Azure Archive (BlazBlue x Blue Archive)

[Omniwhatever]

SUMMARY:

After obtaining the True Azure to create a new world, Ragna the Bloodedge should've ceased to exist, content the future of his world was safe before disappearing from it. Yet, instead of oblivion, somehow, Ragna found himself still drawing breath in the chaotic city of Kivotos, chaotic and yet somehow familiar, and entrusted with a role he never expected a man like him to even get.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES/FOREWORD:
Normally, I'll have these hidden in spoiler tags and skippable but wanted to ensure this disclaimer was seen.

After going on a Blazblue kick to rediscover some of my old love for the franchise and a friend enabling my intrusive thoughts, I thought why not do what I've seen a bunch of other people doing and do a Blue Archive crossover.

I'm uploading a batch of chapters with the initial upload here as wanted to get through the opening act as quickly as I could and not make anyone wait for too long to set the tone and pace of this crossover, quickly get to the important divergences. I'd advise to read this initial upload(The other two may take about 5-10 minutes to show up if you just clicked on this since I'm formatting it for QQ and want each chapter to have their own post for threadmark's sake) of the first 3 chapters before giving any comments, please. Chapter 4's about done and should come in a few days at most, possibly sooner. Future uploads will be done chapter by chapter instead of batches like this.

They'll be spoilers for Blazblue for everything up through Central Fiction as this is Ragna post-CF, if anyone still cares about those. Let's get on with the story now that that's all out of the way.

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PROLOGUE (I)
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Taking the dreams of everyone, even his own siblings, that should've been the end of it all. The world was going to be remade with everyone's wishes fulfilled. Free from the intervention and time manipulations of the Master Unit, free from the evil god intent on destroying it, but most importantly, free from the existence of him, Ragna the Bloodedge, and all the conflict that came to him like a magnet. It was supposed to be a happy ending for everyone but himself, and though Ragna wouldn't deny the part of him that wished for a happier outcome for himself as well, it was a sacrifice he was willing to make for the sake of the world and everyone he cared about even if it cost his very existence.

… So then why the hell did he still… Exist?

Ragna had expected complete oblivion and non-existence to greet him after he erased himself, but that was not the case. Instead, he found himself in a train car that was empty of passengers. The only sounds that greeted him were the low hum of the car traveling across the tracks. But there was something else odd about his sight, or rather the lack of it. But something Ragna sensed, or more specifically didn't, immediately explained it.

"What the hell, there's not any seithr here." Ragna commented with a scowl using his one good eye. Both his right eye and arm, dependent upon the Azure Grimoire and its need for seithr, the energy substance that permeated the air of his world, were utterly useless, yet not fully numb as his right arm felt incredibly heavy despite being immobile, a thought which raised alarm in his head. Shouldn't the Idea Engine have taken care of that? Wait, no, it wouldn't have since the Idea Engine, and Noise Canceler in it responsible for him being able to use his upper right half in the absence of seithr, had been damaged when Ragna overloaded it to hold off Susano'o, he'd checked that when first arriving in Kivotos.

No, what the hell, something was definitely off here. How did he know that name?

Ragna could feel information, other memories, starting to trickle into his mind and provide answers. Some hazy, some clear, some slowly becoming more defined as the bizarreness of his situation set in. Many of them were images of teenage girls with halos over their heads. Some were happy, like 5 gathered around a whiteboard in a rundown school discussing how to help save it with him, others included grim images of chaos in the streets and one girl with long silver hair and wings sobbing over a body.

Was this some kind of phenomena intervention? He'd been subject to it before and just like now it often left a conflicting set of memories and information, sometimes even memory loss, as even the rewriting of time and causality couldn't fully overcome the Azure Grimoire's power. Yet everything else was still intact, his clothes, his sword Aramasa, and his memories of his life were even entirely untouched, well, mostly. Every time he tried to think of how he even got here, he was met by an odd headache. What the hell had happened after he reset the world?

No matter, he was experienced in such a strange situation and so Ragna was quick to recompose himself and let the answers flow into his mind, the most recent events seemed to be the clearest, which worked fine to explain his current situation. That was right, he'd brought the General Student Council President onto the train after she was gravely injured in the explosive chaos that gripped the crumbling Kivotos to try and get her to safety, she must've been the presence in the other car that felt weak. He'd gone to check the other cars firstly to see if anyone could help, as Ragna lacked much experience with healing Ars Magus since he could normally regenerate even otherwise lethal wounds with a little time from the Azure Grimoire, but secondly to ensure they hadn't been followed and weren't in any more danger.
He could try to make sense of all this later, for now, the girl in the other car needed help. He could parse everything once certain the other wasn't going to die on him.

Opening up the door to the adjacent compartment, Ragna peered inside the identical car. Red seats with metal silver walls and a few windows to peer into the outside world where a slowly setting sun cast its orange rays into the room. It was no different than the previous one, except for the sole occupant.

It was a young girl, no older than 18, with sky blue hair that went down past her knees which had an oddly pink underside to it, making her hair almost resemble cotton candy. She wore a long white dress with a second layered vest over her chest. The solid color made the tremendous amount of blood on her left side staining it and the already crimson cushions she sat on even more pronounced. Her left side from nearly her shoulder to waist was dyed a dark crimson with blood that was yet to fully dry, it was even more of an attention grabbing sight than the halo above her head, that of a white ring with an angled blue star within it. Her expression was sullen, resigned even. Even with one half of her face covered by hair, the single visible blue eye looked completely defeated.

Though Ragna kept his face calm, he was used to far more graphic injuries than this, he knew a horrific wound when he saw it. If not for being superhumanly durable, a thought Ragna didn't question how he knew, that kind of blood loss would've been fatal without immediate medical attention. Even being conscious was a testament to the girl's endurance, despite the pale face that was still feeling the effects of her injuries. Survival wasn't impossible, but it certainly wasn't guaranteed either

"Hey," Ragna spoke up gently, drawing the girl's attention to him as he walked over toward her. "There's no one else on the train right now, so you're safe. But try not to move so much until we stop. You've lost enough blood already." In this place, whatever the story was, he clearly knew this girl well, seeing her in this state stirred up plenty of worry. He was still sorting through this second set of memories, slowly forming a picture of how he knew this person, but if he was dealing with someone who very well could've been dying he could roll with the situation for a little longer to keep her calm and let the memories come to him.

The girl shook her head with a somber smile. "Thanks for checking, Ragna, but it doesn't matter. Will you sit with me for a bit?"

A little confused, Ragna slowly took a seat to the girl's right.

After a moment, she sighed deeply. "It was all my fault. My decisions, and everything they caused. It had come to this for me to finally realize that you were right all along…"

"Little late for that." Ragna huffed with a sigh. He and the General Student Council president, the entire General Student Council really, had butted heads a few times over various matters, matters Ragna was still trying to remember all the specifics of, but he was pretty sure it had something to do with him, initially at least, effectively being an unaffiliated party that disregarded the GSC's authority in vigilante work. It was almost like trying to recall a dream right after waking up. Fragments and feelings remained that weren't unlike when he had been sent 100 years back in time to the Dark War, where he was able to recall numerous fragments of future knowledge or even recognize people in the past without understanding why, yet the whole metaphorical picture had been blurry and impossible to see with most of his memory gone.

"Don't start beating yourself up with self-pity yet though, you're better than that. If you can do that then you can put that energy into fixing this mess once you're fixed up yourself." Kivotos was in utter disarray right now, there wasn't time to feel sorry for yourself.

The girl's smile widened just a hair into something that looked genuine. "Despite how blunt it can be, I know how much you care and appreciate it. I wouldn't have expected that from when I first met you."

When was that again…? It was following doing something that'd almost gotten him branded a criminal, again for causing grief to a company, the name which escaped him, that'd been causing troubles for the first students he'd met exploring Kivotos because no one else was doing a damn thing about it. The thought gave him flashbacks to the NOL.
"So forgive me for being so bold, but I must ask for your help again, Ragna."

Ragna raised his one good eye brow, looking at her curiously.

"You'll forget these words, but it won't matter."

Ragna's suspicion only grew further at her strange words, scoffing. "Try me, I've dealt with whatever memory crap's been thrown my way more than once." What was she even talking about? Was the blood loss starting to get to her?

Ragna was starting to get an eerie feeling of deja vu from when he had been preparing to go back in time to the Dark War.

His answer was a bemused chuckle, her tone even lightening up slightly. "When I first met you, I thought that that attitude was just being too prideful, but after everything that confidence is always reassuring to hear. If we'd been able to work together from the beginning, maybe then…" The girl's words trailed off into a wistful melancholy.

The girl shook her head after a moment. "But it doesn't matter. Memories or not, I believe you'll make those choices that only you can make, this time before it's too late."

Once more, she fell silent for only a moment as Ragna listened, content to let the girl ramble. "I've spoken of responsibility before. I didn't truly understand it then, but now I do. Adulthood, responsibility, obligation, and the choices you make which extend beyond those ideals. I even understand their implications. Therefore…"

Another pause.

"… you're the only one I can trust. Only you can free us from this twisted, distorted fate and find the choices that will lead us to a new reality."

… This was definitely sounding oddly familiar to Ragna. "Just what the hell are you planning…?"

His companion turned to look directly at Ragna, a regretful smile over her expression, but she didn't answer him. "So, Ragna… Please…"

Ragna tensed up. Something was wrong, the world was shifting, changing. It was like when he'd killed Izanami and prompted the Master Unit to change reality to accommodate a new possibility where that didn't occur, phenomena intervention. But that wasn't it, this didn't feel the same, it was similar but not exact.

But before Ragna could make any further sense of what was happening, the world faded to darkness around him.

 

[Omniwhatever]

PROLOGUE (II)​

"Sensei. Wake up."

Ragna's single functioning eye blinked open a few times as wakefulness returned to him. In front of him was an older teenager, around 160-165cm in height from his guess, with glasses that rested in front of sharp blue eyes. Her ears were unlike that of a normal human's, stretching out to a point much like an… Elf, was the term wasn't it? A circular blue halo, with 3 lines near the front side of it, rested above her ankle length dark hair that flowed down her white upper uniform, composed of a form fitting inner half with several golden buttons and a jacket, and black pantyhose. Resting at her waist was a holster for a pistol.

"Urg, what is it now, Rin?" Ragna grumbled as he pushed away the last remnants of sleep.

Something about the name that'd left his lips before he realized it gave the man pause. He'd just met this girl a short time ago, hadn't he? But something was off about that though. Something wasn't right, where the hell was he? Hadn't he just been on a train a moment ago with… Arg, dammit he was getting a headache trying to think. It was like losing your train of thought in the middle of a sentence and no matter how hard you tried to recall it, even when the thought was on the tip of your tongue, it just wouldn't return. It was like some momentary fog he got when experiencing phenomena intervention.

No, more importantly, why was he still even alive?

Rin let out a quick, exasperated sigh. There was a detectable undercurrent of frustration within her words. "I understand you were annoyed at being asked to wait, but I didn't think you would fall asleep. I even had some troubling waking you up… I didn't expect you to be so sound asleep that quickly. You must have been having a dream."

Huh, was it all just a dream then? That'd explain the foggy feeling, trying to remember everything from a dream when you got jolted awake was always a dice roll at best.

No, like hell it was, that wasn't it. He shouldn't have even been here! Ragna should've been non-existent right now. That was his entire plan after obtaining the power to rewrite the universe and remove any traces of his existence so the Master Unit's focus on him wouldn't result in more looping time. Even Amane had said he would become possibility itself with that power, a concept instead of a consciousness, not existing until observed, yet with everyone's memories of him gone there should've been no one to affirm his existence.

But something told him that, despite continuing to draw breath, he didn't have to worry about the Master Unit anymore, he was beyond its observation now. Ragna couldn't even explain such a thought or how he knew it, he just felt it with the same certainty one would say the sky is blue.

But that didn't still didn't explain why he was here Or why there were memories and feelings of being in this place? Most of them were hazy, he had a sense of coming here for a reason and that it was important, that he'd just had a conversation with Rin before passing out, but beyond that it was odd. It was more like he had just appeared in his present position as the world worked backwards to accommodate what needed to happen for him to arrive at the now, not unlike a wide scale phenomena intervention.

"Anyway, gather yourself and focus. You seem a bit preoccupied. Do you need the situation explained again?" Rin spoke up, clearly seeing Ragna's uncertainty.

Ragna shook his head. They had, apparently, just talked and gotten him briefly familiar with the situation before Rin had walked off to attend to something. She was a General Student Council Officer for Kivotos, a massive academy city, while he was, apparently, a teacher that'd been called here, which only brought more questions than answers. He didn't even remember how he'd gotten here anyway or even agreeing to this. Yet, at the same time, there was this deeply rooted sense of impending dread if he didn't go along with it, like he knew something bad would happen without him. But even still...

"I understand this must be very confusing to you." Rin stated, almost sympathetically.

"Yeah, that's one way to put it…" Ragna huffed, wishing he could cross his arms. "I don't recall ever agreeing to be a teacher. I was the one who got asked to come here without understanding why. I don't even know what I'm supposed to do." Of all things Ragna expected out of his life being a teacher was not one of them. Something like how Jubei had instructed him? Maybe, but that was far from the kind of formal life that he was assuming this position entailed.

But on the other hand… What was he supposed to do with his life now? He hadn't planned on having one and going back home wasn't an option even if he wanted to. If he was going to have a way to live fall right into his lap, maybe it wasn't the worst idea. Besides, he wanted to learn more about whatever this sense of deja vu was connected to current events. Perhaps following it was the way to get answers.

Rin blinked, her normally composed face showing a brief flash of surprise, with even a momentary intense worry alongside it that Rin visibly tried and failed to wipe away. "Are you… Saying you don't wish to take the teaching position? Your name was personally selected by the General Student Council President and there's no mistaking it for someone else's with such an… Interesting title and matching description for someone called Ragna the Bloodedge."

Yep, that was certainly a one of a kind name. If that wasn't enough to stand out, his appearance would sure pick him apart from the crowd. White spiky hair, black hakama with a grey and white coat, then a vibrant red sleeved jacket with a few silver plates at the wrist and shoulders with two long and thin tails hanging from the back over it. Regardless of the distinctive look though, the sword he kept holstered on his back, Aramasa, would've stood out plenty. Counting the long handle it was roughly 2/3rds his 185cm height, with a long white, single edged blade nearly thick as a man's torso attached to the red and grey handle running up the other side.

"I'm not entirely sure how you get here myself, but I assumed you must have had some prior exchange if she chose you and she chose you for a reason." Rin finished, pensively eyeing Ragna up and down. She almost looked even... A bit pleading? Desperate? "There's already been extensive arrangements made for your position."

The title of General Student Council president was oddly familiar and stirred up strange emotions. There was a sense of worry like he had to do something important to avoid disaster. It also called forth a blurry image to his mind, a girl with long sky blue hair and gravely injured. Yet the more he tried to focus on that image, the worse his headache got without clearing up the haze surrounding it. Normally, he could piece together flashes of when some kind of intervention in the timeline happened and something to trigger his recollection occurred, yet this time nothing came.

He'd forgotten something, something important and he was going to find out the cause.

Much as part of Ragna was half prepared to walk out once whatever Rin needed him for, that apparently, only he could do, was finished, the other half of him felt uneasy about that idea and that it would've been a massive mistake.

"I didn't say I wasn't going to do it." Ragna finally declared with a dismissive gesture of his hand. "But how am I supposed to do something when I don't even know what the hell I'm getting myself into?"

The tension in Rin's shoulders visibly deflated, her voice easing up with it. "I see, that isn't an unreasonable thought. This was all done in a hurry, so I'm not surprised you weren't made fully aware of everything either. However, I have to offer my apologies and save a full explanation for later. I would like you to follow me for now. As I had said before, there's something I require your help with. It's a grave matter. I will explain some of the stations of your position on the way there and the rest once this matter is resolved. If you will please come with me."

Done talking, Rin made her way over to the elevator with the intention of Ragna following her, and lacking much else, Ragna did exactly that with much on his mind.

Taking the extra moment of quiet from Rin operating the elevator, Ragna started sifting through some of the questions in his head. He had experience with strange situations like this, but it didn't stop his mind from feeling out of sorts processing the new information about this world.

Firstly, there was his current status. He couldn't see with or move either his right arm or eye, but that was because seithr didn't appear to exist in this world, and normally without seithr neither of those parts worked because it was the part of his body the Azure Grimoire, an immensely powerful source of energy, had overtaken to compensate for when he'd lost that arm as a child. The Idea Engine, another power source he'd absorbed into his body, was supposed to let him use that half of his body even without any seithr after Kokonoe upgraded it, yet probing it with his senses…

Damaged, of course. Not entirely non functional, but may as well been close to it. He'd overridden all the safety limits to maximize the power it could grant him to hold off the God of Destruction Susano'o, or Yuuki Terumi as Ragna had better known him. It wasn't broken, but in its current state and having zero seithr around he doubted it could stay activated for long without further risk or backlash. Maybe he could stabilize it by activating the Azure Grimoire though… The Idea Engine had empowered his grimoire so why couldn't the reverse work? But that'd only work in an emergency, unleashing the full power of the Azure Grimoire was not to be done lightly, it wasn't his power and reckless use would've been disastrous for the whole world. At the very least, with it somewhat working, Ragna could feel that his raw physical abilities weren't as crippled as they could've been so he could definitely still fight at least.

But the True Azure, the power he'd used to rewrite his world's past, present, and future was nowhere to be felt. That was another mystery, did he lose it because of having an existence again?

The rumble of the elevator moving upward drew Ragna out of his thoughts while Rin moving to the back side of the elevator drew his attention.

"Welcome to Kivotos, sensei." Rin gestured to the clear glass of the elevator that provided a perfect view of the sprawling metropolis below.

Numerous buildings dotted the landscape in all shapes and sizes, from small apartments to towering skyscrapers that extended past the few dozen meters height Ragna and Rin were at. A crystal clear blue lake separated two halves of the city from one another, or rather just this one section of the city. Far as the eye could see there were buildings well into the horizon below the barely cloudy blue sky. It was a city on the scale the likes of which Ragna had never seen, the closest he had were images from Pre-Dark War cities before the Black Beast had shattered the world, but even those felt tiny compared to the sheer scope of Kivotos. The city felt like it stretched on nearly forever.

"Damn, I've never seen a place this huge before." Ragna muttered to himself.

Rin's expression briefly lightened. "Kivotos is a massive city, home to thousands of different academies. I would hope this will be where you'll be working soon." Rin stated though Ragna noticed the slight uncertainty in her last few words.

"I know you said that you didn't often spend extended time in cities like this, so I understand if you might find it difficult to fit in at first, especially if you are uncertain about teaching, but I'm certain you'll adjust just fine." Rin finished with a hint of hope in her voice.

"You don't have to worry about me there." Ragna replied dismissively, he recalled mentioning something like that to Rin earlier. "I'm used to living in all sorts of conditions worse than this." He'd never even truly had an actual 'home' after the church was burned down. Being a world wide wanted criminal by a corrupt world government that'd issued a bounty high enough to buy a small country meant most of his time was spent camping in the wilderness with seithr mutated animals or on the move. If he could adapt to that then how hard could it possibly be to adjust to a sprawling city like this?

Rin's expression lightened just slightly, something close to a smile coming over her. "The confidence is relieving to hear. I wouldn't expect anything less from a man chosen by the General Student Council president. But we can leave the rest of the details for later."

As if on cue, a chime echoed and the elevator stopped moving.

"Wait, were there supposed to be more people I'm meeting or something?" Turning toward the elevator door, Ragna spoke up before it even opened. He sensed a few presences in the adjacent room without any need for sight.

Rin looked at the man in confusion, until the doors separated and revealed four other individuals, at which point Rin's face fell to a barely restrained grimace. None of them looked happy.

"There you are, Acting President! We've been waiting! Get the real president in here already!" The first girl spoke up with frustration thick enough you could've cut it with a knife, glaring at Rin with her piercing purple eyes with an unusual red in the center of the iris. She had waist length purple hair with a side tail on both sides of her hair. Part of her outfit resembled an office worker, a black and white formal coat on her upper body that trailed into a pleated skirt of a similar color and gloves over her hands to match. Even her ankle height boots were likewise black. Contrasting the black layer was a white jacket that hung loosely down both her shoulders. Like Rin, she too had a halo and guns, but her halo was a circular black with a blue inner light that almost looked futuristic. Compared to Rin's pistol, the girl had a pair of black SMGs with blue engravings.

Ragna was certain he'd seen her before.

Her eyes flicked over toward Ragna, where her expression softened into one of confusion. "Huh? Who's that adult with you?"

Before either Ragna or Rin could respond to the first address, more barraged the pair, which at least gave Ragna time to assess who they all were.

"I've been waiting to see you, Chief Officer." The more composed words came from a tall, nearly Ragna's height but still shorter, girl with long, flowing dark hair and red eyes. She had a long sleeved crop top with a symbol Ragna didn't recognize and the word "Justice" embodied onto the chest. She also wore a pleated skirt, though longer than the first girl's as it came down just past her thighs, which were covered by dark stockings and heels over her feet. Just like the others, she had a halo, a circle with four dagger like points around it and one in the middle, and a large, ornate looking rifle. Unlike the other two though, she had a set of massive wings, which even when folded up were practically as tall as she was.

"I'm here to meet with the General Student Council president. The head prefect has terms she would like to discuss." The next comment came from a girl of average height with chest length, pale and nearly strawberry blonde hair tied into pigtails that went over her shoulders and had a black ribbon at her forehead. The upper part of her uniform was a long sleeved blouse which ended in dark red gloves and had an arm band over her left are. Her lower half was a pleated black skirt that led to red tights and long black boots which went up to nearly her knees. The girl's halo was a small red circle with four points that created a crosshair look, while her weapon was another pistol. They also had some large, oversized bag half her height slung over one shoulder. There were several syringes pocketed around the side and a few things that looked like bandages poking out from inside. Was she a medic?

The fourth one, thankfully, remained silent and just observed. She had white hair that flowed past her knees with a gray sailor dress with white highlights and a black vest for an underlayer. Black knee high socks covered her legs alongside plain brown shoes. In her hand was a white and black rifle. Her halo looked like a purple crosshair with four arrows pointing outward. Right below it was what looked like a white wing on the left side of her head. Ragna couldn't tell if that was how she'd somehow stylized her hair or part of her anatomy.

"Well…" Rin suppressed a groan yet didn't bother hiding the scowl on her face as she walked into the room, Ragna close behind. "This timing is rather inconvenient."

Recomposing herself, Rin put on one of the fakest smiles Ragna had ever seen, it looked more like she was actively holding herself back from telling the other girls to get the hell out of the room, and continued. "Hello, guests that represent neighboring academies's student council's, disciplinary boards, and those who otherwise have too much time on their hands. I am well aware why you irksome- I mean important representatives have come here today. You're here to blame us for the fuss happening in the city. Isn't that right?"

Ragna felt a twinge of pity for Rin. Political bullshit was such a pain to deal with and Rin was clearly forcing herself to keep things professional. Well, if she wasn't going to be blunt, then he'd do it for her. Ragna wanted answers anyway and listening to everyone complain and moan would take a while.

"Hey," Ragna spoke up, slightly raising his voice to command everyone's attention before any biting reply could come to Rin's statement. "How about everyone pipes down a bit so we don't waste time yelling at each other and have Rin get to the point? I'm guessing this has something to do with why you called me up here to help with that urgent problem, isn't it?"

The SMG wielding girl eyed Ragna up and down skeptically. "We still haven't heard who you are supposed to be."

"If you will listen to his sound advice and let me speak, I can get to explaining everything." A hint of appreciation in Rin's words for what Ragna had said, her face eased up from being on the verge of strangling the next one to speak to now only a restrained desire to scream. "If I may cut to the chase, we can get this matter resolved and everyone back to their lives which are clearly not busy enough."

An annoyed huff came from the purple haired girl, but otherwise the gathered party watched Rin with scrutinizing eyes.

"The reason for all the current chaos of Kivotos is that the General Student Council has no authority because the top administrator of the Sanctum Tower has gone missing." Rin stated lowly.

The eyes of the other girls widened. "So the rumors were true…" The tallest girl mumbled to herself.

"What!?" The one in business like attire shouted. "You mean…"

Rin nodded. "To be frank, the president has gone missing. Since then, we've been searching for a way to bypass the need for verification, all to no avail… Until recently."

"And that means me, doesn't it?" Ragna stated more than asked. He still wasn't sure what exactly his role was in all this anyway.

"Correct." Rin's gaze shot over to Ragna, as did everyone else following her's. "Ragna-sensei, you're the answer to our problems."

Already expecting it coming, Ragna was not surprised, yet that still left one giant question hanging. "What the hell am I supposed to do then?"

"Hold up." The annoying one with twin SMGs interjected again. "Who is this 'Ragna-sensei' you're talking about? What are they doing here in the first place?"

"Whoever they are, they don't seem to be from Kivotos." The tall girl said, looking over Ragna curiously.

The only thing that kept Ragna from making a comment was his desire to get to the damn point already, but even still the reactions confirmed Ragna's growing suspicions. There wasn't a person alive who didn't know his face, and infamy attached to it, back home. Yet beyond Rin, who'd known about his coming in advance, none of the girls had the faintest idea of who he was. He wasn't in his world or timeline anymore. The lack of seithr, the strange things like halos, the modern and spawling city, there was no way he was simply in either the past, even further than the Dark War, or far future. He'd ended up in some entirely new world.

But how?

"This is Ragna-sensei." Rin answered, gesturing to him. "They were personally selected by the General Student Council president to be a teacher."

"Hey," Ragna interjected with a soft glare. "I'm waiting to hear exactly what I'm getting myself into before agreeing to anything, remember?"

His statement earned another pensive look from Rin, a glare that was telling him to shut up even.

"The president chose them. The one who's now missing? This is making less and less sense…" The girl with purple hair trailed off, the uncertainty visible on her face.

"Well," Ragna began casually, ignoring the glare from Rin as he'd seen worse. "Guess I don't need to say much since my introduction's taken care of, but I'm Ragna the Bloodedge. You can just call me Ragna."

"Ragna the… what?" The elf eared girl spoke up, blinking slowly.

"It's a title I took to honor someone that helped save where I come from." Ragna answered plainly. That was the simplest way to put it, he was not even going to begin trying to unpack the utter mess that was that story and the fact said someone was himself. It wasn't like he knew that when he took up the title.

How the hell did his life get so complicated?

The girl who'd questioned his name had her cheeks turn a hint pink. "Ah, I'm sorry, Ragna-sensei. I didn't mean to be rude."

Even Rin looked momentarily guilty for her earlier comment about his name.

"I haven't even taken the job yet, no need for that." Ragna commented. Rin, he understood because clearly she was trying to push him toward the job, but everyone else? It felt so annoyingly formal for him.

"It would be better for you to get used to your new title early, Ragna-sensei." Any guilt vanished as Rin interjected with an exaggerated emphasis to his title and a glare that looked like a combination of threatening but also pleading him to stop talking already.

Ragna sighed before continuing like he hadn't heard that, not wasn't the time for this. "So, you going to introduce yourself or am I going to have to start thinking up nicknames?"

"R-Right." The angry girl with SMGs suddenly seemed flustered when put on the spot and recomposed herself. "It's good to meet you, sensei. I'm Millennium Science School's-" The girl shook her head, expression growing sour. "I-I mean, why am I even bothering to introduce myself right now? It isn't the time for this!"

Though she hadn't properly introduced herself, a name suddenly came to Ragna's mind, Yuuka. He wasn't sure if it was correct or where it came from, but something about it felt right. More deja vu…

"While she is correct, don't worry about that annoying girl. Let's just move on to more urgent matters..." Rin dismissively stated.

Alright, guess he'd just have to go without names for now. Everyone felt vaguely familiar to him, but trying to put a name to each girl unprompted was more difficult.

"Who are you calling annoying!?" Yuuka shouted with a glare toward Rin. "I'm Hayase Yuuka!" Her gaze shifted toward Ragna, lingering frustration over her last target bleeding over into the expression he received. "You should remember that name, Ragna-sensei!"

"Gonna be hard to forget somebody who's always shouting in my ear." Ragna dryly remarked.

"Don't you have any sense of urgency over the current situation!?" Yuuka shouted again, this time with a glare that was all for Ragna instead of Rin.

"Hard for me to know what the situation is if everyone keeps interrupting each other." Ragna shot back without so much as blinking.

"Ahem." Rin cleared her throat to diffuse the situation. "You're here to serve as the advisor for a club that was formed by the General Student Council president. The Federal Investigation Club: SCHALE."

"A club." Ragna stated, completely flat. He wasn't sure what he was expecting but that wasn't it.

"This isn't your average club." Rin quickly corrected, a brief flare of worry at seeing his hesitation. "It's more like a type of extrajudicial organization. Since it's a federal club, you'll be allowed to register students from any of the academies of Kivotos. Each academy region can perform battle activities without restriction."

"Wait, wait a second. Battle Activities?" Ragna repeated, skeptical, yet intrigued. Though, after a second to think it over the idea made more sense. What the hell else could've been the reason for those weapons he saw literally half the inhabitants wielding? He was used to most people around him being armed, but usually they were also security and trying to use their weapons on him.

Maybe this wouldn't be such a quiet job after all, that sounded a little more up his alley.

"That's correct. I assume you must be familiar with combat, given the weapon you're carrying?" Rin stated like she were explaining the weather.

"Plenty." Ragna answered confidently, placing his hand on his hilt. Thankfully, he'd modified the holster to easily switch between left or right handed so even without his dominant arm he could still quickly reach it.

"Good, that expertise will be needed. Now then, the SCHALE club room is about 30 kilometers from here. The building is currently empty, but we had to put something in the basement at the president's request. It's my job to take you there. I'll prepare transport."

With the click of some kind of communicator, Rin started talking again. "Momoka. I need a helicopter to take us to the SCHALE club room."

A translucent, blue tinted image of another short girl appeared. Her clothes were similar to Rin's, and she even had similarly pointy ears. Her hair was bright pink and done up in pigtails with short green horns below her halo that was comprised of five individual four-tipped stars connected at the sides in a circular pattern. Coming from beneath her skirt was a long, deep blue tail that ended with a pink and white tip.

"The SCHALE club room?" Momoka sounded disinterested, accentuated by the bag of chips in her hand. "That's over in the outskirts. Things are kind of crazy over there right now..."

After a brief pause, Rin's brow furrowed. "What do you mean 'crazy'?"

"A suspended student escaped from the Corrections Bureau and is wrecking havoc. It's a battlefield over there right now!" Momoka elaborated.

"What?" Rin's face soured.

Oh, Ragna could just never have things go easily for him, could he?

Momoka continued her explanation, uncaring of Rin's growing scowl with every word. "They rallied all the thugs in the area and are destroying everything in their path to get revenge on the General Student Council. I hear they've even got a Crusader Tank! They must be trying to occupy the SCHALE building because they know the General Student Council controls it. Maybe they think there's something valuable inside."

Ragna took a step away from Rin as it looked like she was about to explode any moment.

"Oh, well. The city's already a dump, so I don't think it'll make that much of a difference… Oh, great! The food I ordered is here. I'll talk to you later!" Without another word, Momoka hung up the call and vanished.

Rin took a deep breath that she held for a solid few seconds.

"Hey, Rin. You sure you're not about to have a heart attack?" Ragna commented, he'd worn that expression a couple times in his life and knew the rage it took to make.

"I'm fine…" Rin stated with another fake smile and low, forced tone that indicated she was anything but fine. She looked ready to scream. "It's just a minor setback… No problem at all." Her gaze shifted over to the other four individuals like she had some malicious plan in mind.

"What? Why are you looking at us like that?" Yuuka asked, nervously taking a step back.

"It's so reassuring to have you trustworthy academy representatives with us." Rin began with a stare that said they had no choice in what she was about to say. "We are going to need your help to bring peace back to Kivotos. Come with me." Without another word, Rin started walking, expecting everyone to follow her.

"W-Wait, what? Where are going?" Yuuka, completely lost, stated as she reluctantly followed Rin with an uneasy, even a bit fearful, face.

No matter where he went, Ragna could always count on it not being boring.

 

[Omniwhatever]

PROLOGUE (III)​

The ride over had been a brief, but interesting one for Ragna. It was his first time ever using a helicopter to move around and it sure beat walking. Given how hurriedly he and everyone else had been rushed out to the battlefield by Rin, he hadn't had any time to get the other girl's names, besides Yuuka's. With the flight over there not even 10 minutes, it'd given him time to get everyone's names and an idea of who he might be working with in battle. Once more, it felt comparable to getting a refresher on something he had already known instead of truly forgotten.

The tall girl with wings was named Hanekawa Hasumi, specialized in longer range engagements with a weapon called a sniper rifle. The girl he'd assumed was some kind of medic, which turned out to be an accurate assessment, went by Hinomiya Chinatsu and focused on tending to injured and using her pistol when needed. The last girl, with a wing on her head, who had the sense to not interrupt the conversation so it could get to the point, was named Morizuki Suzumi and specialized in mid to close range with her rifle and had a multitude of flashbangs on her.

Ragna was the furthest thing from a gun expert, in his world personal scale guns, though not heavy armaments, had fallen massively out of favor of melee weapons supplanted with Ars Magus, a fusion of magic and science that could grant great power and abilities, as guns had been useless against the Black Beast in the Dark War. The notable exception had been what his younger sister, Noel, used long after the Dark War that was a special one created specifically to combat the Black Beast called Bolverk. That had been capable of transforming into a multitude of weapons, from pistols to a railgun, and Ragna had seen her use, or been on the receiving end of, the weapon enough times to get an idea of what to expect from them. Coupled with his extensive general knowledge and experience on combat, he could still work with this even despite knowing the broad applications.

He'd also been caught up to speed about how truly dire Kivotos situation was. Power supplies were shutting down, and with the rumors of the missing General Student Council president, coupled with the panic of facilities losing power, it'd caused a massive upsurge in crime that'd thrown certain areas into downright anarchy. The city had looked so perfect and beautiful from up high in that elevator ride, but here it was teetering on the edge of disaster in truth.

But the ride had to eventually end as the Helicopter approached a somewhat quieter area to touch down. It was a heavily developed area with numerous tall buildings and wide streets, yet utterly devoid of any inhabitants, and Ragna could understand why. Not far ahead, he could see signs of destruction, broken windows, some clear areas where explosions had gone off, and even a few holes in a building.

It was still a fair distance from the SCHALE building, but it served as a decent middle ground to drop off the four students where they could begin clearing a safe path for the helicopter to fly the rest of the way. Otherwise, it would've been easily shot at by all the gangsters blocking the remainder of the path. It was a simple plan, really, let the students clear things after being dropped off while the helicopter, and Ragna, hung back till the coast was clear.

Like hell he was going to do that.

The very moment the helicopter touched down, Ragna threw open the door and jumped right out of it to several confused exclamations and gasps.

"S-Sensei!? What are you doing?!" Yuuka lept right out of the helicopter and immediately in front of him to block Ragna's path, SMGs in hand. "You're supposed to wait in the helicopter, it's dangerous for you out here!"

"Yeah, so? Just because you're tough, doesn't mean you're invincible either." Ragna answered, utterly unphased as he moved to walk past her, only for Yuuka to dart in front of his path.

"Sensei, we're not in danger, but you are!" Suzumi echoed the sentiment as she left the helicopter and rushed to Yuuka's side, grabbing onto Ragna's bad arm. "We have our halos to protect us, but you don't and you're an outsider to Kivotos on top of that!"

"Ragna-sensei." This time the words came from Chinatsu, who sounded deathly serious as she exited the helicopter. "Unlike us, a single bullet could put your life in grave danger and you are already suffering from a disabled arm and eye."

Oh, right, the halos… More knowledge came forth, as if triggered by the mention. That explained the lack of concern for themselves dropping right into a firefight. Most residents of Kivotos were exceptionally durable already, but the halos took things to a greater level. They provided some kind of superhuman protection to the students of Kivotos, granting them strength and power far exceeding what a normal human was capable of, even to the point where weapons that could pierce straight through a person and kill them would only be a mild to moderate annoyance for somebody like the girls. Higher level Ars Magus would've been necessary to have the same kind of reinforcement and durability to nearly ignore a conventional firefight for any normal person.

But Ragna wasn't a normal person either, even with his powers limited.

Ragna scoffed. "Look, I know I'm far from my best shape right now, but if I'm supposed to be overseeing combat, then like hell I'm going to just sit on my ass doing nothing. I've faced way worse than a few bullets."

"E-Eh? What kind of language is that for a teacher?" Yuuka recoiled with a perplexed look caused by Ragna's chosen vocabulary and his blatant disregard for his apparent safety. "No, that's besides the point right now!"

A large, firm hand was put on Ragna's good shoulder, followed by Hasumi's voice. "Sensei, there's being brave and then there's being reckless."

Ragna shook off the grip, turning to face Hasumi's worried, stern expression. Out of the corner of his vision, he could see the helicopter pilot looking onward, visibly confused at what they were supposed to do. "Did I say I was going to charging in swinging at everyone? Even if I don't jump in headfirst, I'm still going. How the hell am I supposed to do my job far away?"

Ragna wasn't one to shy away from a fight or scared of one, but he wasn't stupid. In his current state, lacking one arm to fully utilize his sword, his bad eye robbing an entire half of his vision, including the all important peripheral when it came to closer range, and lacking all his abilities with Ars Magus and the Azure Grimoire? He was practically as crippled as he could get while still being able to fight decently and had more than a few encounters like this to teach him that.

However, he could still fight and defend himself in an emergency, he still had most of his raw strength and immense skill, though limited it was. Infact, even in his current state he would've banked on being able to take, with some difficulty granted, a few groups of NOL guards if they only had standard equipment of melee weapons and Ars Magus. He was nowhere near helpless enough to stay out of battle entirely like a coward. But he was smart enough to know to avoid engaging, especially in such a long range fight, unless he happened to find some opportunistic target. He could easily stay close to oversee and help, perhaps even throw a few attacks if the chance presented itself, but still be safe. And if the girls were this terrified of him taking a single bullet, then perhaps that was surprise Ragna could leverage in the upcoming fights if anyone else had similar hesitation.

"Sensei," Yuuka's voice turned firm. "even if you were to stay back a bit, in a gunfight bullets are flying everywhere. If a single stray one injures you, that will just make our job of fighting and trying to protect you even harder. There's no to be so stubborn and reckless before we've even gotten you any kind of protection!"

Ragna let out a loud, annoyed groan. "You know what, we don't have time to argue about this crap in an emergency. It's easier for me to just prove it instead of argue." Ragna's stare hardened as he looked Yuuka directly in the eye and said in the most casual voice he could manage.

"Shoot me."

All four girl's expressions went blank, as if they couldn't believe what he had just said.

"E-Excuse me?" Chinatsu stammered in sheer disbelief.

"Did I stutter?" Ragna shifted his gaze over to the girl. "Doesn't have to be Yuuka, one of you just do it so we can get on with this. If a bullet's not gonna cripple me, then nothing to worry about right?"

"W-Well, yes but-" Yuuka started, likewise still trying to parse if Ragna had lost his damn mind.

"Then shut up and do it already so we can get moving or I'll do it for you." Ragna stated with an edge to his words as he pointed toward Yuuka's guns. "I've been shot by much bigger guns than that, hit by much bigger things, and kept standing." If the weaker modes of Noel's guns, which still shot exploding bullets that ignored the very concept of distance and barriers, didn't punch straight through, even if they hurt like hell, people less tough than he was then Ragna knew he'd still be standing. However, despite the confidence, there was another of those vague impressions that even if it wouldn't put a hole in him, getting shot by the students in particular would still definitely hurt with his current state. But if it got them off his back already a little pain was nothing. Rin had said resolving this matter would fix the state of Kivotos, and if things got even worse off closer to the tower he wanted this fixed before people started getting really hurt.

"Sen..sei." Hasumi started slowly and visibly exasperated. "We're not going to shoot you just to prove a point."

"Alright, to hell with it. Give me that." With flat words and lightning fast reflexes that left the still stunned girls no time to react, Ragna wrenched one of Yuuka's guns from her hand, pointed the weapon at his own chest, and pulled the trigger before she could scream.

The weight of an impact slammed into his chest several times before it ceased quickly as it'd come. Any normal person would've been left in utter shock or writhing in agony at several rounds piercing through their heart, sent straight to the floor as they immediately began dying the pavement red with their fading life.

But none of that occurred with Ragna. He grunted, slightly recoiling with it more so from the expectations of a hit than the force, but otherwise remained standing without a scratch on him. That had hurt… A lot less than he had been expecting it to, huh, he'd barely even felt that when he'd been expecting it to at least leave a mark. Was it because of the smaller rounds? Was it because he'd simply used Yuuka's weapons instead of having Yuuka herself shoot him? Something about that thought felt right to him, but whatever, the point had been made.

"Now then," Ragna was the first to speak up, breaking the stunned silence that'd overcome the girls. "since that's over, I don't wanna hear any more whining about how fragile I am, got it?" The man held out Yuuka's gun toward her.

Yuuka, in a disbelieving daze, took her weapon back on auto-pilot, eyes darting between her SMG and the spot Ragna had shot himself.

"He's really unharmed…" Chinatsu muttered to herself as she leaned closer to Ragna to inspect his non-existent injuries.

"Hey, don't look at me like I'm some kind of circus freak." Ragna said as he pushed past the girls and started walking. "Let's get moving already, the quicker this is wrapped up the quicker everything's working right?"

At the edge of his hearing, Ragna heard one muttered comment from Yuuka. "What kind of teacher did the General Student Council President choose…?"

---

Yuuka considered herself a logical, reasonable girl, especially when it felt like so much of Kivotos could be quite unreasonable. But she would be lying if she had said the past 30 minutes hadn't been testing her sensibilities. The General Student Council president missing? Some crass man chosen as a teacher by her before her disappearance? Along with said man being every bit as bullet proof as normal students were? She wasn't sure what to make of the enigma known as Ragna.

It wasn't helped by the fact that the group hadn't talked much following their teacher's little display, it seemed everyone else was likewise trying to parse recent events. At the very least, Yuuka had been able to talk Ragna out of taking point in their brief walk.

A fortunate turn of events as not long after they'd ran right into the middle of a firefight where bullets and the occasional explosion quickly drowned out almost any other sound. Yuuka could see a couple civilians that'd taken shelter peering out into the exchange, but otherwise the only people on the streets were the two factions exchanging fire with each other.

Yuuka poked her head out from behind cover to take aim at an enemy-

-and felt several rounds slam right into her forehead that sent her immediately back behind it, rubbing her head in pain. She recognized that sensation! "Ow, what the heck!? Are they using JHP rounds? That's cheating!"

"Hey, Yuuka, you okay?" Ragna, who was crouched behind a piece of rubble beside her, asked with a trace of concern.

"I'm fine, sensei, but thank you for the concern." Yuuka spoke up. Maybe there was something nice under the blunt disposition.

"Good, but have you even been in a real fight?" Ragna, chided dryly. "You think anyone's gonna give a shit about being 'fair' when they're already smashing everything?"

Yuuka immediately took back any positive thoughts she'd been having and almost growled at the aggravating man who was supposed to be a teacher. "We have rules of engagement in place for a reason or else there's nothing stopping battles from constantly escalating, sensei!"

"Yuuka, hollow-points aren't considered illegal." Hasumi commented from behind the pair as she took a shot with her sniper rifle.

"Well, they're illegal at our academy starting right now!" Yuuka shouted back in frustration. "That might have left a mark!" She was going to have to check herself in the mirror once this was over.

"Do you want to get shot again? Keep focused on the fight!" Ragna barked at her.

Did he think she was a little kid or something? Yuuka opened her mouth to reply.

And had her words cut off by another shout from the older looking man. "Hey! I got a plan to move up, so listen up!"

Listen to him? Yuuka's first thought was resistance purely on how the man had been acting, but still, there had to of been a reason the General Student Council President had chosen this… Aggravating man. If not for his personality, then maybe it was his expertise and combat ability? Well, she could give him a chance there, Yuuka wasn't going to let emotions get in the way of such an important task. "Well… I guess you are supposed to be a teacher." Yuuka stated with some skepticism.

"What's your plan, sensei?" Hasumi's voice sounded less unsure than Yuuka's.

"Hey, Suzumi!" Ragna began.

"Yes, sensei?" Suzumi, from across the street in a little alcove of a shop, called out.

"Throw one of those flashbangs at the bigger group in the middle and then we'll move up to deal with them. Hasumi, get the one closest on the left, I'll get the right, then immediately deal with the back group when the rest fall, got it?" Ragna had an intensity in his eyes while giving the orders, even moreso than he typically did with his sour default expression. There was a confidence in his delivery which made Yuuka not even question if it'd work until one fact caught up to her.

He was including himself in that battle plan? Sure, he was incredibly durable but hadn't he just agreed he wasn't going to charge in swinging at everything? You didn't bring a sword to a gun fight! This man was a headache!

"W-wait, you-"

"Just do it!"

"G-Got it, sensei!" Suzumi responded as she briefly holstered her rifle to ready a flashbang grenade. After pulling the pin, she waited a brief moment to cook the grenade before she heaved the object with an impressive throw that sailed it clear past the intersection.

Not a moment later, a bright flash lasting only an instant came and went where Suzumi's grenade had landed, several of the girls who'd been firing their guns halted their barrage with various expressions of disorientation, from shielding their eyes, trying to shamble near drunkenly into cover from the loss of sight, or some combination of the two.

"Move it!" Ragna shouted and, to Yuuka's annoyance, vaulted right over their cover and charged at the other group with an inhuman speed. With nobody to impede his progress, Hasumi knocked out one of the two vanguards with a skillful shot to their head, he was already halfway past the crossing before anyone else started rushing forward.

Following right after him, and keeping him in her peripheral, Yuuka took a barrage of shots at the stunned girls, who quickly collapsed under the rapid assault from her and Yuuka's two allies before any of them could recover, before Yuuka turned her focus to the closest girl Ragna had been meant to deal with.

And saw not a single bullet of help was needed.

Quick to where Yuuka could've missed half the motions if she blinked, Ragna dropped low as the visibly shocked girl failed to aim her gun at where he'd been an instant ago, yet she didn't even get the chance to fire another round as Ragna spun and swept her legs out from under the girl, continued his rotation in one fluid motion without a trace of wasted movement to transition into an angled uppercut with his left arm that slammed directly into the still falling girl's back, and then further followed the flow of his spin to carry her entire body like a ragdoll along his fist and slam her into the building right next to them with such force that upon her body meeting it the metal wall collapsed with a thunderous crash and all the resistance of wet tissue as the hapless victim's body was launched inside the building and cracked another wall she slammed into.

Yuuka's back throbbed sympathetically exactly where Ragna had struck the girl. That looked… Painful.

But that pain was soon replaced by frustration upon realizing that was property damage they were liable for now, that idiot! There was a degree of allowance for when dealing with matters like this, but that was clearly over the top! This had to get wrapped up before the chaos escalated.

The utterly brazen display of a seeming complete lack of any self preservation instincts and sheer excessive force even gave some of the recovering remaining hooligans momentary pause, as if they were debating to continue shooting or cut their losses and run if what their disoriented vision just saw was real.

But that hesitation was just enough for two to get effortlessly taken down and knocked unconscious by another barrage of shots from the four gathered students, while a few remaining girls made a break for it down various alleyways and intersections before they could meet the same fate, thankfully before Ragna could get his hands on another one to increase the paperwork that'd be filed after this as well.

"Well, that sure went quickly." Ragna leisurely commented, observing the unconscious bodies of the hooligan girls for a moment before turning his focus back toward his party. "Hey, we gonna call somebody to pick them up or just planning to leave them here? I already see more people at the other end of the street to deal with."

"We'll send a message to Valkyrie to take care of these girls, hopefully they're not already too overwhelmed. Even still, they weren't too strong and should remain unconscious long enough that we won't have to worry about them flanking us as we move further." Hasumi, approaching the group, stated. She peered past the crater in the store Ragna had punched one of their foes through, who Chinatsu was moving closer to take a quick look at, with an uncertain look. "… Especially that one."

"Good, are all of you still fine?" Ragna asked, checking over the group.

"We're fine, sensei." Chinatsu answered. "The JHP rounds were unexpected and might leave some light bruising, but it's nothing to worry about."

"Then let's get moving before anyone else gets the drop on us." Ragna stated as he began to walk again.

"Hold it, sensei!" Yuuka shouted as she rushed up to his side and put an arm out to signal him to stop. "What was that? I know you're tough and… really strong too." Yuuka briefly glanced over to the hole in the building that looked like somebody had fired a tank round at it. "But didn't you just say you weren't going to rush in swinging at everyone!? We're also going to have to deal with the expense of repairing that since you caused it!"

"Yeah, originally I wasn't planning on it unless I saw a good opening. And I did." Ragna answered bluntly, not even acknowledging Yuuka's complaint about the property damage.

"Huh?" Yuuka raised her eyebrow, not following what the man meant.

"Sure, these girls," Ragna gestured with his thumb to some of the unconscious bodies. "are happy to cause a bunch of damage or hurt someone, they wouldn't be shooting at you with special ammo if they were't. But nobody here's shooting with killing intent."

The sheer blunt and casual way Ragna spoke his last words started forming an uneasy pit in Yuuka's stomach.

"Well, why… would we?" Suzumi asked with worry in her words.

Ragna let out a low 'hmph' as if it proved his point. "Exactly. You all looked at me like I'd lost my damn mind when asking to get shot and went on about how one bullet's a big risk to me since I'm an outsider with no halo. If you saw that right away, then I figured they would too, none of them were aiming at me like they were you. Everyone knows you'll get back up, just like I knew that girl would be fine but out of the fight, but they didn't know I would." Ragna started explaining casually.

By now, the rest of the girls had drawn close to listen to Ragna's lecture.

"So, I was counting on them hesitating for even a split second in trying to shoot me when I got close, worst that'd happen might be a little pain if I was wrong, but I guessed right. They might be bad girls shooting up the place that're gonna hurt people, but they're not that bad. They're not ready to kill a person that easily. I've been in enough fights to tell the difference." Ragna finished, his words hanging heavily in the air despite the casual delivery.

The words left Yuuka feeling uncomfortable and curious. Direct as he was, Ragna wasn't wrong. While it wasn't like nobody ever died in Kivotos and plenty of people got injured in these kind of skirmishes, even most civilians native to Kivotos often just needed some basic medication and to take it easy for a few days if no more than a couple stray rounds happened to go their way, while those with halos could come out of larger explosions, that'd wreck a building, haggard and wounded but often not even with severe injuries, when it'd leave not a single trace of a body from an outsider. The usual 'every day' violence like this between delinquents and even gangs rarely ever, intentionally, escalated beyond extensive property damage and typically non-critical hospital visits even when violent mobs went out of their way to cause collateral damage. Not that there weren't some rare exceptions.

