmm," Mr. Yang pondered and gave it some thought before continuing. "We are going to have a lot of downtime for a bit. We've been invited to attend the initial preparations for the Wardance Festival on the Xianzhou two weeks from now, but myself and Himeko will continue our research into how to reach the Eternal Land of Amphoreus. The three of you can visit during the Wardance preparations in the meantime."

"Ohh, that's a great idea!" March excitedly approved. "I haven't seen Yanqing in months! I wonder how much taller he's gotten!"

"Probably not an inch," was Dan Heng's snide reply. Supposedly, Blade interrupted his attempt at revenge on Dan Heng just so the two could double team Yanqing for interfering, and despite losing badly Yanqing had held on long enough for Kafka to show up and convince Blade to stop. Then afterwards, there was my duel with Yanqing while pretending to be under Kafka's spell; Kafka erased his memory of the fight, so he was confused why I had gifted him a sword immediately afterwards, as I had felt bad about beating him down. All that's left is for March to give the kid a good old fashioned boot stomping, and the entire crew sans Ms. Himeko and Mr. Yang would have gotten their shot at humiliating Yanqing. I highly doubted they would fight at all, and if they did fight, Yanqing would almost definitely win; but I've been wrong more than I can count in situations like this. For whatever reason, March wearing a Xianzhou traditional dress while waving a sword in each hand around popped into my head, but I quickly dismissed the thought as the delusions of someone who got scolded a mascot.

Himeko had tapped Mr. Yang on the shoulder to show him the notes she had written down. "Welt, about this avenue for our research..."

He gave it a cursory glance while muttering in a low voice only Himeko could properly hear, then shook his head. I think I caught something about Emanators and Aeons. I made a mental note to disclose whatever findings I may have, if any, in the future to them and Herta while simultaneously cursing myself for not properly listening to Silver Wolf's briefing. Herta was both trustworthy and intelligent enough to safeguard any secrets I shared with her from the IPC. If nothing else, whatever knowledge Herta could apply would make my runs through the Simulated Universe less monotonous. "Promising, but unlikely. Let's continue on our current course for now." Mr. Yang then turned to me as Ms. Himeko went into the captain's quarters, most likely to comfort Pom-Pom. "Spending your time at Kivotos before the Wardance Festival should not disrupt the Crew's affairs in any way. Once that time comes though, I expect our schedule will look much busier. Do you have someone who can take care of things besides the Vice President?"

"Silver Wolf gave me an AI secretary." I replied.

He nodded. "Interesting. Are they able to accept things in your stead if you are not present in person?"

I shook my head. "Arona is exclusively on my phone."

"Then I'd recommend hiring a live secretary, so to speak, as soon as possible. In addition, it could be good for the three of you to visit this new world now that Space Anchor warp travel there is possible."

Dan Heng looked at the floor, turmoil in his eyes. "I need some time to clear my head. I'll likely stay on the Express until Wardance preparations begin." He clearly felt rather uncomfortable with accepting the invitation back onto the Xianzhou, considering he was an exiled wanted fugitive there barely months before.

I spoke up. "The Radiant Feldspar is a luxury cruise craft. You could take over as interim captain for me until then. Don't worry too much about the operations side, the ship basically runs itself and Rosa follows the procedures I laid out to the letter. Just try to enjoy yourself."

Dan Heng nodded in appreciation. "Thank you, Stelle. I'll try not to let the gaudy decor interfere with that."

I groaned. Silver Wolf? It's her sense of humor. March? Basically expected. But now even the unflappable Dan Heng was holding this over my head. "They're pretty popular for some reason. They even keep employee morale up."

A slight smile came on his face as he cracked a rare joke. "People have always been infatuated with your looks." His stab gave me a reminder that my negotiations with Wakamo likely would have turned ugly if I didn't have the same eye color as hers.