But then what kind of life did Ragna lead where he was familiar enough with the difference between that and lethal intent? It sure sounded like the man had been through a lot of battle. The thought made Yuuka's eyes wander over toward Ragna's right side. Was that the reason for his disabled arm and eye, did he lose them fighting?

The idea brought a sympathetic frown to Yuuka's face. On first impressions, Ragna was a crass, blunt man with a temperament far from pleasant, it actually reminded her of Neru, that was exaggerated by the fact he looked near perpetually scowling with one eye always shut, and though Yuuka wasn't going to just excuse that behavior and take it lying down, perhaps the new teacher had a troubled past which explained some of the sourness that was worth a little bit of slack and talking to him later about before she made too many assumptions, provided they didn't mind discussing it.

"I see…" Hasumi said lowly in thought as her words returned to a normal cadence, even sounding impressed. "You definitely have a great sense for battle if you were able to discern all that so fast in the middle of a firefight. It even worked to our advantage since the other troublemakers were too caught off guard to defend themselves."

"The president must have had her reasons for choosing Ragna-sensei." Yuuka echoed the sentiment. Being chosen for his attitude certainly didn't seem likely, but even from the brief display and lecture, Yuuka could easily believe Ragna was picked for his combat capabilities. "But sensei."

"What is it, Yuuka?"

Brushing off the blatant move of using her first name without any honorifics, she was going to give a little slack to Ragna for the moment and the man seemed content to eschew any formality by skipping straight to first names., Yuuka answered. "If you still decide to jump into battle, please be careful. I don't think that hesitation will last long once everyone realizes you're not that fragile. And secondly…" Yuuka's tried to restrain some, but not all, of her urge to lecture the man, both until she learned a little more about him and because they simply didn't have time for it. "If you're going to jump into battle don't break things with the same disregard as those delinquents! We're going to have to file paperwork and expenses for the unnecessary damage that we cause!"

Ragna let out one of the most exasperated groans Yuuka had ever heard. "All this bureaucratic bullshit and paperwork is always such a pain in the ass…"

Ragna was seriously trying to test how much room Yuuka would give him, wasn't he?

"But fine." Ragna waved his hand dismissively. "I'll try not to break anything else I shouldn't. But if I jump into the fight, I don't wanna hear any more complaining about my safety. I can handle myself and know when to go for it or not, got it?"

Reluctantly, Yuuka sighed. "I'll trust your judgment, sensei. You did make that fight brief." It wasn't a long engagement that would've been difficult, but Yuuka couldn't argue it would've been a good bit longer without his quick thinking.

"You're definitely capable enough we don't have to worry as much as I thought we would." Chinatsu agreed. "But we do know the enemy has a Crusader Tank. Even if you're as tough as we are, tank rounds can still knock a person unconscious, so please don't be reckless if we run into that."

"Yeah, sure, fine." Ragna stated like he was getting bored of the conversation. "Let's keep moving. Rin's going to explode if we take any longer on this than we have to."

That was a thought Yuuka could agree with. The Acting President was… Something else when she truly snapped, certainly very annoying.

Oh wait no, she didn't yet know Ragna was with them and the little stunt he'd pulled. Yuuka could already picture the death glare from Rin that sent chills down her spine. Well, since it was his choice to come, Yuuka could let him handle Rin's wrath.

---

Most of the remaining trip to the SCHALE club room hadn't been that eventful, or, well, eventful by the standards of Kivotos. There had been two more firefights that had been taken care of near equally as fast, in part due to Ragna's quick thinking. The man really did know his way around a fight, Yuuka had to admit.

Thankfully for Yuuka's heart, what with all the stress she already had to deal with, Ragna hadn't pulled anything else to incur further repair costs, he'd stayed back to coordinate everyone's efforts, though Yuuka could tell the older man was less than pleased to sit back and was actively looking for any openings for an excuse. Or, well, at least Yuuka thought he was older. Between the white hair, attitude, and experience, at times it felt like she was talking to somebody who could've been twice her age and then others not more than a few years older than her. Ragna just grew even stranger the longer Yuuka knew him.

But she could ponder the new teacher later, they were nearly at the SCHALE club room and there was a group of delinquents stationed in their path who had apparently gotten bored and started talking among themselves, failing completely to notice everyone a few blocks down. No doubt there would be a few more lying in wait as everyone made the final push to the club room.

Before anyone could speak of a plan, a signal from Rin came through.

For a moment, Yuuka debated if it was a good idea to deploy the hologram when Ragna was right there. But on the other hand not doing so meant that Yuuka would have to middle man for her so…

With a hint of reluctance, Yuuka produced her pocket holographic drone, a useful device often carried by anyone with authority, or often built into existing technology, so as to make group communications like this easier and ensure both parties could see everything that was occurring. Phone calls and instant messaging were generally far more convenient for day to day purposes, but in situations like this, a projector was quite handy.

The translucent blue image of Nanagami Rin appeared before the gathered group, her face tense and words coming out like she were on the verge of exploding. "There are two things I would like to state. The first, is that the helicopter that was supposed to be carrying Ragna-sensei unexpectedly returned. Empty." Rin's eyes slooooooooowly slid to glare at Ragna.

"Hey." Ragna greeted without the slightest hint of intimidation from the developing glare on Rin.

Rin's expression shifted into a forced smile that tried to hide the stress ready to boil over at any moment. "Which leads me to ask, sensei… Why are you so close to the battlefield when your safety is required to regain control of the Sanctum Tower and an unlucky shot could leave Kivotos in its current state indefinitely?"

"Oh, not this again…" Ragna signed as the exasperation was palpable on his face. "Yuuka."

"Eh?" Yuuka straightened up in confusion, why was she being dragged into this?

"Just shoot me again so I don't have to waste time arguing this again." Ragna said flatly, eyeing her SMGs.

"What!? N-No! W-Why do you keep asking me!?" Yuuka stammered as she cautiously stepped back in case he decided to pinch one of her guns again. Just because she could shoot him without a murder charge didn't mean she would! But at this rate it was starting to get very tempting!

"Sensei," Rin's voice turned stern as her own weariness was evident. "now is not the time for dark jo-. I'm sorry, did you say again?" Rin's glare now turned to Yuuka. If looks could kill, Yuuka would have been dead where she stood.

"I didn't shoot him the first time!" Yuuka yelled in her defense, waving one of her gun touting hands in aggressive frustration that was pointed directly at Ragna. "He did it himself when he took one of guns!"

Rin remained silent for several seconds as she managed to convey multiple conflicting emotions with a single expression. Confusion, disbelief, frustration, resignation, it was all there. Yuuka wasn't sure she'd ever seen that kind of expression cross Rin's face before.

"Acting President," Hasumi spoke up calmly. "Ragna-sensei is, surprisingly, just as durable as we are. Despite his condition, he more than has the strength and speed to stay on the battlefield as is and it's been more effective to have him with us issuing commands. He's quite experienced when it comes to fighting."

Rin's eyes darted over to Ragna, back to Hasumi, and then back to Ragna with slowly growing surprise. "I… See. I knew there was a reason she chose you."

"You know, every time I hear that, I feel like I should be offended." Ragna stated flatly.

"Anyway," Rin continued as if Ragna hadn't said a word, the other swarm of emotions vanishing from her face to be replaced by business like professionalism. "The other important information is that I think I finally figured out who's responsible for this riot."

Rin paused briefly to ensure everyone was focusing carefully on her words. "Her name is Wakamo. She's the fugitive that escaped the Corrections Bureau after being suspended from the Allied Hyakkiyako Academy. She's a repeat offender, so I'd advise that you don't let your guards down."

"The Fox of Calamity?" Suzumi asked hesitantly, grip on her gun tightening.

Rin nodded slowly. "The very same one. But remember, your primary objective is to retake the SCHALE club room. If you are able to do so without risking the mission, by all means detail her, but as dangerous as she is, restoring order to the rest of Kivotos is far more important and she's an expert at evading capture."

"Understood. We're nearly at the club room and should have it taken back shortly. There's only one more stretch to cross." Hasumi confirmed.

Rin's expression lightened ever so slightly, yet still remained a mask of professionalism overall. "Good, contact me as soon as you've reclaimed the club room. I'll be ready to meet you there as soon as matters are taken care of."

Without another word, the projection of Rin vanished and Yuuka reclaimed her projector.

"Alright," Ragna put a hand on the hilt of his sword to indicate his readiness. "Let's wrap this up already so I can figure out what the hell I'm supposed to do."

Ah, that was right. Now that Yuuka thought on it, Ragna had made a comment back in the GSC building that he hadn't yet formally agreed to anything until he knew what he was getting into, and even Yuuka was still not fully clear on what SCHALE entailed. What was going to happen if the man decided to leave as soon as his job reclaiming Sanctum was done?

Well, the only way to find out would be to finish their current mission.

---

Compared to their earlier skirmishes, the battle for the SCHALE building was far more heated. Instead of a few small, scattered groups, there was a concentrated force. Barricades had been set up, and lines of fire had been established from multiple angles. These damn rioters were determined to keep Ragna and his four students away from the building.

Bullets were flying, glass lined the pavement from missed shots hitting windows, and a few cars had even blown up from being riddled by so many bullets with the multiple, dammit what were they again the guns with the rotating barrels that shot absurdly fast and were half the size of a person? Several girls had whatever those were called and were raining a small storm of bullets across the street. Ragna had put Hasumi on trying to take them out from a distance, as the sheer quantity of bullets being sprayed made it hard to peek out for a shot without at least catching a few and throwing off further aim, as just because bullets did no lasting harm it didn't mean they had zero effect.

Arg, this was so damn annoying. Even if he didn't have his Ars Magus and special moves, Ragna could've effortlessly handled this solo if the right half of his body fully worked, but as it stood, trying to rush out with how spread out the enemy was when using ranged weapons would've been a stupid choice as while he could sense their presence and violent intent, even attacks to an extent, he wouldn't be able to actually see any of the danger on his entire right side, which would've made the otherwise trivial task of avoiding the bullets a guessing game, never mind trying to defend his right half being profoundly difficult with the nonfunctioning arm. If only they used something close range instead, then Ragna could've leveraged his much higher raw stats to make up the difference even like this and taken even a large group, but he wasn't dealing with this group without a good bit of pain that way and no sense in being reckless.

He hated feeling so useless and forced into his current position of taking cover behind a car beside Suzumi, who was busy reloading another set of bullets into her rifle. If the girls could just take out a few more on the right side, he'd been directing their attacks toward that half of the battle, or whittle down numbers enough for Suzumi's flashbang to stun them, perhaps it'd create an opening for Ragna to quickly deal with a few on the left.

Ragna was really going to have to do some studying on the specifics of guns, he could go far with his principle knowledge on combat, quick thinking, and knowing how they worked, but if this was what he'd have to do now, he needed to be prepared.

Still looking to find some way to contribute beyond tactics, Ragna poked his head out from behind the car to briefly survey the battlefield-

-And immediately ducked back down as a spray of bullets flew right over head.

"Sensei, are you okay?" Suzumi asked with concern.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine nothing hit me." Ragna grumbled.

"Hey!" The annoyed and loud voice of one of the delinquents pierced through the veil of ringing bullets. "Watch where you're shooting, you idiot! You almost put a round through his head, the grey haired old guy's gotta be from outside Kivotos!"

OLD?

Incensed, Ragna again poked his head out from behind the car, glaring at the girl in a long skirted school uniform with long red hair, an armored helmet with the visor raised, and a black jacket, ignoring the pleading comments from Suzumi to get back down. "Who the hell are you calling old, you damn brat!? I'm not even in my mid 20's and my hair's white!"

"Damn, and you already look like that? I sure don't wanna see how you'll look in 10 years!" The girl almost looked a touch sympathetic.

Ok, now he was pissed.

The sheer absurdity of the exchange appeared to have given a mini-pause to the battle, a few of the gang members having pulled their attention half over to the conversation, one of them even was struggling not to laugh.

"I have a clear sh-" Hasumi began from a short distance behind him.

"I'm getting this one." Ragna ordered with a growl. "Suzumi, give me that rock." With clearly nobody aiming at him, Ragna gestured with his head to the large piece of asphalt almost the size of a baseball.

"Huh? Er, Sen..sei?" Confused, yet still following the instructions, Suzumi lifted the soon to be projectile up to her teacher. "What are you planning…?"

Ragna gripped his weapon, just tightly enough to be firm and not crack it apart, and pulled it back behind his head. If he couldn't use his sword and his enemies were just oh so stupid enough to not care about him, then Ragna had other ways to leverage his strength and take advantage of the pause.

"Sensei, are you ten?!" Yuuka's exasperated cry came from off to the side.

The apparent leader started snickering. "Oh, I'm sooooooooo s-"

WHACK.

With such a loud sound the girl beside her flinched back, the rock exploded into bits against the taunting girl's face at such force she was immediately thrown backwards and onto the ground with a painful thud.

Ragna smirked to himself in satisfaction, the disbelieving looks plastered squarely across everyone's faces just made it even sweeter.

"Ow, OW, what the hell was that!?" The assaulted girl screamed as she shuffled back up, a large red mark covering her entire forehead. She looked pissed. "Okay, forget what I said! No way somebody with a throw like that's fragile, everyone shoot him right now!"

Yep. That was sure the kind of reaction Ragna expected with his luck. Worth it.

The still young man instantly ducked back behind the car as an entire volley of bullets sailed over where his head was a moment ago, with many more impacting the car to the point he could feel the impacts almost vibrating it.

"Well, what the hell are you waiting for!? They're all shooting at me so start firing while they're busy!" Ragna shouted over to Chinatsu, Hasumi, and Yuuka's blank expressions.

"Er, um, right." Chinatsu muttered as she, alongside the other two started taking aim.

Beside him and not daring to poke her head out for the same fear of taking a hundred bullets to the face, Suzumi looked at Ragna with a mixture of utter confusion and even the slightest hint of was that hope? "Ragna-sensei, was... this part of your strategy?"

"Well, I thought it might be a distraction for some of them, but I didn't think they were all going to start shooting me." Ragna answered as the bullets whizzing overhead started to lessen. Just a coincidence that such a perfect chance for a little payback also was the perfect opening for a diversion.

"I wouldn't think something like that would be such an effective distraction…" Suzumi said softly, sounding more impressed than she probably should've been.

The sound of bullets came to a grinding halt to instead be replaced by a loud rumbling which vibrated the floor, and a second later a much more powerful rumble came with an explosion, that thankfully hit nobody, which outright shook the ground.

"Huh? That explosion was way too big to be a grenade! Is that the tank Momoka mentioned?" Yuuka spoke up, worried.

"Alright, forget this, these guys are too much of a pain to deal with! Let's fall back behind the tank and let it clean em up! Give it a little cover while it reloads." The apparent boss's voice sounded out. "Try to make sure you hit them next time!"

Deciding it safe to take a look, both Ragna and Suzumi raised their heads over the car and two things were made immediately obvious. Firstly, was the remaining girls all retreating down a street exit, two unconscious bodies being carried among them, with some moving slower to cover the retreat and repositioning. Secondly, rolling into the center of the plaza directly before the SCHALE building was a metal monster. It had a rectangular lower body of steel taller than the average person decorated in a dark camouflage pattern that had large treads on each side of it with many circular wheels to rotate them. Above the boxy base was a smaller box with slanted sides and a single long barrel, for its heavy weaponry from Ragna's guess, which extended out past the main body, and a smaller barrel near the base of the larger one and slightly off to the side from where the big barrel ended, faster firing support guns was Ragna's assumption.

"Huh, so that's what a tank is." Ragna commented, unimpressed. The barrel looked familiar, definitely seen big guns in that style before but the rest was a new thing for him. The vast majority of larger land vehicles, beyond some for transport within cities like cars, had been abandoned in his world due to air travel being required to go almost anywhere outside of the vertically built Hierarchical Cities.

"You've never seen a tank, sensei?" Suzumi asked in confusion.

"It's the same as the tanks used at our academy!" Hasumi called out, refocusing attention on the more pressing matter. "We'll have a few seconds before its done reloading, let's go!"

It had a notable reload time too? Ragna smirked to himself. Oh, this was perfect, he could finally get an excuse to use his sword.

The tank was even bulkier than Iron Tager was, but unlike that Red Devil there was one point which made Ragna immediately dismiss any and all concerns about the machine's threat. It was slow, really slow. The main battery took multiple seconds to reload, the top half of it was slow to turn, and its only methods of defense were tied to the front facing static body and painfully sluggish upper half. Absolutely zero protection from behind. It may've been heavily armored, but to someone like Ragna when it was all on its own?

It was just one big target. A group of those girls, with the agility to exploit his literal blind spot, would've been far more dangerous.

With one quick motion, Ragna drew his large sword and vaulted over the barely intact car.

"Sensei, be careful! Tank shells aren't easy to shrug off even to us!" Chinatsu yelled with real worry in her voice.

"I've got this, that thing's not got a chance in hell of hitting me!" Ragna confidently declared as he dashed off in a blink and reached the tank's defenseless rear side before the barrel was finished rotating halfway to him as the tank itself helplessly tried to turn itself even slower

Not pausing for a moment, Ragna leaped high enough to cover a small building, gripped his sword tightly, and, just was he approached the front of the tank in his falling arc, swung hard. "Take this!"

Even with just one arm, the strength of Ragna's swing was utterly inhuman. The tank's sturdy steel exterior folded like paper around the point of impact as Aramasa carved straight through it and crashed into the ground, where the force of Ragna's swing suddenly transferring into the ground created an effect comparable to an explosion. Dust and debris was thrown up like a cloud from the impact, the pavement crumbled with so little resistance it created a crater wide as the tank was. So tremendous was the force even after smashing straight through the metal armor of the tank, not that it even slowed the attack down, that the two halves of the construct were tossed aside as if someone had picked up and thrown them, the larger back half turning twice over in the air and ejecting the now unconscious delinquents like ragdolls across the street, while the smaller front part cleaved from the main body was effectively launched down the street everyone had came from and came to rest halfway down the block.

"W-Was that part of the tank?" Yuuka's utterly dumbfounded voice called out as the haze of dirt started to settle.

"Did the ammo explode?!" Chinatsu's words were deep with worry, followed by her frantic footsteps that was soon joined by everyone else. "Sensei, are you okay?!"

With a quick motion, Ragna flipped his sword around and holstered it on his back, he could see that the retreating girls had started moving much quicker now and signified the battle's end, walking up the crater like it were stairs and back to the girls. "Hey, calm down, I'm just fine."

Chinatsu stopped directly in front of Ragna, hand already in her bag reaching for medical supplies, with a thoroughly disbelieving expression on her face that was shared by the three other girls present.

"What?" Ragna huffed. "I might not be able to deal with normal enemies that well right now, but something that big and slow isn't a problem. Like I said, I'm not just gonna sit on my ass being protected while you all are risking your own safety if I can help it."

Yuuka's eyes wandered behind Ragna and quickly shifted into something much different than surprise, something angry. "Senseiiiiiiiiiiii…!"

"Hm?" Ragna looked over his shoulder back at the destruction behind him. There was the messy crater wider than the tank was and tall enough to stand in, with pieces of the pavement thrown about in a disorganized pattern that utterly destroyed the circular pattern that had been on the ground. The back half of the tank had flipped over and come to rest on the right half of the stairs leading up to the SCHALE clubroom and had utterly crushed the steps beneath its great weight.

The hell was her problem? The collateral was nothing major and he'd held back plenty specifically not to hurt the crew but enough to trash the tank and-

"Ah, dammit." A horrifying realization slowly dawned on Ragna as he recalled some of Yuuka's earlier words. He was gonna have to get used to caring about collateral.

"Do you have any idea how much this is going to cost to fix!?" Yuuka screeched at him, face starting to turn red.

Oh, he could already picture the lecture Yuuka was preparing, far too easily for how briefly he'd apparently known her.

Hopefully he'd get some damn answers inside the Schale club room and from Rin before he got his ear talked off.

 

[Omniwhatever]

Spoiler: AUTHOR'S NOTES

This'll likely be the last chapter that goes up before my university starts in a few days. Chapter 5's probably around 30-40% done though so gonna see if I can grind most of that out with my remaining time before university begins. Goal is to have that up in the next 1-2 weeks, but do expect updates to slow way down and not have much consistency in when they come. Hope not to take months to get it done though.

---

(PROLOGUE IV)​

Every time Rin thought her day couldn't keep getting worse, the world decided to take that as a challenge and throw a new obstacle at her. To the point where Rin didn't even bother expecting to find anything but more problems wherever she went today.

And discover more she did immediately upon touching down outside of the SCHALE building. The plaza looked like someone had dropped a large bomb in it. A crater in the middle taller than she was, a tank split into two pieces, bullet holes everywhere, a few tied up unconscious bodies of delinquents, how in the world did this all happen?

A strong suspicion came over Rin it had to do with the currently missing Ragna. The annoyed expression plastered over Yuuka's face, even more so than her usual griping one, and expressions ranging from contemplative to confused over the other three girls that had accompanied him made her suspicious enough.

"When you first told me you had retaken the building, I was certain the transmission had to be malfunctioning with what I saw." Rin began, her voice straining to stay level. "I am to assume that Ragna-sensei elected to wait inside of the club room and is responsible for… This?"

Yuuka nodded with a huff. "I'm not even sure what to make of that man, his attitude isn't anything like I would've expected from a teacher."

"He did apologize for it." Suzumi added.

Rin sighed, any attempts at professionalism slipping from her tone. This day was starting to become too much. "I see. I'll go and help him get everything back online, stay out here in case of any more trouble." Rin stated as she began walking up the stairs inside of the SCHALE building that was barely lit by emergency backup power.

Stepping through the darkness that only grew more oppressive the deeper she went, not helped by the sounds of her heels becoming more echoing the further she got from any of the outside insanity, a torrent of thoughts tumbled through Rin's head while heading to the basement in search of Ragna, that had been where he was supposed to wait for her.

The man chosen by the General Student Council president, Ragna the Bloodedge, was… Not exactly what Rin had been expecting. There wasn't much for her to go on for expectations beyond a brief notice she was issued, the oh so important last document Rin had from her friend, by the president to anticipate his arrival which said that Ragna was a blunt man who one could easily get off on the wrong foot with, but under that exterior he was a good person at heart who cared deeply about doing the right thing no matter how much it cost him. But though Rin had been expecting a bit of abrasiveness, and gave him some space since his character had been vouched for, she was waiting to see that heart of gold lying underneath all the coal.

But even assuming all that were true, and much as Rin was growing a bit weary with Ragna's recklessness she had great faith in her friend's judgment, would Ragna even choose to take the position? Multiple times the man had already voiced some skepticism to the idea. He had not outright rejected the notion, the only thing that had kept Rin's last bit of hope from leaving her, but he certainly wasn't jumping at the thought, it was like the man knew his temperament was such a strange fit for this role. Rin wouldn't have entirely blamed him for having the thought. Had the president not given such a glowing recommendation, Rin would've had a little more reservations as well, though not enough to consider him unfit for the job as there were plenty of frustrations Rin had to deal with in governing bodies already.

But what if Ragna's skepticism was enough he decided to leave after learning all the details of his position? He didn't seem like the kind of person who'd abruptly leave without at least fixing the current issues with Sanctum Tower, so Rin wasn't worried over the short term, but what of the long term? The lack of either a firm refusal or commitment to an answer yet did nothing to banish the uncertainty of Rin's heart. It was fortunate that Ragna had elected to wait inside the building so as to give her the chance to speak with him in private to settle this matter.

So deep in her thoughts, Rin barely noticed the blur that nearly ran right into her.

"Huh?" Her brain taking a second to catch up to what her eyes had seen, Rin spun around to get a better look and barely caught the sight of a tail vanishing around the corner. That wasn't Ragna, but this building was supposed to be empty, besides herself and that man, wasn't it?

Growing worry quickening her pace, Rin stepped through the still open door to the basement and peered inside.

Though the dim lighting left most of the finer features hidden to her eyes, Rin had been here enough times to remember its layout well. The room was futuristic in style, though mostly bare, with a flight of stairs to her left leading from the overhang to the main area of the room which was quite spacious. There was a single wide desk near the stairs with an office style setup of a computer with multiple monitors, all powered off, and everything needed to make use of it. Beside her was a large set of bookshelves with a variety of reading material on them. Really, the place was furnished much like a large office would be and designed for a workspace. Even with being out of her sight, the bulletin board, book shelves, and couch under the stairs made that much obvious. But the most important thing was the man in the middle of the room.

Ragna glanced around the room, familiarizing himself with it, before his eyes settled on Rin and he offered a quick, casual wave. "Hey."

Rin stepped back to crane her neck out the doorway and down the hall before turning back to Ragna. "Did I… miss something? I thought I saw someone running down the hall coming from this direction."

"Oh, her? Yeah, that was Wakamo." Ragna answered casually and without the slightest hint of concern.

Rin blinked at the man. "It was who? Wakamo was inside this building?" Oh, this was not good, what was the Fox of Calamity doing inside the SCHALE building? Had the whole riot been a ruse to get inside? She couldn't have made off with the Shittim Chest, could she?

Rin eyes darted over to the hidden area that contained the object vital to Kivotos's safety and let out a relieved sigh. Good, it looked undisturbed. In fact, the entire room, nay the entire building looked completely intact and orderly, shocking if somebody like Wakamo had been through it.

"I told her if she left we don't have to have a problem and I wouldn't try to stop her." Ragna added without a care.

"And she just… Left?" Rin slowly said. She couldn't blame Ragna for not wanting to face the dreaded Fox of Calamity, who took a squad of SRT's best students to capture, solo in a confined space. In fact, trying to avoid a conflict was a smart decision with how quickly Wakamo could trash an entire floor if she wanted to, but that wasn't the surprising part. And Rin could not decide what was more perplexing between Ragna using an implied threat against somebody with Wakamo's infamy or the fact she actually left in peace.

Ragna nodded. "Yep. Looked pretty surprised I wasn't gonna try and stop her or anything, but I thought fighting inside the tower here would be a bad idea. Didn't exactly speak much and ran out not long after I said she could leave. From how you described Wakamo, I didn't think that'd work."

"I'm struggling to believe it did too. But never mind that now." Rin descended the nearby stairs to reach Ragna's level, stopping a few paces from the man. "Before we proceed, I'd like to speak with you briefly and confirm something."

"I thought we'd get power back first, but hit me, I guess." Ragna answered.

"Have you…" Rin paused for a moment, choosing her words very carefully. If Rin got the answer she was dreading the future didn't look optimistic and she would need to start making arrangements while the power was restored. "Given more thought to if you'll be staying as part of SCHALE?"

Ragna sighed, a sincerity in his following words that was unusual from what she'd seen of the man so far. "To be perfectly honest, from what I've gathered about this position, I'm not sure it'd be the best fit for the job. Dealing with politics and paperwork is such a damn headache that's never suited me and I prefer to let other people handle planning like that."

Rin's heart dropped into the pit of her stomach, the frown evident on her face. But she wasn't going to give up that easily, this was too important to let Ragna walk away without a fight. Whatever the purpose of the president's last request before vanishing, her friend's request, Rin was going to do her best to honor it. She had picked Ragna and established SCHALE for a reason. "Do you plan to remain in Kivotos?"

"Hey, stop frowning and looking at me like I'm the bad guy," Ragna waved his hand at Rin a few times. "just because of that doesn't mean I'm not going to do it, remember what I said?"

Surprise quickly overtook Rin's face as she let Ragna explain himself.

"While it's not like I can go anywhere else anyway, I'm not the kind of person to just leave somebody out to dry when they need help just because it's a hassle for me." Ragna continued with a weight to his words.

Rin's brow furrowed, what did he mean by nowhere to go?

"So even if I'm not sure why the hell the GSC president picked me, I've got a bad feeling about what'll happen if I don't do this. It wouldn't sit right with me to ignore somebody who needed help and kept asking for it." Ragna stated seriously. As he continued, his voice lightened slightly toward his typical inflection. "Besides, from what I've seen of this place, what you said about being extrajudicial, and fighting, I'm not gonna just be sitting at a desk doing paperwork all day and following all the rules, right?"

"Broadly speaking. SCHALE does not necessarily have one specific goal in mind, which gives you a great deal of freedom in what you choose to do and how you operate." Rin spoke up. "But though greatly relaxed, it is not as if the law does not apply to you."

"I wasn't asking about that." Ragna quickly interjected. "I'm not looking for an excuse to just smash everything up like the people we fought. I just prefer the more hands on and direct approach instead of having to dance around political bullshit getting in the way when action's needed. I know what my strengths are and what's best left to someone else."

"I cannot say that you won't deal with any of that, but given the authority of SCHALE there should be less of that than one would expect from government personal." Rin plainly stated. The rules were important and though Rin was already anticipating some headache, she could understand Ragna's position having some merit. While procedure and rules were important in order to keep everything functional, flaunting the rules whenever one found them an inconvenience could be a slippery slope, at the same time the amount of red tape, forms, and channels that had to be gone through before action could sometimes be taken were a profound source of frustration, necessary as it was. Rin assumed that was part of SCHALE's purpose though, to be able to take quick action when otherwise nobody else could, somewhat like SRT. As long as Ragna could show some tact to not abuse his authority or be reckless, having another perspective could even be useful.

"However," Rin stated with a slight edge. "you should show some restraint. There is still important paperwork to file from someone of your position and if conflicts escalate too severely, it will create more for you to file if you solve everything like you did outside." Fixing that mess in the plaza area was going to be oh so much fun.

"But," Rin rapidly stated, seeing Ragna's expression turning sour. "You do not have to do everything yourself and some assistance will be available to help you adjust to the needs of your station. I can go over a few more specifics after power is restored."

"Hrm…" Ragna put his hand on his hip pensively. "I know I'm going to regret this, but guess I don't have much of a choice. Let's hurry up and wrap this up then."

The tension that'd been sitting in Rin's shoulders for the last few hours finally left her, a low smile even growing on her face. There was more she wished to discuss with Ragna as her curiosity had been raised, but it could come another day after Kivotos was not in the middle of a crisis, she had learned enough for the moment and there would be much to do to restore order even after the power came back. Ragna may have been a gruff man, but Rin could see that the president's words had some truth to them. She could glimpse the heart of a good person under that tough exterior.

"Then, sensei, there's one thing I have left to give you that the president left behind."

---

Ragna watched as Rin moved aside a few things and accessed a locked, hidden compartment. From the container, she produced a large white tablet and held it out to Ragna. "Please, take this."

Ragna carefully took the device, inspecting it in his hand. "What am I supposed to do with this thing?" He never was the best when it came to operating technology, but this device once again brought that sense of deja vu.

"This is the Shittim Chest." Rin stated. "We know nothing about it beyond the fact that the General Student Council president left it to you and said that you'll be able to take control of the tower with it. No one else has been able to activate it, so perhaps you will be able to figure it out since it was left to you."

"I really wish I could use my damn arm right now." Ragna grumbled to himself. With only one hand available to him he couldn't exactly touch the screen on something this big when his only functioning arm was busy holding it.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, sensei." Rin spoke with some sympathy and a glance at his non-functioning right arm. "But you only need to use it long enough to restore power. I should double check the building to ensure everything is still in order after Wakamo went through it, so I'll step away so as not to interfere."

Without another word, Rin ascended the stairs and left the room.

"Well, good thing there's a desk and chair here at least." Ragna said to himself as he took a seat and laid the tablet atop the desk, tapping the power button once to activate it.

The tablet immediately helped illuminate the mostly dark room with a bright white light, the screen displaying a prompt to enter a password.

Without even having to think, a phrase came to mind. 'We long for the wailing of Jericho. We bear the seven koans'. But Ragna's hand stopped just as he was about to enter it. No, no, that didn't feel right… There was another phrase that entered his head right after.

'We long for the seven wailings. We bear the koan of Jericho.'

The screen changed to display another message. 'Welcome to the Shittim Chest, Ragna-sensei. Converting to Operating system ARONA for biological authentication and generation of verification certificate.'

Whatever happened, he was hoping for some damn answers from this tablet. That was another familiar name.

The screen changed from a simple logo to that of a strange classroom. It was a broken building with the right half of it missing, a massive pile of desks stacked up to reach the classroom that seemed to rest on an endless ocean that stretched over the horizon. There were still a few normally placed desks and accompanying chairs though, alongside one occupant.

A young looking girl with sky blue hair was sleeping peacefully with her head on a desk. She wore a long sleeved shirt with a gradient of darker to lighter blue from top to bottom with a white skirt. She likewise had a matching white bow on her head and a small blue, circular halo.

Okay, Ragna was really having enough of these vague feelings, something was very wrong with everything being stirred up at once upon seeing this girl, the sense was greater than anything he had seen thus far. His first thought was that there should've been someone else who greeted him, but that image was faint and he couldn't put a description to it beyond the feeling. But past that, looking at the sleeping girl he saw of flash of someone in a uniform similar to Rin's, yet with much longer hair and a different style halo. It was like a younger version of the person who'd come to mind.

"Zzz… Banana milk… goes better than strawberry milk…" The girl's soft voice came from the tablet's speakers and drew Ragna out of his growing frustration.

"Hey, get up." Ragna spoke, restraining the annoyance in his voice. He wasn't angry at whoever that was, but damn if all the questions with no answers weren't getting to him.

"Zzzz…." Arona, the name entering Ragna's head that he recalled from the title screen, continued sleeping away without any acknowledgment of his existence. She even had… Was that drool leaking from her mouth?

"How the hell is this supposed to work?" Ragna grumbled to himself. He'd seen some things like this before and they usually had a touch interface, didn't they? So maybe if he…

Taking his finger, Ragna applied a somewhat forceful poke on Arona's body.

Arona's eyes squinted in slight discomfort in her sleep, her body shifting. "Not now… I still have more to eat…"

Ragna tapped several times on the glass, each time harder up to the point where if he applied anymore force he was worried it might risk breaking something. But it got the effect he desired.

Arona mumbled a few more incoherent words as she started shifting in her seat more, up until she shifted her arm as if trying to push Ragna's finger away. "Eh, huh? What's…" The groggy girl began until another forceful tap hit her face. "Owowow what's going on?" The girl spoke as she shook her head and looked around in confusion, jolting upright.

"Damn, you're a heavy sleeper." Ragna said as he retracted his finger from further assaults.

"Huh? Wha-" Arona's eyes stopped as they locked with Ragna's own, her expression quickly shifting to that of embarrassed panic. "R-Ragna, er, Ragna-sensei! You're Ragna-sensei, right?"

"You know me?" Ragna's eye narrowed in suspicion.

"Wah! What time is it!?" Arona's head shifted around as if looking for a clock, ignorant of Ragna's accusatory look. "Wait, calm down…"

Arona paused, taking a deep breath. "Um, so… Oh, that's right! I forgot to introduce myself!"

"Arona, right?" Ragna guessed, part of him hoping he was wrong.

"Eh?" Arona's eyes widened in surprise before shifting to a pout. "Awwww, I wanted to give my own introduction as your trusty secretary. But… How did you know my name?"

"There was something about an Arona after I logged in and the name just came to mind. I'm not entirely sure what you are past that, so go ahead and do your introduction." Ragna answered. He was about ready to start grilling this girl for any information she had, but he may as well learn more about her, maybe more thoughts would pop up when prompted.

A smile came over Arona's face almost immediately. "In that case, ahem. I'm the system manager that lives inside the Shittim Chest. I serve as its main OS. So you can think of me as your dependable assistant, sensei! I'm so glad to finally meet you! I've been waiting a long time to."

Just how familiar with him was Arona? Rin had that notice from the president, and damn did Ragna wish he could find and ask her how the hell she was aware of even his name, but what of Arona? If the president had left this for him, then had she also left other knowledge in it?

"Did the missing president also tell you about me?" Ragna asked with a slight edge.

Arona tilted her head with a childlike innocence. "Hrm? Yeah she left me with some information about you."

"And what kind of information did she leave?"

Arona's expression oddly turned a hint nervous. "Not too much, sensei. Just your name and a brief description." The girl's face then immediately shifted to something like a proud child presenting a new toy. Her halo even turned to a green one with a few lines coming from it. "Oh! Because of that, I was able to prepare some accessibility features so you shouldn't have too many issues using the Shittim Chest even with just one arm! We'll just need to complete your biological authentication so your hardworking assistant Arona-chan can get it all set up for you!"

Ragna's expression shifted to an uneasy frown, that was sure a vague answer. To hell with it all, he could ask more once the power was restored. The longer this went on, the longer Kivotos remained in chaos. "Alright, fine."

The view of Arona zoomed in closer toward her face as she held up her finger with a smile, her face taking up most of the screen. "Okay. Now, place your fingertip against mine."

Ragna started to reach down his index finger.

"Sensei, wait. You can't be wearing any gloves for this or I won't be able to read your fingerprint." Arona said, wagging her finger a few times for emphasis.

"Arona, do you have any idea how hard these gloves are to take off and put on with one hand? Especially when I can only my good hand?" Ragna didn't bother hiding the sarcasm in his voice. It wasn't like it was impossible, but it was anything besides convenient, especially since he'd have to put it back on afterwards, never mind the fact his bad arm had no fingerprint to give. "Is there any other option?"

Arona's cheeks flushed with a hit of red. "Ah, I didn't think about that, sorry, sensei! Umm…" Arona lowered her finger and closed her eyes to think, humming to herself for a few seconds. "Okay, I've got an idea! Just lift your other arm onto my finger. Despite the gloves, it should still serve as a unique enough identifier because I should be able to still read the energy from the Azure Gri-"

"Stop." Ragna said with a low voice, almost a growl. Forget his earlier thought, he needed answers now. "You better start talking right the hell now."

"E-Eh? What's wrong, sensei? You're making a pretty scary face..." Arona said nervously, taking a step back.

"How the hell did the General Student Council president know about that? How did she even know me? She shouldn't know about that." Ragna began ranting in a raised voice. This was one bridge too far. His name was already near impossible to believe with the fact he'd erased his existence and all memories of it back in his world, but that was one thing when coupled with his vague sense of deja vu, but the Azure Grimoire as well? This wasn't his home where virtually everyone knew much about him, nobody should have known about that here and he wouldn't share it easily with how many people became tempted by the Azure and how dangerous it was. Was he truly outside the Master Unit's influence? Had his plan failed and been pointless?

"Hawawa, s-sensei-" Arona waved her hands defensively, distress clear on her face as her halo changed to a less defined circle with several uneven points coming out of it.

"I shouldn't even exist right now and there shouldn't be a damn person who even knows about me, but somehow this girl even knew about the Azure Grimoire? I already feel like I've met half the students I've run into today and you! There's something going on here and I want to know what the hell it is!" Ragna practically shouted his final words, letting them hang in the air.

Arona stood still as a statue, not saying anything, not doing anything as if doing so would prompt another explosion. The girl looked close to crying.

Ragna took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. Well, now he just felt bad. Arona seemed to have the personality of a teenager and was trying to be helpful as she could, but he'd gone and almost brought her to tears for trying. It wasn't like they were the annoying brat Luna was. Continuing, his face softened immensely, as did his words. "Look, Arona, uh, I'm sorry for yelling at you, alright? Not mad at you, I'm just frustrated at all these questions that I can't seem to get any answers for. I've dealt with some stuff like this before, but rarely this bad. It's a long story."

Arona, though still visibly nervous, lowered her arms and flashed a sympathetic smile. It wasn't like the bubbly, childish ones she'd thrown up earlier in the discussion. "It's okay, sensei. It sounds like you've got a lot on your mind."

"That's putting it lightly." Ragna said with a huff. "What do you know about the Azure, anyway?"

"Mhm, not that much... I only know it's really strong, the reason why your right arm and eye don't work, and also only ever to be used in emergencies since it can be super dangerous." Arona answered pensively. "Sensei… Are you sure you'll be okay with that on you?"

Ragna tapped his fingers on the desk a few times in thought. Well, it was some relief that Arona only knew the broadest details about it, though it still begged the question how the GSC president knew that. The Azure Grimoire was incredibly dangerous even in his own hands, overuse of it could very well be the end of the world. In the wrong hands, having seen what the Azure could do to those unprepared to handle it, from twisting them into inhuman and unrecognizable monsters with barely a semblance of their old self, to driving people down dark and obsessive paths to gain its power... The apocalypse was practically guaranteed. "Yeah… I'll be fine, Arona. As long as it's with me, then I know nobody'll abuse it who shouldn't. I just wish I could get some damn answers already."

"Sensei, I…" Arona trailed off, frowning as she averted eye contact. It was like she was trying to figure out what to say. The pause was long, contemplative, easily several seconds until she locked eyes with Ragna again and flashed a shameful, deep frown, halo once more changing, this time to something dark blue with what looked like raindrops or tears about to fall from it. "I'm sorry I don't have any answers for you. I don't know much about the General Student Council president..."

"It's fine, Arona. Just got a lot to think and worry about." Ragna stated keeping his voice level. Normally, he might've done some kind of comforting gesture or offered something to make up for it, like a meal or something, as Arona still looked deeply upset and it left a bad taste in Ragna's mouth making an innocent kid this sad, though never of those sounded viable with her being an AI in his tablet. Although, hrm, if the tapping worked…

Ragna gingerly applied his index finger to the screen where Arona's forehead was, lightly rubbing it back and forth.

"Ehehe~" Arona's expression lightened into a content smile, halo becoming a pink heart, with a few giggles before Ragna stopped. Her face still had that sincere smile to it but her halo had returned to its normal blue circle. "Thanks, sensei. You can always talk to me if something's bothering you. I'm here to help you, after all~."

"Maybe another time." Ragna shook his head. Despite the explosive outburst, something told Ragna he could trust Arona, so maybe having somebody to talk with would be nice. He'd also have to remember to ask her what was up with that constantly changing halo, did it have to do something with her mood? "But we gotta get this done. Kivotos is still going to hell right now."

"Hrm?" Arona tilted her head. "What's been going on while I was asleep?"

Ragna quickly relayed what he knew of the current situation, from the missing GSC president, being locked out of Sanctum tower, and the general chaos that'd gripped Kivotos as a result.

"Hrm…" Arona closed her eyes for a moment. "Got it. A lot's been going on, hasn't it?"

"I haven't even been here for a few hours and sure as hell sounds like it. Can you fix the problem with the tower?" Ragna asked.

Arona nodded, an eager glint in her eyes. "I'm pretty sure I can! But I have to confirm your verification with a fingerprint or the Azure Grimoire, so if you wouldn't mind, sensei-" Arona once more raised her index finger, making a few light wags with it expectantly.

Well, it beat trying to take his gloves off one handed. Carefully, Ragna lifted his limp right arm with his good one and placed the tip of the finger against Arona's, trying to also not accidentally jab her in the face with his other fingers.

Silence hung in the air for several seconds.

"All done~!" Arona finally called out, allowing Ragna to finally lower his arm. "Now, let me restore the access permissions to Sanctum Tower so Kivotos can get back up and running! It'll be just a minute."

There was a loud electric whining noise that seemed to come from everywhere at once. All the lights in the room flickered momentarily before they settled on, illuminating the room that had been almost dark as night to no different than the sunny weather outside. The place sure looked a lot more pleasant now.

"Sanctum Tower admin permissions acquired. We've successfully regained Sanctum Tower and it's now under my control, sensei." Arona proudly declared.

"Wait, if you're supposed to help me does this mean I'm supposed to be responsible for everything running in Kivotos now?" Ragna asked skeptically. He couldn't even see where the supersized city ended when looking over the horizon from a tall building, how was one person supposed to manage all that?

Arona nodded with a chipper smile. "That's right, sensei! Well, you don't have to do everything, you can rely on me to handle a lot of the management no problem!."

"Urg, that sounds like a pain in the ass and a lot more paperwork." Ragna grumbled. It may not have been his expertise or favorite area, but the man still had some idea of what came with the chains of commanding if you wanted to be a good leader, particularly when privy to some of the conversation where Kagura, much as Ragna would gladly deck Kagura in the face for multiple reasons that included hitting on his sister the man knew how to strategize, had been planning their coup of the corrupt NOL and organizing the counterattack on Izanami. Though far from incapable of it if push came to shove, Ragna preferred to leave those matters to better suited people because of his preference for the direct approach, but Ragna still understood why proper planning and structure was a thing, even if sometimes that structure needed to bend. To suddenly be thrown into controlling everything in a place he barely knew on top of the matters with SCHALE? How the hell would he get anything done? "Arona, can you transfer control to someone else?"

"Eh?" Arona tilted her head and Ragna half expected her halo to turn into a question mark, though it remained normal this time. "I can… But are you sure?"

Ragna nodded. "Yeah, transfer control of it to the General Student Council."

"Just like that? You don't want to even hear what you can do with it? With admin rights to the tower, you basically have control over Kivotos."

"Yeah, and managing all that's going to be hell." Ragna stated bluntly. "Whatever I do here, I'm going to do better out there in the city instead of trying to be the admin for it when I'm already gonna have to deal with whatever being in SCHALE needs. The GSC has experience managing this place so I think it's best if everyone does what they're good at. I feel like I can trust Rin to keep a lid on things better than I could."

"Hmm…" Arona bobbed her head back and forth a few times. "I guess that makes sense, Sensei, but just know I can't take back the rights once they're transferred."

Ragna's voice turned flat as he continued. "Arona, I never had that much experience with tech past some basics anyway, this is my first time even touching a tablet and I just got here, so I only have a vague idea at best how this place works. Would you trust somebody like that managing everything in Kivotos?"

"Weeeeeeeell…" Arona trailed off into some nervous laughter till another curious expression took over her face. "Wait, sensei, if you don't use technology much, do you even have a cellphone? That's going to be very important for communicating with everyone in Kivotos."

"Nope. Never touched one in my entire life." Ragna flatly stated.

"…" Arona looked at Ragna blankly for a second until her face snapped into a forced smile. "Alright, then! Control of Sanctum Tower will now be transferred to the General Student Council!"

He may have prompted her for that reaction, but damn part of him still hurt seeing it.

"But Sensei," Arona quickly interjected. "don't forget to ask Rin-san for a phone after this!"

"Yeah, sure, fine. Hope it's not gonna be as much of a pain to use as this tablet is with one hand." Ragna grumbled.

"Don't worry!" Arona beamed with a legitimate smile and a shine in her eyes. "If you need help, then I can link your phone with the Shittim Chest and help manage it for you to ensure everything's setup so that even being one handed won't be an issue!"

"First good news I've heard all day, thanks Arona." Ragna said, expression lightening a bit. Trying to figure all this out on his own would've been a pain in the ass, but at least he had somebody in his pocket who could help out with it.

Arona looked like a kid who'd just gotten praise from their parent. "You can count on me, sensei!""

"Now then," Ragna stood up from his chair, lightly taking the tablet in hand. "Guess I should check in with Rin about that and figure out what else to do here." The man looked down at Arona in his tablet, raising an eyebrow. "So, can I just put you in a coat pocket or…?

"Go right ahead, sensei! You don't have to worry about me getting tossed around or anything, as long as it's secure!" Arona stated.

"Uh, alright then." It was a little strange feeling with how Arona was inside the tablet and not just a video on a screen, but Ragna placed the large tablet inside his coat pocket. Thankfully, he had large enough pockets to fit even something large as the Shittim Chest inside, often using them to carry some supplies in his long trips between cities.

With his current task done, Ragna headed up stairs to go find Rin. It didn't take long for him to find the girl by the entrance and on her phone, watching a scene occurring in the front area outside the building. A handful of extra students had come onto the scene dressed in uniforms and were escorting away the gangsters that had been knocked unconscious from the tank.

"Hey, Rin." Ragna greeted with a casual wave as the girl turned around to face him. She looked far more relaxed than Ragna had seen her before, happy even.

"Ah, sensei. I just received word that you transferred control of Sanctum Tower back to the General Student Council." Rin smiled at Ragna with such a genuine one it was almost unsettling. "On behalf of all of us, I want to thank you for such a trusting gesture. With this, we'll be able to manage Kivotos just as well as before the president disappeared."

"Don't sweat it." Ragna waved his hand dismissively. "I'm sure you'd all do a much better job of managing that part of Kivotos than I would. I'm expecting I'll have my hands full already."

"We're all going to be, Ragna-sensei." Rin stated. "But I understand your new position may be quite the shift from what you're used to and comfortable with. So if you need any assistance fitting into it, then I will see what I can do, though I can't promise much beyond answering a few questions in the short term as it's going to take a while before Kivotos so much as begins to settle down again."

"Thanks, Rin, I'll hold you to that. Sounds like managing this place is a hell of a job." Ragna nodded. He was probably going to need some assistance getting a handle on this new job. "There's actually one thing I could use some help with that I think is important."

"Hm? What is it, sensei?" Rin raised an eyebrow.

"Can you hook me up with a cellphone? Never used one before so I've no idea what to look for, but it sounds like I'm gonna need one." Ragna said.

Rin blinked, the surprise evident in her face and voice. "You've never used a cellphone? I... see. I'll have something sent over to you later today then, alongside some manuals. Valkyrie is still cleaning up outside, so if that is all, there is one last matter I'd like to take care of." Rin flashed Ragna another smile. "I know we already discussed some of how SCHALE operates, but I would like to formally welcome you to your working space, please come with me."

Well, at least matters were finally winding down and Ragna could have an extended break to appraise his situation and what a strange one it was. He had far more questions than answers with no sign of them being answered soon. But on the other hand, this was a completely clean start for him that Ragna never expected, or even hoped, to have. Here, he wasn't the world wide wanted man who would've been lucky to get a moment's rest, there was no NOL, no bounty on his head, none of the old baggage from his old life beyond the memories and physical scars on his person, for better or worse.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad...

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Spoiler: AUTHOR'S NOTES

And with this done we're officially out of the prologue! Place your bets on which school Ragna's going to hit first. I'll give a hint that it's NOT going to be jumping instantly to Vol 1 with Abydos, but they'll be very soon.

 

[Omniwhatever]

Reposting this since forgot to threadmark it when I posted this a few minutes ago, whoops sorry.
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Volume 1 Chapter 1: The Elite School (I)​

Ragna had spent the remainder of the day getting to know his office, a thought which was going to take some getting used to, and familiarizing himself with the basics of where things were, how to use everything inside it or what was needed, including the simple smartphone Rin had delivered shockingly fast. It was a good thing he had Arona, and some manuals Rin had left, to help learn how to use all this or it would've taken a while even with two functioning arms. But after a lot of trial and error, he had… Mostly figured out how to work his phone with the one handed mode and some extra tweaks Arona set up, but if his AI companion was so insistent on being helpful Ragna sure wouldn't complain about leveraging that help. At least he could still use it passable on his own.

Using a normal computer was going to be a pain in the ass whenever Arona took a nap though, something Ragna still didn't understand why it was even needed.

But with being prepared for the basics of life in Kivotos, his next order of business was research and learning more about Kivotos, but it wasn't going to be just sitting at a desk and reading that was only part of it. Specifically, it was research trying to figure out which school he was going to visit first as good god Rin hadn't been kidding about the number of them in Kivotos, it was hard to know where to even begin, particularly when most of the school names were already familiar to him, a few more so than others, which turned out to be helpful as while Arona had some general knowledge of nearly every school the autonomous nature of them meant not everything about them was easily accessible.

The name of 'Abydos' in particular brought forth an almost vivid recollection of several names and descriptions to match them, it was some of the clearest deja vu he'd gotten since arriving in Kivotos. Ragna almost had half a mind to go there immediately and pursue the feeling, but he'd at least find a few options instead of jumping on the first one. Going to one he didn't feel a strong familiarity with could've also been useful if he were to be staying in Kivotos long term, getting to know people would be important in this kind of job. Plus, there was always a chance that whatever had caused this jumble of memories had gaps, or perhaps certain info had somehow been intentionally buried, he couldn't rule that out.

"Hmm…" Ragna vocalized to himself as he browsed through some of the information Arona had gathered for him, there was one school in particular whose description stood out and raised his curiosity. "Hey Arona, can you tell me more about this SRT school? Kind of sounds a bit like the power SCHALE has."

"Well, that's because SCHALE's authority has some similarities with SRT. I have a little bit more info about it with how closely associated SRT is with the General Student Council, so let me explain, sensei." Arona stated, voice coming from the tablet beside Ragna's keyboard, as some information on his screen began to rearrange itself thanks to the computer being linked to the Shittim Chest and under Arona's control.

"With how independent most academies are, they also have their own laws and ways to enforce them. If a student were to break the local laws of their school, the school would deal with punishing them. But then there are shared areas between schools or on neutral ground where then Valkyrie steps in to handle it, like with all those delinquents who caused a lot of trouble the other day." Arona started explaining. "Some schools are reaaaaaaaaally scary when it comes to punishment."

"Alright," Ragna was following along so far. "the hell does SRT have to do with it then?"

"I'm getting there, sensei!" Arona said with a small pout. "SRT was meant for problems like if a crime's committed in one district but then the student runs away to another school. Sometimes, the student council of that school will even refuse to give up the bad guy and try to hide them! If that happens, there's not much another school can do because trying to forcibly take the other student back would cause even more fighting."

"That already sounds like a political headache…" Ragna grumbled. He was sure glad he wouldn't be worrying about all that red tape. "Rin said that SCHALE was extrajudicial and could enter any school without a problem though, so since you said SRT was kind of like SCHALE, I'm gonna guess that applies to them too?"

Arona nodded, an approving smile crossing her face. "That's right! SRT was meant to be able to jump in and deal with cases like that because they have extrajudicial authority like SCHALE, a school meant to act quickly when nobody else could. They answered directly to the General Student Council president, and are a pretty recent school, but well, then she went missing…"

Ragna listened to Arona's explanation carefully, browsing through some of the additional information the girl put on his screen to accompany her lecture. "So, wait, they're talking about closing it down now?"

"Well, it's just some rumors I found while updating myself about what happened in Kivotos during my nap and I don't know everything, sorry, Ragna-sensei. But since the president disappeared, that meant nobody was responsible for SRT so the school kind of just… Sat there. I guess maybe everyone was too busy with everything going on in Kivotos to figure out what to do with them?" Arona speculated, looking off in no particular direction with a contemplative look on her face. "I'd hope it wouldn't shut down just because she's gone."

"So, let me see if I have this right." Ragna began with a little bit of weariness in his voice and pinching the bridge of his nose. "It's an entire school full of students with authority almost nobody else has, kind of like mine, that's designed to deal with criminals and answered only to the top person in charge of the whole damn city."

This was starting to sound vaguely like the NOL's Zero Squadron, of which he'd sure had some unpleasant experiences with, though at least SRT officially existed instead of how covert the Wings of Justice were meant to be, which was probably a good sign. But an entire institution like this was either going to be a very good thing, operating similar to how he was supposed to if under somebody responsible who knew when it was necessary, or a very bad thing with how easily it could end up abused if the person in charge didn't have a strong moral compass and restraint. But there was really nobody in the GSC who stepped up to manage SRT? That was almost surprising, Ragna would've expected at least one morally dubious person to jump at the chance for that much power. Although, maybe there was more to the picture since Arona was going off rumors that didn't sound baseless if not a damn thing had been done since the GSC president's absence. Were things set up so somebody couldn't make such an easy power play?

Maybe he could ask Rin about this later?

"Yeah, that's about right…?" Arona said, tilting her head curious and looking at Ragna, perplexed. "Something wrong?"

Ragna shook his head, expression returning to normal. "Nope, I'm fine. Just reminded me of a few headaches where I came from. I know where I'm going today though."

"Oh, we're going to visit SRT?" Arona looked excited at the prospect of going out.

"Yeah, all this sitting around and reading is making me bored." Ragna said as he stood up from his chair. "I'd rather go out there and see things for myself. You said it's just rumors, so if the place doesn't close down I expect I'll be seeing a lot of this school if they work like I'm supposed to. And if they do close it then might not be there to look at later, I'd like to judge the place myself."

SRT felt like a decent place to start for a few reasons. Ragna needed to do some brushing up on guns if he was going to appropriately deal or strategize with them if that was Kivotos's primary weapon and what better place to see some real world examples than a school full of trained elites? Secondly, it was rather close by, though most of the major schools weren't that far from the SCHALE building, and thirdly if SRT answered directly to the GSC president maybe he could learn a bit more about her there if the school was collecting dust. The GSC itself had their hands full calming down Kivotos at the moment so it was likely a bad time to get much out of them.

The GSC president was one giant enigma and having anything to go off of instead of fumbling in the dark would've been great. However, whenever he thought of her, Ragna felt less worried about something bad happening, after all she knew of the Azure Grimoire and even basic details nobody should've with how he shouldn't have even existed now, and more confused, even a little concerned for the mysterious girl. It wasn't just the kind of worry one would have for a missing person.

"Alright! But, sensei…" Arona's eyes wandered up and down Ragna while he reached for the tablet. "Aren't you going to use the SCHALE uniform made for you?"

"Nah, I prefer my usual look. I need it to hold my sword anyway." Ragna answered plainly. Lacking his right arm's usage, Ragna had gone back to wearing his coat in the same style as he had back in the Dark War as Bloodedge, with the right side hanging completely loosely over his back and making the gray inner layer he wore more obvious. His right arm was covered in a dark wrap up to just slightly below the shoulder and all the way past his wrist.

Arona put on a small, childish pout. "It was already made with your sword in mind. Ragna-sensei, how's anyone supposed to recognize you're from SCHALE without the uniform?"

"I don't think I exactly blend into a crowd, Arona." Ragna stated sarcastically. "Can't I just use the ID card and you also said what I did yesterday would show up all over… What the hell did you call it again?"

"Social media."

"Yeah, whatever that is." Ragna stated dismissively. It was still going to take some getting used to using all this technology regularly. "So recognizing me shouldn't be a problem."

"But senseeeeeeeeei, you've gotta look more approachable if you're going to connect with your students! You already have the technology sense of an old man so you're at a disadvantage if you start talking!" Arona whined.

"Hey, excuse me for not growing up using this stuff!" Ragna fired back. "What the hell's wrong with my look anyway?"

Arona answered him with a big pout and annoyed huff. "Rin-san's gonna be mad if you don't look professional."

"Let her. I'm not wearing it." Ragna bluntly stated without blinking.

Arona let out a deep sigh of resignation, a little embarrassment coming over as she spoke lowly, pout not leaving her face. "… I wanted to see what you looked like in it."

"That's what this is about?" Ragna groaned. Of course it was. "Alright, fine, if I try it on later will you stop being mad about it?"

Arona's expression did an immediate 180 into a wide smile, she really was like an excitable child.

"Later. I'm still not going out in it." Ragna quickly corrected.

Arona's expression fell a bit but still remained above the grumpy pout from earlier. "Deal! I'll load up some directions to SRT onto your phone. Let's get going!"

Carefully pocketing the Shittim Chest into his coat, Ragna took out his phone and headed to the exit of the office to prepare for his trip.

---

For Tsukiyuki Miyako, joining SRT had been a dream come true for her. The school was supposed to be the very embodiment of justice, dedicated to protecting people and doing what was right without any selfish political rules or gains getting in the way. It wasn't that the law was an inconvenience to be tossed aside when it got in the way, but part of what SRT did was ensure it wouldn't be abused by crafty criminals deciding the law was only to be used when it benefited then, like avoiding extradition to one district by hiding in another where regional law enforcement couldn't reach without a bunch of political headache that would take too long. That desire to uphold justice and the right thing was why she strove for SRT since middle school despite its enrollment numbers being small compared to most schools.

But now carrying out that dream was starting to look increasingly distant with all the rumors about SRT's shutdown and she hadn't even been at the school long as a 1st year. She hoped it was merely rumors, but given how SRT had done virtually nothing since the GSC president vanished, practically wasting away like a dying animal, she couldn't deny the situation wasn't great. But that didn't mean Miyako would let it affect her, or RABBIT Platoon's, morale and discipline.

"Good job with the exercise, everyone." Miyako praised her team with a subdued grin. They'd managed to come out on top in a recent mock battle. Despite her worries, a proper routine for training was vital to stay in top shape and readiness and so she took her drills seriously. She'd still enjoy the break afforded to them after one though.

"I know Miyu got top marks for stealth, but I still can't believe they walked right past her." Saki commented with a disapproving look. "Some people have no situational awareness."

Saki's outfit was the standard first year SRT look. A pale blue uniform with a large yellow tie over the chest and long white sleeves. But unlike most schools, SRT students were equipped comparably to military forces. Saki had two large pouches around her waist to carry a variety of armaments or tools, alongside a side strap. She likewise had a shoulder strap style pack which had two smaller ones attached to it for carrying even more gear whenever the mission called for it. Likewise, the large knee pads added to the tactical look. Her most distinct feature had to be the white helmet resting over her just above shoulder length purple hair, with the rabbit ears atop it fitting right into the platoon's RABBIT designation. Her halo was a vibrant green with a crosshair pattern and two lines in a V shape at the top of it.

The only significant difference compared to Miyako's look was the lack of a helmet, though she still had the rabbit ears, and they wore their gear and pouches in a slightly different manner, with Miyako wearing most of her's over the torso instead of the side.

The girl in question, Miyu looked down at the floor with a resigned, depressed even, expression. "When even my own team's forgotten about me before, no wonder the enemy does too…"

Miyu, being the marksman of the group, was lightly armored. She only had a set of binoculars and a few small pouches or gear around her torso. Like the rest of the group, she also had a rabbit ear headband over darker colored hair. Her halo was a light pink comprised of several partially broken circles and three raindrops around it.

"M-Miyu it was only a few times." Miyako comforted, some heat flowing to her cheeks. It was amazing how little presence RABBIT platoon's marksman had. Often, one could practically walk within arm's length of her without realizing it, but thankfully that didn't happen during exercises because Miyako had to always keep her team's positions in mind as the leader.

… Or at least it didn't happen often.

"Probably because everyone's feeling down with the coming shutdown and doesn't feel like trying anymore. We're already getting a lot less explosives to use with supplies not coming in as often. Makes these exercises so much more boring when I don't get to use a missile." Moe spoke up with a dull sigh. Compared to the rest of the group, her outfit was different as her role was more long range and electronic support, mainly through the use of explosives or hacking. She wore a pale blue turtleneck with a blue skirt that had stripes of white on the sides. Like the rest of the group, she also had a rabbit ear headband resting on her light brown hair done in low pigtails and the RABBIT insignia as a right armband. The girl's halo was a golden ring with four smaller triangles and a second ring smaller in size below the first.

Saki huffed. "We're not closed yet and some people are already giving up. Where the hell's their SRT discipline and spirit?"

Miyako let out a weary sigh. "It's frustrating to see people already giving up. Even if they were to try closing SRT down, I wouldn't give up easily. It's important to have someone out there maintaining real justice." Sure, there were other institutions that helped protect Kivotos, like Valkyrie Police School, but though Miyako wouldn't negate their importance, they weren't SRT. The standards were lower and that school's ability to act was often restricted by red tape and personal interest, where SRT could do what no one else could.

"It feels like the GSC's already forgotten about us." Miyu stated with a glum look.

"Well, things are supposed to finally start returning to normal ever since that new teacher showed up out of nowhere. Since we're out of an immediate crisis, I hope the GSC can get the chain of command organized again." Miyako stated, a little frustration creeping into her voice. That kind of crisis would've been an excellent time for SRT to help keep the peace in Kivotos with the increasing riots and panic, even notable criminals, including ones which SRT students had captured in the past, had escaped. Yet with the GSC president missing no one else knew how to manage the school of elite students who had answered solely to her.

"Oooooh," Moe's voice suddenly flared to life. "You mean the guy who hit a Crusader Tank so hard it split in half and exploded? Everyone's been talking about it."

"Woah, woah, wait a second he blew up a tank with his bare hands?" Saki spoke up with a scrutinizing squint at Moe. "That sounds like crap."

Moe shook her head. "Not his hands, a huge sword, taller than we are. I've seen some people say it kind of looked like there was a gun barrel on it and it's how the sword explodes. I've been looking at the footage trying to find that out, but it's all been too far away to get a good look." The glasses wearing girl finished her sentence with that manic glint she often got in her eyes when discussing high yield weapons.

"An exploding sword? That's even harder to believe." Saki dryly remarked. "Why would you even put explosives on a melee weapon like that, you'd just end up hurting yourself."

"Why not? If you're surrounded by enemies or against something heavily armored and are that tough, you could use it to take out everyone and even yourself. Always sitting at the edge of impending disaster with the chance to blow yourself up, but also the ability to cause that all by your own hand with no drones needed..." Moe stated with an expression that was far more enthusiastic than it should've been.

Saki rolled her eyes. "Just use a grenade! You can lob that away without any risk to yourself."

"U-Um…"

Moe refused to be discouraged. "You're too by the books, Saki. Up close like that who knows if you'll have the time to pull the pin on your grenade and have both your hands free. You know that Millennium has shown off some pretty crazy, if not very practical, technology. Here, let me get the video up since you clearly haven't seen it."

"E-Excu… Excu..."

"It's certainly sparked a lot of rumors. I'm not sure about that one though…" Miyako added while Moe browsed through her phone with Saki looking over her shoulder. "By all signs, they're from outside Kivotos too, but that's hard to believe seeing the videos."

"E-Excuse me!" Miyu's squeaky voice spoke up and drew everyone's focus to her.

"Hrm? Ah, sorry for not hearing you, Miyu. What's wrong?" Miyako said.

"Um, isn't he really tall with a red coat too?" Miyu shyly asked.

"Duh, it's one of their standout features alongside the sword and white hair." Moe stated like the question had been stupid. "Why do you ask?"

"I-I think he's right over there…" Miyu stated like she'd just pointed out a growling bear.

The rest of the group turned their heads to follow the nervous girl's stare. Looking around the heavily militarized, but sparsely populated, campus grounds was the same person of interest they were discussing. The only notable difference from the video was the right half of his red coat hung loosely off his side.

"Wait a minute, what the hell's he doing on campus?" Saki stated, squinting at the man.

"That extrajudicial authority SCHALE has is no joke if he can show up here like that." Moe commented. "SRT's strict with clearing anyone, or anything, that comes in." There was a hint of a personal grudge in Moe's words.

Miyako put her hand to her chin pensively. "What would bring them to SRT?" Being so close to the GSC compared to most of Kivotos, her school sometimes got at least rumors of current affairs, which included a bit about SCHALE even before the press release about it had gone out. An extrajudicial organization which was made by the missing GSC president shortly before she vanished… On the one hand, she was the same person responsible for SRT and thus her judgment had much weight to it. But on the other hand, SRT had rigorous standards exactly because of what it took to uphold the right thing, that kind of power wasn't to be handed out so casually and Miyako knew nothing about this man or his character to know the way he would use it.

"I don't think he's seen us yet, s-should we say something?" Miyu cautiously stated.

"I'd like to get a closer look at that sword to see if it really explodes." Moe stated with too much enthusiasm once again.

Maybe talking wouldn't be such a bad idea? She didn't know anything about the man evidently known as Ragna, but if they were here on official business she didn't want to get in his way. Wait… Perhaps he was here to deliver some news concerning the rumors of a shutdown? A sense of hope flared in Miyako's heart at the thought. SRT hadn't gotten much acknowledgment from the GSC in a while, but with the crisis over perhaps, Ragna was a messenger? While electronic communication was convenient, for the more important matters it wasn't uncommon for in-person correspondence.

Before anyone could speak another word, Ragna turned his head to look directly at the group with an exasperated, or maybe angry was more accurate with how he looked with one eye shut, stare and spoke in a gruff voice. "Hey, you just gonna keep staring at and talking about me like I'm not here or you got something to say?"

All four girls stiffened up at the unexpected call out. He'd heard them from almost across the courtyard? Sure, RABBIT Platoon wasn't exactly whispering nor was the area bustling with activity, but those were some razor sharp senses.

"I suppose our decision's been made for us…" Miyako said with a hint of embarrassment. At least this would be a good chance to get some intel. "Just one second!"

The group approached Ragna, who met them halfway as he mirrored the action.

"So," Ragna began casually. "I'm Ragna and guess I'm the new teacher here, but sounds like you already know a bit about me. Guess news spreads fast."

"With the importance of SCHALE and Kivotos finally calming down with your arrival, you shouldn't be surprised." Miyako commented. "Everyone's curious about you."

"Can't say I don't understand, I'm used to the attention anyway." Ragna commented without a care and glancing around at the buildings of SRT. "You're students for SRT, right? I know this place is an elite school, but thought I'd see more of you here. Place feels so damn empty."

Miyako nodded. "That's right, we are. I'm Tsukuyuki Miyako, squad leader for RABBIT Platoon and a 1st year at this school."

Ragna's face visibly grew more exasperated at the mention of her group's name. But was that the tiniest hint of… Melancholy under it?

Miyako was already used to that reaction, some people had a laugh at the group name and how non threatening it was. "Our name isn't as simple as you're thinking."

"No, no," Ragna waved his hand. "just reminded me of someone I used to know. Real pain in the ass sometimes, but she was a friend of mine."

Ah, that explained the reaction. It did make Miyako a little curious what kind of person this girl was if rabbits reminded him of her.

Ragna shook the distant expression off his face and returned back to his usual annoyed slanted expression. "Forget I said anything, the rest of you are?"

"Sorai Saki, I'm the point man." Saki curtly greeted.

"Kazekura Moe. I'm the combat engineer." Moe answered while fishing for something in her pocket, presumably one of the lolipops she often used.

Ragna's brow furrowed. "Combat engineer?"

"Mainly stuff like electronic warfare and explosives. Can never have too many at once." Moe stated with a devious grin.

Ragna's gaze shot behind the group. "And you?" As he continued, his voice softened slightly. "I'm just here to look around the place. Not gonna hurt you, so no need to be that scared."

The nervous girl in question was Miyu, who was half hiding behind Miyako like Ragna was going to snap at her any second. "S-Sorry, um, I'm Kasumizawa Miyu and I'm the marksmen..."

"Hmm.." Ragna grumbled to himself a bit, looking frustrated. "And you're all first years? Then I guess you don't know much about the missing president, do you?"

Miyako shook her head, frowning. "We don't know much about her that everyone else doesn't. I guess you're not here to deliver any news about SRT, then?"

"Nope, sorry. I probably know even less about the closure rumors than you do." Ragna said bluntly, as if he knew exactly what Miyako had thought.

"I see…" Miyako couldn't help the sigh and downcast expression coming over her, which was mirrored by her platoon to varying degrees. "Why did you come to SRT then, sensei?"

"The GSC's busy as hell getting everything back under control and doesn't have time to talk much, so since SRT's associated with the missing president, I thought I could learn more about her here. Also stopped by since it sounded like SRT had some authority like SCHALE did, so in case we ever ran into each other thought I'd learn about it in case the school didn't shut down. I prefer some hands on experience instead of just reading a book." Ragna stated.

Well, Miyako could understand the reasoning, disappointed as she was about the lack of news. At the same time though, this was the most personal interest somebody in a high position had shown SRT in a while and if Ragna wanted to work with the school, maybe it'd help keep the school open. Of course, this was all assuming Ragna was somebody who SRT would want to work with. Miyako hated people who'd just wave their authority like some magic wand for personal gain.

"SRT has high standards for what we do and to make sure we can uphold justice without anything getting in the way." Saki vocalized some of Miyako's skepticism as she eyed Ragna up and down. "We're not like a club you just casually invite yourself into."

Without needing a single word the dismissive sarcasm was written all over Ragna's face. "Guess we're off to a great start. You wanna tell me about your little club here and what that justice means then?"

"Tch," Saki glared back at the man's casual dismissal.

"It's a little difficult concept to easily explain." Miyako spoke up before things could escalate further. This might be a good chance to gauge Ragna's character a bit, based on his response.

"Oh, now you've done it and got her going." Moe casually interjected.

"RABBIT 3, don't interrupt." Miyako quickly reprimanded, taking a moment to go back to her previous train of thought. "As I was saying, while every school has their own organization devoted to doing the right thing and believes their own actions to be just, I don't believe it's that simple. Justice doesn't doesn't change depending on the people involved or the situation, it's about the truth, not letting anything like politics, personal relationships, or profit get in the way of doing the right thing. And only SRT has exercised the justice it believes in, no matter the time, place, or parties involved. Even law agencies can let personal gain corrupt their morals and start abusing their authority in the name of 'justice' when it's only about themselves."

"Yeah… I've definitely seen plenty of that." Ragna commented with an annoyed frown.

Miyako's expression rose to a smile. This was off to a good start and maybe they would get along. "Then, you understand what I mean, right sensei?"

"I get politics are a damn headache and some assholes are always going to abuse it," Ragna started, briefly putting his hand to his head like he had a headache before lowering it to look Miyako directly in the eyes, an intensity in his single, piercing green one. "but I'd be careful putting anything on a pedestal like that and assuming they're always right."

Miyako's eyes narrowed.

"Seen it before where somebody'll keep fighting for a cause or organization they believe is infallible and by the time you realize how far you've gone you're already the bad guy." Ragna stated without blinking.

"Cases like that are the exact kind of people SRT is meant to oppose, sensei." Miyako shot back with a slight edge to her words.

"Yeah, this school prides itself on not being like that." Saki interjected. "Whoever you ran into like that aren't like SRT. If you've seen that before, then you should get why this school's important."

Ragna's expression turned less sour, as did his words, though they still kept a weight to them despite it being different from before. "Well, I hope you keep that spirit then. I'm still getting used to how it is here, but back where I come from the world can be a tough place and really test you."

Miyako's stern stare faded. She could at least understand where Ragna was coming from a bit, even if the implied slight against her school didn't sit well. If he had some bad experiences with people misusing justice, some caution would be natural, but SRT's fundamental principle was to not be like that and if one couldn't understand that then they didn't belong in the school. But there was still one thing which didn't sit right with the girl.

"What makes you so certain you're right and won't abuse your authority then, sensei? From what the student council's press release said, SCHALE has a lot of power, a lot to be given to someone who just arrived in Kivotos." Miyako asked. It wasn't like she blindly trusted SRT, no her trust in the school's guiding tenets had been earned from everything she had seen even before enrollment. So she could have faith that what her school did was right, but what about Ragna?

"I'm not always going to be right and can admit that." Ragna bluntly stated without hesitation. "But like hell that's gonna mean I won't do something if I can help it. If someone needs help I'm not going to just ignore them and if doing the right thing means I gotta piss the whole world off and give myself a bad time, it's not going to stop me."

Miyako blinked. That was a… much more brutally honest answer than she had been expecting, for a moment it even made Miyako wonder if she could've given a better one. Actions spoke louder than any words would and so she wouldn't take it all at face value, but if the man's actions matched his statements, maybe SRT and SCHALE could get along after all.

"I see..." Miyako spoke up, her expression turning more friendly after a moment of reflection. "Ragna-sensei, you said you came here to learn more about SRT? We don't have anything scheduled right now since we just finished an exercise, maybe we could show you around the campus a bit? We might not be able to help much with information about the president, but our senpai would probably know better."

Ragna had a direct connection to the GSC. If he could appreciate SRT where it felt like most of them couldn't, perhaps it would help the school finally get back on track and stop existing in this uncomfortable limbo. Miyako didn't put too much stock into the closure rumors, but it wasn't comforting to have them exist and the GSC to be dodging the question. This was the most attention SRT had gotten in a while and Miyako wasn't going to waste the chance.

Ragna shrugged with one shoulder. "I guess having a tour guide wouldn't be so bad. Was hoping to learn a bit more about the kind of weapons Kivotos has anyway. Not many people used guns where I came from."

"I don't mind, as long as I get to know more about that weapon of your's." Moe said with a dangerous glint in her eyes. "It is also a gun? Does it really explode?"

Ragna looked at Moe like she had 2 heads. "What? Where the hell did you get that idea, no it doesn't do any of that."

"Oh, lame." Moe sighed with a frown, immediately deflating like a kid who'd gotten coal on Christmas.

"Wait, you… Blew up a tank just by hitting it really hard with a sword?" Saki stated with a healthy dose of skepticism.

"Yeah, what about it? I thought it wouldn't be so fragile with how everyone talked it up." Ragna stated like hadn't effortlessly done something few students could manage without heavy weaponry.

"Like hell a tank's fragile!" Saki shouted. "Wish I could've seen a better angle than the distant video though…"

"You and me both." Moe said.

"U-Um…" Miyu's shy voice finally entered the conversation again. "I don't deal with melee w-weapons, but your sword looks different than usual…"

"Huh, yeah Miyu's right. Why's the back of it completely flat metal? I guess you don't wanna cut yourself with something that big, but that's a weird choice." Saki added.

"Well, it's not a gun or something that explodes." Ragna gave Moe a side eyed glance. "But it does do something else."

With the curiosity of RABBIT Platoon captured, Ragna removed his weapon from the back holster and held it horizontally. In a flash, the long metal segment of the back half extended, carrying the blade with it, to a length of Ragna's height and then another half a body length. As the blade began to rotate, a wheel it was moving on emerged, continuing its rotation for 90 degrees and the blade was now horizontal.

"Used to do this and make it into a scythe, gave me more reach." Ragna added before anyone could speak. "But can't really do that anymore with only one arm."

"Huh, guess that makes some sense if you made it work. Sounds kinda cool, but really unconventional weapon though…" Saki muttered, eyeing it closely.

"It's not as fun as what I thought it'd be, but it's something." Moe said.

Just as quickly as it'd emerged, the process reversed and Ragna's now scythe returned to being a sword, which he holstered on his back again. "Rather get started checking this place out instead of talking about my weapon. I've got a lot of Kivotos to explore if I'm gonna get to know this place."

"Right, sorry." Miyako said with an inviting smile. "Follow us then, sensei. We'll show you everything about SRT."

Maybe the future of their school wasn't looking that grim after all.

---

​

Spoiler: AUTHOR'S NOTES/Rambling about gacha timelines

And the surprise answer nobody guessed is SRT! This may seem like a surprise as the game heavily implies SRT was closed before Sensei arrived in Kivotos, but let me explain. There's kind of two reasons for this. If you're here for the Blazblue and don't know Blue Archive, feel free to skip this but if you know BA I wanna explain myself as SRT may seem like an odd initial pick. Without getting too much into spoilers for either series...

Reason #1, the short one: Some stuff gonna be a little bit different due to how some stuff in Blazblue works

Reason #2, the much longer explanation:

When the GSC President went missing is when things went to hell with SRT being considered for a closure as nobody could really take over them. But the decision wasn't something everyone favored and finalized until after certain events which occurred the previous month to Vol 4 starting.

SRT itself wasn't actually schedule for demolition until right when Vol 4 started. As the school about to be demolished is what prompted RABBIT squad to begin their protesting. Kaya mentions that they tried to seize SRT's weapons the previous month as part of the closure so there is, at absolute max, 1 month between SRT being formally chosen to close down and get demolished because it's unlikely SRT would end up being demolished right away.

But this is all implied, though not stated, to have happened BEFORE Sensei's arrival in Kivotos. But SRT was 100% still standing and only was scheduled for demolition a good bit after they had arrived. However, that's kind of a short as goddamn hell timeline for Abydos, Ch 1 of Millennium, and Eden Treaty to happen. Abydos is at least about a week because there are several instances of showing a day/night change. Aris also states at the end of Vol 2 Ch 1 they had just under a week for a deadline. So that means Vol 2 Chapter 1 also takes place, at the bare minimum, over about a week or two.

Then you have Vol 3 which also should at least take place over a similar time if not longer. And this is all assuming there was zero down time with something happening one day after the next. In all actuality, it's most likely longer since not every single day is going to be filled with something. That's an incredibly short time for so much of the game to happen!

I don't plan for this story to go on forever and just keep running as BA does, I have an end point in mind where it'll be done that's been mostly plotted out, so I'm gonna be taking time passing a little bit more seriously than trying to have a big floating timeline. And because of that, SRT hasn't yet closed down. I am all about going off the rails of canon wherever I believably can to keep the story fresh and this is one of those ways. "Vol 1" of this story isn't gonna be SRT though, but we'll be spending a little time with the RABBITs and some other students there before moving on.

​

 

[Omniwhatever]

Volume 1 Chapter 1: Foxes and Rabbits (II)​

Despite the smaller number of students, the SRT campus was still pretty large, though Ragna was unsure how it stacked up to the other schools. Heavily militarized, with a great emphasis on practicality over anything else, the place felt more like a military compound than that of an actual school. As he was shown around by RABBIT Platoon, there were only a few occasional reminders, such as buildings for classrooms, this was indeed a campus for teenagers and not a base for people a decade or more their senior.

He did like how open it was though, being a large chunk of the learning was combat instruction wide spaces were needed more vs the inside of a building. Even the gun range he'd been brought to was on the spacious side, extending about 100 meters out with a variety of targets set up. Some of the shooting lanes had paper cutouts of a person attached to a line which extended out to the other end, while another half was much more open with marked targets and objects that could've been used as cover.

"You said you wanted to learn a bit more about weapons in Kivotos, right? I thought a shooting range would be a good place to discuss a few examples. Students are usually expected to have their own weapons, but we still have a variety to try out so we can be familiar with whatever we come across, sometimes onsight procurement is needed." Miyako stated, gesturing over to a nearby rack of guns that held a decent number in various shapes and sizes, from handheld pistols to much larger rifles. A few of the guns even had attachments on them.

"But just so you know, SRT's weapons are a cut above everyone else. We get to have all the special toys that none of the other academies even dream of getting to use." Moe stated with a smug look. "Even if a gun's still a gun, there's so many attachments you can slap on it."

"Hey, just because they weren't common and I don't use them, doesn't mean I'm clueless about how they work." Ragna stated with a huff. Looking at the rack of weapons, he once again felt an unnatural sense of familiarity with some of the weapons, some broad ideas of how they might be used already coming to him.

"I gotta ask, sensei. If people didn't use guns much where you came from what did they use? Everyone use melee weapons like you?" Saki asked.

"Bit of a long story, but guess you could say that." Ragna said with a nod, pausing to think. It was probably better to keep matters simple for now and put it that way. Ragna knew Kivotos had some mystical aspects to it, such as the halos, but as a whole the land appeared to rely vastly less on the more supernatural elements that were baked into every day life of his world. He wasn't entirely sure if there was a direct analog to compare say, Ars Magus to in Kivotos, and Ragna didn't feel up for trying to give a long lecture explaining things like that or Drives when his whole purpose here was to get information himself. "My sister was one of the few people who used them a lot."

"Oh? What kind did she use?" Miyako spoke up curiously.

"Noel knew her way around a couple weapons, but uuuh, guess you could say she mainly used pistols." Ragna answered. Bolverk was quite the dangerous weapon with all the different styles it could shift into and even if she didn't like to fight when held by Noel's skilled hands that deadliness had only further amplified when she were pushed to use it.

The thoughts of Noel brought a wistful smile to his face. Man… He wondered how his siblings were doing. Ragna had only lit the spark to create the new, more peaceful, world off of everyone's dreams and so he had a general idea of what it would be, but he had not actually gotten to see the remade universe and what direction everyone took afterwards himself. With both in such high positions, Jin was probably busy helping Kagura wrangle the NOL into a better direction than before, while Noel's interests were always outside the military so they must've still been enjoying the nice, quiet life away from any fighting and people trying to abuse her power.

Well… Not like he'd ever know the answer himself, but Ragna could at least hope they were happy and his sacrifice meant something. As long as he could believe in that then Ragna was content despite missing them.

"Anyway, forget I said anything." Ragna quickly spoke up. Now wasn't the time to dwell on the past and things that couldn't change. "You wanted to show me some weapons, right?"

Miyako looked a bit curious at the sudden change of subject, perhaps she saw there was something behind Ragna's quick dismissal."Well, before we started, did you want to try shooting one? Even if you're not going to use it yourself and guns can vary, having some personal experience in firearms can be valuable in knowing how to direct people using them."

Ragna shook his head. "Thanks, but no thanks. You're right and normally I like to do something myself, but I don't think I'd get much use out of trying it now instead of watching. I was right handed and I can't even reload on my own now."

"Ah, I see how that'd be a problem…" Miyako muttered. "How much do you know about firearms then, sensei?"

"Enough to know the basics. You two," Ragna gestured to Miyako and Saki. "have weapons that go up to about medium range, far as guns go, with a high rate of fire. She," Ragna point to Moe. "has a pistol for shorter range and fires slower, and lastly" The man then motioned over to Miyu. "her's is meant for long range. It's… Dammit, what's the term again?" Ragna scratched his head in thought. Some of this knowledge came to him like he was getting a refresher, but some he also learned on the helicopter ride from Sanctum Tower to SCHALE earlier. "Bolt-action, right? Have to pull it each time you shoot?"

"Correct." Miyako smiled. "Most guns have an effective range of a couple to several hundred meters, though most of the time engagements happen far closer, but Miyu's sniper rifle is just under a kilometer."

"She's even pretty good hitting targets that far, past effective range." Saki commented.

"I-It's nothing special…" Miyu commented lowly.

"Hey, that's not bad, especially if your weapon isn't meant to shoot that far." Ragna stated reassuringly. He could already tell Miyu's self-esteem was in the gutter, maybe some good words would be good for her.

The girl perked up a little, though still maintained her largely glum look.

"Anyway, if you're not going to learn how to use one yourself then there's not as much to worry about going over if you're already aware of the basics. Most engagements in Kivotos aren't going to take place over a long enough distance to start worrying about smaller details like that, though there's a lot to know about each firearm to use it the best." Miyako stated. "Or maybe it'd be better to go over explosives a bit?"

"Yeah, actually I had a few questions about those. One of the other girls I fought with used a flashbang, was hoping to learn a little more about that stuff." Ragna stated. He wasn't exactly big on using other weapons, besides Aramasa, because he'd never needed anything else between his Drive, known as Soul Eater, Ars Magus, and the Azure Grimoire. But considering it didn't look like he was going to be capable of relying on any of those now, outside the most extreme emergencies, having other options didn't feel like a bad idea. Could be useful support in the event he couldn't get into melee range.

"I've got you plenty covered with personal explosives." Moe interjected with a smirk. "Whatever it is from C4 to Semtex."

"Moe, I think he's talking more about things like stun or smoke grenades." Saki stated flatly.

"Sure, tactical grenades have their uses, but it's much quicker if you just knock someone out with plastic explosives." Moe shot back.

"I'm trying not to smash everything, already got a headache to deal with because of that already." Ragna stated. The moment he finished the sentence, realization slammed into Ragna like a ton of bricks and his eyes went wide. He still hadn't dealt with that mess. Son of a bitch, that was going to be a pain to deal with. Well, add that onto the list of things to ask Rin about. Or maybe he could go bug Yuuka about it since she clearly knew how that was to be handled.

"Oh, you got someone breathing down your neck about 'excessive force' too?" Moe said with a hint of sympathy, earning a glare from Miyako.

"Yeah… Something like that."

"Moe, when I cleared using the drone's missiles, that didn't mean use all of them." Miyako stated with a weary sigh.

"Hey, you said 'fire at your discretion' and my discretion was everything. It took care of the target in the end, didn't it?" Moe was undeterred.

"Uh, hello? Back to grenades?" Ragna interjected. Maybe he was going to have to schedule another visit and cut this one short to finish that paperwork before Rin started nagging him, so best to run through what he could.

"Oh, riiiiiight. Well, if you want something like that… Sounds like you're already a bit familiar with flashbangs. They're meant to stun and disorient, great for breaching a small room. Then, you have smoke grenades. Great for providing cover with the smoke they make, but if you don't have special equipment, then you're just as blind to the enemy as they are with you." Moe explained. "Plenty of other options, but those're the most common ones even SRT uses. They're not white phosphorus grenades or anything so you can grab both of them at almost any convenience store."

Hrm, that sounded interesting. While it wasn't like Ragna could perfectly 'see' without his eyes, to an extent he could still sense people and incoming danger, a skill that'd saved him many times with how some of his enemies could attack from nearly any angle. That could be useful for clearing a group or getting into close range. He could at least use them one handed.

"Wait… You can buy most of this at a random store?" Ragna questioned.

"You can't get the good stuff at just any store." Moe paused for a second. "You need to know the right people."

The comment earned Moe a skeptical glance from everyone else present.

"Well, at least those I can use." Ragna said, changing the subject. "Got any I can try?"

"This specific range was mainly designed for guns and conventional explosives, but we have a few places to practice using gear like that. But before we go, I wouldn't want this visit here to feel like a complete waste. Why don't you watch us shoot a little, if you can't do it yourself? I'd like to show you what SRT students can do." Miyako said with a friendly smile.

"Alright, guess it can't hurt." He hadn't exactly been observing the usage of guns too closely in the skirmish yesterday and Bolverk worked far differently from normal guns beyond the basics of 'point at what you want dead and shoot', so perhaps he'd learn something out of this and about the school a bit.

---

Part way into Miyako tour of SRT, she could say it had been more fun than she expected. RABBIT had gotten to show off their marksmen skills at the range, everyone's accuracy nearly perfect due to the shorter distance, Ragna had gotten to try out some grenades at the other shooting range, and they'd been able to talk a little between exploring SRT. Rather oddly, Ragna never went too indepth on his history. He mentioned a couple bits of trivia in passing and even gave details sometimes, such as having siblings, but though he did brush some of it off under the guise of being busy, Miyako still got the feeling Ragna was being cagey about certain areas of his past.

"So, wait… You actually spent several years living out in the woods?" Saki asked, looking the man up and down.

"Yep." Ragna plainly stated like it were nothing. "My master, Jubei, taught me a lot about how to fight and survive out there. I'd be lying if I said it was easy from the start, but eventually I got used to it."

"Damn. We've had to do some simulations of camping long term so we're prepared for wilderness survival, but we at least could bring supplies with us to prepare. Just a few weeks with only the clothes on your back isn't fun, let alone a few years." Saki spoke up, sounding impressed.

"Actually feels kind of weird to have a place I'm supposed to stay at now. Used to moving around or only staying in cities for a short time." Ragna admitted. "Nice not to constantly be sleeping with one eye open, for once."

"Anyway, hey Miyako." Ragna turned his attention toward the girl. "Said you messaged… FOX Platoon, was it? Since they might know more about the president? Heard anything back yet? Know you wanted to show me around a little more, but I got some stuff I need to take care of, so I can't stick around forever."

"Yukino-senpai said they'd be here within a few minutes. They were on the other half of the campus and it'd take about that long to get here. They should be he- Oh, I see them now." Miyako answered, pointing over toward the group of four that were quickly approaching her own squad.

Like her own group, the FOX Platoon were dressed in a fashion that combined a typical school uniform and military gear. Each had a third year uniform for SRT, a long sleeved white sailor uniform with a red tie and dark skirt to match. The other commonality of them all was that, unlike RABBIT Platoon's attached ears, each member of FOX Platoon had a very real set of fox ears atop their heads, the coloration different depending on the girl's hair color. Beyond that, each girl had a degree of customization on their outfit, be it where they wore pouches for extra gear or ammo, or even using a backpack.

"Well, I understand that SCHALE came to SRT for information." Yukino, the leader of FOX Platoon, greeted with a distance to her words. Her hair was a long dark brown which loosely extended nearly down to her knees. Covering it was a set of military grade headphones with a boom mic, alongside a throat mic. Around her left shoulder was a large red and black bag for carrying gear, while in her right hand was a rifle with multiple attachments, from a holographic sight, laser pointer, and light. Her halo was a red crosshair which matched her eyes. "Sensei, it's good to finally meet you. A lot of SRT have been wondering about the kind of person who would take charge of SCHALE."

"You're... Yukino, right? These girls told me a little about you." Ragna stated, gesturing over to RABBIT Platoon.

Despite the friendly greetings, Miyako couldn't help but feel a sense of tension building in the air.

"Oho, hope our cute little kouhai haven't been gossiping anything bad about us." Otogi spoke up with a cheeky smile. She was the sniper of FOX, holding a large rectangular box nearly her height and thicker than her torso containing her anti-material rifle and other important gear. Over her long, pale tan hair done up in a braid was a set of headphones, much like Yukino's, which were a similar shade to her own hair. The girl's halo was another green crosshair, though in a different style from Yukino's, having 4 shorter and rounded tips instead of points and a clover in the middle. Just like Yukino though, it matched her eye color.

"Hey, there's not anything bad we could say about our senpai and SRT's best students." Saki stated with a prideful look.

"I barely know who you girls are beyond names and what Saki just said, don't panic." Ragna said sarcastically.

"It sounds like our kouhai have been getting to know you quite well though." Niko stated warmly. Her hair was a pale pink and her eyes a vibrant blue, which was also similar to her own halo comprised of four intersecting loops which roughly formed a + shape, a small circle in the center. Like most of FOX, she had her own bag loaded with gear, two grenades strapped onto the sides. In her other hand was a shotgun with a few attachments, notably a holographic sight.

"Well, I wouldn't say that well, but with all the rumors that've been flying about SCHALE it has been nice to get a sense of who Ragna-sensei is." Miyako answered back.

"I see. And what kind of person would you say he is?" Yukino asked, glancing between Ragna and RABBIT Platoon, Miyako in particular, expectantly.

"I'm right here." Ragna interjected with an annoyed look.

"Only a few students in Kivotos have had any contact with you, sensei. I would prefer to get to know you myself, but we're short on time today and I'd rather have first hand accounts from my fellow students instead of relying on rumors and speculation running rampant, if you don't mind." Yukino answered calmly.

"I like his attitude." Moe answered plainly. "Refreshing to see somebody in authority not so uptight about the small details."

"I don't think that's something you want to admit." Saki stated with a sigh, recomposing herself a second later. "Anyway, didn't think I'd like him at first, but he's got a lot more stories and training under his belt than I expected for somebody with no experience in firearms. I think he's alright, so far. Good to see somebody high up care about SRT again."

"Uh, um… Well, he's a lot nicer than I expected." Miyu stated with a subdued smile.

"The hell kind of impression do I give? You didn't even know anything about me till today." Ragna interjected with a sarcastic huff.

"Probably the fact you look like you're trying to kill someone by glaring at them by default." Moe stated with no hesitation.

"Can't lie, you sure know how to throw a nasty look." Otogi commented with a light snicker.

"Yeah, sure, let me just unparalyze half my face and fix that."

"And you, Tsukuyuki?" Yukino interrupted the exchange, looking at Miyako expectantly.

"Well…" Miyako looked up toward Ragna in thought for a moment. She wasn't going to let first impressions sway her too strongly as she had only known him for an afternoon, but it was at least enough to start forming a general image of him. "I think Ragna-sensei's a little abrasive, but if their actions live up to their words, then I think SCHALE and SRT can get along."

Yukino's face turned pensive, contemplative even. Miyako was used to the girl being on the more serious side, but why did she look so melancholic? No, perhaps conflicted was the right word.

"Sure made quite the impression pretty quickly." Kurumi commented, glancing between Ragna and the RABBITs. The fourth member of FOX Platoon had long blonde hair, around the same length of Yukino's, with a large riot shield hung around her right side. Slung around her left was her primary weapon in the form of a submachine gun with a reflex and suppressor on it, while she had a holster for a pistol side arm strapped over her right thigh. Her eyes were a green shade with her halo being a triangle that had 3 lines extending out the points with a smaller, reversed one, inside of it.

"Yeah, great to hear everyone loves me, but it's not what I'm here for." Ragna spoke up. "I'm trying to find out more about the missing president, you familiar with her?"

"Apologies, but thank you for indulging my curiosity, sensei." Yukino stated with a hint of sympathy. "We're familiar with the GSC president and have run missions for her before, though not everything is declassified and permissible to discuss in public like this. Given the nature of SCHALE, you should have clearance about any operations if you wish to discuss them somewhere quieter, however."

Ragna shook his head. "Not really interested in that, well, maybe a little later. Right now, I'm more trying to know more about her in general."

Kurumi blinked, eye brows furrowed in visible confusion. "Eh, wait a second. She picked you for SCHALE, I'd expect her to already know pretty well."

"That's the thing, she knows me and I've definitely met her before, but I sure don't know anywhere near as much about her. Not like I can just go ask her myself." Ragna flatly answered. "The GSC's extremely busy right now too, so I thought maybe I'd be able to talk more at SRT till things calm down a little there to know more about the president."

Miyako tilted her head, that was rather unexpected a revelation. What kind of relationship was seemingly so one-sided but still had so much trust to be put in charge of something like SCHALE? That was a little strange way to talk about someone they'd met as well.

"And that's all? I see..." Yukino echoed the surprised sentiment, closing her eyes to think. After a moment, her expression relaxed somewhat, a low smile over her face. It was friendly, but there was still a hint of reservation under it. "What did you want to know then? I wouldn't exactly say we were friends with the president, so I'm not sure how much we can tell you."

Surely it was Miyako's imagination, but it seemed like there was a guard to her that Yukino just dropped, though not entirely. She wasn't that suspicious of Ragna, was she?

"I've barely got a damn clue where to even start so anything's better than nothing." Ragna admitted with a huff. "What kind of person was she to all of you? Might as well start there."

"As already stated, we only spoke occasionally outside the contexts of missions." Yukino repeated flatly. "But I would say the president was a capable leader, despite with her attitude most of the time being surprisingly carefree and casual."

"Honestly, she was a little bit of a weirdo, even if she knew how to keep everything in order." Kurumi stated with a resigned look.

"Well, the GSC does have a lot of eccentric people, so guess it's not too surprising the person in charge had that side too." Niko stated a little more neutrally. "She was reliable when it counted."

"Yeah, that sounds kind of familiar, now that you mention it…" Ragna grumbled a little to himself. "Wasn't she really into…" The man paused for a second, visibly trying to collect his thoughts. "Occult stuff, right?"

"Heh, yeah I think she was pretty into that stuff." Otogi spoke up, eyes closed in reflection. "Didn't she have a whole stack of books about that stuff on her desk once?"

Kurumi crossed her arms. "Now that you mention it, I think I remember that too. Don't remember whatever any of them were about though…"

"I recall at least one of them was about ancient legends, but I couldn't tell you anything more." Yukino stated before Ragna could even begin another question. "We're not specialists about the occult either."

"Hrm…" Ragna put his hand on his hip. "She never talked about any of that with you?"

"Not really." Niko admitted with a shake of her head. "Like Yukino said, though we did talk occasionally outside of the context of an operation, we weren't close, the president was a busy person. I'm surprised she could manage it all sometimes."

"Damn." Ragna said with a scowl directed at nobody in particular. "Really got nothing else for me about her?"

Yukino shook her head. "Negative. Unless you want to know more about any operations done for her, the acting president would be a far better person to ask about her character."

"She ever send you out for anything related to that?"

"Negative." Again, Yukino answered plainly.

Kuruim scrunched her eyebrows together pensively. "What're you so interested in the topic for anyway? You into occult stuff too or something?"

Ragna looked up in reflection for a moment. "Not entirely sure what counts for that here, this place is pretty different than from where I came from. Just trying to learn anything about that woman with how damn important she was."

"… You really didn't know the president much, did you?" Yukino said, her face turning contemplative.

"I do. I just had no idea she was practically the center of everything." Ragna answered back with a huff. "She didn't even tell me much about my job before I got here."

Yukino closed her eyes in thought momentarily. "Is that so… Sensei, there is a question or two I'd like to ask you then.

"Eh, sure. You answered mine, so guess I owe you a few. Shoot." Ragna said casually.

"Why do you think the GSC President chose you then?" Yukino asked curtly, looking at Ragna intensely.

"Hell if I know, never thought of myself as a teacher." Ragna bluntly admitted with zero hesitation.

Miyako wasn't sure she'd ever seen Yukino, someone who almost never lost their composure, with such a thoroughly perplexed expression before, even the rest of FOX Platoon had disbelief written over their faces. In fact, Miyako knew she had that same expression plastered across her own face. Sure, Miyako had dealt with blunt honesty before, sometimes Saki could be like that, but Ragna was brutally honest. Between this and what he'd said about justice, Miyako wasn't sure if the man was completely tactless and poorly fit for such responsibility or incredibly self-aware and the perfect person for it. Adults were complicated…

"But there's a reason I'm here for something only I can do." Ragna was the first to speak up from the stunned silence. "And since she didn't tell me what that is, if I can find out more about her, then maybe I'll find out what her point was."

"Ugh, I don't know what kind of answer that is from someone in your position, but the president was kind of weird like that with her vague mysteries." Kurumi spoke up with a conflicted frown.

"She did make a joke about a surprise being more fun for one of our lower priority missions, but she still gave up proper intel in the end." Niko added.

"Least you got more than I did." Ragna said with a groan.

"I see…" Yukino trailed off in reflection. "I have one more question. Sensei, what do you think about SRT's closure, now that you've spent some time on the campus?"

"Hey, wait a second." Saki interjected with tense words. "Those're just rumors, we're not shut down yet."

"It is not worth treating rumors alone as worthwhile intelligence, Sorai, yes. But that does not always mean they're always worth dismissing outright." Yukino stated with a directness in her words.

An uncomfortableness came over the rest of FOX Platoon and it made Miyako nervous. She knew SRT's situation was far from great, but the certainty even Yukino was speaking with was enough to make Miyako's own confidence waver. FOX were not only 3rd​ years but also the most elite unit in the school and had the most direct contact with the GSC as a result. If even they were nervous about those rumors, that wasn't a good sign.

"Well, not like I've gotten to take a good look at the place, but you seem like good kids, if my tour guides are any indication." Ragna said, gesturing to the RABBITs. "Considering how this city went to hell and Valkyrie or local schools couldn't handle it themselves, obviously something more's needed. Gotta admit, I was a little skeptical about this place at first. An entire school of highly trained people who answer only to the person in charge of everything hasn't always turned out well. But long as the students are responsible, I can see why it exists to deal with the political headache that's regular law enforcement."