Mr. Yang continued, with an uncharacteristic slight smile on his face. "I request you keep the Crew in the loop about anything major happening on Kivotos. Himeko and I discussed that there could be other forces at play here. I've...done something like this in the past for a long time as well, so I do not mind giving you pointers or even personally stepping in. Remember your job title is that of a teacher, so you should be able to teach your students."

Both Dan Heng and March 7th looked down at me with abject skepticism.

"Guys," I rebutted. "I'm pretty good with math and sciences. Not as good as Topaz, but good enough to help her study."

March 7th took it as an opportunity to issue a challenge. "What is C5H9NO4 the molecular formula of?"

"Glutamic acid," I replied, knowing this one by heart.

March was genuinely impressed. "Wow, thought I had you with that one."

"If nothing else," Dan Heng began. "She is good with kids."

Mr. Yang nodded with approval. "That'll be a good start, and it'll go a long way. Just be careful about applying your knowledge of sciences to their world, they may have fundamentally different understandings. Make sure to do your research first. There are just some things others shouldn't know. It would be disastrous if they found out about the IPC, or the other way around."

My stomach tightened a knot as the guilt of me of accidentally activating an IPC communications device on Belobog surfaced. I try not to think about that to this day. The only positive out of that ordeal was that the IPC ultimately backed off from colonizing the planet due to them sending Topaz, who was holding her own misgivings about the situation, even then she got slapped with a demotion and pay cut for her trouble. I had to be careful on Kivotos and not let too much about the outside universe slip, lest I find myself staring down the barrel of yet another intergalactic corporate struggle, but this time with myself and Rin in the place of Bronya.

Himeko came with Pom-Pom out of the captain's quarters, the latter looking like his usual self, as if the fact he spent a quarter of the day showering me with rage was a chapter of fiction rather than a fact of reality. He gave me a pat on the shoulder, and I stood up from my groveling so as to not incur his rage further. "Pom-Pom's in a good mood now, so let's end our meeting."

With that, the rest of the Crew left the lobby, and I followed March 7th into her room.

[Meanwhile, in Kivotos...]

A robot in a grey suit and matching beret marked "PMC" marches through a hallway, reinforced with steel, lit by bright lights. He approaches a reinforced door and waits at the entrance.

"Welcome, General. Please input your security clearance code." The machine speaks aloud.

Extending the silver digits of his right hand, the robot types in a four digit number: 0-4-5-1.

"Security code accepted. Please submit to full body scan."

A holographic circle is projected onto the floor, and the General steps into the circle. As the General stands still, the hologram goes through his entire body, showing a mirror reflection of himself through the display; his immaculate black boots polished to a mirror sheen by his subordinates, the camera lenses behind a black protective layer on his head glowing an ominous acid green.

"Security scan complete. Identity verified. You may enter the situation room, General."

The reinforced door slides open, and the General walks through. In the room was a singular chair which was overlooked by a staggering amount of displays, each detailing the various affairs of the city. Some were focused on a map of Kivotos, and displayed the number of citizens who had taken the mandatory aptitude test. Others were monitoring various weapons factories, and their output in terms of resources, finished products, and worker productivity. They were controlled by a massive circular console switchboard with what seemed like a hundred levers. On the largest monitor was the news, displaying the events of the previous day; in this case, a press conference was being held by an especially haggard looking Vice President Namagami Rin of the General Student Council regarding the events of the previous day, in front of a familiar looking recent construction.

"I'd like to thank everyone for coming to the opening ceremony for the SCHALE Tower. This will be a short briefing, as I am currently quite busy. To put it plainly, the GSC has appointed Stelle-sensei as the sole advisor of the Federal Investigation Club SCHALE, an extrajudicial organization created by the president as the extension of her authority. The Tower itself will be immediately open for public access after this ceremony, but currently the only location ready for public use is an Angel 24 branch store located on the first floor. Access to other areas will be restricted. Stelle-sensei will be responsible for the development and opening of other facilities within the Tower, as well as the recruitment of staff, from this point on. I'd like to also officially address the rumors that the president has gone missing since last month. Those rumors are, sadly, true. SCHALE was to be activated in the event of such an occurrence, and the time for doing so is now."