"Nice to see somebody acknowledge SRT's important." Saki stated with an approving tone, but a hint of frustration under it.

"Then you're more understanding than some of the GSC." Yukino spoke, her expression softened toward something like approval. It wasn't quite a smile, but it wasn't as tense as she had been through most of the conversation. However, the expression was fleeting as her face dropped down to a more neutral one again. "I assume that all of you expect SRT and SCHALE to cooperate then, do you?"

Miyako tilted her head at the implication. "Well, why wouldn't we? SRT and SCHALE have similar authority. Ragna-sensei at least speaks with a lot of conviction, so I don't see why it wouldn't be easier to work together."

"That's naive." Yukino said flatly, eyes narrowing.

"Eh?" Miyako blinked. But why? SCHALE and SRT were independent from one another and would have their own ways of operating, but why not cooperate?

"SRT was unique in the kind of extrajudicial power it wielded, but if another branch were to crop up with the same authority, if not more, then SRT's purpose is no longer unique to itself." Yukino lectured.

A pit was slowly forming in Miyako's stomach. Yukino wasn't trying to imply that SCHALE was to replace SRT, was she? "Yu-"

"Are you stupid?" Ragna abruptly interjected. "Doesn't matter how strong I am, this 'city' is gigantic and I'm one person who can only be in one place at a time. I'm not gonna replace an entire school, nor am I trying to be the police."

"Perhaps." Yukino didn't back down as the heavy air between her and Ragna only grew. "But if the kind of authority our organizations wield is handed out too callously, authority which can supersede local academy laws and even individual members of the GSC, then it no longer is unique and people will start to question why so much is needed. SRT's existence is a necessity for the sake of Kivotos, but not everyone will see reason and would question why two agencies should exist with such extrajudicial power."

"Look, Yukino, I get politics are a pain in the ass and people can be idiots, but I just got here so you can stop looking at me like I'm a threat." Ragna stated. "Might be jumping the gun just a bit there when school hasn't even closed down yet. I'll talk to the GSC and see what they have to say."

An uneasy silence fell over the gathered group.

"I think it'd be best to wait and see what they say then." Niko finally spoke up in a diplomatic voice to ease up the tension. Yet it didn't do much for the atmosphere. "He's right that SRT hasn't been formally closed yet."

Yukino's face flicked through several conflicting emotions, but most surprisingly was the uncertainty. "I suppose all we can do is continue to wait for a decision anyway."

"Well, in that case, think it's best I get going then." Ragna stated with a casualness to his words that showed the man clearly wasn't bothered by the energy of the discussion. "I wanted to stay a little longer, but remembered a few things I've got to take care of on top of talking to Rin about all this."

"Already? It hasn't even been a few hours." Miyako spoke up. Sure, she'd gotten to show off a bit of SRT to Ragna and get a feel for the man, but there was still plenty more to cover at the school before she could think of it as even a decent overview, let alone a thorough look.

"Maybe I'll drop by another time, but I know I'm gonna get an earful if I don't take care of this." Ragna said with a scowl.

"Ragna-sensei, wait." Yukino interjected. "There's one more thing."

"Oh yeah, what is it?"

If Miyako had so much as blinked, she would've missed what occurred the next instant.

Hand already holding her rifle, Yukino had started to raise it toward a shooting stance, other arm racing toward the grip on the barrel.

But before she could even get her gun half raised, Ragna had started moving ahead of Yukino. The man had grabbed his sword in a reverse grip, stepped at a slight angle toward the 3rd​ year, raised his weapon above the path of Yukino's gun to block it, and placed the front edge of it against her arm and torso's side. Ragna had put himself out of the path of Yukino's rifle even if she pulled the trigger in that moment, blocked access to her weapon, and positioned himself in a manner that all her needed to do was twist his body to cut across her dominant arm and torso.

"W-Woah, hey! What was that about?" Otogi shouted, eyes rapidly darting between her squad leader and Ragna.

Nobody else moved a muscle for a solid several seconds. No one expected an actual fight to break out, yet were still trying to process the meaning behind Yukino abrupt threat. Across the girl in question's face, there was a rare flash of surprise.

Ragna lowered his weapon, slowly, yet didn't holster it and let the massive slab of metal rest in a relaxed stance. "If you wanted to surprise me, you shouldn't have been sizing me up the entire conversation." Ragna stated with an edge to his words. "Was wondering when you'd eventually make a move like that. Your finger moving to the trigger a split second early was a dead giveaway."

"So you're not just raw strength. You move like someone who's greatly experienced in combat. I wasn't sure if you would see such a small tell." Yukino's expression returned to normal as she said her words with a sense of respect, though also a dash of caution.

"You could've just asked me instead of drawing a weapon for a secret little test." Ragna said flatly before holstering his weapon.

"Words mean little without action to back them up. And I can tell more about your capabilities from that than any lecture." Yukino answered levelly. "If we do ever cooperate, SRT wouldn't be able to work with someone who lacked ability and discipline, regardless of having the right attitude."

Was she more open to the idea now? Yukino wasn't exactly a close friend of Miyako or anything, but she still considered her a friend. Maybe she just had her own way of testing a person, Miyako had been trying to learn more about Ragna through some of the tour for the same purpose, after all.

So why was the air still not relaxed then? Miyako couldn't shake the feeling of there being something… More to this.

Ragna let out a resigned sigh. "Guess you're not wrong about that. Some people talk big and have nothing to back it up. If that's all, I really gotta get out of here though."

"That's all." Yukino answered.

"If you come back for another visit, you'll have to give us some warning." Niko said with a warm tone and polite smile. "I would've loved to prepare some inari, but this was short notice."

"Aw, I would've loved to try some of Niko-senpai's cooking. It's been a while since we've had any." Moe griped.

"Normally, I'd offer to make some now, but…"

"There are a few things I would like to speak with my platoon about." Yukino interjected with the opening Niko gave. "FOX Platoon, let's get going."

"Hey," Ragna said before the group could start moving. "thanks for the information, even if it wasn't much."

"Sorry we couldn't say much else." Otogi said with a hint of sympathy under her grin. "But hey, thanks for meeting up too. Nice to see the new guy everyone's talking about. Later!"

With goodbyes said, and contact information exchanged so Ragna could send an update if he heard anything from the GSC, the gathering soon broke apart, leaving RABBIT Platoon by themselves once more.

"That was a pretty unusual meeting…" Miyako spoke up, half to herself. Some of Yukino's words wouldn't leave her head.

"Y-You don't think t-that they'll really close down SRT, r-right? Yukino-senpai sounded so convinced…" Miyu whined with a downcast look.

"And replace it with SCHALE? No way." Saki immediately said.

"I'd hope not…" Miyako trailed off in thought. Yukino did have a point and the more Miyako thought on it, the more she could see why somebody would, wrongly, be worried about SRT and SCHALE existing at the same time. Those in power were often scared to give it up, but SRT was founded to fight against such people and keep the system in check. If that's what it came to and the GSC actually made such a short sighted decision, well…

She wouldn't accept it lying down.

---

The walk back to some privacy had been a rather tense one for FOX Platoon, all of them knew not to speak until they were certain not a soul would hear them, but eventually that moment came and Yukino broke the silence with stern words. "We're going to have to adjust our plans."

"Yukino-chan… Are still onboard with Director Kaya's plan?" Niko asked with a frown.

Yukino hesitated in her answer, considering the options in her head carefully. She always weighed her options for any operation so as to achieve the best possible outcome and it was her entire reason for starting down her current path. It was seemingly the only option to ensure SRT's survival. Yet there was always that small voice at the back of her mind questioning if it was the right thing that she could never fully silence, despite seeing no alternative. But now…

"I don't expect anything he says to change the GSC's mind. SCHALE's existence is part of the problem in the eyes of those in favor of shutting down SRT. However, we may need to postpone the operation to plan around Ragna-sensei. If, in that time, matters look more optimistic for SRT, then we will reevaluate our options." Yukino finally stated, keeping her tone level.

"Be nice if that happened…" Otogi said, the sniper's usually cheerful attitude sullen. "I know things look bad, but if we go through with that plan then not like we can easily change our minds later after everyone gets hurt."

"Which is why the decision isn't being made lightly. And why we need to ensure the operation goes off without complications." Yukino stated.

Kurumi frowned pensively. "What's your assessment then?"

"Avoid melee engagement at all costs, nothing short of all four of us at once would be viable in such conditions and even then it's not favorable circumstances. I would wager they have more experience with close range fighting than anyone in Kivotos, with raw strength and speed few students could approach even aside from that." Yukino stated matter-of-factly. "Their blind spot will be much easier to exploit with some distance and multiple angles of attack. Ideally, if it comes to it, we'll be able to avoid any engagement with him, but we should be prepared just in case. We'll have much to discuss with Director Shiranui."

"Yeaaaaaah, was afraid you'd say something like that. Can't disagree with it after what they did to the tank and you barely got your gun up in time." Otogi said with a sigh. "Sure he might not be interested in working with her? Seemed pretty exasperated by all the red tape too."

Yukino shook her head. "As valuable an asset as he would be, we don't know nearly enough of his character to even consider telling Ragna-sensei, our intelligence is still too limited on that matter. It's not worth compromising the mission over."

"Now, now. Let's not get too pessimistic." Niko interjected with a supportive smile. "All this worrying might be for nothing. Who knows, maybe we'll be surprised and Director Kaya's operation won't be needed."

"I would keep your expectations tempered, Niko. Possible as it may be, I would consider those odds slim." Yukino stated flatly.

"Well… Like Otogi-chan said, it'd still be nice if it could work out like that." Niko said, her smile almost regretful.

"… It would make things simpler, yes." Yukino admitted, almost surprising herself with the reluctance she felt saying that. For just a moment, her mind wandered to such a possibility before she could bring herself back down to reality. In an ideal world, the kind of world she had believed in during her first year of SRT, such drastic measures would not be necessary. But reality was rarely so kind. Reality could be an unforgiving place which often had little patience for naivety. Still, no matter how true it was, sometimes accepting reality was difficult. Part of her still hoped for that day she would be proven wrong, to go back to those old days where ignorance truly was bliss, but that day had yet to come.

Yukino forced the longing smile that'd come over her face unwillingly away, returning to a more composed expression. "But we should still plan just in case."

Regardless of what happened though, it was not their plan nor were they giving the orders at the end of the day. Those orders came from Kaya, it would be her responsibility for whatever happened. Yukino would just be following orders in that case, doing what she had to for the greater good of ensuring SRT's survival. A gun wouldn't feel guilty for shooting someone, the weight would be on the one who pulled the trigger, no matter how many got hurt in the process.

She just had to follow orders...

---

Spoiler: AUTHOR'S NOTES

This might be the last chapter which comes in a pretty short time period. Didn't take as long as I decided to split the SRT visit up so this ended up a little shorter than expected and had less to do. But dealing with some major personal problems that just cropped up which might leave me without much time/energy to write for a while. Just depends on a couple things that happen over the next 2-3 weeks and how I split up the next 2 chapters.

 

[Eisen]

Because I'm super addicted to Blue Archive lately, and this is a friendly gift... have at thee!

Spoiler: GDD

 

[Omniwhatever]

Vol 1 Chapter 1: Ragna's Past(III)​

The trip back from SRT was tenser for Ragna than he had anticipated. RABBIT Platoon seemed alright and friendly enough, but something about the FOX group was bothering him. However, those thoughts had been forced to the back burner to deal with Rin. He'd sent her a message on that thing called Momo Talk, which Arona had helped him set up, about wanting to speak once he got back to SCHALE. Arona had been insistent that texting first was the 'right' way to do it in case Rin was busy and couldn't take his call at the time and that texting was how most people communicated for shorter messages, so he'd gone along with it. He sure preferred an actual call though, texting was annoying with a single functioning hand but at least he could dictate messages to Arona.

The pause had given Ragna enough time to look through a little more about SRT's history, though it hadn't been that long as the arrival of a huge flood of messages to SCHALE's inbox, and before he could even sort that Rin had finally called back.

"Good afternoon, Ragna-sensei." Rin's cool voice spoke from the other hand. "You mentioned a few matters you wished to discuss concerning SCHALE?"

"Yeah, I'll try and make this one quick. About the damage the other day Yuuka was yelling at me over..." Ragna started with a grumble. He had a bad feeling about this already.

"Ah, yes, that." Rin's voice dropped to a business like professionalism. "SCHALE will need to file some forms associated with the incident and invoices to ensure the operating expenses are properly accounted for. You remember some of the details concerning SCHALE's finances from our discussion yesterday, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. I was calling to ask less about that and more how I'm supposed to fill out these forms or the invoice." Ragna waved off the question. While getting shown around the office, Ragna had asked about money and paying for things, given he was used to largely living off the land, selling anything interesting he found, or some one off odd jobs for survival. A steady job with regular payments outside of cash was not a situation he was used to. Rin had explained a few basic things to him then. In this job, he had his regular salary of personal money to use for whatever and then could invoice the GSC for operating expenses to pay for anything part of 'official' activities, such as the combat expenses of yesterday.

"Come again?" Rin asked flatly.

"This is my first time doing a job like this and I've never had to deal with any of the headaches with financial forms or invoices. But I know people are uptight as hell about one little mistake when it comes to anything bureaucratic. Doing this once is bad enough and I'm not doing it again because somebody didn't tell me about some bullshit regulations." Ragna continued flatly. There was a headache already starting to bother him at the discussion like he was recalling a painful memory.

A sigh came from the other end of the phone. "Despite your crude way of putting it, the due diligence is valued. Between all the chaos of current events, I suppose I did forget to inform you about some standard procedures."

"Already showing why it was a good idea to call you."

"Anyway," Ragna could practically hear the exasperated expression on Rin. "the most relevant matter is that we ask for kanji numerals to be used when writing monetary amounts on official documents. Please, do not use Arabic numerals, it is a common mistake."

Ragna expression fell flat. "Why? They're much easier to write."

"This is to help prevent forgeries and misreadings." Rin answered directly.

"You want to use kanji to prevent misreadings?" Ragna did not restrain an ounce of his sarcasm. "Don't tell me you want them handwritten too."

"That is prefer- Ah…" Rin trailed off into an understanding pause. "Sensei, were you right handed?"

"I think you see the problem." Ragna said flatly. It wasn't like he couldn't use his left hand. In fact, though he was still primarily right handed, when it came to most matters Ragna could use both hands to a level which bordered on ambidextrous, particularly for combat. But for anything that needed extremely fine and careful movements, such as say writing, the usage of his non-dominant hand was painfully obvious.

"In that case, as long as you handwrite your signature on the document to verify authenticity, use of any electronic assistance will be fine. If you have trouble filling out any documents, it is within SCHALE's right to request students for aid as well. It is a club that can recruit any student who wishes to join." Rin explained over the phone.

"Don't worry, sensei! I'll help you with it!" Arona's enthusiastic voice came from the Shittim Chest on his desk.

Ragna flashed the girl an appreciative smile. Arona was quickly becoming a lifesaver. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. If I can ask stu-"

"No," Rin abruptly cut Ragna off. "that does not include me. I am busy managing my own workload and will not do your's for you."

"Didn't even let me finish my damn sentence..." Ragna dryly stated.

"If you want any assistance, perhaps it would be best to ask one of the students from the other day." Rin continued as if Ragna had not said a word. "That annoying girl from Millennium is their treasurer and would know all the necessary procedures for filing documents."

Was Rin being petty? He couldn't have been imagining that. "Is she? Well, I was going to call her anyway, I'll keep that in mind. But besides that, there's another matter I wanted to talk with you about."

"Hm? What is it, sensei?"

"It's about SRT. I visited the school earlier and talked to a few students." Ragna said casually.

Even without seeing Rin's face, Ragna could sense an immediate change in the atmosphere of the conversation that only grew with the long pause his words brought.

"I assume you wish to discuss the issue of SRT's closure being considered." Rin's words were professional, yet tense.

"Yeah, mainly that, few things associated with it." Ragna answered. "Guess those rumors weren't baseless. So, you mind explaining to me why SRT's up for closure and nobody wants to take over it?"

Rin sighed. "That is a… long answer. SRT's situation is complicated, as it was a school which answered solely to the president without oversight from anyone else. To be frank, SRT's existence has always been a contentious issue among some parties. There is merit toward the school's existence and it has accomplished several vital missions which no one else could due to its extrajudicial authority. Yet it is that very authority which inspired the controversy. Schools in Kivotos have significant autonomy for most matters, autonomy which SRT is capable of overruling."

Ragna let out a guttural sound of annoyance. He already knew where this was coming from. Maybe Yukino did have a point. "And that extends to me, because now there are two branches which exist that can do that, right?"

"That is correct, sensei. One institution meant to hold those accountable who otherwise would be in the position to abuse it is easier to accept. But for another one with the same power to crop up has caused some concern among the GSC about the merit of going back to business as usual with SRT. It could easily be seen as a gradual consolidation of power, particularly as you are unknown to most of Kivotos. The president was well respected and her authority trusted, but she is no longer here and so the same faith afforded to her no longer extends to what she was in charge of." Rin lectured, keeping her tone level.

Oh, goddammit. Ragna hated politics. "Ugh, and I'm guessing that's also why nobody has stepped up to manage SRT then? Suddenly taking all that power would look opportunistic and piss off everyone else who might want more themselves."

"Also correct. You're quick on the uptake for someone who voiced such disdain for political matters." Rin's voice rose to approval.

"Hey, it's not my favorite thing and I prefer to stay out of it, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid." Ragna replied with an annoyed grunt. "You're the acting president and supposed to be in charge now, aren't you? Wasn't the whole point of a vice president meant to be you take over if something happens to the one in charge?"

"That is technically within my rights as acting president, yes." Rin answered plainly.

"The hell are you leaving the school there doing nothing then?"

"Authority is like a holy grail filled to the brim with poison, sensei." Rin stated firmly. "It is a convenient trump card, but using it over and over will only lead to your destruction."

"Rin," Ragna sighed in frustration, interrupting the girl. "I get that and if you start using it recklessly then you're just a corrupt tyrant. But this isn't an all or nothing situation. If you just sit there and don't take any action then why the hell even have that power? Believe me, I know there's power you don't want to rely on and abuse, but sometimes doing nothing with it will only create more problems. I shouldn't have to bring up SRT's history and what they've done. I was reading about the school earlier and saw things, like the raid on that Kaiser factory making illegal missiles a while back."

"That is exactly why SRT's closure is a polarizing issue and no conclusion has been reached for now." Rin fired back. "I was the vice president of the GSC, but I was not given the presidency in the same manner as she was. I am carrying out all of the duties of the station, but Kivotos is facing an unprecedented crisis. Regardless of personal feelings, it is important that as many factions are able to cooperate as possible, particularly since we've only just recovered Sanctum Tower and have barely begun getting everything back on track again. Once some proper stability has been restored to Kivotos and tensions have eased, then perhaps SRT's situation can be properly reassessed. It will take time for people to change their minds and come to an agreement."

Ragna's voice turned harsher. "I get the concern, but sounds like you either don't trust yourself to make the right decision or you're one of the people that doesn't like the school."

"Not questioning yourself enough can have its own dangers, sensei." Rin kept her voice firm.

"Trust me, I know that. But if you second guess yourself too much then you'll never get anything done."

Rin let out a deep, weary sigh. "I am not foolish enough to deny the good SRT has done, but as things stand now, reevaluating the school's scope and role may be for the best. That does not mean it will be closed. The issue will be revisited at another day."

"If it's about SCHALE, I'm not trying to be the damn police and replace SRT." Ragna said with an edge. "Have you seen how big Kivotos is?"

"You don't need to replace SRT. SCHALE is free to operate how you want it to, provided it's within reason." Rin answered plainly. "But the issue of manpower is solvable, remember that you can recruit other students to assist with SCHALE's duties."

"Alright, so if nobody's gonna take charge in the GSC, what about me?" Ragna asked. To be frank, it wasn't like the man was jumping at the idea of taking over SRT. He still didn't know enough about the school and SCHALE was already pushing his tolerance for this stuff, trying to take on a whole school with that would be worse. But since it was topica, Ragna was at least curious about the nuclear option if it came to it and to see just how far he could push things if it came to it. Maybe he'd get some insight on the political situation too.

The line went silent for a few seconds as Rin processed what Ragna was saying. "Am I understanding right you're talking about… Wanting to recruit an entire school? That would be a tall ask, even for SCHALE's authority."

"I'm not asking should I, I'm asking can I."

"That…" Rin trailed off for a moment. "Is not technically outside of your station, but it would not be the same as enrollment in a school and all of the management with comes with maintaining one to ensure a proper education of students, particularly those needing specialized education like SRT. Every student being part of SCHALE would not change anything concerning SRT if it were to shut down, if that is your question."

Why couldn't things ever just be simple? Yeah, no way he could do that, Ragna wasn't built for that kind of work. He was skeptical enough of SCHALE as it was and that had a bunch of freedom already.

"If you wished to pursue official channels for such a motion to avoid that problem, I can already tell you it likely wouldn't be successful." Rin added quickly.

Ragna groaned. "Because everyone's uneasy about SCHALE for the same reasons?"

"Correct. I doubt many would be eager to hand SRT and all its resources over to SCHALE when you are still a stranger to most of Kivotos. SCHALE has great authority, but it's not unlimited."

"Oh, this is bullshit…" Fucking. POLITICS.

"If you wish to discuss the matter further, perhaps it would be better to do so another time in person. I apologize to cut a discussion like this short, but I didn't think one of the topics you mentioned would be this. SRT's situation is not being handled lightly though, I can promise you that." Rin said diplomatically. "I only have so much time at the moment with everything that needs fixing in Kivotos."

"Yeah, sure, fine. Whatever. I'll talk to you later, Rin." Ragna huffed. He was getting a headache from this conversation anyway and still had paperwork to do. At least it didn't sound like SRT was going anywhere any time soon, so not like the emergency was immediate?

"Goodbye, sensei. And please, do not forget the kanji numerals on the official documents." Without another word, Rin hung up the phone.

Ragna set his phone down, freeing up his palm to immediately slam into his face. "I'm already regretting this job…"

"Don't let it get to you too much, sensei!" Arona supportively called out in an attempt to cheer the man up. "Rin-san is just under a lot of pressure to keep everything in order. Managing the General Student Council and all of Kivotos is hard work."

Ragna sighed deeply. "I wouldn't wan- Wait, did you hear that entire conversation?"

Arona's eyes started shifting around to avert meeting Ragna's gaze. "W-Well, you still have the Shittim Chest linked to your phone so I can help manage it, so that means I can hear any calls…"

"Hey, what's with the guilty look? Not like I care, was just curious how you did that." Ragna dismissively waved his hand. "You're supposed to be my assistant, right? Saves me some time explaining the situation anyway."

At the praise, Arona's smile immediately returned and her halo became a heart. "You can count on me, sensei!"

"Great, because I'm sure as shit going to need you." Ragna grumbled with a scowl. "Know anything about filling out financial documents? Might as well take a look at these to get ready."

Arona nodded with a smile. "You don't have to worry about a thing! I can help you get started."

"Perfect. Guess I'll send Yuuka a message and see if they're available then. The more people around and faster this gets done, the better" Ragna said, reaching for his phone to contact the girl. Fortunately, he'd gotten the contact information for the squad of 4 who'd assisted in retaking the SCHALE building to add them once he got a hold of his phone.

But something deep in Ragna's soul told him he was going to hate this.

---

Yuuka was always a busy girl, but the last week could've been described as extra busy. Now that one of the largest crises Kivotos had ever suffered was over though, everyone could begin rebuilding. Thankfully, with how iron clad Yuuka's work ethic was, she'd managed to stay on top of all the stress inducing paperwork concerning damage assessment and, while she still had work to do, it left her with less of an overwhelming pile than she could've had. It even left her enough time for a break, or rather Noa had very firmly encouraged her to take a break.

But that was one bit of advice Yuuka couldn't take today and what was supposed to be a break was going to be spent helping Ragna organize the invoices for expenses from the mission to take back SCHALE. The man had sent her a message requesting help because they had not the faintest clue about financial forms. As concerning as that was, it still worked out. Yuuka had been wanting to learn more about Ragna to try and understand the mysterious adult working with the GSC, so this would be a great opportunity for it.

At the entrance of Ragna's office, Yuuka proceeded to let herself in as Ragna had said to do exactly that. "Sensei, I'm here and brought some spare forms. Wait, sensei doesn't SCHALE have a uniform?"

Inside, Ragna was sitting at a desk in the same clothes that he always wore, a thoroughly drained expression across his face. Which was reflected in the tone of his greeting being borderline hostile. "Oh, hey Yuuka. Yeah, it does. What about it?"

"… Shouldn't you be wearing it then?" Yuuka asked flatly. "It's important to maintain a sense of professionalism when handling such important work."

"Nah, I like my coat better." Ragna answered with no hesitation. "It's not gonna make me write any faster to wear something else."

Yuuka sharply inhaled through her nose. Oh, this was an omen of what was to come, wasn't it? What kind of man did the president choose...

"So, we going to get started then or what? Hope you can help this go faster. Rather fight an army than deal with this crap." Ragna added with a light groan.

Yuuka sighed, head slumping. "Sensei, it's not that bad."

"Maybe for you." Ragna said with a sarcastic scoff. "I'm just glad I don't have to handwrite everything or I'd never get this done."

"Eh?" Yuuka brow furrowed in confusion until realization slammed into her mind and her eyes wandered over to Ragna's limp right arm. Ah, that was right… Trying to fill out documents with your non-dominant hand was almost always a mess, that would explain some of the frustration.

"Actually, sensei, there was something I wanted to ask you about, before we got started." Yuuka spoke up, a touch of uncertainty in her words. The thought was a good excuse to press for more about that and even offer assistance. She didn't know where Ragna came from, but Millennium had the best technology in Kivotos. If wherever Ragna came from couldn't offer a prosthetic, then perhaps her school could help solve both the issue of his eye and arm.

"Sure, hit me. Anything to take a break from this damn paperwork." Ragna said, pushing his chair away from the desk without any hesitation.

"About the right side of your body…" Yuuka paused for a moment to consider her words. If it was a sensitive subject then it would've been incredibly rude to not treat the situation with some weight and respect. "I sympathize with the problems you must have to deal with. If you'd like, Millennium could make some prosthetics for you, so you'll have an easier time in Kivotos and with your duties. Our school is the most advanced in Kivotos and can make replacements every bit as good as the natural thing."

"Thanks, but no thanks." Ragna answered without so much as a pause to consider.

"Eh? B-But why?" Yuuka couldn't help herself blurting out the confused question at the instant rejection from the other.

"It's…" Not remotely offended, Ragna looked up at the ceiling with a deep, contemplative frown. "Complicated. My arm and eye used to work fine before I came to Kivotos, but it ran off something that Kivotos doesn't have."

"Oh, in that case, if you'd be willing to let us look at it perhaps we could make an alternative power source." Yuuka suggested with a friendly tone. If it was already a prosthetic, then that made things easier to work with. Wait, his hand was already replaced?

"That's not happening either." Before Yuuka could ask another question, Ragna once more firmly slapped away the helping hand offered.

Now, Yuuka's frustration was starting to grow alongside her confusion. "Sensei, there's no need to be stubborn. If you don't trust Millennium's capabilities, I'll gladly show you around the campus so you can see for yourself where ou-"

"It's not that I don't trust you specifically." Ragna abruptly cut off Yuuka. "Even back where I came from, there's almost nobody I'd trust to look at my arm. It's not any ordinary prosthetic arm."

Yuuka remained silent, carefully absorbing Ragna's words.

"What's the best way to explain it…" Ragna hand went to his head, scratching his scalp in frustration. "Alright, simplest way to put it would be that if somebody screwed anything up checking over this arm, it'd probably kill me. And whoever's working on it."

"E-Eh!? W-What kind of person would even put that on somebody? Who even makes a prosthetic like that?!" Yuuka stern words were plainly laced with concern as she looked at Ragna's arm with suspicion. How bad was the medical situation where Ragna came from? Was it some kind of military device with a failsafe to prevent falling into the wrong hands? Even that idea was hard to fathom. What kind of history did Ragna have?

"Because it was that or die." Ragna stated with a direct casualness that made Yuuka feel uneasy.

"Oh… I'm… sorry, sensei. I didn't mean to be insensitive like that." Yuuka said with a guilty frown, averting eye contact with the man. When the stakes were that, even if it were dangerous it wasn't hard to imagine picking it with what the alternative was. It was starting to look like some of her earlier assumptions about Ragna were right. That would explain a lot about his demeanor.

"Hey," Ragna dismissively waved his hand. "don't worry about it. You didn't know and this thing's unusual even by the standards of my place. Might be deadweight now, but sure as hell got me through a lot over almost a decade."

Decade? Ragna had mentioned he wasn't even in his mid 20s, which meant if he got this that long ago then…

Yuuka frowned sympathetically at the man. He very well could've been younger than her when he lost his arm and eye, forced into such a difficult choice. Despite that, Ragna seemed rather comfortable discussing the subject, perhaps because it had been so many years? Maybe it was a bit insensitive to ask, but while Yuuka was curious she also wanted to offer some proper sympathy. The man was surprisingly… Amicable in the right situation, certainly not as much as Yuuka expected with her first impression. "Sensei, do you… Want to talk about it?"

"Really want to know, huh?" Ragna closed his eyes briefly, his expression unreadable. "Alright, I don't mind talking about it a bit, it's not a long story. About a decade ago, I was being raised in a church with my siblings, but there was… an incident and it got attacked."

Yuuka listened carefully as the man spoke. She could see Ragna's face grew distant, his single eye less looking at Yuuka and more past her. There was a tenseness to him that was different from his usual self, not the same near perpetual annoyance.

"The place got burned down and the sister looking after everything was killed, lost my arm too." Ragna said with a heavy voice, eyes clouded with memories. He was silent for a solid several seconds, letting the pause hang in the air like he was deciding how much more to elaborate on. "After that, well, it was either bleed to death or this thing. Wasn't hard to choose."

Yuuka had a suspicious feeling there was far more to the story than Ragna was letting on, but the matter was clearly a sensitive subject, far more than she had expected it to be. She barely knew Ragna so if he wanted to keep a few things to himself, she could respect it. "That's a lot you had to go through at a young age. I'm sorry, sensei."

"Yeah, well, it helps the son of a bitch responsible for it isn't around anymore." Ragna said, some of the tension in his body relaxing. "So it's all in the past now."

Even despite that, it just didn't feel fair if Ragna had to face the prospect of his arm being permanently disabled when it could've otherwise been fixed. Yuuka couldn't so easily accept it. "I can understand your choice and hesitation in letting anyone look at it, sensei. I don't know how it compares to where you're from, but I'd still like to help and Millennium does have some incredibly advanced technology. Perhaps I could bring you to the campus sometime to judge for yourself. It doesn't feel right for you to be stuck like that for the rest of your life over something you had no real choice in."

"Rest of my life huh… Guess I do gotta start thinking about the long term more." Ragna muttered, more to himself than anything else. "Maybe some other time. Got something a little less dangerous that might be possible to work on and fix this, but don't act surprised if I still say no. Might kill me if somebody screws something up on that too."

Yuuka blinked, visible concern and confusion rapidly spreading over her face. He had TWO things on him like that? If the first one had such a story behind it, what could've possibly been the reasoning behind the second one? Was even standing next to Ragna like holding a time bomb that could explode at any moment? She wasn't sure to feel more sympathetic or cautious.

"Now," Ragna spoke up before Yuuka could. "you really wanna help me with something? How about getting these documents ready before I start getting ready to hang myself."

Immediately brought back to light matters, Yuuka sighed deeply. "Sensei, don't be so dramatic. It's just paperwork. But that's what I'm here for so alright. While I'm here, you mentioned not having much experience with financial documents. Would you like to go over some of the other forms. It'll be important for SCHALE to keep things like proper journal entries and income statements."

"The hell are those?"

Yuuka's expression and voice turned flat. This couldn't be as bad as she thought it was, right? "Sensei… Please tell me you know what taxes are."

"Don't look at me like I'm stupid, of course I do!" Ragna huffed.

Oh, good. For a second there Yuuka was worried th-

"Not my fault if I never had to pay them though."

Rarely in her life was Yuuka ever truly speechless.

This was one of those moments.

How does somebody like this even get trusted by the GSC President and HIRED in such a high level position?! Ugh, no, she had to calm down. Ragna's life was far from normal, maybe he had some reason for this too. Her earlier suspicions had been even more correct than she'd realized, he could have a little more benefit of the doubt. No matter how much it was being stretched now.

No matter, Yuuka still had a long day ahead of her.

---

Ragna had blazed through fortified military compounds without a scratch, crushed armies worth of men single handily, and even killed a god that could end time itself.

But THIS? This cursed battle against the most boring thing known to man that was paperwork? That may as well of been one of the worst fights of Ragna's life. Why did he even agree to this position if this was something he was supposed to do regularly? Why oh WHY did there have to be so many forms and numbers to do for what could've been so simple? If somebody was throwing extra forms at Ragna as a way to dissuade more accidental collateral, it damn well was working.

The slowly setting rays of the sun blanketing the world in orange, alongside the empty cups, attested to just how long everything had taken. It had taken longer than it could've because Yuuka just HAD to insist on trying to teach Ragna about documents and money.

At least it was finally over after such a long and arduous day. For now.

"Yuuka, you probably saved my ass with how much worse that would've been without you." Ragna plainly said, sliding his chair back from his desk like it were cursed. There wasn't any sarcasm or joking in his voice. Even with Arona around trying to do everything would've been an ordeal, but at least she was sorting mail for him while he and Yuuka worked on the documents.

"Ragna…" Yuuka paused for a moment, visible hesitation written all over her face. "… sensei…"

What the hell was with the hesitation adding sensei there!?

"I appreciate the thanks but… There's no way I can leave you to manage SCHALE's finances after that." Yuuka said, flashing Ragna a stern glare that was laced with actual worry. "I can't fault you for not knowing with where you grew up, but the work still needs to get done."

"Hey, a desk job is the last thing I ever saw myself doing." Ragna grumbled. He was feeling like Rin had taken him for a ride downplaying how much he'd have to do in this position. No shit he wasn't familiar with paperwork. How was knowing how to do taxes supposed to help with all the fighting and survival Jubei taught him? He'd probably laugh his ass off if he could see Ragna right now.

"And that's why I can't let such an important institution with so much power do their paperwork so haphazardly! So starting right now, I'm going to help you with organizing SCHALE's paperwork and finances. I'm the treasurer of Millennium's student council, Seminar, so I'm an expert when it comes to managing this."

"Be my guest then." Ragna said, his one hand up in resignation.

"That wasn't an invitation to do everything for you, sensei!" Yuuka glared disapprovingly. "This is for your own good and you need to learn how to do this! You're supposed to set an example for your students!"

How lazy did she think he was!?

"I wasn't asking you to, dammit." Ragna said with a huff. "I'll get used to it, but like hell I have to like it."

Yuuka groaned.

"But all that aside. I really mean it, thanks Yuuka." Ragna said, his tone lightening to something more appreciative and less annoyed.

Yuuka looked momentarily caught off guard by the genuine thankfulness, blinking a few times as he expression turned slightly more reserved, even a little bashful. "I-I'm just repaying the favor for helping get Kivotos back in order."

"Guess I shouldn't keep you any longer though. It's getting late." Ragna said, glancing out the window at the sun half behind the horizon.

"Eh, it's that late already?" Yuuka mirrored the gesture and promptly pulled out her phone to double check the time, which made her frown. "Ugh, I spent longer over here than I expected to."

Yeaaaaah that… Was probably at least a little bit of Ragna's fault with some of the arguing. It wasn't his fault if half these practices made no sense to him. At least some of it had felt oddly quick to pick up, like getting a refresher course. It was similar to when he was learning about guns with SRT.

That still didn't mean he had to like it.

"I need to get going." Yuuka said with a sour look, fiddling with her phone like she was typing something, likely a message to someone else. After a moment, she turned her attention back toward Ragna. "Sensei, I'll be checking in with you later to ensure all the documents stay in order. I'm not doing all your paperwork for you, but I'll at least manage the financial documents. Finances are my specialty and it won't take me any time at all." Yuuka finished with a proud look.

"Alright, see you later then, Yuuka." Ragna threw a casual wave at the girl as she then departed the room. The very moment she did, Ragna slumped back in his chair and let out an exaggerated groan that resembled a dying animal.

"Sensei, it wasn't that bad." Arona chimed in from his coat pocket. "Yuuka-san's strict and thorough, but she tried so hard to help because she cares!"

Producing the tablet from his clothes, Ragna set it down on his desk, looking down at Arona with exasperation. "I was sure as shit not built for office work."

Arona flashed a supportive smile. "Don't worry about it, sensei. You have people you can depend on, like your assistant Arona-chan! It'll get easier once you get used to how to file everything."

"Somehow, I doubt that." Ragna flatly said. There was something deep inside the depth of his very being which viscerally reacted to the mere idea of it, like long buried trauma being dug up freshly. "I'm getting the hell out of this office tomorrow for something more my speed. You got anything from all those messages you said you were gonna sort while Yuuka and I dealt with the paperwork?"

"I do!" Arona beamed. "There's one letter in particular I think you'll want to take a look at, sensei."

A moment later, a message flashed on the screen. It was a message by a student named Okusora Ayane from Abydos High School, detailing how their school was being harassed by a gang she suspected was after the school itself and asking for help with their rapidly depleting supplies. But there was something else which pushed that to the back of his thoughts as he read the letter.

A jumbled flood of images assaulted Ragna's mind once more as he read about the situation that already felt familiar. Some names and events were crystal clear, Ragna could already picture the girl behind the letter. 1st​ year, below average height with a neat navy blue blazer over a beige sweater and pleated black skirt, accompanied by short black hair and red glasses on her head over amber eyes with a red crosshair for a halo. Other parts were less distinct but still recognizable, somewhat like looking at a blurred photo, or inspired a strong feeling. Endless amounts of sand, battles with gangs, a desperate situation with seemingly no way out…

There was no mistaking it. He hadn't met Abydos, but he knew them. Or, perhaps it would've been more accurate to say he hadn't met them yet this time.

Every time the school came up the memories were among the most vivid Ragna could recall with the simplest prompt. If most of the other instances were like getting just the frame of a puzzle when prompted, this was like having fragmented and disconnected pieces filling in the center, yet still incomplete. But still, if that was the case, then he must've been close to or spent significant time around that school to have such strong memories in comparison.

If Ragna wasn't convinced of it before, then he certainly was now. He had been through these events before. This was almost exactly like what happened when a wide scale and powerful Phenomena Intervention occurred for him.

But then what in the hell could've caused such a massive scale Intervention? He wasn't certain if something on the level of the Master Unit would've been required, that had been capable of creating a hundred year long time loop centered around him and effectively resetting reality as a whole. Even if not that high level this was easily beyond what the Takamagahara system could do. That power was capable of undoing major events short of those effecting most of the world. But that didn't feel right either, something in Ragna's mind said the Master Unit was a closer comparison, especially with the holes in his memory. Could it have been related to how and why he was called here in the first place? He always trusted his gut feeling, but this time Ragna felt more behind many of his assumptions than pure gut instinct.

Arg, son of a bitch. He just knew too little and had too many gaps in his memories. Knowledge appeared to come to him when he had something associated with it come up, that was normal for situations like this, but trying to freely recall everything was like trying to force a blurry picture to be clear. But why, why the hell was this still happening again? He was supposed to have left that all behind with his old world. At least his prior experience with matters like this would be useful in dealing with it, hopefully, but he shouldn't have needed it dammit. His life just always had to be so complicated, didn't it?

Well, nothing to do but follow the bread crumbs and hope more came to him for now. These girls needed his help.

"… sei! Sensei!"

"Huh, what?" Ragna snapped out of his deep reflection, gaze shooting to Arona.

"Sensei, are you alright? You spaced out there for a minute. I know it's a bad situation for Abydos, but we'll manage." Arona said supportively, though some worry dampened her usual high energy.

"It's… Not that, Arona." Ragna said with a tense frown. "We might have a real big problem to deal with though, I'm not sure if anything's alright now."

"Sensei?" Arona tilted her head, a concerned frown spreading over her.

Ragna didn't immediately answer, instead half talking to himself while he reached for his phone. "This might take a while to explain. Maybe I should call Ayane first and ask how much to bring… Might be too late if I do that later."

"Eh? But, sensei, you don't have her num-"

Arona was cut off by the sound of Ragna's phone ringing.

"H-Huh!? How'd you call her?" Arona stammered.

What the hell, how did he do that? So distracted by the wider implications of what could've manipulated time, Ragna had dialed Ayane's phone number without realizing it. He must've spoken with her a good bit the first go around for that to seem like such a normal action. Probably best to ha-

"Hello? Who's this?" Ayane's soft, yet confused, voice came out of the speaker.

Shit.

"Uuuh, Ayane, right? I got your message to SCHALE." Ragna stated, hiding his racing thoughts behind a neutral tone. He was gonna need an explanation for this.

"Oh, Ragna-sensei!" Ayane's voice briefly warmed up with optimism, only to be quickly replaced by confusion. "Wait.. How did you get my number?"

"Er, student… registry SCHALE has." Ragna answered after a moment, trying not to sound too unsure of himself. Wait, no, he didn't have one of those yet, did he? Well, at least as she didn't know that.

"Eh? They included us on something like that? That's a little surprising to hear." Unfortunately for Ragna, Ayane wasn't going to so easily roll with his lie.

Arg, yeah that was right. The finer details escaped him right now, but the situation at Abydos and its continued existence as a school was rather complicated, wasn't it? "Yeah, well, I called to talk about your letter and coming down tomorrow."

"Y-You're planning to come down tomorrow?" Ayane stammered in such a manner it made picturing her wide eyed expression too easy. "T-Thank you for responding to us so quickly, sensei. I didn't think you'd answer that fast."

"Couldn't exactly ignore somebody who sounded so desperate." Ragna stated. Alright, good, looked like Ayane was distracted from the previous topic. "I'll see about getting there late afternoon. Give me a list of everything you need and I'll see what I can bring."

"That'd be really helpful, thank you sensei! Can I send you a list on Momo Talk? We just finished a meeting, so I'll need a few minutes to get a list together." Ayane said with a cheerful tone.

"Alright, I'll talk to you a bit more tomorrow then. Got a few things I need to take care of here, just wanted to check in for a minute." Probably was better for Ragna if he didn't linger on this conversation for too long in case he said something wrong by accident. He was going to need to get this whole problem sorted and fast.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then, sensei!"

With a brief exchange of Momo Talk IDs, the call concluded and Ragna let out a frustrated groan. Now, he had to figure out how he was going to deal with this… Everything else. There were far too many unknowns right now.

"Sensei, is everything alright? Is there anything you wanted to talk about?" Arona asked with a pensive frown, much of the usual energy in her voice replaced instead by deep concern.

Ragna tapped his hand against his chair. How much should he tell Arona? The whole story behind his experience with matters like this was… Not short, it could've taken at least all day to go over most of the details, if not longer. Never mind the fact that if he tried explaining all that to somebody who had no concept of terms and powers responsible for those events Ragna would look out of his mind and take more time to explain. But at the same time, something told Ragna he could trust Arona. He didn't remember meeting her specifically, unlike with Abydos, yet there was a feeling of ease and familiarity around his assistant. Maybe it was the fact she looked, and even acted a bit like from what little he could recall, a younger version of the GSC President? Or maybe there was something more there. It sure felt that way.

No, he could trust Arona. She knew some vague details about the Azure Grimoire already too and was supposed to be his assistant that would always be with him. If he was going to do some investigating into this, then she would figure it out anyway and might even be helpful navigating around technology. If there was anyone he could talk with, it was her.

"Arona." Ragna finally spoke up, looking at her right in the eyes.

"Hm?" Arona tilted her head with an uncertain expression.

"I'm going to say something that sounds crazy, but I need you to trust and hear me out." The man continued with a heavier weight to his words than was normal.

"Whatever it is, you can count on me, sensei." Arona said with a supportive smile, some of her usual energy returning.

"You remember what I said in our first talk, right? About feeling like I'd met everyone already?"

"Yeah, I do…?" Arona answered with an inquisitively raised eyebrow.

"I was already suspicious about it before, but I wasn't certain with how strange this whole thing has been with me arriving in Kivotos and it was mostly vague feelings," Ragna paused for a moment, thinking about how to phrase his next words carefully. "but now I know that time is definitely repeating. I've been through these events before. Everything's not clear, but I can remember things, details and scenes, about people and places I've never met or been to yet."

Arona's eyes went so wide Ragna was almost convinced they were going to pop out of her head. "You…" Arona mouth hung open for a second, trying and failing to find words until she finally forced a few awkward and near breathless ones out. "Can remember things like that?"

"Yeah, and this isn't the first time I've been through something like this." Ragna said with a nod. "I know what it's like. My memories are pretty resistant to Phenomena Intervention now, but whatever, or whoever, caused this, was able to even severely effect that. That's not easy to do."

Arona worry was briefly undercut by confusion, her eyebrows raised. "Phenomena what?"

"Phenomena Intervention can do a whole bunch of shit, teleporting, stabilizing someone's existence, rewriting time, undoing causality, almost anything you can think of if you're strong enough. So it's kind of complicated to explain. Since I have to though..." Ragna stopped for another second, trying to think of the best way to explain everything. He could grasp these concepts fine, but trying to convey it to another person was a completely different skill and more of a pain in the ass. "Imagine you have two outcomes to something. In the first timeline, somebody dies, but in the second timeline, they don't. Phenomena Intervention would basically let you replace what happened in the first one with the second by Observing that possibility and forcing it into reality. That's the basic idea. Real high level usage of it let's you do basically anything, even rewrite the entire world and timeline back a century."

"Oh…" Arona trailed off, but let her mouth made a few motions, like she were hesitating to speak again and picking her words carefully. "The Shittim Chest can… Do something like that, I think, sensei."

"Arona." Ragna's voice was firm, with an edge to it.

"Y-Yes, sensei?" Arona fidgeted nervously, averting eye contact like he was going to yell at her.

No, hold on, dial it back a little. He'd exploded at Arona last time from everything getting to him and nearly made her cry. That was probably why she was so anxious when touching another subject about his past. Taking a deep breath, Ragna softened his voice slightly. "Arona… I want you to start explaining everything about what you mean by that."

Arona's entire body visibly relaxed, though it was only slightly, she still looked overall tense and anxious about speaking more, a low frown on her face. "Well… There's a lot the Shittim Chest, I, can do in order to help you fulfill your duties and keep you safe. Say somebody hurt you really bad. As long as it's in the moment, I could just focus on that and make it like the injury never happened, or if they would hit you then they'll miss instead. Because the Shittim Chest is linked to you, it makes it easier for me to do that and keep watching you all the time when I'm with you. It takes some energy to do though. But with you, it'd probably take a lot more energy than usual. I'm not sure why, but you're kinda hard to focus on. It's a good thing you're so tough though, since I don't think I'll have to use it too often!"

Ragna's hand tightened. He'd been afraid of that answer. Already, he didn't like where this was going and needed to know more to confirm any suspicions. "So, what exactly can you do then besides just protect me when you focus on me?"

"Hrm, why don't I show you? It'll be more fun and easier to explain." Arona said with some of her upbeat smile beginning to return. "Put your hand on the screen, sensei. It'll make this easier for me."

Curious, Ragna placed his hand onto the tablet.

With the unmistakable sensation of a Phenomena Intervention occurring around him, Ragna suddenly found himself surrounded by a familiar broken classroom, a near endless expanse of ocean on all sides with the foreign smell of the sea accompanying it, and Arona directly in front of him.

Physically in front of him and barely taller than his elbows.

With a proud grin.

"Tadah! I can bring you inside the Shittim Chest!" Arona said with the energy of a child showing their parent a new drawing they'd done.

Processing the situation, Ragna took a brief glance around the area to confirm he wasn't imagining things. Yeah, two things were easy to confirm now. Firstly, he was inside the tablet, or well, partially. It was strange, most of his awareness was in Arona's room, yet it wasn't fully. Ragna could still feel himself in the SCHALE office in his chair and he was still aware of his surroundings, alongside everything occurring there and it felt like if he tried to move himself, he could. It was… Weird, a bit disorienting even, almost like seeing two different images in each eye, yet it wasn't like having his attention split in half either. It was more like somehow being in two places at once. The other thing was that had absolutely been an Intervention, not just that it was an incredibly powerful one too to cause something like what Ragnas was feeling.

"Huh?" Arona spoke up before Ragna could, this time her face thoroughly confused, even a little shocked, as her eyes wandered to Ragna's right side, eye still closed and arm limp. "Your body should be working fine here..."

"The Azure Grimoire isn't just physically a part of me. It's part of my existence down to my soul too." Ragna quickly answered, gesturing with his head down to his unmoving arm and slightly shrugging his shoulder, the only working part of his right limb like this, for emphasis.

The fact it also ate at his very existence was better left unsaid.

Arona's eyes went wide, the girl stepping closer to Ragna and inspecting his right half like it would somehow provide answers. "Oh… That's why you were so reluctant to let Millennium look at it then. That'd explain it not working here either..."

Setting aside her umbrella, Arona gingerly took Ragna's arm in her own hands, her small, fragile feeling fingers lightly touching it with gentle warmth. The concerned frown was clear across her whole face. "I wanted to have a nice surprise for you..."

Normally, Ragna might've said something about the idea of 'personal space', but he knew Arona meant well. However, that wasn't all, the pause gave him a moment to spread his senses out more in the artificial space, more specifically it was what he sensed from Arona that gave him pause.

Now that Arona was no longer separated by the boundaries of the tablet and close to him as any other person was, he could feel out her presence more. It was a bit strange, she was there yet it was almost like she wasn't at the same time, but it wasn't the odd part. It was so… Familiar, it was like that sensation from the blurry memory of the train ride, the scene starting to become slightly clearer in his head from the familiar presence beside him. Arona didn't just look like the GSC President, she felt like her too, but no that wasn't quite accurate either. It was a similar, so much so he could mistake it for the same in passing, yet also distinct. The closest, but not quite accurate, comparison was to Hazama and Terumi. Both had their own sensation Ragna could tell apart when focusing, yet as Hazama had been created to be a compatible vessel for Terumi's existence and made in a similar image to him, they were connected and incredibly alike to any forms of perception.

So then what did that make Arona to the president?

Well, he could figure that out later. Seeing Arona look so deflated with how bubbly she usually was almost made him depressed.

"Hey, quit looking so sad and like you did something wrong." Ragna said, putting his good hand on Arona's head and patting it gently. "If you really wanna help, I got more questions about all of this."