A firestorm of shouting and questioning emerged, mostly regarding the disappearance of the GSC President, before the crowd of reporters realized they too had no recollection of who the President even was, just that she existed. The sound of the horde then changed to the subject of SCHALE and its Advisor. Although Rin did not show it, she was saddened to once again see that the phenomenon regarding the memories of her best friend was in fact, universal. Rin spoke up, and the reporters went quiet and seemed to almost stand at attention.

"One at a time, please. Let's start with you in the pink uniform."

The pink uniformed reporter shouted out a question. "So are you saying that SCHALE is operating outside of the law?"

Rin sighed. "As of right now, the law states the GSC is the central administrative body of Kivotos. That has not changed. SCHALE has the power to enforce the law as well as any other agency such as Valkyrie Police Academy. In light of the fact that SCHALE will be dealing with a variety of problems ranging from mundane to extreme, the president gave it a higher degree of independence. Stelle-sensei will be working alongside us in her capacity as an advisor."

A second reporter raised their hand. "But what about the past month, where we've had a rash of infrastructure breakdowns? Is this a sign that the GSC's commitment to the defense of law and order in Kivotos are inadequate?"

Rin frowned. "The GSC will not comment further."

The General chuckled to himself. "Oh, it's a good thing I decided to watch this live today, or else I would have missed all of this." He opened the lid on a rather cheap can of beer sold by Kaiser Convenience and began to pour it down his mouth receptacle, reveling in the aftertaste of its suds. Its alcohol contents were low enough that it would be difficult for him to get drunk unless he consumed an entire liter in less than an hour.

A third reporter chimed in. "The Fox of Calamity attacked the Sanctum Tower with various delinquents, and this 'Galactic Educator' was seen fighting with a Crusader Tank that is believed to have been piloted by the Fox of Calamity before retaking the Tower. Does this have anything to do with the sudden restoration of public utilities across Kivotos?"

Rin's poker face was cracked for a split second, having surrendered to the continued usage of that title for Sensei at the cost of a small amount of her sanity. "I can't say. The GSC has received a lot of demands for information regarding Stelle-sensei and the Sanctum Tower incident. All I can tell you is that the GSC has a very strict policy against disclosing sensitive information. That is all. Thank you all for com-"

A familiar blonde reporter rushed the stage, whom the General recognized as Kawaru Shinon, one of the foremost reporters for the already controversial Kronos Press Bureau, and the broadcast of the press conference he had tuned into was from the KPB's television channel. Being the largest journalism academy in Kivotos, they utterly dominated the ratings for news programs. The camera angle was shifted slightly, and it was revealed she was being held back by two robots acting as security guards.

"Vice President! What can you say about Stelle-sensei's conduct against the media last night? The actions she took, smashing my equipment in a fit of anger, are unacceptable and inexcusable! And where has she gone since then? Nobody has seen her leave the Sanctum Tower!" Shinon yelled out in anger, and in such a manner that it was obvious to the General this was pre-planned by the KPB. Not that it matters to him, if they will damage the GSC's reputation for the sake of a juicy news cycle, then it suited his plans more.

Rin shook her head and waved her hand before turning around and leaving the stage. Shinon began breaking free of the grip of the two guards, but was then swiftly dogpiled by two more from off-camera, before being thrown into the crowd by the combined force of the four robots. Two Valkyrie officers swiftly stood her up and tried to escort Shinon out for her safety, but their valiant efforts to serve the public were foiled when the public, which in the immediate vicinity consisted of reporters from rival outlets, sensed the opportunity to get scot-free petty revenge on Kronos and swarmed them. They were quickly trampled underfoot and had their uniforms dirtied with the marking of various heels and shoes, but were otherwise unharmed. As they got back up and saw how futile it would be to stop the crowd, they simply looked to one another and shrugged.

The horde of Kronos' embittered competitors began throwing various kicks and objects at Shinon, with one even throwing picking up and throwing a cat that had been in the vicinity at her, its panicked screeching reverbing through the monitor's speakers like nails on a chalkboard. The horde were voicing their various grievances against Kronos in eloquent and graceful ways such as cursing and insults. The Galactic Educator's now famous decree: "rules were made to be broken", was also chanted by the crowd. The broadcast ended there, as Kronos' camera crew were also swiftly overwhelmed soon after, the audio feed ending with the sound of glass shattering and metal crunching.

The General chuckled, and although his face-mounted display module was unable to show emotions unlike those of civilian model robots, it was clear to anyone who could observe him that he was quite pleased with himself. "It looks like things went just fine."

The situation room's automated system voiced a notification. "Incoming call from Shiranui Kaya."

"Patch it through."

The video feed came up, on the main central monitor, and on the other end sat a GSC official with a long white uniform and a dark blue tie, her hands covered by matching gloves. Her pink hair was tied into a braid crown, with a light yellow ring with two stars as her halo. Her eyes remained shadowed by the dark lighting.

"This was not part of the plan, General," Kaya's displeasure was made well known by her confrontational tone and somewhat comical frown. "The assault on the tower was supposed to keep the destabilization going long enough to be able to use public opinion to remove the Vice President."

The General was nonplussed by Kaya's complaints, and responded in his usual businesslike tone. "The broad strokes of our plan have not changed. There will always be adjustments in the field. The GSC's reputation has taken a hit over the past month. Miss Nanagami's popularity in and outside of the Council is in tatters."

"Adjustments?" Kaya hissed, her outrage and contempt barely hidden behind a thin veil. "This is not what we discussed, and it's not even close to a minor deviation. The plan is in shambles. Rin was supposed to have been defeated, HUMILIATED in that ambush, the pathetic shape of her unconscious body lying on the street for everything with eyes to see! SCHALE would have been gone before it even got started! We've lost control of the narrative. Now everyone's talking about how that... Galactic Educator... retook the Sanctum Tower from terrorists and saved Christmas or something, not about how the failure named Namagami Rin let a criminal run rampant!"

Ever the shrewd metallic mind, the General turned Kaya's temper tantrum back on her once again. "Chief of Defense, if you did not insist on remotely controlling the Crusader Tank, its automated systems would have prioritized the ground targets, and we'd be talking about a very different outcome. Your obsession with the Vice President will prove to be your downfall."

Kaya scoffed. "My obsession?" Her voice lowered. "Don't play me for a fool, General. You're supposed to be the strategist behind the curtain pulling the strings, so why don't you be a dear and tell me how you plan to salvage this mess?"

"As a matter of fact, I have. Your plan for an ambush was a good start, but I specifically advised you to let the tank pilot itself. As it stands, the Fox of Calamity is loose once again right after your special forces captured her in a destructive battle, and we can't even pin the blame of the attack on her to show for it, since it wasn't successful. This in the public eye reflects as a failure on the Defense Office, which I might add is your office."

"Hmph," Kaya waved her hands dismissively. "As if I'd let someone who isn't even the leader of his own branch of Kaiser criticize what I, the Chief of Defense of the GSC, decide on."

"The Director is a fool. His obsession with the Abydos Desert will be his downfall. As his second-in-command, I will become leader of Kaiser PMC when it happens."

"Regardless," Kaya's anxiousness showed as she bit her finger, the lighting of the room showing her pale green eyes, with her pupils dilated in rage. "Kivotos cannot continue to be ruled by inadequate leadership. It needs someone strong. Someone superhuman, to carry on the president's true will. Someone like myself, with you reaping the rewards of following a worthy leader."