Arona's halo turned into a heart at the affectionate gesture and her face visibly brightened back to a smile. "Ask away, sensei!"

"Alright, so firstly, anything else you can do like this I should know about?" Ragna asked. It was already looking like Arona was a powerful Observer, but he wanted to know how far she could take it.

"Hmmm… Well, it's not something I'd really do since it takes a lot of energy and I want to always have it if you need it, but I can also appear outside the Shittim Chest too!" Arona said with some of the same enthusiasm she had when showing off her current trick.

"Sorry, you can what?" Now, it was Ragna's turn to be wide eyed and shocked.

"Bet you didn't expect that the great Arona-chan could even do that too, huh?" Arona said, looking quite smug about herself.

Oh, Ragna didn't expect that, but for reasons entirely different from whatever Arona likely thought.

If she could do that and it worked the same way this did, that meant Arona could do Self Observation. That wasn't just difficult, that was almost impossible to do for any period of time even among skilled and powerful Observers.

He was really hoping the next answer wouldn't be what he suspected it was. "Arona, do you know what an Observer is?"

Arona tilted her head, looking honestly confused. "I don't know what that is, sensei. I'm guessing it's related to what you said earlier?"

Inwardly, Ragna breathed a sigh of relief behind his nod. "Yeah, long story short you could think of an Observer as somebody who can perform Phenomena Intervention. And what you just described is exactly how they work."

An Observer could perform an intervention by using their power to, well, observe other possibilities and force a specific one to be 'real' by acknowledging it's existence, with powerful ones even able to do so by accident. The more unlikely or large scale something was, the more difficult it would be to impose or maintain that possibility in an incompatible reality. Somebody with that power could even observe a specific person for a whole host of reasons, up to even keeping them still existing and alive against causality and time itself determining they shouldn't continue walking. Doing that to yourself was even more ridiculous than something like a dead man resurrecting themselves.

"Aww, I thought I was the only one who could do that." Arona spoke up, a bit confused, with some of the smugness fading from her face too. "I guess you could call me that, with how you described it, sensei. Where you came from must really be something if you already know about all this."

"Wasn't exactly common and even then, there's not many people who could do what you described." Ragna added and the satisfaction rapidly returned back to Arona's face. This girl was really something else.

But if she could do all that and she mentioned watching him, did that mean Arona was Observing him? Hakumen had been pulled from the Boundary, an infinite void between worlds where all timelines and worlds intersected, by somebody constantly Observing his existence, though it'd only dragged a small portion of him into the world and left him much weaker than normal. It should've been impossible with what Ragna had done to erase himself from reality, but if that'd happened…

"Hey," Ragna interrupted Arona as she was about to speak again, his own words heavy. "I got an important question. Are you the reason I'm here in Kivotos?"

Immediately, Arona shook her head. "Sorry, sensei. I don't have any clue how you showed up here. It's rare, but sometimes people from outside Kivotos just appear out of nowhere, like you did."

"Out of nowhere sure sounds about right." Ragna said with a disappointed huff. Damn, for a second he thought he had something there. Part of him had been hoping Arona would say yes, it'd put some of his worries at ease to know somebody like her was responsible instead of who the hell knew what.

"If you can do all that, why the hell didn't you mention all this earlier then?" Ragna said with an accusatory eye.

"Oh, I…" Arona suddenly turned sheepish, a light pink on her cheeks. "Kind of forgot to mention it when you activated the Shittim Chest since the discussion got side tracked by the Azure Grimoire…"

Ragna rolled his eyes.

Arona's expression quickly turned into an indignant pout as she flailed her arms. "You didn't ask me either!"

"How the hell is it my fault for not asking about something I didn't even know about!?" Ragna fired back.

Arona, refusing to answer, instead turned her head away in a childish pout.

Ugh, Arona had her moments of being more mature, like most of what they'd just discussed, but she was also such a kid at the same time.

"Are you- You know what, no, forget about it. Noooooot worth it. Can't believe I have to deal with this again. Son of a bitch…" Ragna said with a deep scowl, looking at nobody and nothing in particular.

Arona frowned and stayed quiet for a few seconds, eyes closed in reflection. She finally spoke up with a bit lower voice that almost sounded older. "You seem really worried about time repeating, sensei. Maybe it could be a chance to fix something bad that happened…"

Ragna sighed, scowl on his face. After what happened back in his world like this, what'd happened because of simply existing, there was no way Ragna could rest easy with this hanging over his head. "Would be easy if that happened, but my last experiences weren't exactly that simple or stopped at one repeat."

Arona opened her eyes, looking at Ragna uncertainly. "What happened?"

"Where do I even start? I could spend all weekend trying to explain that." Ragna grumbled, taking a seat in one of the desks barely big enough for him and placing his elbow on it to rest his head against his palm. "Sit down, not sure how long this'll take."

Curious, Arona followed Ragna's example and took a chair across from him.

Though Ragna did trust Arona, he wasn't exactly going to suddenly dump his whole life story and the history of his world onto her to fully explain everything, there were still a few things he wanted to keep to himself. Probably just best to try and keep things to the biggest details. "I guess, to make it a long story short, back where I came from, there was this girl. She had more responsibility and suffering put on her shoulders than somebody should've ever had to go through. And she just wanted to have someone save her from it."

Arona listened carefully, her expression solemn.

"So, stuck in a machine with the godlike power to rewrite the world, but unable to save herself, she chose someone to be the hero who she wanted to rescue her." Ragna began with his voice low, looking at nothing in particular as all the memories came back to the forefront of his mind.

"… Was that person you, sensei?" Arona asked, leaning closer toward him with a curious glint in her eyes, though it was more mature than the usual immature one she had.

"Yeah, it was." Ragna said with a slow nod. "You could say I was 'God's Dream', the dream of somebody coming to save her. So, in order to try and fulfill that dream, any time an outcome happened she didn't want, anytime I died and failed,"

Arona stiffened up, eyes widening in surprise.

"with the power of the Master Unit: Amaterasu, the girl would repeat the world hoping to finally get the ending she wanted. I don't know exactly how long it went on, I wasn't even aware of until the end, but because of that… The whole world rested on me even if I didn't do anything. As long as I was still there, as long as she cared that much about me, even if I succeeded, there was always the possibility time would start repeating again to avoid anything bad happening to me. Even if everyone else were to be happy, it wouldn't last the moment something happened to me. Because that 'dream'' would always exist as long as I did. A world can't go on like that." Ragna said, looking down at his hand as it closed into a fist. He didn't blame The Origin for how things were. She never asked to be given that power to begin with. She was basically just a girl who wanted to have peace and a normal life, not have the power of god to influence a whole world. But regardless of that, having that power made those desires disastrous for reality.

"I'm sorry, sensei. I didn't know you went through something like that..." Arona said with a guilty frown.

"Thanks for the sympathy, but the hell you apologizing for?" Ragna said, looking back up at her. "Wasn't your fault and it's in the past now. Or, well, that's what I thought at least."

Arona, once more, looked uncharacteristically somber. Well, maybe that was the wrong word for Ragna to use. He'd only known Arona for a very short time, maybe her similarities to the GSC President were influencing Ragna's opinion of her somewhat. "So… What happened to the girl then, did you save her?"

"Yeah, I did." Ragna answered with a distant look in his eyes. "I dealt with the time loops too. But I can't ever go back because of it, even if there was some way I could go back."

"What do you mean by that?" Arona said, concern in her voice.

"The Master Unit, and the girl inside it, were what maintained the world. That 'dream' of her's was what kept it going. So as long as I was still part of that world, I would keep it alive and my whole existence would keep the time loops going because of it. So… I removed myself from the world and everyone's memories. That way, the world had a clean slate." Ragna said, body slumping forward slightly. There was, well, a lot more to the whole story and things weren't exactly as he'd said, like the fact he had specifically been created by The Master Unit and that was part of why his existence was a fundamental problem, a core reason why it became such an issue in the first place was that one son of a bitch named Yuuki Terumi who decided his life's mission was to make everyone else's hell, among so many other things. But those could be for another day because it would take ages to properly cover. At least Ragna got the general point across and put it in the simplest way he could. He hoped.

"You've really been through a lot, sensei…" Arona muttered with sympathetic eyes.

"Yeah, so don't be surprised if I'm not exactly jumping for joy here at time repeating again. I don't know if things are like how they were back then, but I can already tell I'm important to it all again. I didn't ask to curse another world just by existing." Ragna said with an annoyed scoff, closing his eye to emphasize the sour expression on his face.

"I think you should cheer up! I don't think something like that'll happen again." Following Arona's voice, Ragna felt something warm patting his head a few seconds later. Opening his eyes, Ragna saw Arona leaning forward in her chair and doing her best to pat his head, despite the fact even sitting down he was so much taller than her the small girl barely managed to reach, her other hand placed on her desk to help hold the girl's weight. It looked like she was visibly straining herself and was going to fall over if she leaned even a few more centimeters forward.

"… Arona, the hell are you doing?" Ragna asked with a flat tone and unamused, slanted eyes.

"Trying… to make you feel… better…!" Arona strained to answer, a half distressed look over her.

Ragna let out an exaggerated sigh as he gently shoved Arona's hand away from his head. "Don't hurt yourself and give me even more to worry about."

Called out, Arona crashed back into her seat with a sheepish look and nervous laugh. "Ehehe… It made me feel better when you did that and I wasn't sure what to say. I had no idea you had such a history. It's hard trying to carry everything yourself like that, which is why your great assistant Arona-chan's always here for you!"

Ragna let out a sound that somewhere between a scoff and a snicker. Well, it was the thought that counted and Arona was just trying her best. It got his mind off the issue even for a few seconds anyway, so mission accomplished. "Thanks, Arona. Wish I could have some of that same optimism."

Was he jumping to conclusions a bit suddenly? Maybe, but this wasn't even getting into the Continuum Shift, which had been a much smaller scale time loop he'd been unaware of till after the fact, that'd happened following that fateful visit to Kagatsuchi. His pessimism wasn't unwarranted. At the same time, there was this nagging feeling he couldn't shake that maybe there was some truth to what Arona said. When he thought about the future, he could already recall a few distinct scenes purely when thinking of Abydos which didn't paint a good situation. Past that, he had a vague bad feeling about many things, Trinity especially, and it was a large reason he'd even taken the job at SCHALE.

"Aw, come on. You're already experienced with something like this and saved your whole world! No matter how bad it gets, I know you'll be able to do it." Arona said with a supportive smile. Her words then dropped low, almost like she were talking to herself more than anything else, and had it not been for Ragna's sharp senses he might've not heard them. "I knew you were the right person..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ragna said with dry sarcasm. "Feels like everyone I meet immediately knows I'm a weird fit for this job. Not like I can blame them."

"H-Huh? N-No, that's not what I meant!" Arona looked like a child just caught doing something they shouldn't, cheeks flushing and waving her hands in a panic. It took the girl a second to calm down, though even as she continued speaking they appeared slightly flustered. "I know you'll do great, sensei! The missing president trusted you for a reason. They must've known you're the only person who can make the right choices."

The only person huh… Yeah, he'd already gotten that feeling before, but hearing it from Arona only strengthened that. Not only that, the foggy memory of the train finally became clear again. He could see the resigned, desperate yet hopeful, look on her face and hear the words which had inspired that feeling.

'Only you can free us from this twisted, distorted fate and find the choices that will lead us to a new reality.'

"Wherever she is, I hope she's alright. I just know she's deeply involved in this." Ragna stated with a pensive frown. Things would be so much easier if he could just find the president, but she was perhaps the biggest enigma. Still… If she was involved in this somehow, that would make it easier to relax a bit. No matter where she was though, Ragna was going to find and save her too. But that was looking to be a more long term goal.

"Hey, Arona. There's one last thing I wanna ask you." Ragna spoke up before his assistant could, inspiring a curious look from her.

"Hm? What is it?"

"You're taking this whole thing in stride pretty quickly. Is there anything else you know about time loops? Maybe there's something about this whole… Everything, somewhere in the Shittim Chest?" Ragna asked, pausing for a second and debating on saying the second half of his question. "… Or anything about the president? I know what you said earlier, but you remind me a lot of her."

Arona closed her eyes, her features dropping to something unusually serious and contemplative "… Give me a few seconds to check through everything."

The girl stayed quite after that, quiet for a long time. The only sounds in the whole world were the gentle rocking of the ocean which surrounded Arona's ruined classroom, every sway of the water only furthered the tension that rose with every passing moment. In truth, it couldn't have been more than several seconds where Arona remained quiet, but that silence felt like hours to Ragna.

"… No, I don't have anything on either of those. Sorry, sensei…" Arona stated with an apologetic, sad frown.

"Damn…" Ragna again put his elbow on the desk and leaned his head into his hand, tapping his finger into the side in reflection. That wasn't the answer he expected. Judging from her surprise, it didn't seem like Arona was aware of the situation, so she likely wasn't responsible for time looping Although, Observers, especially powerful ones, were just as resistant to an intervention as he was, sometimes moreso. It wasn't impossible for Observers to be significantly affected by a strong enough Intervention, but Arona's capabilities there were tremendously powerful, going by her claims. Which either meant Arona was lying to him or there might've been something like the Master Unit behind this again, one time deal or not. He didn't like either implication, but he also wanted to trust Arona. She'd been supportive of him so far and it was kind of nice having somebody he could talk to and get some of this off his chest. If Arona was hiding something from him, he wanted to believe she had a reason, but he couldn't force the answer out of her.

"And you're really the only person here?" Ragna said, looking around like he expected to find someone else hiding. He couldn't see anyone, couldn't sense anyone, yet he still couldn't shake the feeling there should've been someone else inside the Shittim Chest. The faint image of a girl of a similar stature to Arona, but dressed in black with long white hair, wouldn't leave his head.

"No, it's just me, sensei. There's only 1 OS of the Shittim Chest." Arona stated.

Ragna furrowed his brow in annoyance. Things still… Didn't feel right, yet at the same time maybe that was part of the time loop? From what he recalled from more experienced people, sometimes there were small, and not no small, changes which occurred between resets. Either due to intentional action or simply random chance. Maybe that was the case here? But then what happened to the other girl?

This entire exchange had only left Ragna with even more questions than it had answers, he couldn't catch a damn break. Maybe more would come to him as he did things around Kivotos? Finding things to jog his memory seemed like the best approach with how just reading Ayane's letter went. That was assuming everything inspired the same reaction though, few things did beyond talking to her and Arona so far.

"Well, guess there's no helping anything more right now. I'd bet it's pretty late by now, with how long we've been in here. I need to get started early tomorrow to pick everything up for Abydos too." Ragna said, finally standing up from his chair and lightly stretching.

"Now, that you mention it, I'm starting to feel pretty sleepy." Arona said, letting out a yawn. "Thanks for talking to me about everything."

"Thanks for listening." Ragna said back, a low, appreciative expression close to a smile on his face. "Gonna take care of a few things around the office and then hit the sack. This day feels like it went on forever…"

"Feels like we got a lot thought, at least, right?" Arona said with an upbeat smile that fit her usual energy. "Good night, sensei!"

"Night, Arona." Without another word, Ragna vanished from the Shittim Chest and appeared back in his office. Tomorrow was surely going to be even busier.

---

Spoiler: AUTHOR'S NOTES

Few quick things! Firstly, got this story put on TV Tropes fic rec page for BA, so that's neat thanks to whoever did that.

Secondly, just to clear up one thing to avoid any confusion in the future, with how Blazblue terms work. If Observer(ing) or Intervention is capitalized in the story, it means I'm referring to it in the Blazblue sense of the word. If it's not, then it's a normal descriptor, like anything else.

Hope this wasn't too long for everyone. I debated splitting it up into two chapters but the way things flowed felt better with one and I really wanted to get to this part of the story. There's gonna be a lot more here than simply Ragna in BA!

 

[Omniwhatever]

Volume 1 Chapter 1: Onward to Abydos (IV)​

Angel 24 was one of the larger convenience store chains in Kivotos. Open 24 hours, as the name implied, it was also where Sora would be working her part-time job, though her's was a little unusual as she would be working directly inside the SCHALE building for Angel 24's branch there.

Sora wasn't going to lie to herself, the prospect of working there did make her nervous with what she'd seen circulating on the news about it, but she needed the money and as a middle schooler not many places would employ her for a part-time job. So what we she supposed to do? At least her first shift was supposed to be easy! The store had been set up in advance so someone, her in this case, could easily get right to work the moment power was back up and things were secure. Angel 24 refused to break its commitment to staying open as much as possible short of a natural disaster.

However, that'd also left it empty from anything that could go bad in short order, so the current stock was mostly limited to some various weapons and ammo to supply them, alongside some non-perishable food and office supplies. The low inventory, coupled with everything that'd happened recently, meant it was doubtful Sora would be seeing any customers until regular inventory got stocked next delivery. Though… Even if that wasn't the case, and there wasn't a giant pit outside the front entrance being repaired, who'd come into the SCHALE building to buy things anyway?

"It really makes the shift kind of boring though…" Sora, dressed in the Angel 24 uniform of a skyblue apron, which matched her eyes and halo that was a four pointed circle with a smaller one inside it and then a gem within that, over a white t-shirt with black cuffs and a matching bow, sighed to herself. She wasn't sure if it being a quiet day made up for just how early she had to get up. She'd barely had time to brush her long blonde hair that went past her knees. It'd only been an hour and the sun was barely fully over the horizon too. How was she going to last a whole shift like this?

Behind the checkout to the store laid out much like a standard convenience store, Sora fidgeted nervously to herself. The weight of her phone in her pocket taunted the young girl like a forbidden fruit. This was her first day and she had to make a good impression! But… There really was nobody around or sign of them coming. So surely browsing her phone a bit wouldn't hurt, right? She couldn't seriously be expected to stand here like a statue for no customers for hours, could she?

With one last glance around the store, craning her head around to be extra certain nobody was coming, Sora finished her phone from her pocket and started playing around with it, catching up on some of her feeds. Kivotos was such a busy place lately that keeping up with it all was hard.

Sora wondered if she might run into the new teacher who was the talk of social media right now. He worked in this building too, didn't he? Well, with how early it was even if he did show up at some point, it probably wouldn't be for a while.

"Hey."

Sora almost jumped out of her skin at the voice, nearly dropping the phone she scrambled to shove back into pocket in the process. Ack, a customer had seen her slacking off! She'd get fired for sure if they reported that! "W-Woah! Wh-When did you get-"

Sora paused, something catching her eye before she had more than a moment to comprehend the individual with a gruff voice was abnormally tall and in a red coat. It was a monstrously huge, at least 200L, duffle bag that looked big enough to fit Sora herself inside of it if she so much as slightly balled up. Normal people didn't come into a store with that unless they had one thing in mind.

She was about to be robbed on her first day of work.

"W-We just opened! T-There's barely any money in the register!" Sora shouted in a panic, throwing her arms up in hopes it would make her look less threatening. She knew this job had been a mistake!

The man looked at her flatly with his single open green eye. "Woah, hey, calm down kid. Do I look like I'm stupid enough to rob the same building I work in?"

"Huh...?" Sora blinked in confusion. With a few more moments to process the person before her, Sora started to recognize more about him. Huge sword on his back, spikey white hair, all something she'd seen a lot lately. "O-Oh! A-Are you the new adult working at SCHALE I've heard so much about?"

"You expecting anyone else to show up this early?" Ragna said dryly, like it were obvious.

"N-No…" Sora lowly answered. The rumors said Ragna was an ill-tempered man who'd smash a person and the whole building they were in for getting in his way, something quite believable when he'd blown the hole outside big enough to fit a tank into. Best she try to stay on his good side and not get fired for getting the whole shop destroyed.

"Well, you and everyone else already know who I am, who're you? Notes about this place said there was a shop here, but nothing about who was running it." Ragna continued.

"Oh, um, m-my name is Sora. This is my first day as a part-timer here at Angel 24. N-Nice to meet you!" Sora said, trying her best to keep her voice polite and not like she was terrified of the man possibly punching a hole in the store.

"Sora, calm down." Ragna said, Sora's deception entirely unsuccessful, with his voice softening. "I'm not gonna loot the place or yell at you. So take a deep breath and relax."

It wasn't that Sora was worried about, but the gentler voice was unexpected and did help a little. Following his instructions, Sora took a moment to calm herself before speaking, some of the nerves leaving her body. Scary or not, Ragna was still a potential customer and this was what she was being paid for! "Um, sorry for thinking you were a robber…"

"Don't sweat it, not even the worst welcome I've gotten in a store before. Waaaaay down on the list." Ragna said with a reassuring casualness.

Sora wasn't sure to be more relieved or confused at that statement. How did you top that?

"Gotta say, you look pretty young to be handling this place all by yourself." Ragna added before Sora could find her words, looking more than a little skeptical of her.

"Oh, w-well, practically no other store hires students my age and I needed the money…" Sora added awkwardly. Was she so nervous it was that obvious? She had to do something to show she was still capable! Especially after Ragna had caught her on the phone. Come on, Sora, turn this around! "I-Is there something you needed help with?"

"Yeah, go ahead and just ring up the whole shelf's worth of these." Ragna said, reaching behind him to the shelf in front of Sora's checkout, grabbing three boxes of ammo in his large hand, and tossing them onto the space in front of the girl. "I'm gonna grab a few things from the other one."

Sora blinked as Ragna promptly went off to another rack in the small store without so much as another word. That… Wasn't how a transaction was supposed to work. "U-Um, sensei-"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll get the rest myself." Ragna said without looking up from the other stand he was browsing. "I only got one arm, so I'm not bringing all that over one at a time or putting a bunch in this bag just to take it out again. I don't exactly see anyone else coming in being held up."

"Um, a-alright then?" Sora, too caught off guard to argue with the forcefulness in Ragna's voice, answered and started scanning the ammo boxes multiple times while doing her best to count the boxes on the shelf. This wasn't exactly how she expected her first shift to go, but she didn't want to get on Ragna's bad side. At… Least it made things less boring?

"… The hell are party bullets?" After a minute, Ragna's confused voice spoke up.

Sora paused her scanning, looking at the adult viewing a package while thoroughly perplexed. This was her moment to make up for her earlier mistakes! She just had to sound confident! "Oh, they're a popular item for playing Russian Roulette! They don't hurt as much as normal bullets and some people like some of the effects, like confetti, they have."

"What kind of a game is Russian Roulette supposed to be and why would you need bullets?" Ragna asked, glancing between Sora and the package.

"Well, it's a game where you load a revolver with one bullet, spin the chamber. And then pull the trigger with the gun pointed at yourself. If it goes off, then you lose. I don't really play or get it myself... But I hear it's a popular party game, especially in Red Winter."

Ragna's expression fell so much, Sora immediately wondered if she'd done something wrong and started fidgeting nervously. He looked like a person who had suddenly lost the last bit of faith in the world they didn't realize they had, holding the package responsible like it were cursed. "What the hell is wrong with this place…"

It wasn't that weird, was it? She was just doing her job describing the product! There were definitely stranger party games anyway, like hot potato with a grenade. But maybe he preferred that instead…? No, after that reaction she better keep her mouth shut instead of making a recommendation.

Trying to get her mind off how much she'd already fumbled her first day, Sora went back to nervously finishing ringing up the first set of items.

A short time later, Sora heard Ragna approaching her register and set a few more items on the registering, including some packages of grenades. "You done with everything on the other stand?"

"Huh? Er…" Sora craned her next to look past the large man, taking one more quick count of the items there. Thankfully, with the store's lower stock there wasn't too much to worry about counting. "Yes?"

Without warning, Ragna turned around and promptly scooped the contents of the rack into the duffle bag with a few motions of his hand and turned back to face Sora. "So, what do I owe you?"

"Um, er…" Sora mumbled to herself, trying to buy time to scan the last few items as she still struggled to process the situation. Was this how every transaction was going to go for her? What in the world had she signed up for? Please just let it be because he was buying so much… "C-Cash or card?"

Ragna let out an annoyed huff at seeing the total on the machine, grumbling to himself as he pulled out a card from his coat. "Good thing I can expense this... Maybe that lecture from Yuuka wasn't useless."

A moment after Ragna placed the card in the machine, it let off a sound and he removed it, putting it in his coat while also stuffing the remaining items on the counter into the huge bag he had.

"Is there anything else you need?" Sora, trying to keep the nerves out of her voice, stated. Company policy dictated to always be nice to the customer and offer more until they said they were done.

"Nah, but what about you? Saved me some time, so not complaining, but why would they make a store inside SCHALE? Not sure who else is supposed to shop here. You really expected to sit here for hours?" Ragna said, a hint of sympathy in his words, as he looked around the store.

"U-Unfortunately…" Sora whined with a sigh. On the one hand, it definitely would be an easy job following this one odd exchange. On the other hand, it'd probably drive her crazy from lack of things to do if nobody else came in.

Ragna shook his head. "Ugh, I'd be bored out of my mind like that. I don't know what your schedule is, but if you need a break or something, feel free to use whatever's around here. Think this place had a few rooms set up with stuff."

"Eh? Oh, t-thank you!" Sora said with a smile. She didn't get a lot of time to leave the store, even on breaks, but since she had permission maybe she could find something to liven things up a bit than only use her phone.

"I'm going to be gone most of the day," Ragna said, turning and starting to make his way toward the exit. "Try not to get bored to death if nobody else shows up."

"Thanks, I'll try…" Sora said wearily as Ragna exited the store by SCHALE's main entrance, once more leaving her alone. But despite that, she still felt a little lighter than she had when coming in. That'd gone a lot better than she'd expected, based on the few things she'd heard about Ragna. He was actually kind of nice, being concerned for her and giving that offer. Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy and working in this building wouldn't be so bad after all…

---

Ragna was hardly a stranger to traveling long distances, in fact he was already used to traveling across the world on foot and in a short time frame, so even the several dozen kilometer trek merely to the outskirts of Abydos, not even considering the distance to the actual school deep inside it, was nothing he couldn't do before early afternoon if he kept a good pace. And without the need to watch every step for some kind of mutated monster or suicidal bounty hunter, already having an innate idea of where to go, and traveling largely developed roads instead of the wilderness? The trip was a breeze compared to his usual travels.

"Mweh… Sensei, did you have to get up so early…?" Arona's sleepy voice whined from his coat pocket.

Unlike most of those trips, he had a chatty companion for this one.

"If you're tired, you can just go back to sleep, Arona." Ragna said with a sigh and shake of his head. "Didn't mean to wake you up."

"Tired? I'm not tired at aaaaaaaaaaall." Arona said in a thoroughly unconvincing voice which sounded ready to pass out if their eyes dared close for more than a minute. "I'm just… Worried about your health, sensei! You need to get some rest too! How long did you even sleep? You could've just taken a train later and gotten more sleep!"

Ragna rolled his eyes. She was not convincing anyone. "I don't know, 3 hours, maybe? About what I'm used to. Didn't exactly keep track." When he was out in the woods with a bunch of seithr mutated monsters that could come up at any moment and a highly wanted man, and then all the intensive training he had to do before that, anything past a few hours of light sleep was a luxury he'd long since adapted to. It helped his body wasn't a normal human's, even setting aside the Azure Grimoire.

"3 hours!? That's barely a good nap!" Arona's now actually distressed voice cried. "Senseeeeeeeei, you have to take care of yourself if you're going to take care of your students!"

"What kind of a nap is three hours?" Ragna shot back, exasperated.

"A good one!" Arona replied in a way that Ragna could hear the childish pout on her face. "If you can do all this on that little sleep, then as your assistant, I can too no problem!"

Ragna groaned to himself, softening his voice slightly. "Arona, don't push yourself. It'll probably be at least another few hours till we're at the Abydos school building, so you got some time for a nap. I already know where I'm going."

"Mhm…" Arona hummed to herself pensively for a solid several seconds. Ragna could tell she really wanted that nap when even that sounded sleepy. "N-No, I'll be just fine!"

Ragna's face went right to his palm. Arona could be such a stubborn child sometimes and now he was going to feel guilty if she started having a miserably time trying to match his schedule. Was this what being a parent felt like? Ugh. He was in a calmer situation now though, maybe getting an extra hour or two wouldn't be a bad thing. It was kind of nice the few times he actually had a place to stay and could get a bit more rest, few as they were. "Alright, fine. I'll try to take it a little easier. Now, you going to take your own advice and go back to bed? Can't exactly be much help if you're ready to pass out at any moment."

"Deal~." Arona said with a satisfied voice that was briefly downright energetic. "Don't forget that I still wanna see you in the SCHALE uniform sometime too!"

"Just go to bed, Arona." Ragna said flatly. This was beginning to feel like blackmail. Curse him for having a softer spot for kids if they were at least decently behaved and not named Luna or Carl. Probably what he got for being an older brother to two siblings.

Not hearing any more interjections from the AI, Ragna focused back on his trip toward Abydos. With one powerful leap, Ragna shot through the air and on top of a medium sized building for a better vantage point to gauge how much he had left to go.

Far out in the distance, Ragna could see the endless blanket of sand that comprised the Abydos district. Stretching far into the horizon and past what the eye could see, the district was practically a desert. Buildings of various sizes poked through the seemingly infinite expanse of sand, with so many buried or broken one could've easily mistaken it for an apocalyptic scene of a long since abandoned city, but some could've argued that wasn't an off description. Only a comparatively small pocket of civilization stood mostly untouched against the ever advancing nature, with even that on the more sparsely populated end as most residents had long since packed up their bags to move somewhere more habitable. It was almost like watching a society on its last legs stubbornly refusing to go quietly.

Actually seeing the district that used to be among Kivotos's most prosperous, long before Ragna's arrival, only further solidified some of the memories that had been getting stirred up. He could already picture several familiar scenes with a clarity close to any of his other memories. Shiroko's excessive enthusiasm suggesting a bank robbery, Serika screaming at him when he found her during one of her jobs, Nonomi dragging him onto a shopping trip, Ayane and him losing their minds at the insanity of everyone's ideas to pay off the debt, even running into Hoshino during the night. It was strangely nostalgic... Yet it wasn't perfect. It still felt like there was a significant gap in his recollection which he couldn't will to make sense yet. But even despite that, positive feelings weren't the only emotions stirred up. There was a vague sense of unease lurking in the back of his mind as all the memories came to him, a feeling of oncoming danger and yet also… Regret. But that last one he struggled to put an image to the emotion.

Well, no matter. Maybe more would come up once he actually met the rest of the students. He was going to have to be careful with how he approached this. He sure as hell knew them, but right now Ragna was no different than any stranger to the rest of Abydos.

With another jump, Ragna continued his journey into the desert.

---

It wasn't often that Takanashi Hoshino made it a point to show up at school early, but there was something special about today which'd brought the sleepy girl some extra motivation to ensure the school looked presentable. Abydos's request for aid had finally been answered, not by the GSC who may as well already written the school off, but by the new organization and adult running SCHALE. That should've been exactly what everyone had been praying for, right?

Yet there was something… Off about the whole situation. Hoshino already had plenty of reasons to be skeptical of adults, but Ayane had told everyone yesterday that the new teacher, Ragna, had called her number somehow, brushing it off as being part of some "student registry" SCHALE had.

That, by itself, would have been somewhat of a stretch, though not impossible, for a normal school as most kept a lot of aspects to themselves even from the GSC. But for Abydos? The school which barely officially existed and had been ignored by them for so long to have its students included?

Hoshino didn't buy it. How did he get Ayane's number?

Everyone else had been too excited at finally getting an answer to worry much, or if they did they hadn't said anything. Whoever this Ragna person was, Hoshino was going to have to keep a veeeeeeeeeery close eye on him for anything fishy for the sake of her classmates. That was her job as the oldest of the bunch.

But oh well, she just had to keep a sharp eye out to find out what kind of person Ragna was. Even if he might not have been bad as some adults were, they were always planning something, had some kind of angle or goal to use people for. But he wanted to help, hidden agenda or not, and Abydos wasn't in the position to refuse, not that she wouldn't keep an eye on him just in case. It was sure going to be a long wait though and everyone had done some cleaning on the building already to prepare. However, it wasn't as if it were done specifically for visitors, they always had to sweep out some sand that blew its way into the building. They just so happened to put a bit of extra care into it this time because of the occasion.

So there wasn't any harm in a nap till Ragna got here, surely.

"Hoshino-senpai! Did you go back to sleep!?" Serika's harsh voice called out from the other room.

Ooooooooor maybe not

"Oji-san's still sound asleep~." Hoshino called back, neither opening her eyes nor raising her head.

The rapid and discontent thudding of Serika's approaching footsteps followed her voice, till they stopped almost directly on top of Hoshino. "Senpai! That's not… Huh…? The room's clean?"

Addressed, Hoshino finally opened her eyes, stretching in an exaggerated manner as her handiwork greeted both girls. They were in one of the classrooms within Abydos that was arranged much like a typical class, rows of desks lined up facing the front of the room where instruction would be given, typically by a blu-ray with how actual in person teachers were basically a myth until a few days ago. But even despite Hoshino's freshly done cleaning, there were still obvious signs the room was sparsely used. From the lack of anything on a single desk, including the one at the front, to the whiteboard which had tinges of yellow due to age and exposure of the sun.

With the rather special and difficult situation Abydos had, it was no wonder the classroom was seldom used vs the one that'd become the main meeting area for making plans on dealing with the school's debt. But it wasn't all bad, those empty rooms made it a nice spot for Hoshino to go and take a peaceful nap if she ever needed some time to herself. This one even had a window one could use to view the outside, not that there was much of anything to see besides the almost never ending desert on the cloudless day.
"Uhe, nothing wrong with a nap when work's over, right Serika-chan?" Hoshino said with a sleepy grin at the other girl dressed in the navy blue Abydos blazer, her hair done up into long twintails reaching roughly her knees, but the most eye catching feature was always Serika's cat ears and how expressive they were. Especially when they twitched indignantly. Like right now.

Serika huffed, crossing her arms while trying to restrain some of her annoyance in her red, cat like eyes. "Hoshino-senpai, now's not the time to be sleeping! Ragna-sensei's already on his way here!"

"It's still early, he wasn't supposed to be here till the afternoon." Hoshino answered with a dismissive yawn.

"It's almost 12:30 and he's nearly at the school!"

Hoshino froze mid yawn.

Oh.

Maybe she'd lost track of time just a little bit with her nap, that happened to her sometimes. Even when she didn't actually pass out and merely relaxed, which was often these days.

"Guess I slept a bit long." Hoshino said with a sheepish snicker. "How do you know he's almost here?"

"Ayane-chan's drone, er... Saw him jump over a building while doing a quick check of the area around the school before our meeting." Serika answered, some of her fire slightly deflating.

"Fweh?" Hoshino straightened up slightly with a confused sound. Well that… Definitely sounded like it was him. The man was, apparently, a physical monster and while it wasn't out of reach for some students, your average girl certainly couldn't easily accomplish that. So it was either him or something dangerous for Abydos, possibly both. "Alright, alright~. I'll be there in a minute then."

After a moment of visible deliberation, Serika finally turned back toward the room's exit, stopping to give Hoshino one more firm glance. "Don't go back to bed just because 'five more minutes'!"

And with that, Serika was gone, leaving Hoshino by herself. The first year girl always had such a feisty personality to her, but she was stern because she cared. Hoshino had known Serika long enough to understand her sweet side.

Hoshino stood up from her desk, stretching the rest of her body to shake off some of the stiffness that came from being seated for so long before grabbing her shotgun to prepare for meeting everyone. Well, she couldn't keep everyone waiting on her. There was going to be a long day ahead of everyone and she'd have to see what kind of person this adult was for her own eyes.

---

Spoiler: AUTHOR'S NOTES

Originally, this chapter was going to be a good bit longer, but if I didn't stop it here it was going to be a long while before I reached an appropriate stopping place and I have university starting back up in a few days, so I wanted to get a chapter out before that started just in case it ends up eating a significant portion of my time and I can't update for another month or more. So short chapter and introducing everyone's favorite shopkeeper for now+a little bit from Abydos.

 

[Omniwhatever]

Volume 1 Chapter 1: The Taskforce's Troubles (V)​

The gates to what was left of Abydos's school were a welcome sight to Ragna. The primary building everything was built around was a tan colored wide one three floors high. There were a few other minor buildings around the campus, but all the notable ones could be counted on one hand. Besides the actual buildings, there was also the sports field, littered with numerous random objects to act as impromptu barricades and cover against attacks, directly in front of the main schoolhouse and a pool, completely filled with sand, off to the side. Even if not in as sorry a state as the pool though, the sand was everywhere. Piles of varying size, though mostly small, were scattered around the campus or over the building roofs and made the area look like a minor sandstorm had just blown through it, not helped by the surrounding area ranging from 'had some grains on the roof' to 'entirely buried to the roof.'

It was a place he was already quite familiar with.

So familiar in fact that the man didn't even bother announcing his presence and simply let himself through the main gate and into the building. He already knew his way around the halls of the building, the layout of the weathered but still cared for paths coming back to him as if visiting a place he'd been to for the first time in years. So it was only natural he ended up reaching the meeting room in short order and heard some mutterings from the inhabitants in heated discussion, mentioning something about how much they wanted to discuss with him. Well, that was something they would have to figure out quick because Ragna didn't even bother to knock before he opened the door and was greeted by yet another familiar sight.

Five girls inside the a room that was extremely well maintained vs the rest of the school and numerous signs of a meeting in progress. The whiteboard with a variety of posters and notes attached, a table and chairs in the middle with yet more notes, and among them a map of the district

"Hey," Ragna greeted with a casual wave and stepped into the room. "thought you'd be busy, so I just let myself in."

"What the-Who are you to just ba…" Kuromi Serika started with daggers for eyes, only to trail off as the accusatory stare was replaced by confusion, her black cat ears twitching once below her halo styled in a red crosshair with four points. "Wait, you're… Ragna-sensei, right? Why didn't you tell us you were here?"

"That's what I'm doing now, aren't I? Already got invited here anyway so was quicker to just come in." Ragna asked as if the question were obvious. The whole sensei thing was still weirdly formal to Ragna, but when everyone was calling him it wasn't much use arguing. But with the scattered context of his earlier memories, hearing it from someone at Abydos was kind of strange, might even take some getting used to. Well, wasn't exactly a surprise with how different the circumstances behind him being here was the first time.

"Nn, he does have a point…" Sunaookami Shiroko muttered. She was dressed in the same dark pleated skirt and navy blue Abydos jacket Serika was, except her's was opened to reveal a white shirt, alongside a teal tie that matched the scarf she wore. She had shoulder length, ash grey hair with similarly colored wolf ears atop her head. Above her was a blue halo comprised of two circles, the outer one having four points. But the most distinctive feature was the girl's heterochromatic pupils, one being white and the other black.

"Uhe~, Shiroko-chan's going to start picking up bad habits from the adult." Hoshino said with an exaggerated and fake good natured sigh. The oldest, yet also noticeably shortest at 145cm, of the girls had freely flowing pink hair which almost came down to her knees and a similarly colored halo to match above an ahoge, which had an outer circle broken by two disconnected points on the side, alongside two inner circles. She had the same skirt and tie as the others, but only a long white shirt with a tactical brace and the top two buttons lazily left undone. Like Shiroko, she had unique eyes, but in the form of her right iris colored orange while her left was blue. It reminded Ragna much of his own eyes when his body worked properly, the closed one on his right a vibrant red instead of the green like his left.

"I just came to the place Ayane asked me to. Don't look at me like I'm the bad guy putting ideas in Shiroko's head, Hoshino." Ragna began to comment, only to immediately stop himself short from adding a sarcastic line about Shiroko having much worse habits to worry about.

"Hey! Who said you could speak to everyone so casually and use first names when we just met!?" Serika reprimanded, trying to glare at Ragna while also keep her surprise at the brazen behavior in check.

"This is how I talk to everyone." Ragna answered flatly.

"Wow, the new teacher is sure a casual person☆." Izayoi Nonomi commented with a bit of playfulness. The most mature looking girl of the bunch was dressed the most distinctly out of everyone as well. She had the same dark skirt and white shirt everyone did, but instead wore a beige cardigan. Nonomi's pale blonde hair went down her back and had a small sidebun off to the left side. Matching her emerald green eyes was her more light green halo comprised of two circles and three disconnected points along the outer ring. "I wonder if that's just how things are where they come from."

"It seems like you already know us. I guess the rest of us were on the 'student registry' too, sensei?" Hoshino casually interjected before Ragna could answer.

Even if she had said it with a friendly tone, Ragna could already pick up the slight hint of suspicion underneath her words. Damn, he should've expected that. Despite her outward demeanor, Ragna knew the sole third year at Abydos was far more perceptive than she let on. He kind of remembered her having some trust issues with adults too, but he didn't think it was too big of a problem back then? He was quickly remembering quite a bit from his first go around with Abydos, but it was still incomplete and lacked some fine details or 'later' memories. Still, he was going to have to be careful with what he said around Hoshino especially.

"Yeah, basically." Ragna answered with a dismissive gesture of his hand. "You all already know who I am too, so why don't we skip the introductions and get down to business. Picked up what I could from the list Ayane sent me."

Without another word, Ragna removed the large bag he had almost the size of Hoshino and set it on the table. "There's a couple grenades in there for me, but go ahead and take whatever you want."

Ayane was the first one to approach it, opening the bag and peering inside as everyone else glanced around. The first year started removing a few of the boxes inside as she mentally compared it to what Ragna had sent here. "Wow, you picked up even more than I thought you would. Thank you, sensei. I wasn't sure if we'd be able to manage the next attack with how low we were getting on everything."

"Nn, the Helmet Gang's next move should be any day now with how they never seem to quit." Shiroko commented with an annoyed look as she took a few packs of ammo for herself from the hoard. "But we'll be more than ready for them now."

"That's the group Ayane mentioned in her note, right?" Ragna spoke up. This was already treading familiar territory for Ragna.

"That's right." Ayane said with a frown. "They've always been a problem in Abydos with how our school doesn't have the manpower to police ourselves like other schools do, but lately they've been getting extra aggressive."

Ragna let out an annoyed, yet sympathetic grunt. "Yeah, see how that'd be a big problem when there's only the five of you and Abydos is in the state that it is. But, I'm here to help how I can."

"Speaking of that," Nonomi interjected, largely maintaining her friendly tone but still keeping a hint of reservation in it. "since you already know us, how much do you know about Abydos? We were talking about what to go over once you got here, but if you're already familiar with everything, then we don't have to go over all the little details. Ayane-chan's message only mentioned the big ones since we weren't sure when you'd give us a visit."

"I'd say I've got enough of a general idea of how things are between her message and my own research. Only a few of you left here, school's barely standing, and got gangs trying to chase you off. Real hell of a situation here between the desertification and how bad the whole district's doing." Ragna answered casually. Besides the school's debt, he wasn't entirely sure what was supposed to be easily accessible public knowledge or something you'd only know being associated with Abydos. Kivotos schools had both plenty of things in the public and kept to themselves, but Abydos in particular was incredibly isolated from Kivotos's wider stage in comparison to others with the school barely existing. So, best not to say too much, but at least sound familiar in case he said something strange. He wasn't exactly setting out to keep the whole time looping thing secret and had told Arona, but she seemed to trust him almost unconditionally and already knew some concepts associated with this mess, possibly more than she let on too.

This wasn't the case for everyone else present. Once the girls knew and trusted him more themselves, he knew more about what caused it, or knew how to ensure it wouldn't happen again then maybe it'd be a different story worth talking about. He'd seem out of his mind otherwise and it'd cast a cloud over any attempts to get close to everyone again.

"You've definitely done a lot more research than I expected." Ayane stated, a little surprise in her voice. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you had been here before."

"Uhe~, that'll save us some time explaining and leave more for a nice nap since sensei's already knows so much." Hoshino casually commented with a yawn. "You even found your way to the school without any trouble."

"Yeah, well, it's not like it's very hard to guess how things are going. I came here on foot so kind of hard to miss over 100 kilometers worth of sand everywhere. I'm used to traveling around like that and using landmarks, so wasn't hard to pick out the building that looked like a school and wasn't completely buried." Ragna shot back with a dash of sarcasm.

"Wait… You mean what Ayane-chan's drone saw you doing was what you did the entire way here? Through the whole desert!? How the- Why would you even do that!?" Serika asked, slack jawed. Nonomi and Ayane likewise wide eyed.

"Nn, it's not that far if you keep a good pace and aren't fighting the wind, Serika. The Abydos industrial area on the other end of the district is about the same distance. You get to see more of the district too." Shiroko spoke up like traveling such a distance in that short a time was utterly normal.

"You had a bike and that's not the point!" Serika said with an annoyed shake of her head.

"It let me get a better idea of how bad the situation was instead of just taking a train. Was easier to spot your school that way too. Easier to help if I know what the hell I'm getting myself into." Ragna, again, spoke up dismissively. The environment of a desert was nothing compared to traversing a seithr irradiated landscape.

"See?" Shiroko had a vindicated smile on her face.

"Something tells me that Shiroko-chan and sensei are going to get along well." Nonomi said with a soft giggle.

If by well she meant 'making sure Shiroko didn't have sticky hands around valuables' then sure, Ragna was going to get along with her just great. But there was also something more to that sense of concern, something deep that he couldn't put words or images to yet.

"Hmm, well it makes sense when you put it like that." Hoshino said, her expression relaxing slightly as she leaned her head into her palm in a casual gesture. "I guess we can skip a lot of introductions then~."

"Since you already know some of our situation, maybe it'd be better if you asked us any questions you have to get caught up?" Ayane said.

"Yeah, I can think of a big one." Ragna began, placing his hand on his hip with the lack of ability to cross his arms. Maybe this'd be a good chance to talk about the debt, if he could get them to bring it up. "I get the Helmet Gang's the immediate problem and you called me here to help with that, but what what about the rest of… Everything here? Doesn't exactly take a genius to figure out this school's in a bad state with how everything looks and had to ask me to buy supplies instead of being able to get it yourselves. Would disrupt my sleep if I left you all to yourselves without trying to do what I can."

A pensive, contemplative silence came over the room, conflicted expressions coming across most of the girls.

"W-Well…" Ayane mumbled awkwardly. "I-It's a lo-"

"None of your business!" Serika abruptly interjected with a glare.

"How do you expect me to help with the issue if I don't know what the issue is?" Ragna fired back with a scoff. "You really think I'd show up like 'Hey, here's your supplies, good luck dealing with a gang. See you later' and take off? As if."

"We've taken care of ourselves just fine without needing some outsider watching us." Serika again spoke with harsh words before anyone else could get a word in.

Ragna groaned in exasperation. Oh, yeah he knew that stubborn attitude of constantly pushing away everyone and it led to the words he spoke being stern. "Don't be such a stubborn idiot. Schools here practically manage their districts like a mini-government. That's a job for upwards of hundreds of people, sometimes more. There's five of you here dealing with the Helmet Gang and trying to keep Abydos afloat. You shouldn't have to deal with all that yourselves. I'm not here to boss you around or whatever crap you're expecting me to do. Keep doing whatever you're doing and just let me help with it. I don't expect to suddenly show up and solve everything, but doesn't mean I won't do what I can to make things easier. That's why you called me here, isn't it?"

Hoshino tapped her fingers a few times on the table before she spoke. Her words had a more mature tone than she had spoken with before. "It's not like it's a secret, Serika-chan. Like I said before Ragna-sensei came in, he'd find out pretty quickly anyway if he stuck around Abydos for even a little bit. And something tells me sensei would do that even if we told him to leave." Hoshino's tone rose slightly after a brief pause. "Though, it's almost a little surprising he didn't know with everything else they already did, especially the desert getting worse."

Supportive though part of her words were, the skepticism hidden within certainly didn't go unnoticed by Ragna.

"Urg, that doesn't mean we should go around telling everyone!" Serika shot back with a disgruntled look.

"Hoshino's right, you know. Was thinking I might spend at least a couple days here and get to know the place. So we can all save ourselves a bunch of headaches if we work together instead. Not like there's any shortage of places I could stay." Ragna added. Actually seeing everyone in person and being in the school building again has done wonders for some of Ragna's memories. He already knew there were going to be a few things happening soon he really wanted to be in Abydos for, even if he couldn't remember the exact dates of everything.

"H-Huh?" Ayane gasped. "Y-You're already planning to stay overnight?"

"Uhe~, I thought sensei would be persistent but not that persistent." Hoshino said with an almost teasing tone. The slight yawn she added afterwards somehow made it even more taunting.

"Inviting yourself to stay over with a bunch of schoolgirls you just met is a bit too forward, don't you think~?" Nonomi's very overtly teasing voice added.

"Woah, woah wait a second! What the hell did I say that gave you that idea!?" Ragna indignantly shouted, pointing accusingly at Nonomi.

"You are NOT staying in the school or with anyone here!" Serika screamed, hands aggressively holding her rifle with malicious intent.

"That isn't what I mean, you idiot!" Ragna matched Serika's shout with his own. "This place has a million abandoned buildings out in the desert nobody'll complain about me using."

"Nn, sensei that's not a good idea. You might wake up buried in sand." Shiroko voiced with a worried frown.

"I'll be fine, not even the worst living conditions or wake up I've had." Ragna countered with a dismissive wave of his hand. He'd already done that the first go around anyway. "Now, can we get back on topic already?"

Serika crossed her arms in a huff, turning her head away from Ragna. "What reason do you even have suddenly care so much? Thanks for bringing the supplies, but this is our problem."

"I'm supposed to be a teacher. Do I really need a reason to help my students than you asked for it?" Ragna said, softening his tone vs how he usually spoke.

The room went quiet. Serika still looked liked she were trying to kill Ragna by glaring hard enough, even if her stare relaxed slightly, while the rest of the Foreclosure Task Force were in a contemplative silence.

After a second, Nonomi approached Serika from the side, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder and flashing a soft smile. "Serika-chan, I know they're a bit forceful, but they just want to help. It's been a while since we've had anyone want to even hear us out."

Ragna could see the briefest flash of uncertainty on Serika, but she still looked unconvinced. Alright, guess he was gonna have to try harder.

"You know what, if you don't trust me, then how about this." Ragna interjected before anyone could continue the argument, lowering his voice to something a bit more diplomatic. "Instead of wasting time arguing, how about you just point me in the direction of the Helmet Gang's base and I'll go clear out the place while you get some rest from all the harassment. That's what you called me here about, isn't it? That gonna prove I'm serious about this?"

The entire room looked at Ragna wide eyed, even Hoshino straightened up and looked fully awake.

"You want to go by yourself? A-Are you out of your mind!?" Serika jumped up from her chair.

"S-Sensei, I know you're worried about us, b-but you don't need to put yourself at that much risk!" Ayane stammered with worry in her eyes.

"I'm used to fighting larger groups on my own and wager I've got more combat experience than all of you put together. They don't scare me. Pretty sure you all saw what I did to that tank, right?" Ragna answered without a single trace of concern. Not like it'd keep trouble down for long anyway.

"Serika-chan, I think he's even more stubborn than you are." Hoshino stated with a resigned sigh.