"It seems like you were defeated by another superhuman in that battle," he chortled, not even hiding his smugness anymore.

Kaya scowled. "She's nothing. She's a mere human. A lowly, pitiful human, with no future. Sensei and her ridiculous name are of no threat to us. Her time will come."

The General nodded, and his voice suddenly lost all of its previous levity, his tone now taking on a much colder and serious note. "I'm glad you finally see, my dear. Be patient. SCHALE alone cannot turn Rin's reputation amongst the public around. Kivotos will be ruled by our gentle guiding hands soon."

Unbeknownst to the two conspirators, the unseen observer had been listening in remotely via the installation's camera feeds. She disconnected from them and dug a fork into a Stargazer Layer Cake, brought to her from the Golden Hour in Penacony courtesy of Firefly.

"This game is getting good." She paused to savor the flavor. "Mmm, so is this cake."

My eyes slowly flickered opened and I began to make out the projection of the galaxy and the orbits of the various planets of the system on the ceiling in the room I was in. The bed I was on was so comfortable I had to fight the urge to fall back asleep under the warmth of its bright pink comforter and pastel purple sheets. On the wall opposite of me was a messy array of various digital photo frames of my past adventures, with March not-so-curiously out of frame of the majority of them as they transitioned from slide to slide. The other walls were decorated with various bright pastel colors and framed pictures of drawings, while a rest area with a cushion and table filled with various snacks sat directly next to a window. The large window in her room showed we were currently docked at Herta Space Station and would be for the foreseeable future as Ms. Himeko and Mr. Yang continued their research into reaching the Eternal Land.

"Good morning, Sensei," March greeted me from the rest area, her voice full of relief, and with a noticeable amount of cheerfulness in her tone. She walked over to and sat at her computer's corner desk sifting through an article about things to do when traveling to somewhere new, with various notes jotted down on her phone.

"Good morning," I mumbled. "I hope I didn't sleep in too late."

March giggled. "You sure slept pretty heavily last night. You hugged me pretty tight the entire time, but I didn't wake you up when I noticed you were crying."

I wiped my face and looked down at my hand, with the residue of dried tears clearly evident. My eyes felt heavy, as though there was an invisible weight holding them down. Never again will I incur the unfettered wrath of Pom-Pom, no matter the cost. "You must have been really bored having to wait for me to wake up."

March shook her head. "Oh, no. I got a lot done today. Not to mention I've been looking forward to this." She jerked a thumb towards the dressing mirror in the corner, which was currently hanging a few outfits, ones I assumed she had bought from Penacony.

I groaned. "March, please don't make me go through with this."

She laughed. "I think you'll have fun. You can't go out into town looking as miserable as you are, they'll arrest for indecency."

"That's not what public indecency is, March."

"Well, Super Cute March 7th's word is the law!"

"March, as far as Kivotos is concerned, I am the law."

With a giggle and her usual smile, she walked over to her bed I had invaded for presumably over half the day, and proceeded to drag me up my the arm. I was still only wearing a short plain white tee and black panties, my usual attire for sleeping in a proper bed. "Stelle-sensei," she began in a mock teasing tone that I was forced to admit she got down perfectly. "I know you don't want to do this, but I've already set it all up for today. It's going to happen. First step to making things up to me, you know?"

I pouted, and let her drag me along in a way not dissimilar to Natasha dragging Hook, until we got to the mirror. One of the outfits hanging on the mirror was a black and gold version of the gala dress she wore to Belobog's Solwarm Festival, which was sadly interrupted due to my fiddling with IPC equipment on a previous excursion, complete with a tiara though excluding the various adornments on the dress itself. It was specifically tailored to my dimensions; March knew me as well on the outside as she did on the inside. Another outfit was a plain and simple maid dress, which seemed to just be the one March keeps around in her closet; March was about 10 centimeters shorter than me, so while I could reuse her wardrobe, it was a tighter than ideal fit. The third and final outfit she has prepared was a schoolgirl outfit, a blue sailor uniform that was also a size or two too small, with a matching white cap. I was almost disappointed there wasn't any cat ears and tails. Looks like out of all the outfits in display, March only shopped around for the gala dress.

I pointed to the gala dress. "I'm not wearing that. I don't want to remember what happened back then."

March shook her head and let out a short chuckle once more. "You don't seem to have a problem with being cringe any other time. Come on, Stelle. Everything worked out fine in the end. Just don't run around messing with random phones you find on the floor again."

I shook my head, the flimsy excuse of regret having successfully been repelled by March, and pointed towards the sailor uniform. "If I'm going to have to suffer through this, the least you could do is give me something I'll be more comfortable in."

March pouted. "You're no fun." She then pulled down the sailor uniform and held it out to me.

"No way. It's too tight."

"You just want an excuse not to wear it. It fits you."

"Yeah, barely. March, you know better than anyone I need a little breathing room." And while I was saying this in a last ditch attempt to shirk my debt towards March, it wasn't a lie, considering my status as primarily a melee fighter compared to March's ranged engagements with her bow. "Can't you find something less constricting?"

March put her hands on her hips and sighed. "Come on, just do this for me. I haven't had the chance to try and dress you up like a doll in a long time."

I sighed and snatched the sailor uniform out of her hands. "Fine, fine." I slipped the top on, the bottom of which rested just a bit above my navel. The matching skirt was also rather short; ending well above my knee and only managing to cover my thighs. The cap was a perfect fit however, and March was absolutely giddy as she took pictures in various angles.

"I knew you would look great in it," she smiled.

"Can I take it off now?"

"Not yet." March reached into her closet and returned with a pair of white thigh-high stockings and a pair of white loafers. "Let's see how you look with a slight modification."

I groaned. "Please don't."

She stuck her tongue out and tossed the shoes to me, which I caught in midair, and she proceeded to place the stockings on the edge of her bed. I slid the socks on, and placed the shoes on. It was an extremely tight fit, but it was bearable.

"What's with you and white?" I asked as I looked in the mirror, noticing how well it seemed to suit me.

"I think you look great in it." She pulled out a red ribbon. "Now, one more touch."

"March, no. Stop."

She ignored my pleas and tied the ribbon into a bow at the collar. She gave me a twirl, and I saw myself in the mirror, with the bow and the frills and everything, and I had to admit that March certainly did know how to make someone look presentable. Even if my dashing good looks carried the outfit.

"So? What do you think, Stelle?" March asked as she pulled out a second pair of ribbons and placed them in my hair.

I mumbled something unintelligible to myself.

She took her camera out and took more shots from different angles. "Alright! Just two more to go."

I groaned, resigning myself to being her personal dummy for the next few hours.

After several hours of fear and loathing I had managed to blot out of my short-term memory, I was finally back in my usual hoodie while March gave a satisfied hum as all the photos were successfully synchronized with the digital photo frames on her wall; her photography skills having steadily improved the more expeditions we went on, as they were all deliberately shot from the best possible angles for each pose she had me hold. While she did have me in a variety of embarrassing poses, the vast majority of them were rather benign. She then turned to me with a satisfied grin, non-verbally asking if I enjoyed her company. I rolled my eyes but gave a slight smile to communicate I appreciated her company, but not what she had me do.

"Hey, Stelle," she began. "How about I come with you to Kivotos until the Wardance preparations?"

"Huh?"

"The country you were talking about, right? I wanna see it with my own eyes, like what Mr. Yang said we should do. It sounds like an amazing place, and I can't wait to see it with you."

"March, I'm there for work, not for sightseeing. I'll probably be stuck in the office the whole time, or worse, some stuffy boardroom. Besides, it's not a country, it's a city."

"Then at least let me help with the work. Two pairs of hands are better than one!"