"Don't compare me to him!" The girl in question shouted.

"Still, if they're this determined to help us and go that far, good idea or not, I don't think we should turn it down. They're pretty strong and an adult, so maybe they'll be able to help us. He already knows almost everything else about Abydos. I'd feel bad if somebody got themselves hurt rushing off trying to do something for us too." Hoshino spoke up with a maturity to her voice.

Serika threw her hands up in frustration. "I still don't like telling him that easily, but if sensei's going to be that stubborn and do something dumb like that, I guess they'll find out anyway. I thought adults were supposed to be responsible and not be so reckless."

It was a struggle for Ragna to not make a snide comment, but with the conversation already deteriorating he thought better of it. Different circumstances and he still wasn't exactly welcomed with open arms by everyone in the previous loop, but it wasn't this much of a damn headache last time. Sure there was… Definitely problems, but was acting just a little familiar that big of an issue? Or maybe it was because he had some kind of official position compared to then? Wasn't that supposed to make things easier?

"Weeeeeeeell," Hoshino began, stretching her arms in an exaggerated motion. "to get to the point then, our school owes quite a bit of money to a loan company. That's not a challenge or unusual by itself but…" Hoshino's expression slumped, along with her body. "The real problem is that it's over 900 million yen."

"962,350,000 yen, to be exact." Ayane interjected with a sullen frown. "The loan company will foreclose on the school and shutter it permanently if we don't pay them."

"Well, that sure as hell explains a lot." Ragna grumbled. "So it's because of that and the desert that there's nobody else at the school and the whole district is so desolate."

Ayane nodded with a low frown. "That's right. The school had to borrow a large amount of money because of a bad sandstorm several years ago. Those aren't new in Abydos, but this one was devastating to the whole district. The school had to raise a lot of money for disaster relief, but there wasn't any bank who'd give out such a large loan..."

"Oh, I can already see how that went. Since they couldn't get it from any banks they had to turn to some bad people for money where things just got out of control and even worse when it couldn't be paid back, especially with the sandstorms not letting up. Between that a lot of people just jumped ship, sound about right?" Ragna spoke up. He already knew all this and it wouldn't be hard to guess the rest from what had already been said if he had to justify it, no need to spend a bunch of time going over this a second time once he got the essentials down.

"You're pretty quick on the details, sensei. That's exactly what happened." Hoshino said, leaning back in her chair slightly with the slightest squint of her eyes.

Oh, he was definitely going to have a talk with Hoshino later tonight over this suspicion. Thankfully, it wouldn't be hard to find some time alone with the girl given her nightly routine.

"It doesn't take a genius to guess that after a stroll through the district and what you told me." Ragna said with a defensive edge before his words relaxed to something more sympathetic. "You've all done a hell of a job holding the place together by yourselves as long as you have though, especially when so many other people already gave up. I can tell how much the school means to you."

"We don't need your pity." Serika chided, glaring at him.

Ragna rolled his eyes. "Can you just take a damn compliment already? That's just the fact of the situation. Takes a lot to keep going when it feels like the whole world is against you, I've been there. That's the kind of stubbornness I like. Definitely not going to be an easy issue to solve though."

"We all keep doing our best~." Nonomi said with an optimistic smile. "We haven't had somebody ever take the time to hear us out like this before though."

"I'd say you don't have to trouble yourself, but I bet we're not going to get rid of you that easily." Hoshino said with a casual, almost playful tone and wave of her hand.

"You got that right." Ragna answered immediately. Even with his memories not fully complete, he knew there was… A lot on the horizon that could put the girls in serious trouble without help. "Guess we should start with step one and why I'm here, that being the Helmet Gang."

As if on cue, Ragna suddenly sense a group of people rapidly approaching the school. Barely a moment later the sound of gunfire accompanied it. Son of a bitch, that was today?

"They're all out of supplies! Let's go in and take the school!"

"Ah, hell. Guess they saved us some time going to them." Ragna growled, rushing over to the nearby window and confirming his exact suspicions. The group was medium sized, smaller than one might expect for such an assault. But when one side was confident the other had few resources to fight back, you didn't exactly need a large force.

"It's the Kata Kata Helmet Gang!" Ayane declared with a tense frown.

"It's a good thing sensei brought us supplies. Now we'll have plenty of ammo to deal with them." Shiroko said aggressively, reloading her rifle with malicious intent. Barely a second later, the girl placed a foot on the table near the window and prepared to vault right over it.

"Hold it." Before Shiroko could reach for the window, Ragna yanked on the girl's blazer and dragged her back with such force she almost fell over with a startled sound and only avoided it from Ragna dangling the girl a whole head shorter in the air long enough to get her footing. "Don't rush off without thinking, dammit. Listen up because we don't have long."

"Huh? You have a plan, sensei?" Nonomi asked curiously, gripping her large minigun.

"Shiroko, Serika, go around the right side of the school. Hoshino, take the left over near where the pool is so you'll be able to get close and behind them in case anyone tries running and avoid any crossfire. Nonomi, go down to the entrance and cover the front angle, but don't show yourself till everyone's ready. Ayane, use your drone to watch for when everyone's in position so you can signal everyone to get shooting. Think you can get there in about 30 seconds?" Ragna lectured quickly, moving into the same position Shiroko had been a moment ago.

Shiroko gave an affirmative thumbs up, already stepping back toward the room door.

"Eh, wait sensei, w-what are you planning to do then?" Ayane asked, eyeing the window Ragna was close to suspiciously.

"Stall while everyone gets in position. Now, everyone get your asses moving already!"

"We di-"

Before Serika could begin properly complaining, Ragna threw the window open, grabbed Aramasa, and jumped right through the opening while just barely fitting his body and sword through without breaking it.

With a thud, Ragna landed in front of the helmeted group, sword draw but kept in a relaxed grip at his side. It was a group of about a dozen, all but one dressed in black and grey school uniforms with similarly colored full head helmets that had a dull crimson visor. The one standout, the apparent leader, was dressed in the same general style but her uniform was red with yellow highlights. Their headwear was also distinct and comprised of three pieces between the helmet, protective goggles, and gas mask. But every single one of them held a rifle in their hands, trained on Ragna.

"Hey, who the hell's this guy? They're not with Abydos! You better get out of our way if you know what's good for you!" The leader said, gesturing with her rifle aggressively.

"Uh, boss?" One of the people behind her spoke up, a hint of concern in her voice. "Isn't that the new adult all over the internet?"

"Huh? You mean that new guy with SCHALE?" The leader briefly turned her head back to her subordinate and then over to Ragna.

"Great, guess I don't need to waste my breath telling you who I am then." Ragna said with an aggressive huff. Yeah, he just had to keep them talking a little bit longer and see if he could get one thing before everyone started shooting...

"Aw, great. Lemme guess, those Abydos girls couldn't defend themselves anymore so they went crying and begging for the big adult to save their sorry asses?" The girl said with a mocking snicker. "I'm feeling nice since we're about to get a big job done here. We don't have any issue with you, so beat it before I change my mind and you don't have to get shot."

"Are you stupid? Threats only work if you can back them up. So, how about a better idea?" Ragna taunted, swinging his sword once for emphasis. "You tell me who hired a bunch of flunkies like you to keep harassing this school and you'll get to leave without getting your ass kicked while I go deal with them instead."

"The hell you think you are giving orders like you're not outnumbered 10 to 1 and we'll tell you anything!? You've got no idea who you're dealing with!" The leader bristled, tightening the grip on her gun. But there was something else, a subtle shift in her body language that had lasted barely an instant and, if not for Ragna's combat honed senses, would've been overlooked by an untrained eye as just indignation. She'd flinched back in surprise upon being called out as a lackey.

And for good reason. Ragna already remembered exactly who the son of a bitch behind them was and just needed an easier time getting everyone else on board. But he was out of time to probe for more. Ragna could sense, and even see in Hoshino's case as she crept up around the back of the group, the girls were about in position. Any second now...

"Little problem with your math, I'm not fighting you myself. I brought everyone ammo." Ragna declared with a proud smirk.

"What?"

"Everyone's in position, open fire!" Ayane's voice ordered.

Ragna rocketed to the left side of the field and out of Nonomi's way just before all hell broke loose.

Bullets rained down on the enemy group all at once from near every direction and sent the Kata-Kata Helmet Gang into a disorganized, panicking mob. Nonomi's minigun blanketed the front with fire and sent everyone scrambling for cover, only for their defenseless flank to be pelted by Serika and Shiroko's rifles. A few tried to find safety retreating further back toward the main gate to avoid the flanking fire or hiding in the few bits of cover that blocked both, yet all they got was Hoshino shotgun inflicting further damage and one unlucky girl knocked unconscious from the third year using her riot shield as a blunt weapon.

There was barely even time for the gang to counterattack. The little fire they could return was erratic and wildly off target between either scrambling to avoid being shot themselves while firing or getting shot and having their own aim thrown off. It was going so well, Ragna doubted the need to even step in boring as it was. If anything, doing so might've made the Foreclosure Task Force start shooting less to avoid hitting him under a misguided sense of concern till he set the record straight. Not that it'd be impossible for him to take a few rounds in his current state.

"Forget this! This was supposed to be easy, let's get out of here!" The leader in red screamed as the disorganized attackers started rushing toward the main gate, one hauling the unconscious body left by Hoshino. "You'll really get it next time!"

"That's right, you better stay away from our school!" Serika shouted aggressively, but with a hint of a proud grin on her face at the victory.

"We won! Good job, everyone. That sure was easy. ☆" Nonomi's cheerful voice praised as she bounced over toward the center of the field everyone was gathering toward.

"I can't believe we won that fast." Hoshino commented with a satisfied smile.

"I'll say. I didn't even need to do anything but be a distraction." Holstering his sword with a sigh, Ragna added. Though, it wasn't all bad as the easy win had clearly lifted everyone's spirits, not a likely outcome had he done it himself. He definitely understood and appreciated when it was better to do something yourself, Jubei had given him plenty of things to do on his own that'd been good for his training. However, Ragna could also appreciate when it was an instructor's job to step in. That was, after all, why they were a teacher to a student. Maybe that was something he'd have to take a bit more seriously with this job...

"Nn, that was still important, sensei. It's the reason we were able to catch them by surprise at every angle." Shiroko replied with a twitch of her ears. "The Kata-Kata Helmet Gang would've started shooting the second they saw any of us."

"Shiroko-senpai's right!" Running toward the group from the school building, Ayane called out. "I know you're about as durable as we are, but that was still taking a risk."

"Eh, don't sweat it. That wasn't a big group." Ragna said with a dismissive gesture.

"As long as we had supplies, we could've done it ourselves, but I guess it did go a little faster with your help." Like she was being forced, Serika admitted.

"Huh, so you can be nice." Ragna added sarcastically.

"Arg, I take back anything good I was just thinking!" Serika stamped her foot with a glare directed toward the man. A glare which had not the slightest effect.

"Uhe~, you're so stubborn, Serika-chan." Affectionately clinging to her and making the cat girl start trying to push her off, Hoshino said.

"Well, it's nice to be free of the Helmet Gang for now. It pays to have adults in high places! ☆" With a radiant smile, Nonomi said.

Shiroko shook her head, expression turning a hint sour. "I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they come back."

"Shiroko's right." Ragna said, turning his head toward the general direction the Helmet Gang had fled. "Since that was a piece of cake, hope you're all ready for more fighting."

"Eh? What are you talking about?" Ayane tilted her head curiously.

Hoshino finally gave Serika back her personal space and focused her gaze on Ragna, looking at him knowingly. "Mhm, I think I know what Ragna-sensei's plan is. I had the idea too. You want to go deal with the Helmet Gang directly and target their territory, right?"

"Pretty much." Ragna answered with a nod. "Kicking their ass like this has definitely hurt their pride. And people like that don't take that lying down. They'll be back pretty soon with way more numbers and if we get rid of at least the closest base, should give some more breathing room. Something I gotta confirm too."

"You're talking about who you think hired them, right? What makes you think somebody did that?" Hoshino's voice dropped slightly.

"Call if a feeling. Ayane said the attacks had been getting extra aggressive lately and I figure there's a reason a small gang would be so determined to take this place. I saw the leader react a bit when I called her on that too." Ragna answered, hoping it'd be enough of a reason. Ordinarily, somebody might've had to be extremely paranoid to suspect a conspiracy this soon, but well, Ragna was used to those and knew damn well it was the case here.

"You think someone's behind the Helmet Gang's attacks?" Frowning, Shiroko spoke up with an uncertain look.

"There's not much to go on to assume that right now." Ayane added uncertainly, hand to her chin. "I can see why the Helmet Gang would want a place like this, it's big and they could easily use it for a hideout, but who else would want the school in this state?"

"That's what we're going to find out." Ragna stated confidently. "You've all dealt with these girls enough to have an idea where they are, right?"

Shiroko nodded, pointing toward the more civilized area of Abydos. "They have a hideout about 30km from here."

"Perfect, this should be easy then. Who's up for a little trip?"

---

For Shiroko, the new teacher was an interesting character and she'd had a brief chance to get to know them on the walk there. The extreme forwardness of the man might've normally been a little awkward for her, yet sometimes it came out in a way like he was already a friend and perhaps that way part of what made it not hard to be at ease around them. However, she could tell some of her other classmates weren't as relaxed. From what little she knew so far he seemed like somebody she would like though. They'd clearly gone through a lot of research to prepare for helping the school and was ready to put himself at great risk for everyone, with the capability to match.

But after a short time everyone had reached their destination and it was time for battle again. The plan Ragna had come up with was simple. Hoshino and Nonomi would go through the front, while her and Serika would wait with Ragna around the side for a surprise flank while he dealt with the second floor and Ayane's drone would keep a lookout for anyone escaping. The man seemingly thought of everything since he even brought along that giant bag he'd come to Abydos with, which'd be perfect for carrying back any goods Abydos could recover from the base.

Okay, sure, he hadn't said that and it was all Shiroko's assumptions, but what else was he going to use a huge bag big enough for Hoshino to sleep in? Surely the hideout would have plenty worth stuffing in it.


"There's the gunfire." Ragna commented, pulling his fist back. "You two are up!"

Shiroko expected Ragna to punch the wall and make a hole, as that'd been the plan.

Instead, the second his fist collided with the structure almost the whole building side exploded into a shower of dust and debris like a tank round had hit it, the rumble vibrating through Shiroko's body.

"What the-They're supposed to be broke, where the hell did they get breaching charges like that!?"

"We're being flak-" The voice was cut off by a loud WHACK as debris slammed into her helmeted face and threw her to the floor.

Oh, perfect. Making such a huge 'hole' meant her and Serika had plenty of room to jump in and avoid fire instead of being easy targets from a small entrance. That made sense.

Not wasting a second, and paying no mind to Serika flustered screaming about 'collateral damage', Shiroko rushed in, kneeing the closest Helmet Gangster and following up with a strike from her rifle's stock, throwing them back and opening up a pillar to hide behind for cover. Which Shiroko took and promptly sprayed a burst at the other girl's helmet to send them running out the hole Ragna just made in retreat.

Shiroko poked her head out from behind the pillar to give herself a split second to appraise the situation, now that the dust cleared. Plainly furnished, not too much cover, with a backdoor over by some of the enemies, which Hoshino was approaching, and a flight of stairs. Likely from the earlier assault, the first floor was lightly defended by about the same number who had attacked their school building. Ragna had explicitly ordered everyone to not let the Helmet Gang all get away, they needed a few people to interrogate. But thinning out a couple of them wouldn't hurt.

Shiroko took aim at two girls scrambling for something to protect them from the multiple firing angles, nailing the first in the head and causing her to trip onto her face, while the other only took rounds in her arm and dove behind furniture.

Barely spotting a bullet mid flight speeding toward her, Shiroko ducked behind her cover as it clipped her hair. Only one person had been shooting at her, the rest were busy focusing on her friends. She could work with that to get closer.

Moving quickly as bullets whizzed all around her, Shiroko rolled out from the pillar and toward a table, shoving it down with a hand to create a barrier to hide behind. Keeping low, the wolf girl peeked out the side of the table and had the perfect view of the escape door, the one girl near it Shiroko was after. A few more rounds went right up her chest toward their helmet, with the visor shattering.

Just as Shiroko had hoped, her target immediately sprinted for the door and exited the fight, leaving only a few girls left. "You're lucky there's only a few of us!"

"This place isn't worth it! Retreat!"

"Who cares about this building, they broke it anyway!"

Good, their spirits were already breaking. But Shiroko wasn't going to let them get away that easily!

Before she could act on her mental threat, half the ceiling suddenly blew apart, raining rubble almost directly on top of the huddled up gang.

"What the he- ack!" Before one girl could finish her sentence, another body was unceremoniously thrown on top of her from the next floor.

"I think that's our cue to stop~." Nonomi said as the sound of bullets flying rapidly faded, everyone still keeping their guns trained on the half buried Helmet Gang.

Ragna jumped down the hole a second later, sword in hand. "Alright, I'll ask nicely once. Who's in charge here? I got an important question for them, soon as it's answered you can all go without any trouble."

"Um… Th… The person you threw down here." One of the gangsters in black spoke nervously, pointing toward the groaning body on the floor.

Ragna sighed deeply, his shoulders slightly slumping. "… Shit, of course they are."

"Sensei sure doesn't know how to be gentle with a girl." Hoshino said with a mild, teasing chuckle and lowering her shotgun slightly but still keeping it at the ready.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that coming from the girl calling herself a tired old man." Without so much as a look in her direction, Ragna holstered his sword and reached down toward the half conscious leader, shaking her shoulder firmly but with a surprising restraint, almost gentle even. "Hey, I know you're fine. You girls can shrug off worse than that."

After a few shakes, the girl seemed to regain some coherency. "Hu-What? What the, get your hands off me!" She spun herself around into a sitting position and away from Ragna's hand.

"I'm going to make this simple, answer my question and you're all free to go." Paying no heed to the reaction, Ragna stated firmly. "Who put you up to attacking the Abydos High School?"

"Why do you think I'd tell you anything?"

Ragna's face went flat, briefly looking around the room. "Are you kidding me? Did I hit you so hard you forgot the last few minutes?"

"Yeah, and what're you gonna do if I don't say anything? I'll get in way more trouble if I say anything." Defiantly, the girl stated. If her eyes could've been seen behind her helmet, Shiroko was certain they'd be glaring.

"So, that's how you wanna play it huh? Fine, we can do that." Ragna looked over his shoulder at Shiroko. "Hey, Shiroko. Go get me the bag I left outside."

"Nn, on it." Shiroko replied with an affirming nod and left through the collapse wall. A short distance from it laid the giant black bag Ragna had used to bring Abydos its supplies. But why did he need it now? Wouldn't it make more sense to wait till after the enemies were all gone to check for valuables?

But before heading back inside, Shiroko waved upward at Ayane's drone to signal the battle was over and to join the rest of the group. This was going to be important information she needed to hear.

Quickly jogging back over to Ragna, with Ayane's drone in tow and providing a holographic projection of the girl, Shiroko handed the man the bag. "Here you go, sensei. But what do you need it for now?"

"Thanks," Ragna said, taking the bag and not answering as he turned back toward the nervous group. "Tell me what you know or I'll shove you inside this bag, walk back through the entire Abydos desert with it to Valkyrie, and hand you over to them myself."

Every single one of the remaining gang members instantly straightened up, with the one Ragna threatened half standing up and backing away. "W-What the hell kind of teacher are you!? Walk through the desert, are you out of your mind!?"

Wow, her teacher was scary. But that sure turned her attitude around, Shiroko would have to remember that. She would've suggested just tying them up and putting a few harmless rounds into the girls. "Sensei, I can go get some more bags to carry the rest of them too."

Several hysteric screams erupted from the captive crowd.

"You're demons!"

"We might've attacked your school, but we still deserve basic rights!"

"Hey, you've been attacking us ruthlessly!" Serika barked with a glare. "You don't get to act like you're the victims now!"

"W-We don't need to go that far, Shiroko-senpai." Ayane said with an exasperated, nervous chuckle.

"… How far's the closest store?" Ragna asked, not breaking eye contact with his target.

"Sensei really doesn't pull any punches~." Some of her usual playfulness muted, Nonomi said with a soft giggle.

"O-Okay, okay!" The girl waved her hands defensively, voice pleading. "But I really don't know much!"

Ragna started unzipping the bag.

"I'mbeinghonest!" Her voice rose in pitch and speed. "I don't think anyone knows anything! We just got told to take the school no matter what and got given some weapons and money to make it happen. Somebody really wants that old place."

"You really expect me to believe that's all you know? You better tell me somebody who knows what's going on." Leaning closer aggressively, Ragna said.

The girl shook her head rapidly. "I told you, I don't think anyone knows who it is! It's always been some secretive stuff giving orders indirectly and they've always come to us, never even in person! I don't think we could call them if we even wanted. You don't ask questions with these kinda jobs."

"So somebody did hire you thugs to harass us!" Serika growled, motioning with her rifle toward the group.

"That's barely anything new to go on, dammit…" Ragna muttered to himself. "Smart son of a bitch."

"That's all I know, I swear."

Ragna pulled back from his aggressive stance, remaining silent for a few seconds with a sour expression and hand on his hip. "Fine, get out of here."

"What!?" Serika turned her attention over to Ragna, mouth open in disbelief. "We're going to let them go with that little!?"

"We can't get anything more if that's all they know, Serika-chan." Hoshino spoke up calmly. "Whoever we're dealing with, they're clever not telling whoever they hired much."

"It's not all bad. Since we've at least got a lead we can follow it now~." With an optimistic, reassuring smile, Nonomi added.

"We'll have to spend some time thinking about this. Even this confirmation is a lot…" Ayane muttered lowly with a pensive frown.

"Arg, I guess that's true… Explains a lot about why we've been getting attacked so much." With a reluctant sigh, Serika's body eased up and her gun lowered.

"Guess that settles it." Ragna stepped aside, gesturing to the rest of Abydos to likewise clear a path. "We're done, get out of here."

Wasting no time at all, the Helmet Gang members practically tripped over themselves scrambling out of the half destroyed hideout.

"Nn, sensei are you sure it's a good idea to just let them go instead of handing them over to Valkyrie?" Shiroko asked, watching the retreating group.

"Deal's a deal, Shiroko. If they didn't have anything to gain then no reason to tell us even what we got. Sometimes, shit happens, but you should always try to keep your promises if you can. Nobody'll have any reason to trust anything you say or do otherwise." Ragna lectured, putting a hand on her shoulder. "They're not much of a threat and we still got some info anyway."

Shiroko's wolf ears twitch curiously. Nn, that was sort of like what Hoshino had taught her. Keeping your principles was important, because if you broke them out of convenience you might lose them when it really mattered. Casual or not, promises were important as well.

"Well…" Ayane brought Shiroko out of her thoughts with tense words. "Normally, I'd say we could relax a bit since taking out the Helmet Gang's nearest base would make them likely back off from our school at least somewhat. But if there's somebody specifically targeting the school, I don't think they're going to give up that easily."

"Haaah…" Hoshino let out an exaggerated yawn, resting her chin on the top of her riot shield like it were a pillow. "Oji-san was hoping for a chance to nap after we dealt with these gangsters, but the work sure never ends. We've been at this all day."

"Hoshino-senpai, it's not even that late!" Serika reprimanded.

"No, I think Hoshino's got a point." Ragna shook his head. "By the time we go through this place and get back to the school it'll be late afternoon. I know I sprung this visit on you girls pretty suddenly and probably threw out any plans for today. Does anyone even have an idea who could be behind this?"

Ayane frowned. "Not off the top of my head…"

"See? Why not give everyone a bit of time to think and we'll talk about it tomorrow, take a short break. I'm gonna need a little time to go find a place to stay while it's light out anyway." Scratching his head, Ragna stated.

"I think that's a good idea." With a cheerful smile, Nonomi clapped her hands together. "Even if it's not a big victory, we should celebrate the ones we get!"

"Sensei, I still don't think your idea of shelter is a good one or safe…" Ayane said with a sigh and awkward smile.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather stay at the school? We've got plenty of empty rooms." Shiroko suggested hopefully.

Hoshino let out a light snicker. "Sheesh, you're really warming up to him fast and like you've got a school girl crush, Shiroko-chan."

"Nn, I'd just feel bad having them stay out in the wilderness after they helped us so much…" Suddenly feel sheepish, Shiroko answered as her face felt warm. She didn't really know what to make of adults with her limited experience, but Ragna was nice enough and felt on a similar wavelength at times. So it was perfectly normal to want to repay him back for the help when he cared enough to learn so much about Abydos before even coming. And there was nothing else at all to it. At all.

"Absolutely not!" Serika screeched, pointing an angry finger at Ragna. "They're supposed to be an adult, just get a hotel if you want to stay here! There's at least one still open!"

"Do you know how much money all those supplies cost?" Ragna pointed right back with a dry, unamused look and sarcastic words. "Hell no am I spending even more today on things I don't need. The desert's got plenty of rooms for free."

"Aw, don't be like that. ☆" Nonomi said, pulling on Ragna's arm to bring his head down and leaning closer toward his ear. It was just barely audible, but Shiroko could hear her whisper something, though the words escaped her understanding.

"No, that's not happening either." Ragna abruptly pulled away from Nonomi, leaving the girl looking a hint flustered at the very vocal address of whatever she must've whispered. "I wanna spend a little time learning the district and I'm used to camping outdoors anyway."

"You already seem to know it pretty well." Hoshino said with a touch of playful teasing, finally folding her shield back into it's briefcase sized form factor. "I think Ragna-sensei's the kind of person who's not easy to convince when their mind's made up, so why not let him do what he wants?"

"Real fancy way of calling me stubborn."

"You said it, not me~."

"Ugh, never mind." Setting down the bag he'd been holding, Ragna said dismissively. "Let's look around for anything worth taking back here. With the building in this state, doubt the Helmet Gang's coming back here and there's gotta be something useful here."

"I know just where to start looking." Great enthusiasm suddenly in her voice, Shiroko spoke up as she started walking toward some cabinets in the room. This what was what she'd been waiting for, they could fit plenty of supplies in that huge bag. Some ammo, tools, anything valuable worth a good amount of money not nailed down…

All the essential things in life.

---

Looting the remains of the Helmet Gang's lair had been surprisingly productive in the supplies they found, and Shiroko had been certain to leave no stone left unturned because one could never know what valuables were hidden away in the most random places.

Far as Shiroko could tell, Hoshino hadn't been enthusiastic about it, unsurprising with how she usually disapproved of one of Shiroko's particular hobbies, but didn't speak much on it. After all, Ragna had been right and Abydos could certainly use whatever supplies it could get. However, it hadn't taken long with so many people there, and in no time the Foreclosure Task Force had departed ways with their teacher, after exchanging contact information, and left everyone some time to talk among themselves while traveling through the sand covered streets of Abydos.

"Sensei's sure an interesting adult, isn't he?" Nonomi was the first to speak up on the man as everyone made the trip back home.

"I like him." Shiroko replied with a smile. "If somebody's after the school, they'll be a lot of help dealing with it between their experience and how strong they are."

"I'm not surprised Shiroko-senpai gets along with them so well already." With a resigned look, Ayane added, still a projection from her drone. "But it's nice to have a capable adult around who answered our request so quickly. I'm not sure what would've happened if they hadn't arrived when they did."

Serika, however, looked less convinced, scowl on her face. "I know we asked for his help and sensei did do a lot, but that doesn't mean we suddenly have to let him in on everything! Who does he think he is, suddenly showing up like they'll easily solve everything and acting like we're already friends?"

"I don't think they meant it like that, Serika-chan." Speaking more diplomatic and softly than usual, Nonomi said, hand on the bristling girl's shoulder. "It's a little surprising how much they knew about Abydos, but we could really use the help."

"I know that!" Serika huffed, before her voice calmed down slightly to something more bitter than angry. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Well, they already knew a lot anyway, so he knew what he signed up for." Hoshino said with a tired yawn. "Sensei sure did his 'research' before coming here. Their intuition about the Helmet Gang even turned out right too."

Shiroko's ears flattened pensively. She may not have been the most socially aware with her history, there was a lot she had learned in the past 2 years and still had to, but she knew her friends well, Hoshino and Nonomi especially. And Shiroko couldn't help the feeling her classmates, besides maybe Ayane, were a little… Wary even? About Ragna, Hoshino in particular. Sure, they barely knew Ragna right now and it was surprising how much he knew, but hadn't he already proven his determination to help between taking the time to learn all that and the fighting?

"Nn, I think they're just being prepared." Shiroko finally spoke up. "Now that we've found out, somebody targeting the school explains a lot about why the Helmet Gang's been constantly attacking every few days. They've never been so persistent for anywhere else."

"Ah, the naivety of youth." Hunching over in a lazy posture, Hoshino answered teasingly.

"We still don't have a clue who could be behind these attacks though. I'm worried they might escalate now that we know." Ayane frowned.

"I wouldn't stress out about it too much today, Ayane-chan. Even if they follow the same pattern, I bet we'll have at least a few days to relax." Hoshino said with a reassuring smile. "Like Nonomi-chan said, we should celebrate whatever victories we get~."

Shiroko wasn't going to fight that. Everyone had either been cleaning the school, in a meeting, or fighting all day. The girl had been planning to do a little bit of cycling for fun today, but those plans had been thrown out with the sudden visit. A chance to relax a little was certainly welcomed. But still… There were some nerves that Shiroko couldn't fully put at ease. Everyone was going to have a lot to talk about tomorrow over the new discoveries and there was still that sense of unease about Ragna she got from some of her classmates.

Well, no matter. Those would be things to talk about another day. Her time at Abydos was certainly going to get even more eventful soon.

---

Spoiler: AUTHOR'S NOTES

And back with another very long chapter and it still didn't take me a whole month to do!

Just in time for the third episode of the anime to start airing! Since that's going through the Abydos arc right now while I'm just about to start it, wanna preface by saying that generally, I'll be referencing more the game's sequence of events. Though I might still pull from the anime a bit if there's not any majorly conflicting bits if this story happens to run into any overlapping events and I like what I see, but the game will generally have priority. The anime sure lets you see just how absurdly buried by the desert Abydos is, doesn't it? Cool to see more of the world outside just background stills.

 

[Omniwhatever]

Volume 1 Chapter 1: Midnight Meeting (VI)
​

Day had long since passed, leaving the cloudless night sky full of shining stars above the desert of Abydos. Despite the state of the district, there was still a good amount of life left to the once prosperous school, with a handful of people walking the streets or shops open even into the late evening. Some people even enjoyed the night, as while Abydos wasn't exactly an unpopulated area, the lower population density and abandoned sectors meant the light pollution of the sky was minimal compared to most of Kivotos, letting one see a starry night that not many other districts could enjoy without the need to go far from home and civilization.

But Hoshino's evening stroll wasn't for looking at the stars.

Everyone at Abydos worked long, hard days to ensure the continued survival of their school, but for Hoshino she had her own secret, unpaid side job she did nightly. Once the sun went down and she was certain the rest of her friends were gone and asleep, Hoshino loaded up her gear to patrol the wild streets of Abydos to ensure the safety of it's citizens. The shadow of night always made criminals more bold than the day and somebody had to be around to make the handful of remaining citizens still feel safe. The hours may've been long and one reason she tried to sneak in whatever naps she could during the day, but Abydos deserved whatever fighting chance it could get.

That didn't mean it wasn't tiring.

"Haaah…" Hoshino yawned to herself as she watched another group of helmeted troublemakers she'd got done beating up fleeing far from the current pocket of civilization she patrolled. "Guess none of them know anything..."

It was a good thing that Ragna had called for a break for the day to discuss their new findings tomorrow instead of today. It was… Certainly troubling and Hoshino had given it some though already, but, well, the old folk like her still needed their sleep between working almost all day and night. She'd been at this patrol for a while nonstop and still had a ways to go. But she usually took an occasional brief break to have a snack and sit for even a few minutes just to give her legs a breather from all the walking. Was now a good time for one? She'd chased off any problem children in this spot and tonight had been weirdly quiet compared to her usual patrols, was it because of the base Abydos wrecked earlier? It was unfortunate, honestly. Hoshino had been hoping to perhaps find some more crumbs of evidence about the Helmet Gang's mysterious backer, but all her searching came up empty.

"Bit late for a stroll on a school night, isn't it?"

Hoshino nearly jumped at the sudden, recognizable deep voice that came from behind her. With a turn and not remotely able to hide the surprised expression on her face, Hoshino saw Ragna walking toward her from slightly down the street. "H-Huh? Sensei? What're you doing out this late?"

"Same thing you are." Ragna said, putting his hand on his sword's pommel. "Looking around the district a bit and dealing with anyone causing problems."

"Aw, me? I was, uh, just taking a walk." Hoshino lied with such an unconvincing voice she immediately regretted it. No, that was stupid, no way he was going to buy that. He had to of seen the girls running if he was this close when he called to her.

Ragna's slanted eyes would've said everything, even without sarcastic words. "Uh-huh, so blasting that girl in the face was just your way of saying hi then?"

Yep. Caught red handed.

Hoshino let out a long sigh, cheeks flushing with heat. How'd she get caught like this? Years of doing this where not one other student stumbled on her and yet she gets found out by the adult instantly.

… Or was this yet another thing the mysterious man just 'happened' to know?

"Uhe~, guess I'm busted then. Being found out like this on your first day here… This is so embarrassing." Trying to act casual, best to keep things light for now, Hoshino said while averting eye contact and scratching her cheek nervously. "Can you, um, just pretend you didn't see anything?"

"Heh, don't worry. I won't tell anyone else at Abydos what I saw." Ragna said with a reassuring, almost teasing grin. "On one condition. I'm coming with you for the rest of your patrol."

"Huh?" Hoshino stiffened, looking directly into Ragna's eye. That was even worse! What kind of a ransom was that!? "Sensei, that's not pretending nothing happened!"

"What can I say, people like to call me stubborn." Ragna said with a hint of mockery in his voice, the grin quickly turning smug.

"Arg, did you come here just to tease me!?" Hoshino slumped forward in defeat, looking down to hide her red face.

"Nah, that's just a bonus." No shame in his voice, Ragna answered.

Hoshino was half ready to bury her face in her hands. Ragna wasn't just a potential menace to safety but to her heart too! How was she going to get out of this one? Say it's too dangerous? Nope, couldn't do that when the guy had more strength in one arm than most people had in their whole body. Fake cutting her patrol short? No, then it'd be even worse if she ran into him again.

"I wanted to talk to you about a few things, actually." The man added.

Hoshino froze, looking back up in confusion as some of her embarrassment faded. "Uhe? Me? What did you want to talk with oji-san about?"

"Thiiiiiiiis might take a bit, how about we have a seat and take a break?" Ragna said, gesturing to a nearby bench.

Hoshino closed her eyes in thought, feeling a sudden sense of growing unease in her chest. When somebody said that, it was often a more serious matter, and if Ragna wanted to single her out then it couldn't have been anything to do with today's revelation or the rest of the school. It had to of been about her. Yet, with only knowing him for not even a full day there should've been nothing to talk about. Well, except perhaps one thing...

Maybe she had been a little too overtly suspicious. It was hard not to with the danger Ragna could've posed though.

"I guess it's a good time to relax for a few minutes~." Putting on a mask of friendliness, Hoshino said as she strolled over to the bench. "These old bones could use a rest anyway."

Ragna soon followed her, taking a seat on Hoshino's right after removing his sword and leaning it against the bench. The red coated man crossed his leg and leaned back against the bench in a casual manner. But his words were anything but. "I'll get right to the point, so don't try waving this off with some excuse. I know you don't trust me."

Hoshino's body went tense, face falling to a frown. So that was it, huh? She almost considered trying to play it off, but something told her that wouldn't work with how forceful Ragna was. So, it led to Hoshino's words coming out resigned, yet with a hint of her usual light hearted tone. "Sensei sure is blunt as a hammer."

On the one hand, part of Hoshino had tried to keep her suspicions a bit secret, but the other part of her meant it as a subtle warning. Ragna wasn't some hapless person who could barely defend himself or make it to her school. If that were the case, then even if he was an adult Hoshino would've still carefully watched him for inevitably being a bad influence on her younger classmates she had to protect, but she wouldn't have been too worried beyond that. But that was not the case. The man could launch a tank down the street and was probably tougher than most of Kivotos if it matched his strength.

If Ragna wanted to be, he wasn't just a potential bad influence. He was a threat, one she could deal with if it truly came to that but the other girls didn't have the strength she had and Hoshino had to protect them. If Ragna was so determined to stay in the district, Hoshino felt better knowing she could keep an eye on him and try to figure out what his game was around Abydos rather than off on his own all the time.

It was hard not to be a little skeptical with how little she knew about the man besides the fact he was aware of information that was impossible with his story. The Foreclosure Taskforce wasn't even an official replacement for the Abydos Student Council, there's no way it would've been recognized by anything adjacent to the General Student Council on a student registry and the man didn't merely suspect a conspiracy, he knew. Few people would have the confidence he had without being utterly certain of their decision, and there was no way he had enough to jump to that conclusion from the one meeting everyone had. There were only a few ways somebody would know that and his intuition felt too good to merely be based on guessing clues…

And yet, if that truly were the case, some of his actions just didn't make sense to Hoshino. He'd quickly gone trying to gather evidence for said conspiracy, he'd immediately answered Ayane's call for aid, and he was ready to stay in their district to help however he could to find more evidence and must've been part of the reason tonight was so quiet if he patrolled the streets. Plus, well, while like hell she trusted the GSC much being put in the position he was had to mean something. If this was some kind of long con, why bother exposing details to complicate things when Ragna's strength could've made taking the school easier? It was so… confusing.

It didn't mean she had to trust him, however.

"Yeah, well, I always prefer the direct approach." Ragna said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "And if we're going to be working together figuring out who's behind all this, then it's better if we can at least try to get along without constantly thinking I'm the bad guy."

"Mhm, that's really easy to say." Hoshino said, narrowing her eyes slightly and letting some of her friendliness drop. If Ragna was going to get right to the point like this and already knew her suspicions, then there wasn't any point in trying to fake being casual.

"Yeah, it is." Ragna casually with with a wave of his hand. "And I know this isn't just about you either, you're worried about everyone else too so I get being extra cautious. Because you're the only third year in the school it's pretty natural to feel like you have to look out for the others and be responsible for keeping them safe. That's why you're taking on these night patrols all by yourself to keep the district safe and lighten their load a bit, right?"

"Uhehe, when you put it like that it sounds kind of embarrassing…" Hoshino trailed off, looking down at the ground and focusing on nothing in particular. That was almost exactly it. She was the oldest at Abydos, a year ahead of everyone else. It was her duty to look after her underclassmen and try to set a good example for them, yet also still be an approachable person who looked after others. Just like what Hoshino herself had gotten as a first year…

"You can't read minds too, can you sensei?" Half serious, Hoshino turned her focus back toward the man. He really had an almost supernatural knack for discerning a bunch of information off of so little.

Ragna scoffed. "Hah, no, I can't. I've just kind of been in a similar situation. Not exactly the same, but I have two younger siblings. We all had a... Pretty rough childhood, and as the oldest I always felt like it was my responsibility to look after them, to do whatever I could to protect my siblings from anything or anyone that could hurt them. Even after we all grew up and got separated, part of me never stopped worrying."

Oh. For once, that explained the other's freakishly good intuition on this topic. "Then, sensei, you understand why little old me's not ready to just blindy trust an adult like you when you show up conveniently knowing everything."

"Yeah, I do. Hell, I was something like that when I was a kid too. Took a bit for somebody to get me to ease up." Ragna replied with an unusually light hearted, nostalgic even, grin.

Hoshino blinked. She hadn't been expecting that. Was that why he was so… Persistent in trying to be friends? "What do you mean?"

"When my siblings and I got moved to a church, there was a nun looking after it. I remember when we first got there, Jin and S- Er…" Ragna stopped for a second, scratching his head with a light scowl, like he was trying to sort out some inner conflict. "Noel, had fallen asleep on the way there. The Sister just wanted to give them a proper bed to sleep in instead of the floor, but I still got in her way at first and didn't want to let her even touch them. Because damn near everyone I'd known up to that point outside my family always had bad intentions for us and I didn't trust anyone. But there wasn't a mean bone in her body and she ended up being one of the kindest people I ever knew, she never had anything bad in mind. Never thought I'd be on the other end of that situation though…" The man muttered the last sentence to himself more than Hoshino.

Hoshino stayed quiet, listening closely yet somewhat lost in her own thoughts. It wasn't exactly the same, but the overall experience and sentiment was… Very familiar to her, so much so it was even making her feel a bit unnerved despite the fact it explained a bit about Ragna. "It's hard to live like that, sensei..."

Ragna's face turned toward Hoshino, an understanding look on it. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you know what that's like too."

Hoshino looked away from Ragna, staying quiet to instead gaze out into the sparsely populated streets of Abydos. Ragna was telling her a lot of personal information out of the blue like that, granted she had still prompted a bit of it. It answered some of her questions and yet left plenty still hanging. Was he expecting her to start opening up too or something? She could empathize, she'd gone through a period in her first year that wasn't so different, but it didn't mean she had to start revealing all her secrets too. But if his story was true, then he would've understood the story behind her perspective better than many could. It'd been so long since she'd talked to anybody about it… But she still just… Couldn't do that, not to somebody she barely knew, no matter how much they would understand.

Ragna sighed, his voice lightening up slightly. "Look, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, my point is that I get where you're coming from. So, I'm not gonna ask you to suddenly trust me and act like we're best friend. Talk is cheap."

Hoshino tilted her head, returning her gaze back to Ragna. "So what do you want then?"

"What I am asking you is to at least give me a chance to earn it. If you're always watching me and waiting for the other shoe to drop and when to point that gun at me, then I'm never gonna have that chance in the first place and we're not going to be able to focus on dealing with the current threat as much." Ragna stated matter of factly.

Well, he wasn't exactly wrong in that… Provided some of that threat didn't come from Ragna himself, of course. "Sensei," Hoshino started, keeping his voice low but not hostile. "Then there's a few things I want to ask you.."

Ragna uncrossed his legs and leaned forward on the bench. "Sure, hit me."

Hoshino paused, looking up and down the man carefully, considering just how far she wanted to push for now. "How did you know somebody was behind the Helmet Gang? You weren't just guessing, you already knew before you even saw them."

"I already told you earlier, Hoshino. A gang constantly attacking your school like that doesn't make sense. Sure, it's an important building and you're some of the only people who can stand up to them, but this district is massive, they could take their own corner and hardly ever run into any of you. Makes more sense that they'd find easier targets or at least stop for a while to regroup when they keep losing. Unless they're just that damn stupid." Ragna answered without blinking.

"Oh, so sensei's just paranoid about everyone then huh~?" Hoshino added with a hint of teasing, though her voice still largely remained weighty. She still… Wasn't entirely convinced by his argument. It did make some sense, yet that was still a huge leap to make.

"Hey, I didn't say that, dammit." Ragna grumbled with a roll of his eyes. "Back where I come from, I'm used to some sneaky bastard always having their hands in everything. Trust me, I do mean everything. So I wasn't gonna just let that idea sit there without checking it out. If I was wrong, well then who cares we move onto the next problem. I don't think that's much different from you thinking I'm up to something."

"Ah, I kind of set myself up for that one, didn't I? Sensei's a mean adult..." Hoshino slouched forward in her seat with a deep sigh and returned her gaze to the floor.

Silence then descended between the pair, leaving Hoshino alone with her thoughts for uncomfortably long. With nothing else to do, the girl tapped her finger rhythmically against the cold steel of the bench while trying to think of what to say next. Did Ragna expect her to say something? There was more she wanted to ask, she did mention 'a few things', but would that be too suspicious? As cautious as she was, Hoshino didn't want to push him away from Abydos with how much they needed him, not while he was still less of a risk than the Helmet Gang and their sponsor.

A loud huff finally broke the silence, alongside the sounds of Ragna's body shifting. "Alright, I guess that's a long enough break then."

Looking up, Hoshino saw the man standing and holstering his sword around their back, moving to stand in front of her. "Hoshino, you don't have to fully trust me and I don't expect you to until I've done something to earn it, but I'm not here to hurt anyone and I'm just here to help all of you save your school. If I didn't care about any of you, I wouldn't bother getting myself tangled up in all this when I could go somewhere else for a far easier job. We're going to figure this out."

Ragna extended an inviting hand to help Hoshino up from the bench. "So go ahead and keep an eye on me as long as you want, but let me help you without expecting me to stab you in the back at any moment."

Hoshino's gaze went between Ragna's hand and his face. She had plenty of reasons to distrust adults, they always had some kind of hidden agenda. But at the same time, with Ragna's experience, it sounded like there was a time he wasn't so different from how she used to be, even still was in ways, where she once expected almost everyone to be hiding something. But here he now was trusting her to share so many personal details and only asking for a chance. She still didn't fully trust Ragna, even if maybe he wasn't as bad as some adults were that didn't make him suddenly better than them all. Even if he was helping Abydos, even if he didn't have the same ill intentions whoever was after her school had, there had to still be something he was hiding. There always was with adults.

Miracles that said otherwise didn't exist.

But, well, maybe that was exactly what Ragna once thought. She'd gotten scolded for always assuming the worst in people once and lightened up because of it. That valuable lesson felt like a lifetime ago though… One of the most important people to her had been the kind of person who'd always help another, no matter how little sense it made. Would it be that unreasonable to give him at least a chance to prove himself?

Hoshino slid herself off the bench without taking the man's hand, stretching her arms in an exaggerated manner with a subdued smile on her face. "Alright, sensei. But, since you were so inviting about it, I'll be watching you closely~."

Ragna groaned, palming right to his face. "Well, guess I kind of gave you permission for that. Fine, whatever. Let's get going, I guess. Another hour or so should be enough to wrap up for the night."

"Oh, um, sensei." Hoshino's voice suddenly turned nervous. "Remember to keep this little meeting secret from everyone else. You promised and you remember what you said about promises to Shiroko-chan, right~?"

"Yeah, yeah. I didn't forget." Ragna waved his hand a few times for emphasis. "Hope you don't mind me coming along for more of these though."

"H-Huh!?" Hoshino stood up perfectly straight, her eyes wide. "T-That wasn't part of the deal!"

"I'm gonna be coming out here with or without you, so might as well tag along." Ragna plainly stated without hesitation.

"Sensei, don't you have important adult stuff to do or something for SCHALE? Skipping work is setting a bad example for your students." Hoshino whined, trying to turn the tables on the other. Sure, she wanted to keep an eye on him, but that didn't mean he had to be around her all the time!

"This is my work." Ragna stated without an ounce of shame and smug look. "Besides, maybe you'll get a better chance to judge me for yourself."

Ah… She couldn't argue that point. The man really was so stubborn…

"Uhehe…" Hoshino let out a long sigh. "I guess I can't win with you. Well, I guess we're off then."

Hoshino still didn't trust Ragna. There were still some… Strange things which didn't fully add up to Hoshino, things she almost wanted to ask Ragna now yet at the same time Hoshino didn't want to appear like she expected some kind of betrayal. But at least their commitment to help Abydos was there and it was something desperately needed now more than ever. All the other adults she'd met had it out for Abydos and even the GSC, who weren't adults, were useless. No matter what he was hiding, it was probably better than the alternative. For now.

So… Maybe she could give him a small chance.

---

Eventually, Ragna's night time outing with Hoshino had come to an end and the man had returned to the abandoned building he'd picked out as temporary lodgings, situated atop the roof of it while he tended to a fire made out of some wood from the decrepit furniture within. It didn't take him long to find though, the building was the exact one he'd used the first time he came to Abydos in the original timeline. Sure as shit saved him plenty of time actually scouring the desert for a place, that had been a pain in the ass. Gave him a good chance to pick up a couple of extra personal supplies he didn't get from Angel 24 too. A few supplies which his surprisingly enthusiastic companion had insisted on…

"Woohoo! I always wanted to go camping!" Arona's voice was filled with childlike glee as it came out of the Shittim Chest, which had been propped onto a makeshift stand to let Ragna converse with Arona while cooking and so she could see the stars. The girl had, somehow, changed her outfit from that of her school uniform into attire suitable for camping. The color scheme was similar to her usual outfit though, possessing a bulky sky blue jacket with white shorts and leggings.

Ragna couldn't even be surprised she could do that after everything else. Observation was such bullshit…

"Feels like you're cheating calling it camping from in there." Ragna said sarcastically, with a light hint of teasing, while turning over some of the foil packets he had on the fire. It was rather basic and far from his best work with the limited supplies he bought on short notice since he didn't want to spend too long preparing this late, but still would be a decent meal of some meat and roasted vegetables with a bit of seasoning. Well, and also the slice of cake for Arona that she had practically begged him to buy.

"Is not! I've got the right clothes and my own sleeping bag for it that you don't!" Arona, enthusiasm not dropping in the slightest, responded while energetically raising her hand high with the item in question and waving it around.

"And I'm the one sitting by the campfire while cooking the food out in the desert instead of relaxing by the ocean." Not missing a beat, Ragna answered with a tone like that of a parent purposefully giving their child a hard time.

Arona let out a very audible pout, the same kind of expression plain on her face in favor of an actual counterargument.

Not a second later, Arona's presence and voice suddenly came from beside Ragna instead of inside the Shittim Chest. "Well, now we're both here, so I'm camping more than you are!"

Ragna's expression felt flat, turning toward Arona, still in her camping outfit, to see her looking smug about herself with their arms crossed. Arona was really wielding the incredibly difficult to use power of Self-Observation, the power to rewrite the world itself capable of doing virtually anything up to changing time itself, an ability often called 'The Power of God'…

To win a petty argument.

"Arona, are you kidding me." Ragna's palm slammed into his face. "I know how draining doing something like that can be."

"It's not thaaaaat bad. It's just enough that you're still the only one around who can see me anyway. I can keep this up long enough to eat! I don't have to worry as much about using a little energy since you're pretty tough.." Arona answered dismissively, the proud look not leaving her face. It was soon replaced with a curious glint as the girl switched gears on a dime and crouched down near the fire, staring intently at the cooking meal. "So is it done yet?"

And just completely brush off what he said, why did he bother? Well, if she was already doing this might as well let the girl eat here instead of inside the tablet since he could somehow bring things inside. He wasn't even sure why she needed to eat when Arona could seemingly create almost anything in her space, but Arona said 'real' food tasted better and it clearly made her happy, wasn't like Ragna needed all the food either, so it was whatever. "Yeah, fine. Should be just a few minutes."

"Weeeeeell, if we've got some time…" With an almost mischievous shine to her eyes, Arona turned around and started poking through one of the bags Ragna had got the supplies in.

"Oh, no you don't." Knowing exactly what Arona was aiming for, Ragna snatched the boxed cake slice out of her hands the second she pulled it from the bag.