It was a sound idea from March, but paperwork might as well have been an impossible trial of discipline for her. She wouldn't be able to stand the boredom of doing it, let alone the details such as spotting written discrepancies or digesting obtuse and verbose text into workable information. Whenever we went together on expeditions, I would be the one doing most of the detective work; reading loose documents to piece together a past event, solving the ridiculous puzzles they have on the Luofu for the most basic of tasks rather than a simple button that does the job equally as well, that sort of thing. She usually helped where she could, but more often than not I would tell her to watch my back in case of an ambush.

Then again, Kivotos' definition of a teacher is less "teacher" and more "supreme leader", and so far the lessons I've gave the students have been of the "spanking with a bat" variety. March was utterly invaluable as a companion, she's more than capable of making extremely difficult shots with her bow, where she'd have to calculate trajectory falloff and wind speed on the fly. As long as myself or Dan Heng held the front, March was untouchable in a fight. That's not to mention she's able to cast invisible barriers to keep others in the fight, and her control over her ice powers doesn't just give her virtually unlimited arrows, but she's also able to alter them midfight to turn into a form of explosive arrow; one that spreads a cascade of glacial mini bombs in a rather large radius. If March had been with me during the fights with the delinquents or Wakamo, they would have been hilariously one-sided affairs where I'd come out without a scratch and a good amount of the hostiles would have been frozen in ice. March paired with myself or Dan Heng would be a force to be reckoned with, and with all three of us together, it was easy to see why she made a habit of bragging about her prowess.

And officially, the status of an Investigation club meant I was likely going to be doing actual investigating, and therefore get in a few fights with dastardly villains or stupid kids. With how Silver Wolf explained it though, the goals for SCHALE seemed rather nebulous, if not outright nonexistent.

"March," I began. "Just about everyone in Kivotos is armed. You sure you'd be able to handle yourself in a fight?"

"With just a bat, Stelle? You're going to be the one saying: 'Wow! You saved me without causing any trouble! You're pretty awesome, March 7th!' I think I'll have to get a better title than 'Cute Super Soldier' when I'm down there," March boasted without missing a beat, seeing through me instantly. I unfortunately had to concede her imitation of my voice was rather accurate a while ago.

I made a mental note to use SCHALE's resources in order to acquire a sniper rifle for my own use, not wanting to lose a contest to March. The Lance of Preservation was a weapon I seldom used unless the situation demanded I take a defensive frontline support role; the hat I received from the Watchmaker fused with the Will of Harmony was weak as an offensive option, and better suited for when I had offensive juggernauts such as Firefly at my disposal, where it was more tactically sound to stay out of their way and provide ranged support. The Galactic Baseballer's tool of choice wasn't just my favorite and most versatile tool, it also appeared to be the most mundane; I had made it a habit not to use my trump cards unless absolutely necessary, and Mr. Yang voiced earlier that my natural approach was the best one when it came to Kivotos. Considering the range of abilities I had seen from the representatives and Wakamo, the only real standout about March's abilities would be her weapon of choice was a bow rather than a firearm.

I nodded, signaling my agreement, and March pumped her fists in celebration. With a few hours left in the day, I dropped off Dan Heng at the Radiant Feldspar and took something to decorate SCHALE's office with before returning to the Express.

"March, are you ready?" I asked, with yesterday's tomorrow arriving today; my break from worrying about yet another new job having come to an end. If I thought directing a critically acclaimed anthology of films to define Penacony's history was high pressure, I clearly lacked the imagination of being the replacement leader for an entire megacity. March checked her camera and phone, then materialized and dematerialized her bow, before giving a wink and a thumbs up.

I launched the Blue Archive app, where Arona had been sleeping, and nudged her awake by tapping her with my finger on the phone screen. I'm not sure how Silver Wolf managed that particular feature, though for now that isn't important.

"Arona, can you give the situation report for what's been happening in Kivotos?"

"Sure thing, Sensei! Let me see..." She paused for a few seconds, before continuing. "Good news, Sensei, your popularity is through the roof! You're all the news and social media talks about lately. The Galactic Educator's presence has dropped the crime rate citywide by 20 percent!" March shot a look at me a look that I could best describe as a mix of disappointment and shock, while Arona was proud to witness the ever furthering of the legend of the Galactic Educator as she continued narrating. "In the past few days, the Galactic Educator has become known for her prowess even without a gun, as well as her ability to materialize a baseball bat out of thin air."

Suddenly it made sense why all the students I saw carried their guns with them or strapped them to their persons. I had gotten so used to being able to use dematerialization for inventory management that I had taken it for granted, and now I finally come across a world where people don't constantly do it. Granted, it was limited; most people only had the carrying capacity of approximately the size of their body, and only for one specific object, though there were some exceptions. I imagine the Stellaron in my body had a hand in giving me the ability to carry an array of objects.

Regardless, I was mortified, though at least materialization was relatively minor in terms of abilities and knowledge I want to keep hidden from Kivotos before I could verify its relative importance. If anything, it made things more convenient as I no longer had to hide I was able to do such a thing.

"...Anything else, Arona?"

"'Rules are made to be broken' has become a meme, and students quote that line day in day out." March's expression of shock became even more exaggerated. If she could stare someone into becoming a popsicle, I'm sure she would do it to me now. "I think it'd be a good idea to capitalize on this! Let's give SCHALE a social media presence! I can handle managing the account."

"Hold on, Arona," I interrupted. "Don't do that. I don't want people finding out about you."

"Eh?" she was surprised. "Why?"

I searched for the right words. "You're unique in Kivotos, Arona. People would want to take advantage of that."

She looked like she was ready to cry, but nodded nevertheless. "Oh, okay...I understand, Sensei."

"Way to go, Stelle," March sniped angrily.

"Shut up, March," was my equally flippant reply, already not happy with myself.

Arona perked right up again. "Oh, I know! How about we give Miss March access to the account and officially say she's the one managing it? I can manage it in her place whenever she's busy."

March was ecstatic and flashed me a mischievous smile, making a show of flipping through her phone gallery, which had the photos of me in costume taken earlier. "That's a great idea, Arona! It'd be a lot of fun to show the world Stelle's good side. What do you say?" Her smug expression was one where I'd expect her to break out into a noblewoman's laugh while doing her scarily precise impression of Kafka's voice. Tag teamed by my utter inability to refuse March and my soft spot for kids, I acquiesced.

"Alright, let's do it."

A cheer of celebration came out from both Arona and March, as I put my phone away and we prepared to teleport to the Sanctum Tower.

As we arrived, I noticed the basement had been cleaned up and Wakamo's carnage was no longer present, not even the bullet holes and scorch marks from her gunfire. The walls were patched up, the furniture replaced, and the room looked as if it had never been used. However, there was one particular thing in the corner that caught my eye.

"Huh?" March was bewildered by the object's presence. "What is THAT doing here?"

I smiled as I went over to inspect the golden trashcan.

Author's Notes:

This is the first chapter that wasn't preplanned, so this will also be the first chapter where I start doing author's notes. I am blown away by and would like to thank everyone for the positive feedback and engagement received so far.

In particular, in the process of writing this chapter, I received some comments speculating on the direction the story would take. The comments helped me realize that I had made some critical errors regarding the lore of both games which would contradict their established canons heavily; thus this chapter was rewritten, as despite mostly being a filler chapter focusing on Stelle and March's interactions, it also establishes plot details that would become important in whatever future direction the story takes.

Updates may slow a bit from the rapid pace for the first four chapters, but my goal is to try to give frequent updates of at least two full-length chapters a month.

Again, thank you to everyone for your feedback and engagement with this story. Your support keeps the writing quality up to standard and myself going.

EDIT: Fixed three occurrences of the PMC General being referred to as the PMC Director.