"EH!?" Arona's eyes went wide with pure horror, tears already starting to form at the loss of her treasured sweet she gazed longingly at in Ragna's hand. "Sensei, I thought that cake was for me!"

"You can have it after," Ragna not so lightly tapped Arona on the head with the box and got a sound out of her. "you eat normal food." AI or not, if Arona was going to look and act like a kid, she was getting treated like one. He had a feeling Arona wasn't actually any older than his other students anyway.

Arona's answer was a pout, looking at him with begging eyes to be allowed to ruin her appetite.

"Beg all you want, but you can wait 10 minutes for dessert." Not phased in the slightest at the same expression he'd seen on several other people, Ragna set the sweet on his right, the opposite side of Arona.

Arona let out a resigned whine only a child could. "Fiiiiiiiine… How about some spoooooooky campfire stories then~? Like about ghos-"

"No!" Ragna abruptly interjected with a stern, yet shaking word, pointing accusingly at Arona. "We are not telling ghost stories!"

Arona recoiled back in surprise. But it only lasted a moment, as the little brat's face started to turn toward something teasing, perhaps even a little smug, as she raised her hands forward with twitching fingers to try and look scary. "What's wrong, sensei? Scaaaaaaaaaared?"

"I am not scared." Ragna said way too quickly to be convincing. "You just… can't hit a ghost like everything else." Oh, sure, it was perfectly possible to cheat with something like Ars Magus or the Azure Grimoire to get around that.

Neither of which he could use now.

And that was the only reason. No other reason what so ever.

Fucking Terumi.

Arona started giggling uncontrollably, covering her mouth in an attempt to suppress it that ended in complete failure. "Whatever, hehe, you… hehe, say, sensei~."

"Hey, look at that, food's ready. Moving on." Switching subjects with all the subtly of a car crash, Ragna removed one of the foil packets from the fire and casually tossed it at the giggling gremlin's face, where it fell into her hands, to put a stop to it. "Eat and then you can have your cake."

Arona's eyes lit up at the completely successful and not at all obvious distraction and she quickly started peeling open her meal.

It only took another minute to get utensils passed out and both parties to start eating, with Arona almost inhaling her food.

"Mhm, sensei this is really good for campfire food!" In a brief moment of not having her mouth full, Arona praised with a content smile and heart for a halo.

"Don't act too impressed, not a whole lot I could do on short notice and this set up." Ragna said, though a faint smile worked its way onto his face despite his words. It was nice to get a chance to do something a little more relaxing though. It'd been a while since he'd done much cooking with how the final months of the time in his world had been almost one thing after the next. Good to see he hadn't lost his touch though.

Arona paused her meal, looking over Ragna curiously but with a tender smile spread over her features.

"What, do I have something on my face?"

"No, it's not that. I've just noticed you just seem more relaxed than most of the times we've talked." Arona commented with a cheery tone. "Did talking with Hoshino-san make you feel that much better? It seemed like it went well."

"Do I?" Ragna raised an eyebrow. It was nice to see everyone again, despite the issues, so that might've been part of it but that wasn't the only thing. "Not sure I'd say that. We just haven't had the chance to talk about anything that wasn't serious. It's been all business these last few days. It's nice, but still got plenty to worry about coming up. I still didn't expect Hoshino to trust me fast, but feel like that could've gone better."

Arona frowned. "What makes you say that?"

"Because I know her." Ragna said with a shake of his head. Talking with her more had brought up a few more out of context memories "I think what I said still helped a bit, but wasn't this damn hard the first time. Guess I'll just have to see how the next few days go."

He could understand the difficulties though. It had been a process for Ragna to learn to fully trust his family's caretaker at the church, but well, things had gone a little better with her first attempt at easing him up. Celica was always much better with people and was able to get along with virtually everyone like it was second nature.

Arona's expression fell slightly, but her tone was still optimistic. "Don't worry, sensei! If you become everyone's friend once, you can do it again!"

"Hey, I'm not saying things are gonna go badly, just not gonna be easy." Ragna said, jabbing his utensil in Arona's direction a few times. "Circumstances of me being here are different as hell and guess I underestimated how much it'd change things."

Arona's halo turned into a depressive dark blue with drops coming down it. "Mhm… You weren't with SCHALE the first time, right?"

Ragna nodded. "Yeah, that was one big difference. Might've screwed up a bit knowing so much too. Not like most of it was secret though, found out just about all of it within one day of being in Abydos the first time so didn't think it'd be a problem. Thought this position was supposed to make things easier, not harder. Half wondering if this was really the right idea."

"It was, sensei!" Arona interjected with an unusually aggressive tone, worry underneath it all. "Abydos is different, but when it comes to helping the rest of Kivotos, having an official position like this will make it a lot easier to work with other school. If something did happen and that's why time looped, then maybe you'll be in a better position to stop it this time."

"Woah, calm down Arona. I'm not gonna suddenly quit or anything. Just grumbling to myself." Putting his hand on the unusually unsettled looking girl's head, Ragna said reassuringly. Yeah… She was probably right about that. Fractured though his memory still was, he could already feel the truth in Arona's words. Abydos may've been particularly troubled, but no way could it be the only school with so many problems. There were already a few scenes which came to mind...

Arona's expression relaxed a bit, though it was still pensive. "You always seem really hesitant about your job..."

"I'll manage. Just because I complain, doesn't mean I hate everything about it." Ragna flashed a reassuring smile to the troubled girl, rubbing her head a few times. "Lot less worried about dealing with people like this or fighting, that's what I'm good at. I've got you as my assistant too if I ever need it, right? So stop looking so depressed and let's finish eating before the food gets cold."

The gesture worked, as Arona's childish smile returned and she quickly went back to finishing the remains of her meal.

Ragna, likewise, went back to his own food. There was a lot he was gonna have to deal with in the following week. But the next major thing was Serika being kidnapped, assuming events didn't change radically with how differently things were already going. That might be something he'd have to worry a little about later, but like hell he was going to not take preventive action just for the sake of maintaining future knowledge when people's lives were on the line. What was the point of knowledge if you didn't use it? It wasn't like the Dark War where he was an outsider to the time period and saying something could change a century's worth of history with completely unpredictable effects. He was part of these events.

Well, no matter. Hopefully, he'd be able to smooth things over with Abydos and befriend them again. He'd technically been in this kind of position once during the Dark War, knowing people well who viewed him as a stranger with how time travel was, but it wasn't really the same with how fragmented his memories had been and he'd only fully gotten them back right before he returned to his own time. Besides Jubei and Celica, he hadn't been particularly close to anyone from back then he consistently traveled with anyway. He definitely had a lot more respect for what Rachel must've went through so many times…

"Oh, sensei. I almost forgot."

Ragna glanced over to Arona. "Huh? What is it."

"I was still asleep when we left, so did you remember to tell Rin-san you're going to be gone from the SCHALE building for a while?" With the kind of innocence only a child could manage, Arona asked. "You just started and you're the only other person there besides Sora-san right now, so probably good to leave some notice."

Ragna froze. Oh, goddammit. He'd forgotten between all the returning memories and planning around what to do with Abydos

"Know what, that's not my problem right now." Ragna let out a guttural groan. "I'm dealing with that crap in the morning. She's gonna be mad anyway, so not bothering with a message now and going to enjoy a nice meal instead."

Some parts of his position still sucked. What a day it was going to be.

 

[Omniwhatever]

Spoiler: AUTHOR'S NOTES

Aaaaand we're back! Sorry bout the delay, this one took a while due to the length, decided to move a few things into the next chapter or else this would've been a 16k word chapter, and because the story updates for BA on JP did a number on my motivation, not in a good way either. Will see how much I end up using or not from that...

One quick note I also forgot to mention last chapter. Those of you who play Blue Archive know that a few characters, Nonomi as a particularly relevant example right now, sometimes end their sentences with a ☆ symbol to indicate a more playful or cute style of speaking. UNFORTUNATELY, fanfiction's formatting doesn't appear to support it and will just delete the symbol. So to save myself some headache going back and even more formatting per website since I'm already posting this on 3 separates places and have to do a little extra per website, I'm just gonna replace where I would use ☆ with a ~ going forward to simplify things, since I also typically see that used to indicate playful/teasing tones. If somebody does know a way to have the star symbol show up on FF.net and I'm just being stupid overlooking something, please let me know in the comments somewhere since far as I can tell the only thing which does work as an improvised star is * and that ain't cute enough.

I also hope I didn't screw anything up with the new website editor, first chapter update since that happened. Think I got everything in order though.

---

Volume 1 Chapter 1: The Situation at Abydos (VII)​

Out of habit, Ragna was generally an early riser even when he didn't have the luxury of resting without worry of an attack, so by the time he woke up it was still on the earlier side of the morning. Even from within the dilapidated interiors of the abandoned building, Ragna could see the sky was clear, but with the sun only just beginning to rise it lacked the usual vibrant blue of midday with the sky's duller shade instead fitting the colder atmosphere that was yet to be baked in the scorching heat of the afternoon.

Rising to his feet, Ragna briefly stretched his body to help himself fully wake up. According to the time, even with that meeting with Hoshino he'd managed about an extra hour or so of sleep. Nice, no wonder he felt a little more rested. A little more of this and maybe Arona would get off his back about sleeping more. But, he could let the girl nap for a bit longer herself, he'd already woken her up once with his early habits.

He probably still had a short time before the rest of Abydos would start showing up at their school. Maybe he cou-

Ragna's eyes went wide.

Shit, Rin.

Ugh, he'd said that was future him's problem and now future Ragna was present Ragna. Well, he might as well rip the bandaid off now instead of trying to further delay and risk forgetting about it. The longer he waited, the angrier it was going to make the acting president. It was a bad idea to not tell anyone he was going to be out of office.

With a slowiness to his motions, as if he could somehow avert the inevitable by pushing it back even a few extra seconds, Ragna retrieved his phone and, after struggling for a minute to remember where to send a message via Momo Talk, found Rin and slowly typed up a brief message.

'Left for Abydos yesterday. Staying here for a while, won't be in the building.'

Without Arona to help, even with some of the extra accessibility feature she'd set up, typing with one hand was still annoyingly slow for Ragna so he kept it brief. No sense making this harder than it had to be.

"Alright, guess that's done. Might as well-"

The sound of Ragna's phone blaring in alarm cut the man off. With a creeping sense of dread, he looked a the number and recognized it as Rin's. The fact it hadn't even been 30 seconds since he'd sent the message somehow managed to give every ring a palpable sense of menace to it. Crap, this was going to suck.

With a groan to prepare himself. Ragna answered the phone and held it to his ear. "H-"

"Explain yourself."

"Hello to you too." Ragna answered with dry sarcasm. "If I knew you were going to call me this fast, I'd have skipped the text entirely."

"Ah, so I am to assume you merely sent such a brief message due to your difficulty typing instead of assuming this notice was good enough to run off and leave the SCHALE building unattended for a long period with no other notice?" Rin's tone was pointed and equally as dry.

… Yeah, sure, why not go with that.

"Uh-huuuh, yeah I prefer phone calls instead of texting because of that." Trying to make his voice sound as convincing and not at all like he was improvising, Ragna answered.

Rin somehow managed to make the ensuring silence so exasperated, Ragna could perfectly picture the girl pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Hey, hey." Ragna's voice suddenly turned stern. Why was he supposed to be feel like the bad guy here!? "I was told SCHALE has a lot of freedom to operate how I want. Abydos asked for help and so I came here. Busy dealing with something that's going to be easier to handle if I'm here instead of constantly going back and forth."

With a deep breath, Rin began speaking again. Her voice somewhat more level yet still firm. "Sensei, it's not as if you can't do something like this. I understand that with the size of Kivotos and on a long term assignment, constant travel back and forth is impractical even with railways. The Abydos School District is a problem we've, regretfully, never had the resources or time to try and properly address. If you're able to help those girls where we failed to, then I believe you're doing the exact kind of work the president hoped SCHALE would do. So far, I don't doubt that you're taking aspects of the job seriously in your own way."

Ragna restrained a sigh, his expression turning into a frown instead. Yeah, something about this was feeling a bit familiar and he could guess the direction. Well, Ragna supposed he could lighten up a little on her. The man knew she had to be working overtime to deal with getting Kivotos back in order as the acting president and was neck deep in bureaucracy. Filling that kind of position took a certain character and temperament, while Ragna knew he was not that type of person. "Look, Rin, I already said I'm not the kind of person who's good with office work or that kind of stuff, so I'm not gonna get this immediately. Wasn't planning on staying there yesterday, but found some bigger trouble than I expected and got a little caught up with that, so forgot to say anything, sorry."

The line went quiet for a few seconds.

"I see… I understand that mistakes or emergencies happen and it's a significant shift from whatever you're used to. Please, just try to be more careful with notifying the General Student Council before leaving next time." A hint softer, Rin said with an understanding, yet slightly scolding, tone. "I don't doubt your ability to handle part of the job, but your position has several aspects to it beyond that which still need doing, regardless of being comfortable or not. I've given some leeway while you adapt to your position, but it's important to eventually learn the stations of it as that can't last forever."

"And it's not going to. I made it through all the paperwork over what happened day one, didn't I?" Ragna fired back.

"Yes, you did. So, I know it's not out of your abilities and you're capable of it, even if needing some help. Please, just show it more often." Rin answered with words that almost sounded like approval. "We are both busy individuals, however, so I won't keep you any longer if there's nothing else. Between whatever situation came up and normal duties, I'm certain you'll have your hands full, but perhaps the situation with Abydos will help prepare for teaching at larger schools with a normal student body."

"Yeah, it-" Ragna paused for an entire second as his brain processed what Rin had said. "Sorry, what was that last part?"

"… Teaching…?" Rin's voice was near entirely flat, only the audible equivalent of an oncoming headache preventing it from being so. "What's in the title of your position."

God. Dammit. Ragna wanted to argue and say something, but no that was literally his job description and title right now. Was it even worth complaining Rin hadn't told him much if it was that obvious? Oh, sure he was more than confident in his ability to teach somebody in certain areas, how to fight, cook, tend to wounds, practical applied skills like that or hell even… Wasn't it called Physical Education? Those, he could do if he had to. But the way Jubei had taught him was a world apart from a typical school room where one learned academic subjects. If he had to do that then it sure as shit was going to be well outside what he was good at. It's not like he was stupid or anything, it's just those were COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS.

"What am I supposed to even TEACH out in a place like this?" Not bothering to hide his audible frustration much, Ragna answered. "Even I know there's no way every school's going to be teaching the same stuff!"

"You are correct, but there are common subjects and material taught across most schools. A large place like Kivotos could hardly function if there was not at least some common ground. For any material specific to each school, there should be ample notes within SCHALE for you. Although, given the nature of Abydos's situation, what's there may be sparse or not as up to date." Rin answered while obviously trying to keep her tone professional and not weary. "I hope that is your concern."

Ugh, that last sentence was just menacing. Not worth arguing over. "Yeah, sure, let's go with that. There any other surprises you wanna tell me about how I'm supposed to do this?"

The phone may have been silent, but it didn't stop Ragna from hearing the mental anguish coming from the other. The lack of words said plenty.

"As with most matters, you have a significant degree of freedom to conduct your job how you want." Rin finally said after composing herself. "An actual teacher in Kivotos is a rarity with the majority of lessons being handled by blu-rays, self study, or the occasional associate instructor robot, similar but distinct from your role. There is not exactly a standard 'procedure' for your position."

Well, that was something. Maybe he could figure something out that didn't make him want to scream.

"My job to figure this out too then. Guess it could be worse. I'll figure it out." Ragna said with a huff. Yeah, this job was definitely a weird fit for him. Half of it, he was certain he'd do fine on and played to his strengths, but the other half? It was like somebody had tailor made a position designed to do what he sucked at. Still… As much as he complained, things could've been a lot worse. It wasn't like Ragna had planned to or wanted to carry on exactly like he had for the prior decade forever, constantly fighting for one's life wasn't his idea of fun. It wasn't like his life was suddenly worry free, but besides the time loop issue things were already calmer than his daily life back home. Maybe this was just part of getting used to something a bit more normal after so much of his life being a rollercoaster. Even his childhood only had that brief glimmer of normalcy when he lived in the church. Annoying as this would be though, not like he could grumble too much after what he'd said to Arona last night, she was counting on him. As long as he could still work toward figuring out whatever caused time to rewind and keep Kivotos safe, he was going to stick with it. There were big things coming and since Ragna knew about it, it was his responsibility to do what he could to help weather the oncoming storm. Despite still having gaps in his knowledge or memories, they were slowly returning and he already knew Arona would be right about the position making working with other school's easier.

"Now then, if that's all I have work to get back to." Rin spoke calmly, but with a minor edge.

"Yeah, I got a lot of shit to do to- Wait, wait, wait. There's one more thing." Ragna quickly spoke before Rin could have a chance to hang up.

"Hm?"

"About SRT, there's one thing I wanted to ask." Ragna said plainly.

Rin's following sigh was deep. "Sensei, that is not a brief topic suited for an unscheduled phone call."

"I know, you said you wanted to meet in person for that. So think you can schedule something in about a week or so? Should have a little time to drop by then." Keeping his voice level, Ragna said. "Sure that you're busier than I am so go ahead and give me a time, I'll make it work."

"Ah, I see. I can do that then. I will send a message to you once a time has been scheduled. Is that all?"

"That's all. But hey, Rin." There was one more thing Ragna wanted to say. He'd spoke with Rin a few times now and was getting that sense of deja vu he'd had before, vague and not as clear as all the events involving Abydos but still bringing forth some scattered images and emotions. He only had a few memories that did paint a strict image of Rin, but the girl seemed extra on edge lately, though it was completely understandable with the whole situation in Kivotos.

"Yes, what is it now?" Though trying to restrain it, there was still a slight undercut of annoyance to her words.

"I know keeping Kivotos under control is a hell of a job with everything going on right now and it can't be easy. Shit has to get done, but don't work yourself to death, alright? Not a lot of people who can handle a position like your's. It's a lot at your age." Ragna said, softening his tone compared to his usual gruffness.

Once more, the line was quiet for a second, but this time the silence lacked any tension the previous pauses had.

"Thank you for your concern, sensei." Rin's words were level, but just a little lighter than before. Yet she sounded tired, like a mask were starting to slip. But it was only brief, as her tone returned to normal as she continued. "But, I can't allow myself to rest while the balance of Kivotos is so precarious. Despite the worst being over, it hasn't even been a week since we regained control of Sanctum Tower and we are still rebuilding the house of cards in the aftermath. A careless move will cause that foundation to collapse in on itself."

"Yeah, I get it. Believe me, I do, the world doesn't wait for anyone." Keeping his voice low and understanding, Ragna spoke back, some concern creeping in as well. He, of all people, knew how easy it was to keep pushing yourself far past safe levels when it was necessary. Didn't mean somebody shouldn't say something. A person occasionally needed a forceful tug on their arm to keep them from doing something stupid and plenty of people had been that for Ragna at one point. "Just take care of yourself, alright?"

"I will manage, but your worries are noted and appreciated. I have important matters to attend to now, however. Goodbye, Ragna-sensei. Do look after yourself too."

"Later, Rin." With a casual farewell, Ragna hung up the phone. That conversation hadn't been so bad, given how it started. But goddammit, he was seriously going to have to start worrying about teaching at some point, wasn't he? Well, he could… Deal with that later. Given Abydos's current situation, he could make it a lower priority for the moment over the current crisis since everyone mostly studied on their own time with how essential earning money was, rather than having structured class time. He'd just have to hope none of the girls got any funny ideas about asking for help with their schooling.

Ah, well, he could worry about that another day. It was time to wake Arona up and head over to Abydos. Maybe he could spend some time getting to know any early arrivals again if he got there before everyone did and a meeting started.

---

Okusora Ayane knew that today was going to be an eventful one, but that wasn't going to come until later with the ahead of schedule meeting given yesterday's revelations. For now, she still had her regular duties to attend to for school. From the daily cleaning and inspecting the desolate halls for anything useful, to planning the Foreclosure Task Force's day, there was going to be much to discuss about yesterday's findings. Not to mention her own school work.

As such, she had come into the school slightly early. There wasn't often that big a gap in everyone's arrival, but since Shiroko had to bike a decent distance from home or did some morning exercise while Serika was one of the busiest with all her part time work, on a typical day her or Nonomi were the first to arrive. Well, not counting Hoshino since despite sometimes being the actual first one there, even with her generally casual and carefree demeanor, she was almost always napping until more of the Foreclosure Task Force arrived. So the third year didn't count

But as Ayane approached the school building's main gate, she heard a few odd sounds. Shuffling feet and shifting sand, alongside some clearly male grunts. Was that… Ragna?

Peering into the gate, Ayane saw saw the man practicing off to one side of the track field, swinging the sword practically her height with powerful, yet precise motions. Despite how large the weapon was and it must've weighed, the man swung it with such ease and quickness that if Ayane so much as blinked she would've missed a whole series of motions.

Still, from what Ayane could see, even though she wasn't an expert in using a sword, a few of Ragna's motions felt slightly off or strange. The man often made quick, light swings without leaning his body into the strike, most of the force coming purely from the arm instead of the body. A few times, Ragna did make a powerful, heavy swing with his body that followed the momentum of the blow without any wasted movement in the initial swing. Yet, while still incredibly quick, upon trying to recover the flow of motion wasn't as smooth and was lagging or awkward, such as when Ragna tried to do something like abruptly turn where the flow of movement lost the same snappiness it had as he made excessive looking motions or even returned his sword to his holster on his back. The oddest was a sharp pivot where Ragna held his sword near awkwardly close to his body and leaned slightly back before returning to a more neutral stance with a frustrated expression.

"Damn, going to take some getting used to this again…" Returning his sword to its holster, Ragna grumbled with a scowl. Upon seeing Ayane, the man's expression lightened and he threw the girl a casual wave. "Oh, hey Ayane. Thought somebody would show up sooner or later."

"Oh, h-hello, sensei!" Ayane spoke up, feeling a momentary shyness. She hadn't intended to stare, but being caught doing that was rude. Brushing that aside, the girl approached the man with a friendly smile. "Have you been here long?"

"Nah, I only got here a few minutes ago. Haven't gotten to do as much practice as I'd like the past few days, so thought I'd catch up a bit till somebody got here." With a shake of his head, Ragna said. "Gotta get used to fighting with one arm again, can't move exactly like I used to."

"Eh?" Ayane's curious gaze shifted between the man's limp right arm and the massive sword on his back. Was that related to some of the weird movements she saw from him? She understood why lacking a working arm and eye would be an issue, but it sounded like there was more to the problem then Ayane initially assumed. "What do you mean by that?"

"Since I can't move my arm, my sense of balance and center of gravity is off. I can move my shoulder, but that's not really enough to use my arm to help counter and adjust any momentum I have while fighting. Makes it harder to commit to stronger swings without leaving myself open. Haven't really had to fight past a few swings with how quickly everyone's gone down, but can't count on everything being that easy and might have some trouble with big groups. I had to deal with this once before but it's been a while, so just have to get used to it again and won't have it mess with my reflexes. Shouldn't take long." Ragna's voice was exactly like Ayane pictured a teacher would have while giving a lecture, confident and composed, yet with a dash of casualness. "Know how you flail your arms when you start falling or spread them out when walking over something narrow? Kind of like that, your arms help your balance a lot more than you think."

"Ah, I didn't think of it like that, but when you put it that way it makes sense." Ayane nodded in understanding. Ayane wasn't unfamiliar with the idea but, besides the obvious idea of something like spreading one's arms, she didn't think about all the little ways not having both arms could effect one's balance in less obvious ways. Those moves she saw must've been Ragna's attempts to compensate for the issue. "What brought you to our school so early then? This place doesn't seem like the best to practice in."

"Well, if I got here early, thought I'd get a chance to get to know the place and everyone before we all got down to serious matters. If I'm gonna stay here for a bit, might as well get to know everybody and see what I can. Didn't exactly get to talk much with the Helmet Gang dropping in." Ragna's voice still had much of his usual gruffness, but it was a bit lighter too, friendly even.

Ayane smiled, this was a perfect opportunity then! She was curious to know more about the enigmatic man who'd showed up in Kivotos even a week ago and was given so much power. But more importantly, he was the only one who'd answered Abydos's call for the aid they so desperately needed after the district was thoroughly ignored by the General Student Council, despite prior pleas. There were a few strange or surprising things to Ayane with how much the man knew. However, despite some rough behavior, she believed he had to be a good person with how fast he came to help and already was getting to work on unraveling the attacks on Abydos. This was her chance to learn more about Ragna and give a good, proper first impression of the Foreclosure Task Force and her own capabilities. Even if she had requested the aid and it was truly needed, Ayane didn't want to give the wrong idea that the Foreclosure Task Force weren't capable with how bad a situation he had found everyone in.

"In that case. Would you like to look around the school a little with me, sensei? We didn't have a chance for a proper tour after what happened." With a warm tone and friendly smile, Ayane invited. It wouldn't be long till someone else showed up, but she'd at least have some time alone with Ragna.

"Sure, why not. Came early to get to know everyone anyway." Ragna said. "Already saw a bit of the main building yesterday, so why don't we start with some of the other ones?"

"Eh, are you sure? With only the five of us here, we don't get to make as much use of the other buildings, so they're mostly just for storage and collecting dust. There's not a lot to show." Glancing between some of abandoned buildings on the small campus, from a large storage shed to the gym area over by the sand filled pool, Ayane answered uncertainly.

"If I'm gonna be here for a while, might as well know the whole school." The man was undeterred, shaking his head dismissively. "Who knows, maybe we'll find something interesting in all the junk. A lot of the main building is just classrooms anyway, right?"

Well, that was a good point. The Foreclosure Task Force, though primarily Ayane and Hoshino, did sometimes scour around the school for anything valuable that could be sold to help with the debt or was simply interesting. Compared to most other schools, the Abydos campus was quite small, but it was still massive for only 5 students with lots of rooms they couldn't attend to. Sometimes, Ayane had a lucky find and so searching the school had become a bit of a hobby for the group's secretary. She didn't want to give Ragna the wrong idea she was an overly uptight cheapskate though. But if he was suggesting it, maybe he wasn't so different? It sounded like they were used to using whatever was around if he camped out a lot. It would save her some time killing two birds with one stone…

"Well, if that's what you'd like, we can get started there. We do tend to find new things all the time and there's been an area I've been meaning to check." Putting on an inviting smile, Ayane took a few steps toward one of the sheds at the far end of the campus. She may as well start far out and work closer to the heart of the school with this plan.

With Ragna in tow, Ayane led the man to medium sized building at the edge of the area. It wasn't the largest one where some bigger assets, such as a car Ayane still needed to ensure could run, but the sand sprinkled structure was still comparable to a cheaper house.

Opening the big door and flicking on the lights, the interior was littered with all sorts of random clutter, junk and furniture. It was in somewhat of an odd state, as certain parts of the room that Ayane hadn't touched yet looked like they'd not seen a living person's hand in years, dust and sand covering some of the objects or tarps. But other sections had little signs of neglected as Ayane had been through the area recently with some light cleaning while she looked for anything of interest. But one thing immediately drew Ayane's eye. A small pile of sand with a thin line of more trailing in from the roof.

"One of the tiles is slightly loose..." Stepping inside, Ayane muttered with a frown. Not only that, sand was trickling in. It wasn't any pressing concern, but left unattended it'd quickly become a larger problem. As long as it got put back in place, someone could take a look later, today would be too busy to properly address the issue and this wasn't the first time Abydos had dealt with this problem. "At least there's a ladder here. Hang on, sensei."

"No need, I got this." With confident words, Ragna walked past Ayane and under the loose ceiling board. Unholstering the massive sword on his back, Ragna held it up and the blade shot up, more than doubling the length of his already huge weapon and giving the tall man enough reach to prod at the ceiling with it. "I'll just push it back into place real quick."

Ayane blinked, checking over the weapon closely. That was a strange, yet interesting design. But more importantly… "Um, sensei, are you sure you can do that?" It was still better than when Shiroko stacked a bunch of desks as an improvised ladder for some ceiling repairs. That'd ended poorly with Shiroko, and Ayane from being right next to her, getting an avalanche of sand on dumped on them.

"It's fi-"

Like Shiroko before him, the exact same fate befell Ragna as the tile abruptly collapsed and collided with Ragna's face, bringing with it an entire bag worth of sand straight down onto the man.

"S-Sensei!?"

"Arg, stupid son of a bitch…!" Ragna swore a few more times under his breath and made Ayane's face heat up. She could sometimes let a few things slip when particularly mad, but for a teacher Ragna sure had some colorful language.

Ragna's sword returned to its original form and he shook his body around a few times to dislodge some of the sand. "Forgot how easily this damn stuff gets everywhere."

"A-Are you okay?" Ayane rushed over to the man, ready to offer any assistance she could, stepping over the hugely expanded pile of sand. Okay, things were off to a bad start with trying to give Abydos a better second impression, for as good as they could do with the school in this state, but she could still salvage this!

Hopefully...

"I'll live. Might be annoying as shit, but a little sand never killed anyone." Ragna grumbled with a scowl. "Grab me a broom and we can sweep some of this sand out, good excuse to clean up and look for anything interesting. We're pretty close to the door anyway and that was my fault."

"Y-"

"No," Ragna held his hand up practically the instant Ayane muttered the sound of a single letter, almost like he had read her mind. "I came to help out the school, so that's what I'm going to do. This one's my fault anyway."

Urg, that was true and it would go much faster with another person to do some of the sweeping and dusting. Ayane wasn't adverse to asking for help, she had been the driving force behind asking SCHALE for help, but he was talking about doing more than just sweeping out the extra sand. She didn't want to try imposing all the school's responsibilities on him at once with how severe what he'd already come for was. If Ragna was going to be so insistent though...

Not protesting further, Ayane picked up two of the brooms left around to deal with the sand and handed one to Ragna. "Here you are, sensei. Hopefully, this won't take too long. I'd hate to have to put off giving you a tour because of this accident."

"Not like there isn't plenty of time. Let's get to work."

Trying to keep working as quickly, but diligently, as she could, Ayane engaged with some occasional conversation with Ragna during the cleaning.

"Forgot the sand, there's dust everywhere."

"I-It's been a while since we've cleaned certain parts of the room."

"Can't blame you, not like there's much use here but storing stuff. Hell of a chore trying to keep this school in order with so few people. You're a pretty determined bunch."

The discussion between the two was largely light hearted and Ayane quickly lost track of the time getting to know the man. He was kind of a nice, if crude, person, though. Housekeeping like this always felt like less of a drag when another person was around to help, and just like whenever her classmates were around for a job like this, having Ragna around made the task fly by. And as most of the sand had gotten swept out of the building, Ayane was able to focus a little more on trying to find anything particularly valuable that could be sold to help with the debt. There were only a few things of any worth she could spot between her cleaning though. It appeared like Ragna was doing the same thing, as when Ayane glanced over to the teacher, the man moved about the room like he already found something specific, going more toward the far area of the building where Ayane had seldom ever checked.

"Sensei, did you find something?" Shuffling over some of the clutter on the ground, Ayane spoke up while curiously scrutinizing the corner of the room for anything that would've drawn Ragna's attention.

"Think so, right about…" Not glancing back her way, Ragna pushed aside a shelf with a light rumble and Ayane could now see a massive tarp tucked away in the corner.

"Here!" With a casual tug, Ragna yanked it off, a moderate amount of dust scattering through the air with the motion, to reveal a large cart with a massive amount of.. Was that a big slab of metal?

Eye widening, Ayane raced over to the cart with an excited energy in her step, barely avoiding knocking something over in the cramped room with her rush to get a closer look at the thing almost wide as she was tall and nearly chest level in height. "Wow… That's a lot of metal…"

The cart was filled with the material, comprised of a few slabs of varying sizes. How much exactly, Ayane couldn't be sure but it had to be heavy, maybe even a few hundred kilograms. Some sheets looked pretty big.

"Look at that, told you we'd find something interesting in all the junk." Ragna said with a proud smirk, fiddling around and turning over the huge tarp awkwardly with his one good arm.

A beaming smile quickly spread across Ayane's face. "I don't think I'd have noticed this for a while between how much of this room there is to search and how hidden away it was under the tarp. This is a great find, sensei! I know a scrap metal dealer we should be able to sell this to for a good price."

"Don't get too enthusiastic." Ragna said with an annoyed grumble and scowl on his face. The tarp, having proven to be such an annoying foe to manage with his single hand had been given up by the man and dropped on the floor.

"Eh? Is there something wrong with it?" The cheer in Ayane's face quickly started to evaporate as less optimistic thoughts took over. Was it not actually worth much? With the huge sword he had, perhaps Ragna had some idea about the topic with the kind of maintenance one would need on such a weapon. Metal was metal, but that'd be disappointing…

"No, not that. Mind checking under the tarp? Not enough space to flip this thing over and turning it over's a pain in the ass with one hand with how cramped it is." The man said with a scowl, glaring at the covering like he had a personal vendetta against it.

Curious, but complying, Ayane picked up one side of the tarp and turned it over. Inside, she saw a notice written on the inside. "Let's see.. Handle with caution, this is special high-grade steel that must be kept in a climate-controlled environment…"

Ayane's eyes went wide, repeating part of the notice to herself to ensure she'd read that right, some of the excitement returning to her voice. "Special high-grade steel..?"

This was a huge find!

"Yep, that's why I wanted to check the tarp." Ragna commented, inspecting the cart and its contents. "Should be able to get a lot more than if you just tried to sell it normally without looking, right?"

"Definitely!" Ayane said with a glowing, thankful smile toward the man.

Only for it to immediately deflate and her face to rapidly burn up with a blush upon thinking over the implications of his words and how she responded. She wouldn't be… that hasty and sell the steel at a much lower price that would haunt Ayane for the rest of her life after finding this out too late if she'd found it on her own, right?

… No, she absolutely would've and felt incredibly stupid. Not just that, she would've looked incredibly stupid to the man she was trying to leave a good impression on. B-but to her credit it appeared like the tarp had been put on up side down so that notice had been hidden! Not many people would've expected it to be there without being extra careful or already knowing about it! But she was trying to appear capable, she still had to salvage this since she must've already appeared a bit stupid to not think of this!

"T-Thank you for finding this, sensei. I-I didn't meant to say I was going to sell it without thoroughly checking everything! I was just excited to find something so valuable! Wedon'tusuallyfindthingsthisbig!" Nerves quickening every word, Ayane stammered out in a desperate attempt to save whatever face she had left. Arg, nonono now she just sounded cheap and aaaaaaaaaaaaah why couldn't she keep it together!?

Ragna put a large, gentle hand on Ayane's head. "Hey, Ayane, stop freaking out. Always pays to be thorough with this stuff, but easy to overlook. Don't wanna have to run across town looking like an idiot trying to catch the truck you sold it to before it's too late to get your money. Nobody's got time for that annoying shit…"

The warm, comforting gesture was like someone had pressed a reset button on her, stopping Ayane's runaway train of thought before it get too out of control and giving her a few seconds to compose herself again. Something about the reassurance coming from him made it feel more comforting than usual. Ragna sounded pretty understanding and it did help… But that story was oddly specific.

"Did something like that happen to you?" Cheeks still having some lingering warmth, Ayane managed to ask with a calmer voice as Ragna removed his hand. That would make her feel a little less embarrassed about the situation.

Ragna's expression went flat, his eyes lingering on the cart for a second before going back to Ayane. "… You could say that."

"W-Well, at least we found something worthwhile here. We must've spent a while here by now…" Trying to change the subject, Ayane reached for her phone to check the time and found that, while not exactly late, she'd definitely spent longer than expected out here with Ragna. That was definitely going to put a dent in her plans for a tour as the usual Foreclosure Taskforce meeting was going to begin earlier than usual with the heavy revelations from yesterday and Ayane still had her own assignments to attend to. Despite Abydos being in the state it was in, everyone still had to keep up with assignments and homework, it was one of those things which kept the spirit of the school alive despite the lack of formal structure. Assignments and grading largely being done by pre-recorded blu-rays or automation helped greatly with the state of her school at least.

"Ayane-chaaaaaaaan, are you out here? I see the door's wide open!" Nonomi's voice echoed from outside in the field.

Ah, she should've expected someone would come looking for her eventually. She had been in a remote corner in the dark and abandoned shed.

Alone.

With Ragna.

For an extended time.

Ayane's face started turning the same shade as her red rimmed glasses. Wait, no, that was really bad! When you thought about it, wasn't this situation kind of… Scandalous? What kind of reaction would the rest of her classmates have from her doing something like this on the second day knowing him!? S-Surely the truth would be a valid explanation, right? Or maybe it'd be better if she just didn't say anything and hi-

"Oh, hey there Nonomi." Ragna's loud voice sent Ayane's train of thought flying right off the track as he stepped toward the door.

SENSEI, WHY?

"Ah, sensei! I didn't expect to run into you here too!" Nonomi's form entered the dimly lit room. The radiant smile plastered across her face that usually made Ayane at ease instead flaring her anxiety up more.

Ragna gestured back toward the room, including Ayane doing her best impression of a deer in headlights. "Ayane was planning to show me around the school a little. Had a bit of an issue with the ceiling and some sand getting in so stopped to clean up the place."

"T-That's right!" Ayane squeaked from the corner of the room, maneuvering past some of the junk toward the two. Good, Nonomi wasn't pointing out anything strange... "Um, Ragna-sensei found a bunch of high quality metal hidden away while we were cleaning up too. We should be able to sell it for a good price."

Nonomi looked over Ayane's shoulder back toward where she'd come from, a surprised yet pleased smile rapidly spreading on her face. "Wow, that's quite a find~. You're already proving to be pretty helpful to have around, sensei."

Ragna waved his hand a few times dismissively, then gesturing with his thumb toward the hole in the ceiling. "Abydos called me for some help so I'm doing what I'm here for. I caused the sand to get in here anyway trying to push the ceiling back into place."

"Speaking of that." Nonomi clapped her fingers on both hands together. "It sounds like you've been with Ragna-sensei since you two got here, right? Since we were planning to have a meeting about yesterday soon, how about I take over with him so you can have a break before we start, Ayane-chan? You've been hard at work with all this cleaning and today's likely to be a long one~."

"That'd be great, Nonomi-senpai, thank you. There was some prep work I wanted to do for that." Ayane responded with an appreciate smile. Even if Hoshino was the official leader of the Foreclosure Taskforce, Ayane was generally the one directing the meetings or trying to help keep order with how… Absurd, some of the suggestions from her classmates could be. That sometimes led to quite the headache and less than flattering outbursts…

But Ayane put those thoughts away for now as she stepped past Nonomi and back into the blistering bright Sun of the Abydos sky, throwing a quick wave toward the two. "I'll see you later, Nonomi-senpai, sensei!"

Well, even if things hadn't gone to plan, Ayane had at least gotten to know Ragna a bit better. She'd been the one most insistent on continuing to try and petition for help, even when the rest of Abydos had long since grown skeptical to the idea. Maybe it was part of being a 1st​ year compared to everyone besides Serika having an extra year, two in Hoshino's case, of dealing with the situation, but her persistence and hope had paid off. As bad as the revelations were about somebody financing the Kata-Kata Helmet Gang, Ragna was already proving himself quite capable in and outside of combat, quite kind too but that was expected for somebody that answered her call for help so soon. It made her feel more confident about the situation and like maybe everyone's luck could start turning around.

Ah, but there was one thing that had slipped Ayane's mind she'd meant to ask the man, but it was a bit later now. Between being blind sided preparing for Ragna's unexpectedly quick visit and then the news from the attack yesterday, she'd completely forgotten to ask for more details about the Foreclosure Taskforce being on SCHALE's student registry. It was effectively acting as the student council, but officially the club didn't exist and with that came certain limitations if it ever had to act as official leadership. It hadn't mattered yet, but if it and the students were recognized in some official capacity by the General Student Council it would be a significant benefit, were the situation to arise. Not to mention good for everyone's mood to know. That'd be a topic Ayane would have to ask Ragna about another time, perhaps not the upcoming meeting since the schedule was already crowded.

Still, maybe she was jumping to conclusions but it was a nice thought and brought a smile to Ayane's face as she strolled through the main Abydos school building to prepare for the day.

---

Nonomi knew she wasn't going to have much time with the enigma of Ragna before it was time for the meeting, but some time was better than no time! She was curious about the man, yet also apprehensive how he knew so much and wanted to understand that. There weren't that many ways somebody new to Kivotos would know so much for being from outside it. There was one particular lingering thought at the back of her head, but, well, she wasn't going to jump to conclusions that quickly when she had the chance to get to know Ragna now~.

"Aaaand this is the Annex building." Nonomi proudly introduced the second largest single building of the campus, gesturing with a spin around the dull silver halls her and Ragna walked through. "There's a lot of rooms here meant for club activities. We don't get much use out of them so there's all sorts of stuff you can probably find if you look hard enough. They've been a few fun ways to entertain ourselves we've found while checking the rooms. I'd love to show you around some of them, but I don't think we have the time."

"Sure sucks all that equipment has to just collect dust. Least even a little bit's getting some use though." Ragna grumbled with a vaguely frustrated, yet sympathetic, sigh while scratching the side of his head. "Place has so many empty rooms I bet Hoshino could sleep in a new one every day and still not run out by the end of the school year."

Nonomi let out a light giggle at the image. Though Hoshino had some favorite spots, it wasn't even that off with how the third year liked to sleep wherever she pleased. "Careful, Hoshino-senpai might start getting ideas if she hears you."

"Knowing her, I bet she's already had that idea without me saying a damn thing." Ragna said with a huff, though despite the words and mild exasperation, his expression was still light hearted, almost a grin.

"That definitely sounds like her~." Nonomi kept her voice playful and warm, yet the comment was a bit weird. Maybe it was just how Ragna was, after all from what little she'd seen he was a very direct and blunt man, but the familiar way he spoke about everyone was more in line with someone who'd known Nonomi and her friends for months instead of not even a few days. Perhaps he was just very direct on trying to be friendly or keep the atmosphere light? A little odd, but Nonomi wasn't entirely opposed to it. But coupled with how much Ragna knew the attitude stood out more than it otherwise would. Especially with his story…

Continuing, Nonomi kept her tone warm and friendly. She did still want to get to know Ragna more before making any judgments. "I forgot to ask too, did you find somewhere good to sleep, sensei? I'd hate for you to have a hard time just because you're helping us."

"Yeah, was fine. Don't worry about it. Not the first time I've camped out in the desert." Ragna said with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "Thanks for the offer yesterday, but I'm just doing my job and the right thing. Wouldn't feel right asking you girls to pay for anything for me with the school like it is."

Nonomi briefly frowned before her expression returned to a more caring, casual one. So Ragna had really been serious about that huh? "You don't need to feel guilty about me spending money on you, sensei. Abydos might be in debt, but that doesn't mean I am. I can't pay off the school's debt, but I can still do something nice as thanks for yesterday. It's important to take care of yourself and a good night's rest is part of that~."

Well, can't might've not been the right word. Her credit card could've paid for the school's debt and then some just fine. But that would've been trading one creditor for another without the school truly being free and belonging to the students. Besides, though provide her money they did… Nonomi's relationship with her family hadn't been the best for a while. She understood why Hoshino had rejected that idea when Nonomi had initially proposed it with how things were.

"No, I know you could spend more in a day than people make in a year and not even blink." Ragna said, holding up a hand.

Hm? Did she imply being that rich at some point?

"Appreciate the thought, but it'd disturb my sleep if I started letting my students pay for my stuff when I just got here. Haven't even done that much since we're still gonna have a lot of shit to sort through about who's after the school. You can save the thanks for when we're finally done with it." Ragna finished his words with an annoyed grumble.

Ah, Ragna wasn't that different from the rest of the Foreclosure Taskforce in that way. The rest of her classmates, mainly Hoshino though, didn't like relying on her card much. That had been why their ammo was so depleted to begin with. Though Nonomi wasn't trying to disrespect the sentiment or anything, the girl would admit she did sometimes get carried away buying supplies accidentally and not so accidentally when she could~.

Still, even if she understood why, Nonomi couldn't help feeling a little guilty about not being able to do more when her friends had such difficult lives. However, in a way it did somewhat work out as Nonomi's financial situation meant she could spend more time on school maintenance over the weekend to give everyone else the chance for part time work. A healthy studying environment was just as important as any other element!

"Well, that's true. We should probably go get Hoshino-senpai soon for the meeting so we can get on with that." Nonomi looked up and down the hall to emphasize the statement. Hoshino had a few spots she primarily napped in, but checking those might still take a little time.

But before that, Nonomi still had one more thing to ask about while she had some alone time with Ragna, but this needed a bit more subtle approach. "It's nice that we're able to get right to everything with everything SCHALE had about Abydos and the student registry. I'm kind of surprised how much it had."

"Huh?" Ragna paused for a moment, his expression drifting toward sour. "Oh. Right. That. Yeah, sure helped give me a good idea about the situation coming here."

"I hope you weren't reading everyone's embarrassing secrets in those files. Sounds like they had quite a lot there~." Nonomi drew a few steps closer to Ragna with a playful smile and voice.

Casual though her words were, Nonomi was also fishing a bit for information. It wasn't that she distrusted Ragna, but his reasoning behind knowing everyone so well despite having just arrived in Kivotos wasn't entirely adding up. Beyond Ayane sending an occasional message to the General Student Council for help, Abydos had been almost entirely ignored by the governing body for a while. Them actually going to the effort of including contact information of Abydos students, besides Hoshino who had been enrolled when the school still had a proper student council president and was the only official member of the leadership body left, on official anything was a little strange with the lack of any attention otherwise. At the same time, with how Ragna had so suddenly moved out to help the school where nobody else would and quickly gone to work helping or uncovering secrets with a lucky hunch, Nonomi would've felt bad directly bringing that up since it would've made her sound like she thought Ragna was lying or was more suspicious of him than she actually was by being so blunt.

Ragna let out a deep, guttural sounding sigh. "Should've figured you wouldn't believe that story either."

… Of course all that thought meant nothing when the other was blunt as a wrecking ball and could see right through Nonomi.

"Eh?" Nonomi recoiled back with some surprise and embarrassment. Well, she might as well take the direct approach if Ragna was too. "Well, it's not exactly that, sensei. It's just a little surprising to hear with how neglected the Abydos district has been. The Foreclosure Task Force isn't an official club after all."

Ragna frowned, some sympathy under his annoyed face. "Yeah… Well... It's not like Ayane didn't try to petition for help before and sent some information along with it, right?"

"Hm? Well, that's true. They actually kept that on record and cared enough to leave some notes?" Nonomi tilted her head and tapped her cheek a few times with her index finger. That was surprising to hear, but it did sound plausible. How else would he have known Ayane's message to SCHALE wasn't her first attempt asking for aid?

Ragna nodded, though the frustrated expression didn't leave his face. "Yeah, something like that. I haven't been here long and even I can tell the GSC was tied up managing this place even before the president went missing. I don't care how annoying as shit politics can be, but still wasn't right that they left you all to the wolves without doing a damn thing. Maybe somebody still felt bad about it or they at least thought about doing something eventually and still kept everyone in mind. Maybe the president was hoping I could help deal with it or something, I don't know. I don't have to worry about all the usual bullshit regulations. Well, some of them." Ragna's expression morphed into a scowl with his last sentence. But there also something else there, was it guilt? No, probably sympathy, that made more sense.

"Hmm…" Nonomi hummed to herself while she processed the information. The story did make some sense. Nonomi, of all of Abydos's students, understood how business and government could be a slow process with numerous layers to it. Abydos still wasn't remotely a priority for the General Student Council or else they would've done something earlier, it was practically insulting the lack of aid, but it would explain a few things about Ragna's knowledge. He knew a lot but not everything.

Nonomi's expression rose back to it's usual cheerfulness with a smile. "I guess that makes sense. I was certain the student council had forgotten about us~."

"Yep, guess not. Now, let's hurry up and go get Hoshino so we don't keep everyone waiting." Ragna said, starting to push past Nonomi abruptly.

"Ah, one second, sensei!" Nonomi grabbed Ragna's good arm with a firm tug to bring the man to a stop. "While it's topical, I had one more question."

Ragna pulled his hand away, looking back over his shoulder and only half turning toward Nonomi. "Fine, just make it quick. It's going to take enough time dragging Hoshino to the club room."

"If the General Student Council kept our records, did you see anything that'd indicate they recognized the Foreclosure Task Force?"

Ragna fully turned toward Nonomi, placing a hand on his hip, still scowling. "Nope, sorry. Just had a little description of everyone and how to reach you. Still just an unofficial club."

Nonomi's smile deflated somewhat. "Ah, that's too bad. I guess it was a bit much to hope for. But at least they paid even a little attention to us. That's more than any of us had expected."

"Don't start looking that depressed on me." Ragna said with a wave of his hand, sounding reassuring. "Maybe I can try getting something done about that once this is all over. Got plenty of crap to talk about with the GSC already so might as well throw that onto the pile."

The positive smile returned to Nonomi's face. "Really? That'd be great if you could, Ragna-sensei~! It sure pays to have adults in high places like you."

"We gotta deal with the current headache first." Ragna turned around, holding his hand up casually to his side and gesturing a few times for Nonomi to follow as he stepped down the hall. "So, come on. Let's go get Hoshino already. And if you can tell everyone else what happened here, it'd save me some trouble having to repeat it all again. Sure you're not the only one who thought about this."

"Coming~!" With a bounce in her step, Nonomi trotted after the man. She might as well lighten the mood a little while they headed over to get Hoshino. "Say, sensei."

"What?"

Nonomi stepped slightly ahead of the man with a light lean in her posture while keeping pace. "Since you're a teacher, when things have calmed down a little we'll have to have a real class together with everyone. I've always wondered what it'd be like to have one with a real adult teacher and not just blu-rays or a robot instructor~." Nonomi ended her words with an excited giggle.

Instead of the reaction Nonomi thought she'd get, Ragna stopped dead in his tracks, palm going right to the side of his head and fingers digging into his scalp. The man looked about ready to make internal screaming become external. The exasperated and weary words didn't help either. "Yeah, that's just my goddamn luck… Let's just focus on the current problem and worry about that later. A lot later."

"Hm? Something wrong?" Instead of tilting her head, Nonomi leaned even further with her body to punctuate her confusion.

"Noooooope, nothing you should worry about." Ragna immediately started walking with a more brisk pace after his exaggerated, exasperated words. "Let's hurry up already and get this damn meeting over with already."

Did she say something wrong? Wasn't it normal for a teacher, to, well, teach?

Well… Never mind that for the moment. She'd gotten to know Ragna a little bit and get a better idea of their character. He wasn't quite as rough as he'd given on a first impressions, but she still didn't know him that well. However, it was enough for her to feel more optimistic about the situation Abydos was facing, even if Nonomi couldn't fully shake the feeling there was more to what Ragna was saying.

Either way, she trusted him a bit more now and, hopefully, Ragna would be the aid Abydos needed to make some real progress in their situation. If whoever was behind the attacks on the school could be dealt with, then it'd give everyone much needed breathing room.

She just hoped it wasn't who she thought it was. If that was the case, then…

No, she could wait a little before worrying too much. Maybe Ragna would have more to say at the meeting. There weren't many other groups Nonomi could think of with the resources and interest in Abydos, but maybe she was overlooking something.

Hopefully...

 

[Omniwhatever]

Volume 1 Chapter 1: Setting the Board (VIII)​

Ragna had been both looking forward to and dreading the upcoming meeting. On the one hand, it'd be a chance to start pointing fingers toward the person behind all of it and get everyone onboard to do something about it. Things would be so much easier than the first time if he could get some proof before trying to deal with the Kaiser presence, learned that the hard way when he may've jumped the gun a little originally and caused a hell of a headache sorting it even if he was right. On the other hand, trying to actually prove it to Abydos at this point sounded like a bad time. Some of the girls were already a bit skeptical at best about his knowledge, and damn did he hate lying to everyone but he wanted to try and avoid telling them about a potential time loop till he had more information on it. They had enough on their shoulders for the moment. But he didn't have any real evidence right now nor an immediate idea on how to get good supporting evidence when that information had come from either other people or directly from ripping it out of Kaiser's base after he trashed it. He was starting to regret going after them so early last time with how many headaches it'd caused both immediately and long after the fact.

Hrm… Actually, that was a thought. Maybe he could make some time to hit Gehenna later and see if he could talk anything out of Hina as a lead. She already knew the information and seemed reasonable from what he could recall. Maybe he could do something with SRT and help the closure problem if he played things right concerning Kaiser too…

Well, those were thoughts for another time as it was time for the meeting in the same club room as always. Ragna had taken a spot to the side of Ayane and nearby a large whiteboard with some notes scribbled on it.

"Alright. Since everyone's present, let's begin this emergency meeting of the Abydos Foreclosure Task Force." Ayane spoke up, her voice formal yet still possessing a lightness to it. But as she continued, though still smiling, her words took on a subtle edge. "I'll remind everyone that Ragna-sensei in in attendance today, so I would hope for more decorum than usual between that and the subject matter…"

Man, Ragna really wasn't one for all these formalities, but he also knew how off the rails the Foreclosure Task Force could get if allowed to be caught up in their own momentum. So maybe it was for the best to just leave his personal gripes be.

A few acknowledging answers came from the rest, save for Serika giving an annoyed huff. "Come on. You say that like we've never taken it seriously before…"

He didn't wanna hear that from the girl who, without fail, brought in a scam every goddamn meeting.

"I know that this is ahead of schedule and everyone has their own work to keep up with, so let's jump right into the current order of business. The attacks on our school and who is behind them. We don't have much evidence to go on right now that could give us an idea of who is responsible, but we have to start somewhere, even if it's just crossing off possible suspects or a lead to investigate later." Ayane paused briefly, allowing her words to properly sink into the assembled group. "Does anyone have any ideas and would like to present them?"

"I got one." Ragna abruptly interjected and took a step forward in the same instant Ayane finished, drawing all eyes to him. No sense wasting time.

Ayane, and the rest of the girls, peered at him curious. "You have the floor, sensei. Who do you think it is?"

"I think it's the Kaiser Corporation." Ragna declared with a casual bluntness, hand on his hip.

The rest of the girls looked at Ragna like he'd sprouted a second head, except for Hoshino. With a hand resting against her palm propped up on the table, her sleepy, eyes half open expression suddenly vanished for a tenseness that lasted only a moment.

"What?" Serika looked almost offended by the statement. "Why would you even think that, that doesn't make any sense!"

Ayane raised her hand slightly to draw attention, keeping her voice diplomatic. "Sensei… We didn't tell you this yesterday, but Kaiser Loans is who we pay our debt to."

"Yeah! So why would they do something dumb like attack our school!? If we were to lose to those thugs harassing us, then they'll never get any money back." Serika crossed her arms, goddammit Ragna wished he could still do that, in an annoyed huff.

"And what if that's what they want?" Ragna fired back with an edge, raising his arm to the side and rolling his hand dismissively a few times for emphasis.

Hoshino let out a light yawn, straightening her posture and speaking casually. "That sounds like a pretty bad business strategy, you know."

"Nn, a company that big could take the loss though. But why would they want to?" Shiroko said with a pensive frown and curious twitch of her wolf ears.

Ragna turned his head to Ayane. "Hey, how long's it supposed to be till you pay back everything at the current rate? Don't need exact numbers, just a ballpark."

"Eh, um, well…" Ayane remained silent for a moment, a finger raised and slightly moving like she were recalling something. "After the last repayment, between the interest rate and how much we're able to pay per month... It was over 300 years…"

"And that's exactly my point." Ragna declared, gesturing back toward the rest of the girls. "You owe almost a billion yen. That's gonna take more years than everyone in here has been alive put together. I'm sure they never expected anyone to be crazy enough to actually try and pay it off and got sick of waiting. And if you can't pay money, then they can take what they're owed. One way or the other. I think you all know what that'd mean." Ragna let the implications hang, slowly looking around the room but at nothing in particular to beat the point in.

Nonomi frowned. "They'd foreclose the building and we'd lose our school if that happened."

"Arg, that still doesn't make any sense!" Serika interjected with an angry scowl. "What would they even want with a place like Abydos if not the money? Kaiser's the biggest company in Kivotos and not like there's anything super valuable here, if there was we'd already have paid off the debt! Even if they get this tiny spot and some of the other land, not like they'd even get much from it!"

… Oh, Ragna sure as hell wished he could've thought of a good excuse to shut that down, add that to his to do list for getting information. If only Serika knew how much Kaiser already owned. Well, he could still work with this.

"Think about the bigger picture, Serika." Ragna said with a groan, ignoring the glare it got him from the cat eared girl. "If you all got driven away or captured by somebody like the helmet gang, who the hell's supposed to even bother setting up a replacement school? If you can't pay the debt, then you don't have any damn money to do that even if that wasn't a problem. If you're gone, then there's nobody to stop them from doing more shady shit out here. They can start making moves into the district legally without needing to try covering it up if they want."

Hoshino tapped her fingers on the table a few times. "I don't know, sensei. That's a pretty hefty thing to say with how little we know. Sounds like a bunch of extra steps for nothing since Kaiser wouldn't need the debt to give a reason to chase us off even if it was them." Hoshino's voice ended with a hint of lightness. And if Ragna didn't know the girl well, he might've not though too much behind her statement. But know Hoshino he did and he could tell that scrutinizing look in her eyes was giving what he said more credit than her words did.

"I know organizations like this back where I come from and I did my research on the company, Hoshino." Ragna answered immediately, gesturing with his hand. He had done some beyond the issue of the warheads, but the man was also relying on what he knew in the original timeline. "Kaiser's the biggest company in this damn place and has their hands everywhere. If it exists, they have a branch for it. Banking, charity, manufacturing, military… The sheer size and resources mean they get away with all sorts of crap and they've always had a reputation for being shady on a good day. They've done more illegal things than this already. Don't know if any of you heard about it, but a bit back they got busted for making thermobaric warheads. Stuff that could flatten everything in a few kilometers. Corruption and coverup on that was goddamn huge."

"Oh!" Nonomi abruptly spoke up. "I don't remember all the details, but I think I heard a news report like that a while ago. Wasn't there something about the Office of Defense being involved too?"

Ragna nodded. "Yeah, something like that, but not important right now. Point is there's plenty of other shady crap anything Kasier related gets up to and you could write a book about it. Few times they've actually been caught it's always some bullshit of trying to pin it on some rogue executive of the company. Sometimes it works, but they've started getting a lot more scrutiny because of how many times somebody high in power just happens to be a corrupt asshole trying to keep a good public image. Being behind the attacks on the school would be completely up the alley of a company like that. Those bastards constantly push the law as far as they can and act like it's an obstacle at best."

"And that's not all." Seeing Hoshino was about to speak again, Ragna forcefully interjected before she could say anything. "Whoever's doing this both has a good reason to want to stay hidden, money to throw around hiring thugs, and is good at covering their tracks. That last one can take a lot of time, money, and experience. You remember what the Helmet Gang said yesterday, right? They wouldn't go through all that trouble to hide themselves if there wouldn't be a big problem getting discovered, like somebody high up in a company pretending to be normal with the resources to hire all those girls. Wouldn't have a reason to give a shit if they were already criminals like that and would make more sense to use everything on their own guys instead of another faction fighting as a proxy. So doesn't make sense for it to be any other gangs here."

The room went silent and Ragna could see the contemplative faces of the Task Force mulling over his words, uncertainty and interest in their expressions. Ragna knew he had some decent points to cast suspicion toward the company, but he still lacked some kind of solid smoking gun proving it beyond reasonable doubt. But that'd be fine if he could get the girls at least considering the possibility and investigating it more.

"That's still very circumstantial…" Ayane muttered, looking perturbed by the possibility regardless. "But if Kaiser were involved, that would make our situation significantly more dire."

Serika let out an annoyed groan, frowning aggressively. "That's still hard to believe. Hoshino-senpai has a point it'd be a lot for nothing."

"Got any better ideas?" Ragna huffed, matching the energy of her tone. "We don't have much evidence yet, but gotta start checking out any leads. Might as well throw out ideas and I think there's enough to look at Kaiser more."

Hoshino lazily turned her head to the side with a casual hum, eyes closed in thought. Her expression was contemplative, yet it wasn't overly heavy either. "Well, that's one thing, but you sound already convinced it's them."

"And what if I am?"

Hoshino's expression turned light, almost teasing. "Well, we should think about other ideas before getting too focused on one, could be something less serious. Tunnel vision's bad for an adult, sensei~."

"Shouldn't dismiss an idea just because you don't like what it implies either." Ragna answered back without blinking.

Hoshino's eyes narrowed.

The point itself normally wouldn't be bad, but Ragna knew he was right and that Hoshino tried to shoulder as many burdens, knowledge or otherwise, so that she could to keep things easier for the others. Come to think of it, in the first timeline Hoshino mentioned some interactions and offers from Kaiser in the past, hadn't she? Trying to keep things light again huh… With how little evidence they had, hopefully she wouldn't take the wrong conclusions from that. Maybe he'd have to talk with her again later just in case. Last thing he needed was Hoshino running off on her own again with how well that'd gone in the first timeline.

"Whaaaaaaaaat about another organization?" Nonomi suddenly interjected, lightly tapping her hands on the table a few times to draw attention. "Kivotos is a big place~. Some other companies have been caught trying to hide illegal activities. I heard about somebody who was once running a cram school trying to brainwash students into being their own workforce."

Ragna's face went flat as his voice. "That's one of the dumbest ideas I've heard come out of this place. Who even tries that?"

"A captive workforce can't run away~." Hoshino lightly chimed in, the hostility in her eyes gone like a switch had been flipped.

Of course the one who had the idea of kidnapping to get more students in his first time with Abydos wouldn't see a problem. At least that hadn't been a serious idea.

Maybe.

"Nn, Hoshino-senpai does have a point…"

Ragna's palm slammed right into his forehead. Oh, hell no. Not Shiroko too. "None of you better start getting ideas from that."

"Ahem!" Ayane loudly interjected, a restrained glare in her eyes that quickly wilted once everyone's eyes were on her. "Can we try to avoid straying too far off topic?"

At least he could count on somebody to be another voice of reason besides him.

"Alright, so suppose it's another group trying to chase you off and take the school themselves, sure, fine. That'd only cause problems for them." Ragna declared confidently. Maybe he needed a little different approach for the moment. "If you can't pay up, then Kaiser has the right to take whatever lying around to make up the debt. Which they can't do if somebody else decided to trash the place and take it themselves. Sure, maybe Kaiser writes it off, but with all the crap they've done in the past that was already illegal I don't think they'd take it lying down without trying to get revenge for messing with their business. Not unless it's somebody big enough to not be worth it. Know anyone else who'd have a lot of resources and an interest in Abydos that'd fit the description?"

Once more, the class went silent for a moment as everyone contemplated possible options. Notably, Ragna could see Nonomi fidgeting more than usual in her chair. Yeah… Her rich family could definitely fit that description, but yet again Ragna wasn't going to pull the pin on that grenade any time soon. He already had enough to try explaining. Hopefully, she wouldn't bring it up.

"Could it be another school?" Shiroko was the first to speak up. Her expression was rather neutral, but the slight flick of her animal ears betrayed the sudden burst of inspiration and curiosity that'd stuck her.

Hoshino stretched her shoulders in an exaggerated motion. "Mhm, the Abydos district doesn't have a lot of natural resources. It'd take a huge investment to build the district back up in its current state. Trying to manage a big project like that would be pretty hard if the main school wasn't already close to us. But who knows, maybe some school's as determined as we are to and wants to expand. It wouldn't do them much good with the desertification, but hasn't stopped us from trying~. Even if it's not the best land with every resource needing careful management, finding a huge patch of land to build on isn't easy in Kivotos. Even with how much is buried in sand, the Abydos district is one of the larger areas of Kivotos."

"It'd be cheaper to drive off whoever's already there than try to buy some land elsewhere. Whatever money's spent on supplying the Helmet Gang would be nothing compared to that." Shiroko commented, briefly glancing over to the rack where the rest of the girls had stored their weapons to free up hands for the meeting.

Ragna huffed, shaking his head. "I'm not convinced it's another school. Makes sense for you guys when this is your home, most schools are already huge as hell." The man was certain that Hoshino herself didn't even believe that possibility, but with how against the idea of it being Kaiser she was, or at least was outwardly, she was probably trying to bring up another remotely likely possibility as a distraction. He was gonna need some better evidence than this. If things went at all like last time, then maybe he could get some of that tomorrow though...

"Unfortunately, it sounds like we don't have anything concrete to go off of either way." Ayane said, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "But given everything, I think that sensei's right we're likely dealing with a bigger group with the resources to fund the Helmet Gang's attacks and cover their tracks."

Pausing, the girl picked up a marker and began writing a few notes on the white board, recapping some points that had been discussed in the form of two distinct categories for a large organization like Kaiser or another school. "Does anyone have any more specific ideas or names?"

"Those aren't exactly narrow categories…" Serika grumbled, putting her elbows on the table and chin in her palm.

Nonomi clapped her hands together a few times, putting on a reassuring smile and tone. "It might not be much, but at least we have a place to start~. That's better than being completely in the dark. The real question is what do we start investigating then?"

"I got an idea." Raising his hand lightly to command attention, Ragna spoke loudly. "Bet the bastard behind this knows we suspect them now, or will soon since we confronted the helmet brats about it. Not only that, but everyone's been resupplied so a simple attack again would be a dumb idea. I bet they'll step up the attacks to something bigger and we'll see another one pretty soon. Might be our chance to get some clues out of it."

Shiroko gave an affirming nod. "Nn, that could work. The Helmet Gang never let up for long and if someone's after the school, they won't give up easily. If they keep coming after us at the same rate then won't be more than a few days at most."

"That's one option, but is it really a good idea pinning our hopes on that, sensei?" Hoshino said with a skeptical look, rhythmically tapping her fingers on the desk like she were bored. "The Helmet Gang didn't have much to tell us so we might not get anything else this time."

Ragna shrugged casually. "Might happen, but we don't have a good place to start and if they were smart enough to not get found out so far, then I'll bet they're not dumb enough to expect the same plan to work. Trying to force their hand and get more involved might give us something to work with. If that doesn't work, then we'll just have to figure out where to start ourselves."

"I don't see too many other options right now." Ayane said with a resigned sigh. "There must be some kind of paper trail we could follow if we only knew where to begin, but right now it'd be like a shot in the dark trying to find anything conclusive with how little we know. I could try doing some more research into any larger entities around or within Abydos in the meantime, alongside Kaiser, but it might take a while without a starting point. I wasn't able to find much of anything yesterday with the short notice."

"Sure, fine." Ragna grumbled, holding back a sarcastic comment about having brought up a specific company. If they were lucky, then something would happen tomorrow anyway which he could use to make things simple and this clearly wasn't going anywhere. "Guess nobody else has any other ideas?"

Serika shook her head with an annoyed frown. "Better than nothing, but doesn't even feel like we're much further than where we started yesterday."

"Don't feel too bad, Serika-chan." Nonomi put a reassuring hand on the other's shoulder with a smile. "We've got to start somewhere and I'm sure we'll get something to go on soon~.

"Well, if that's it then, there's one more thing I wanna mention." Gesturing with his hand to the side, Ragna stated. "Like I said, whoever's behind this will probably try and step up the attacks and try something new, so think everyone should be careful for the next few days till we know what we'll be dealing with."

Serika leaned forward in her chair, glaring at Ragna. "Hey! We can take care of ourselves and don't need to be told that. We're not little kids you know! We only had trouble yesterday because we were almost out of supplies."

… If things went even close to the way they did the first time, Ragna was definitely not letting Serika live that comment down.

"Actually~," Surprisingly, Hoshino spoke up, wagging her finger a few times in Serika's direction. "Ragna-sensei's got the right idea. So far, the plan looks like it was to eventually exhaust us with repeated attacks, then swoop in for an easy win. But that's not going to work anymore, so makes sense to try something else. It'd be best to keep our eyes out for what that is. I'm sure we can handle it, but wouldn't hurt to be a little extra cautious till we know what they'll try."

Serika reclined in her chair, looking defeated. "I guess that's true..."

Oh, sure. When Ragna says it, he gets immediate and dismissive opposition. But when Hoshino says the same goddamn thing, Serika doesn't complain at all. Damn kids...

"Whatever they try, we'll be ready for it." Shiroko declared with a determined look, ears flattening slightly.

Ayane raised up a personal tablet, making a few motions on it that looked like she were taking notes. "Well, if nobody has anything else to say. I think that we can conclude this emergency meeting. Given the short notice, I don't want to take too much of everyone's time for their own work. We'll add this topic to our discussion at the regularly scheduled meeting next week and see if there's been any developments worth talking about and we've had enough time for our own investigations."

"Oh!" Nonomi's hand suddenly shot up with incredible enthusiasm that matched her cheerful face. "Actually, there's one thing I wanted to ask sensei~. I think it'd be good for the atmosphere."

A pit was forming in Ragna's stomach. This was going to suck, wasn't it? "… What?"

"Since we have everyone gathered here already and has school work to do, how about we have a group le-"

"Rejected." Ragna firmly interrupted with a raised voice. Oh, hell no! He wasn't getting dragged into this with all the other crap he'd already dealt with and still had to later. That was a problem for another day!

Nonomi frowning like a kicked puppy still made him feel a little guilty, however.

"Hm?" Hoshino suddenly perked up menacingly, a playful glint in her heterocromatic eyes. "This oji-san was getting tired and ready for a nap, but now I'm curious what kind of lessons an adult holdsv . A teacher's job is to help their students, right se~n~sei~?"

Ragna's hand slammed into the side of his hand, fingers scraping at his head in exasperation while he scowled. That little gremlin! This was revenge for last night, wasn't it? He should've expected this the moment Rin brought up teaching. This was always how Ragna's shitty luck turned out.

At least he had a valid excuse to put this off for now. "No, we're not doing this today. I didn't even have the time to look up what's taught here and prepare. Kind of hard to teach when I don't even know what to do. Sort of had to jump here on short notice with Ayane's urgent letter."

"Ah, if that's the case, then I'd be happy to show you some of the course material we have here to help you prepare, sensei! It's only right after you rushed here for our sake." Ayane spoke up with a 'helpful' smile that was anything but for Ragna.

… Shit, there goes his afternoon. Well, he was gonna have to do this eventually, may as well rip the bandaid off now. At least he could put off actually teaching with this an excuse to prepare.

"Sure… Fine…" Ragna didn't even bother hiding the tone that resembled a man who'd just been sentenced to death. "But no lessons today."

What a turn his life had taken.

---

Following the concerning emergency meeting, the rest of the day had proceeded rather normally, if still a bit tense. Ragna had gotten a proper tour of the school and started taking a look at some of the course material for Abydos, looking like a man marching to his execution doing so, while everyone else attended to their daily duties of the school. It gave Hoshino the perfect chance to rest for a bit and collect her thoughts, as the meeting had given her a lot to think about.

Ragna had been laser focused on accusing Kaiser from the beginning, he probably even planned it yesterday. By itself it would've been odd, but not unbelievable, with somebody who had arrived in Kivotos barely a week ago knowing so much of the company history, but it wasn't just that. On several topics, Ragna spoke as if he knew the answer already and was just trying to convince everyone else, but it wasn't being outrageously arrogant, it was something more, especially since parts of his story didn't right with Hoshino. "Guessing" the Helmet Gang had a sponsor the second he saw them was intuition that bordered on supernatural, unless he already was aware of it somehow. Yes, Kaiser was a shady company… But they also had an interest in Abydos, more specifically her. And if Ragna was accusing them after knowing about the Helmet Gang…

Well, Hoshino didn't like the potential implications and turning those thoughts over in her head had made the girl's already restless napping even more anxious.

She had some more digging to do and so come the end of the day, as the sun painted the sky from a vibrant blue to warm orange with its setting, Hoshino rushed up to Ragna as he departed from the school, with a wave and friendly mask. "Senseeeeeeeeeeei~, wait up!"

"Hm?" Just past the main gate, Ragna stopped his stride, turning back toward Hoshino. The man lazily raised his hand halfway in response to the girl's greeting. "Oh, hey Hoshino. Thought you'd still be resting."

"These old bones might get a bit creaky, but I can't juuuuu-" Hoshino drew out her words into an exaggerated yawn she took a moment to push away and continue. "-uuust sleep."

"Sure could've fooled me." Ragna commented with a sarcastic deadpan, though his expression was lighter with a smirk. "Didn't think I'd see you coming to me any time soon though. Figure you want to talk about what I said earlier, right?"

Hoshino nodded, not losing her friendly mask and lightly kicking some of the sand on the ground with one leg back and forth. No sense in trying to hide at least that. "You're sure sharp about this stuff, sensei. It's about what you said with keeping an eye out for any trouble."

"Yeah, what about it?" Ragna asked with a raised eyebrow, leaning his body against the brick wall surrounding the school.

"You've been staying out in the abandoned buildings in the desert, right?" Hoshino said, leaning forward slightly toward the man. "Where have you been camping? I'm guessing it's gotta be somewhere close by, right?"

Perhaps it was being unusually direct, but Ragna clearly already picked up on her suspicions and while she wasn't going to completely give up hiding some of her distrust, she could be more forward than she would've typically gone about something like this. The man had, after all, said he was totally fine with Hoshino watching him till he did something to earn any trust. If she had the go ahead, then Hoshino was going to use that to the fullest. This'd be quicker than trying to hunt down where he was herself and current matters gave her a perfect excuse without arousing too much suspicion. Hoshino would give Ragna a chance and more investigating was simply part of it. How did the saying go again? Trust, but verify? There had to be something more to this.

"It's not too far from here. Go past the first few groups of buildings and it'll be the larger silver one off by itself with only 3 floors not buried." Pointing out toward the desert and away from most of civilization, with barely a glance in the direction, Ragna stated. "What's got you suddenly so worried about that?"

"Hm? Sensei, you're the one who said we should be careful in case they try something new, right? It'd be bad if nobody knows where you are and something were to happen, you know. Keeping a girl waiting all alone in the cold dark for a secret meeting of the night after inviting yourself to it would be bad form, sensei~." Hoshino finished with a light tone of teasing and a playful smile. Important as this was, it didn't mean Hoshino couldn't have a little fun with it when Ragna had been so merciless in his teasing during their first meeting. She still had an act to keep up anyway.

Ragna's expression went flat, hand slamming into his face with a groan and barely covering the exasperated sneer on his lips. "Do you have to phrase it like that?"

"Uhe~, phrase it like what? Most people would be happy to know their cute student was worried about them." Hoshino answered with an obviously fake pout.

Ragna's hand slowly slide down his face, dragging his skin with it to make him look even more annoyed. "Know what, forget I said anything. Guess I did say you could keep an eye on me anyway… If that'll make you relax, then fine stop by whenever you feel like it and see for yourself."

"I'm just doing what you said. Too late to take it back now~." Hoshino added with some more lightness, though internally the frustrations wouldn't fully go away. She hadn't been subtle, sure. However, once more, she felt like an open book to Ragna to where she may as well said she wanted to know where he was because she half suspected he was doing something sneaky and gotten the same results. Was there even a point to trying with him? Well, if he liked being direct, maybe it was worth pushing things a bit further...

"But, sensei. There's one more thing I wanted to ask…" Hoshino's expression and tone fell somewhat, smirk leaving her and eyes narrowing. It wasn't overly serious, but it lacked the same casualness she typical had. "Is there any other reason you think it's the Kaiser Corporation?"

"Yep, that's what I was waiting for." Ragna muttered to himself with resignation. "No, I basically told you why in the club room. I'm still convinced it's them and we won't have to wait long to find out with the kind of company it is. You've been dealing with the debt the longest out of everyone and have the most experience with Kaiser, so you understand what I mean about that piece of shit company, right?"

Hoshino paused, carefully thinking her answer over and expression becoming a pensive frown. By itself, that statement was innocuous enough, but yet again with everything else Ragna could intuit from seemingly thin air, Hoshino couldn't shake the feeling there was… More behind his statement. Did he know about all the times Kaiser, or more specifically that one creepy man in a black suit, bothered her?

It sounded paranoid and brought to mind Ragna's words from yesterday. Maybe a part of her was being a little overly suspicious of the adult and ready to jump on the smallest thing he did. But she couldn't just dismiss the feeling outright, not without knowing the man more. Ragna had said they had experience with entities like Kaiser though, perhaps he was doing the same thing to the company as Hoshino was doing to him?

"Mhm… Kaiser's not the best company, but it's still a lot to jump to at this point." Hoshino finally answered, keeping her voice level. After a brief pause, she continued with some concern lacing her words. "Whoever it is, since you're the one who figured out somebody was behind the Helmet Gang, aren't you worried that might make you a target if you're off by yourself so often?"

Thought part of her reasons for this whole exchange was more digging, that didn't mean some real worry couldn't motivate it. Strong Ragna was, this was potentially a big enemy. Cautious as she felt, that didn't mean Hoshino wished harm on the other without doing something to deserve it.

"Oh, I'm counting on that." Ragna stated without any hesitation or worry, lips curved into a confident smirk.

Hoshino blinked and then sighed, shoulders slumping. "Sensei's being a bad adult, not practicing what he preaches."

"I don't wanna hear the girl patrolling the district every night trying to lecture me about being careful either." Ragna answered flatly, eyes slanted. "I'm experienced with this kind of stuff and know what I can handle. Whenever they do step up the attacks, they're not gonna pull out all the stops immediately. And I'm banking on that giving us a chance to catch Kaiser doing something while it's still at a level that's easy to handle. If I can throw a tank down the street, then I can take care of whatever they do here."

Well, that wasn't the most unreasonable thing. Hoshino could even relate to the idea a bit. The girl was strong and knew it, she'd never lost a direct fight before, so any worry was more about the others. The less attention on them the better.

"But anyway, there's one more thing I wanted to say, Hoshino." Words softening, Ragna continued before Hoshino could think of a response.

Hoshino tilted her head curiously. Ragna had that voice again, that unusually sincere one he used the day before when telling her a little about his past.

"I get we don't have much to go on right now, but don't think about running off doing something stupid on your own because of it, got it?" The man's words were firm, but there was concern under them and in his eye.

"Huh? Where's all the sudden concern coming from?" Hoshino recoiled a little in confusion before she could put her composure back together to something more casual. "Ah, I guess all this old timer's napping makes me look like a bad student, huh~. Or maybe-"

"Hoshino. Cut the crap."

The girl went quiet from Ragna's harsher words, face turning into an annoyed frown.

"You're already going around keeping the district safe without anyone finding out and this is a big threat to the school. I know you can take care of yourself, but if you're gonna do more digging on this yourself, then you don't have to tell me, but don't run off without telling somebody first." Ragna looked directly at Hoshino's eyes all the while he spoke, words stern, yet understanding. He actually looked concerned for her.

Hoshino let out a long sigh, a grumble even, before matching Ragna's gaze with a scrutinizing one and lower voice. "I wasn't going to do anything, sensei. But like you said, I can take care of myself too."

The thought had definitely occurred to her. With how in the dark everyone else was, besides seemingly Ragna, Hoshino had a potential lead to follow up with on Kaiser, but that was her business. If it could get anything to go on compared to how aimless the investigation currently felt, it was important to think of every option, even if not her first choice.

"Yeah, I know you can handle yourself in a fight." Ragna said, finally standing up straight instead of leaning on the wall again. "Still easy to get in over your head if you try to do everything yourself. Got bit in the ass a few times rushing off to deal with something I thought I could handle but couldn't. Just remember what I said, alright?"

Hoshino waved her hands a few times dismissively. The girl tried to lighten her tone, but it was getting harder to keep pretending everything was casual, so best to not drag out the conversation further. "Alright, alright. I'll be careful and think twice about anything, so you don't have to keep worrying about me, sensei."

Well, if it was past experience again, that explained a little bit but why was he focusing on her with it all the time? Yeah, she was the kind of person to shoulder what she could to keep the burden light on her fellow students, it was her responsibility as the oldest to not make a careless mistake putting the others in trouble, but aside from that one damn time a while back, she hadn't failed ever since then. So she wouldn't fail. She couldn't fail.

Ragna let out a huff, not looking entirely convinced by her words yet again, but none the less turning around and starting to walk away. "Fine, just watch yourself and get some sleep. I'll see you later tonight, Hoshino."

Hoshino lightly waved back at the man till he was decently far away and she began the journey back to her own home for some rest, a tense frown on her face.

Ordinarily, Hoshino might've laughed off the situation to try and get some peace on her own investigation and Ragna off her back, but with Ragna that just… Didn't work. Every time it was like he could somehow see through the normal facade. Any kind of mask, any kind of act, it may as well not existed. As if he already knew her, Ragna could see exactly her intentions just like he knew somebody was behind the Helmet Gang.

And Hoshino just… Couldn't wrap her head around Ragna being friendly and even actively reaching out to her specifically multiple times with the clear problems, yet still being respectful enough to only do it in private despite his blunt as bricks personality. Especially when he somehow knew her intense suspicions of the adult. Hoshino had her reasons to maintain some outward civility in that Ragna was currently helping Abydos and even if a person didn't like somebody, sometimes the task at hand was bigger than one's personal feelings. But, she couldn't figure out Ragna's angle.

She had said she'd give him a chance, but Hoshino couldn't stop herself constantly wondering why even with that. It couldn't be that he simply cared with no strings attached, right? That idea was even more outlandish than his knowledge, adults didn't do that. What could a person like her do to even deserve that kind of care?

Hoshino shook her head, no she didn't want to get too deep into those thoughts again. She didn't trust him yet, but she was going to at least give him the opportunity to prove if he only deserved a little suspicion vs a lot. A surprise visit to pick him up for the nightly patrols would be a decent chance there, maybe the unexpected drop-in would let her find something.

---

The sun had long since set over the deserts of Abydos, replacing the brilliant blue skies with a dark one filled by glittering distant stars. It made for a quiet, almost peaceful environment for Ragna as he sat around a campfire after a round of sword practice. He was once again joined by Arona, who had still not ditched her camping clothes, sitting beside him.

But nothing could be relaxing for the man with the sour tumble his thoughts were in.

"Senseeeeeeeeeei, if you keep frowning like that your face is going to look even more grumpy all the time!" Arona said with a drawn out whine.

"Hey!" Ragna lightly pushed at the girl's shoulder. "I don't look mad all the time, dammit!"

Arona promptly and childishly mirrored the gesture with far less success at moving Ragna so much as a centimeter. "Do too! Otogi-san said so at SRT!"

"And I'll say what I did then, it's not my fault my right eye doesn't work!" Ragna shouted back, definitely not helping his point glaring at Arona. Realizing that after a second, the man let out a guttural sigh and leaned his head into his palm, arm propped up on his knee. "Oh, forget it, not in the mood right now."

Hugging her knees to herself, Arona's expression fell to a concerned frown. "Something wrong, sensei? You seem like something's bothering you compared to yesterday."

Ragna, once more let out a deep sigh, this time slower and more tired. Well, if he was gonna be glued to the hip with Arona, might as well get it off his chest. "Yeah, guess you could say that. Know it's probably for the best right now, but sure feel like shit lying to everyone when I have to keep pulling answers out of my ass."

Half the time he tried to get answers to things in his own adventures, he was the one given cryptic bullshit instead of getting to the point. Now, here he was being the person giving cryptic bullshit out, funny how life worked. At least he was trying to be more straightforward than he got before...

"Oh…" Arona's words were low as her expression, but it only lasted a second as the light came back to her features with a reassuring smile. "Well, if you already know what's going to happen and who's behind it, then stopping Kaiser this time should be easy!"

"Yeah, once I get something to work with." Ragna grumbled with a scowl. "Might've tried pushing a bit too hard too early when there's jackshit to go on. Should get something solid tomorrow if nothing big changes though. I'd rather get through this without having to burden those girls with all the timeline crap if I can help it, they got enough on their shoulders. Doesn't always go the best when people learn about it."

Arona tilted her head curiously. "You said you'd been through this kind of stuff before, did something happen?"

"Something like that." Ragna straighted up somewhat and leaned backward on a piece of rubble. "You gotta keep something in mind, Arona. I remember when an Intervention happens. Those girls sure don't, so it'd be much worse if they found out."

"Eh? Wait, how is that worse? Wouldn't it better to not remember what happened? You wouldn't have to be always thinking about all the bad things that might've happened and constantly worrying about how to avoid them because it'd be just like any normal day…" Arona's voice trailed off slightly as she finished, some of her usual energy lacking, but she quickly fixed that with a shake of her head, trying to return back to her usual energy. "I know you've had a lot on your mind because of it too!"

Ragna shook his head, a heavy weight in his eye while looking at Arona and lecturing in a firm voice. "That's the problem. Let me put it like this. Imagine you find out the world can repeat itself while you forget everything between resets. Everything you do, all the people you know, all the accomplishments you make good or bad. You'll be stuck constantly repeating that without even realizing it. Imagine those girls found a way to pay off the debt by some miracle, what they're struggling every day to do, and can finally have a normal school life for once. Except it doesn't matter, because they could go right back to the beginning and being into debt and repeat that exact thing 10, 100, or 1000 times. Oh, sure, they'll forget if another loop happens… But think about how they'd feel this time. That's a special kind of existential hell."

Arona recoiled back with wide, distressed eyes and her halo appearing like it was glitching with parts phasing in and out of existence. "T-That's a really negative way to look at it, sensei! And if it only happens once, then it won't be a big problem!"

Ragna let out a scoff, slightly mixed with a dark, low chuckle while looking at the crackling fire. "Hey, relax. That's not how I look at things, so don't expect me to start spouting about everything being meaningless. We're aware of it and so we can do something about it. But that's the situation nearly my whole world was in. And some people took it a lot worse than I did when finding that out."

Arona relaxed, shifting herself closer to Ragna with a curious, yet worried, glint.

"To make a really long story short, knew a woman called Nine. Her head was already kind of messed up for another reason by the time she found out the truth, so might not have reacted so bad if she was in her right mind but, well, when she figured out she'd been fighting through the same war to save the world a ton of times and things went back to square one every time, she got the idea in her head to destroy and remake everything to change it." Ragna lectured with a heavy voice, eye clouded with memories. The fire wasn't helping matters. The warm glow took on an almost nostalgic warmth to it with the topic. She always did use a lot of fire magic. His relationship with Nine had definitely been… Difficult and rarely did they get along, but he would've preferred if he hadn't had to kill the woman that was Jubei's wife and Celica's sister to stop her.

An awkward silence hung in the air. Arona always seemed to lose some of her usual energy when discussing the time loop issue. It wasn't exactly the lightest after all.

"So," Ragna raised a hand to finally break the silence. "I don't think anyone would suddenly go crazy or anything, but point is that it's a lot to have weighing you down on top of everything. Rather try to figure shit out before I tell them if I can help it so there's less to freak out over. It's a lot not keeping or keeping your memories of all this."

Arona gently rocked back and forth a few times in her huddled up position, looking at the fire with a contemplative look in her eyes.

"Plus, I've been on the other end of that too. Trust me, it's weird as shit when somebody you never met shows up who knows you better than you know yourself. Can already tell Hoshino's starting to get a bit pissed at me for it." Seeing the girl's somber mood, Ragna said with a slight subject change and wave of his hand.

Sure, he was being a bit forceful with Hoshino, but at the same time it was exactly because of that knowledge Ragna was doing so, even if it might strain things a bit in the short term. He knew Hoshino had some issues to deal with that she kept buried deep and well hidden, even from the rest of Abydos. Though it was gonna take some time and he'd meet resistance, somebody had to help that girl and he was the only one who knew how badly she needed it. He wanted to avoid it coming out as a horrible mistake, like last time, if he could. Hoshino had tried to be a self-sacrificing idiot the first time and sold herself to Kaiser, it'd absolutely be within possibility she'd poke around herself and do something foolish trying to shoulder everything herself when Ragna was pointing fingers this early.

Arona perked up a little, shifting her head back and forth with a nervous chuckle. "Ehehe… I guess I can see how that'd be weird, especially if you also knew you knew the person but just can't remember. But something'll happen tomorrow to give us some real evidence so we can nail the bad guys easy, right?"

"Will get us started at least." Ragna said with a shrug. "Things were a bit different the first time around, so might not go exactly the same. Bastard sent some people to try kidnapping Serika, but also sent thugs after me since I was being a pain in the ass taking out hideouts for the Helmet Gang but wasn't formally with Abydos or anything like now and drifted around the district. That failed, so the dumbass tried calling me through the girl's phones thinking they could pay off and hire me like I was some kind of mercenary he got off on the wrong foot with since I kind of just appeared in this place out of thin air. Waste of my goddamn time, but at least got to hear his voice. That came in handy later at the base way out in the desert they're hiding."

A positive smile quickly spread over Arona's face while she leaned closer toward Ragna like a curious child. "Sounds like you've already got a plan figured out then, sensei!"

"Something like that." Ragna said with a casual wave of his hand. "No idea how much might change compared to last time and throw things off, so keeping everything a little fast and loose. I still got some plans though. Rather not have to go out and deal with Kaiser myself if I can help it, especially before we get enough evidence to prove it. Fallout from that was in a pain in the ass." Sure made for a hell of a first meeting with the GSC though, the President especially.

Arona giggled nervously, sweating a little. "Ehehe… I can imagine…"

"Speaking of-" Ragna retrieved his phone from his pocket, shaking it a few times in Arona's direction. "Call Miyako for me, Arona. Might be a bit early for it, but the girls looked depressed about the school's state and haven't given them up an update on the SRT thing. Might as well give them something to look forward to while we do some digging. They should still be up."

Arona's eyes shifted back and forth between Ragna and the phone. "You're planning to get SRT involved in this?"

"Sure am. SCHALE can recruit any students. Just need to get enough evidence to get moving. Kaiser's good at covering their tracks, so should be easier to get solid proof of the shady shit they're doing from their base directly. Going to need somebody better with stealth than I am since that's never really been my style, not really the Abydos student's either. Know they're not going to be jumping with enthusiasm to ask for another school, but getting SRT to put the final nail in the coffin after we get everything else shouldn't be that bad. The school already got involved with Kaiser once and it's facing a potential shutdown too, think both sides'll be sympathetic in wanting to help out a bit." Ragna lectured.

"In that case…"

A few seconds later, after some ringing, Miyako's voice came through Ragna's phone. "Hello, sensei?"

"Hey, Miyako. Been working a few things and had some news to tell you about SRT." Ragna greeted with a friendly tone.

"You do? What's the report?" The girl's voice brightened up noticeably.

"Two things, but don't get too excited yet." Ragna said, a light dose of dry sarcasm entering his words. "Firstly, going to be meeting up with Rin next week to talk more about SRT's situation and see what I can do there. No idea if it'll go well, but if it doesn't, I got another idea in mind. Might be a little bit before anything gets moving on this one though."

The sounds of furious taps and slow words came from Miyako's end, was she taking notes or something? "Meeting… Next… Week… Okay. Thank you for the status update, but this sounds a little premature to tell us..."

"Just listen to me before you start judging. That's not the big news I called you for." Ragna shot back with a sarcastic edge before reigning in his voice to something more diplomatic as he proceeded. "Doing some digging around over in the Abydos district. Somebody's funding gangs to attack the school to try driving off the last couple students to get the school closed. Because of who I think is behind it, think it'd be the exact kind of thing SRT is meant for. Part of the problem is that since the president went missing, there's been nobody able or willing to step up and take charge of the school, so everything's been sitting there and wasting away. But if the students were to do something and show SRT's still important dealing with shit like this…"

There was a brief pause, alongside a few more taps, before Miyako spoke, her words slow and contemplative. "… Then that would help prove the school's purpose to anyone trying to shut it down… The idea is sound, but SRT isn't some personal attack force to be used lightly or for personal gain, sensei. Who do you think is responsible that's so important?"

"Kaiser Corporation." Ragna delivered bluntly, letting the accusation hang in the air before he continued. "That other group, FOX Platoon, dealt with them in the past because the company was making illegal weapons. They're a bunch of shady bastards and whoever's behind this would need a hell of a lot of money and experience to fund all this while covering their tracks so well. The school here is facing the potential of being shut down, like SRT, if the students get drive off since there's only a couple left. Think you could both help each other out here. I already know SCHALE can get help from any students, which means that I can let SRT officially move if nobody else is gonna give a damn."

The pause this time, accompanied by a thoughtful hum from Miyako, was a long one as the girl absorbed everything Ragna had said.

"It does make sense, when you put it like that… That's a big accusation to level though, sensei. If you had enough evidence for reasonable suspicion, that would be an operation for SRT." Miyako said, cautious optimism leaking into her words.

"Woah, hey. What's this about an operation?" Saki's muffled, distant voice came from the other end of the line.

"Are we finally going to get to blow something up?" Moe's soon followed.

"Give me a minute, sensei."

With Ragna left hanging, he heard some muffled discussion between the four members of RABBIT Platoon. He could make out a few things among the chatter, namely Miyako providing a few details to recap what Ragna had said.

"Alright, I'm putting you on speaker now, sensei. Please, continue." After a few minutes of being forced to be a bystander, Ragna heard Miyako's clear voice once more.

The man cleared his throat. "Right, where was I? Ah, so anyway I'm still finding enough dirt on them, wanna have enough so Kaiser can't weasel their way out of this no matter what comes out. They've clever and aren't making it easy. I already got a plan, but need a little more before everything can get moving. Gonna get some more evidence here and then think we'll need your school to get the last little bit to nail them, so you can be certain it's the right move. Wouldn't ask you to until then. I'll give you the full details once I got everything together, kind of a long story and it's getting late."

"You sure as hell sound confident on who it is. But you still don't have enough to tell us so we can move out yet?" Ragna could practically hear the skeptical frown on Saki's face.

Ragna let out an annoyed grunt. "Look, a lot's happened the past two days and might find a lot of new shit to talk about soon if it keeps going at this rate. Yeah, yeah. I know it's not much to go on right now, but if everything keeps going well I don't think it'll take too long. Thought you all could use something resembling good news with the state of the school. This place is getting harassed and could close down if whoever's behind this wins, so thought about you girls."

"I see…" Miyako murmured, that same cautious, yet hopeful tone in her voice. "Actions speak louder than words. But… Thank you, sensei. RABBIT will standby for further intel then. We have a lot to discuss."

"I-It's more attention t-than we've gotten from anyone else…" Miyu's gloomy voice added.

Ragna grinned to himself. Perfect, things were going well. "Oh, yeah. One more thing though, feel free to tell FOX about this too. They dealt with Kaiser before, so their experience could be useful. If this is as big as I think it is, the more the better."

"I'll discuss it with them after RABBIT has our own talk. Is that all to report?" With some casual friendliness in her voice now, Miyako said.

"That's it, night everyone." Ragna said, hanging up the phone after the four girls gave their own farewells.

Had he not literally known the future, in a manner of speaking, Ragna wouldn't have been as confident in trying to set up so many things in advance like this. But he knew Kaiser would escalate attacks, he knew they had a massive base out in the desert that'd be ripe for getting information, and most importantly he knew ways to get that information. He just needed a little bit more time to make it all fall into place.

"You sound like you thought of everything, sensei! But if you're all done with your planning-" Arona was suddenly cut off by a loud growl of her stomach. The girls cheeks rapidly started turning an embarrassed pink in response.

"How do you even get that hungry? Aren't you supposed to be an AI? That body you're observing isn't even real." Ragna commented with a flat sarcasm.

"I-I still need energy, just like you!" Arona whined with a flail of her arms, red faced. "The Shittim Chest doesn't run just off napping!"

Ragna huffed. "Could've fooled me with how much you enjoy sleeping."

Arona's cheeks puffed out in a pout. "Uuu… Sensei, you meanie! I only slept so much lately because you keep staying up super late! I won't forgive you for this, even if you buy me another piece of cake!"

Ragna let out a low, guttural groan. "Alright, alright. I'm gonna put some food on the camp fire now so you can eat soon. It's the weekend tomorrow, so go ahead and catch up on your sleep. We got a busy day tomorrow, but not till later."

"Jiiiiiii…" Arona continued to stare childishly at the man with a pout.

Ragna hung his head. "Okay, you want food? I'll get you something to go from Shiba Seki Ramen tomorrow since that's one of our stops. Real good place for a meal. Happy?" With how quickly he'd be able to get it to Arona, some of the usual hurdles getting ramen to go wouldn't be an issue.

All the immature complaining instantly vanished from Arona's face, instead replaced by a wide eyed enthusiasm. "Promise?"

"Yes, just stop looking at me like I broke your favorite toy already." Ragna huffed. Yes, okay, sure, food was an easy way to make people shut up and be happy in his experience, and he had offered. But Arona was clearly fishing for something with her tantrum. What the hell was it with him always getting extorted for a free meal?

"Deal!" Arona's smile was so radiant it would've been hard to imagine how sour she looked mere seconds ago, like a switch had been flipped.

Damn kids…

Well, at least he could count on things to really get moving tomorrow. But, the man still had a long day. He'd cooked up a meal for himself and Arona, but while she had crashed for the night, Ragna still had to meet up with Hoshino.

"Senseeeeeeeeei~! Are you up there?"

… Or Hoshino could meet up with him? What the hell, he could even sense her presence to go with the voice.

Peering over the roof down several stories, Ragna saw the small pink haired girl near the base of the building, waving up toward him with one hand, shotgun in the other and folded up Iron Horus riot shield strap draped over her shoulder. Not wasting a moment, the man leaped through the window and landed with a dull thud upon the cool desert sand. "Hoshino? The hell you doing here?"

"Hm?" A teasing smile spread over her face. "Did you already forget our earlier conversation? I'm just checking up on you to make sure everything's all fine. This is what you said I could do. I know us old folk don't always have the best memory, but you're pretty forgetful today, sensei~."

Motherfu-

Ragna's face went completely flat as he stared at Hoshino judgmentally. "Hoshino, I swear to god, if that's supposed to be a comment about my hair… There's a bunch of girls younger than me who have white or grey hair! Hell, that includes Shiroko. Why do I keep getting so much shit for it!?"

"It's not that unusual in Kivotos, but you're not from here and isn't it usually a sign of old age outside of here?" Hoshino said, the smile not leaving her face.

Ragna's palm slammed into the side of his head. "This happened when I was younger than your ancient ass. My hair used to be blonde, goddammit."

Hoshino squinted her eyes, staring at Ragna's white head of hair like she were trying to image another color. "Iya~, that's kind of hard to imagine, sensei. What turned it white?"

"Stress." Ragna answered with a guttural deadpan. Yeah, he wasn't about to go into what happened at the church attack again and kill the mood of the conversation. "You come here to look around or just talk my ear off? Didn't think you'd show up on the first night like this."

"Uhe~, I didn't catch sensei doing anything naughty, did I?" Hoshino said with a slight lean forward. Though her words were casual, the girl's stare was scrutinizing and observant.

There were a few meaning being implied there, weren't there...

Ragna rolled his eyes. "What kind of crap do you think I'm even doing out here? You want a tour or something so I can show you there's not anything worth a damn? That's why you're here, right?"

"Huh?" Hoshino recoiled back and blinked a few times, visibly trying to restrain her surprise at the total lack of resistance. "Er, well, if you're inviting me, then I won't say no~."

Making a gesture for Hoshino to follow, Ragna rocketed back up to the roof and turned just in time to see Hoshino land behind him. The shorter girl's eyes immediately started scanning over the area closely, narrowed and like she were looking for anything out of place. But the search only lasted a moment before Hoshino's head turned in confusion.

"The campfire's the only thing you have here?" Hoshino commented almost to herself. Was that pity in her eyes? "Sensei, how do you sleep here when you don't even have a bed? Hard floor always made this ojisan's back hurt."

Ragna scoffed. "Hey, excuse me for not running a 5 star hotel out of an abandoned building. It didn't have one so I didn't feel like going through the trouble of dragging one over. I've had worse places to rest than this and I'm pretty used to having only my coat to sleep with."

Not answering, Hoshino curiously wandered around the concrete roof, further inspecting the area, including some holes which let her see onto the floor below it.

"If you're expecting to find any buried treasure, not gonna find anything but some food in the sand." Ragna commented sarcastically and immediately mentally slapped himself for it. Ah, hell he didn't know Hoshino well enough yet for that comment on her interests to make much sense. Eh, it was at least innocent enough it should slip by without a problem.

With one last scan of the area, Hoshino pivoted on her heel to look back at Ragna. The girl had a confused frown. "Hah… Guess there's really not much to look at here."

Well, at least she was being more honest about her intents now, that was progress.

"What kind of places did you stay this isn't bad though…?" Hoshino said with a curious squint at the man.

"Places where I had to worry about some wild animal deciding I looked like an easy meal, so this is already a huge upgrade." Ragna answered flatly. "If you wanna know, I'll tell you while we're going around Abydos. Got a long night so we better get moving. Might as well fill it with something to talk about."

Hoshino let out a small yawn. "I guess you're right, sensei. We can't waste too much time standing around here."

Ragna turned back and jumped off the roof to the sand below. Shouldn't be too much longer till he could really get events moving, if all went well. He couldn't get too comfortable though, things would eventually start changing significantly, there were things he had to change. But until then, he'd leverage everything he could to his advantage.

---

"He's planning what?"

It was a late night for Yukino, but not one she was unaccustomed too by this point. A few quiet meeting places had been established in order to contact the Director of Defense at the General Student Council, Shiranui Kaya, who was currently standing before the FOX Platoon member in the form of a translucent hologram which gave her features a general blue tint, though the defining characteristics still stood out. She had the same long white dress all members of the General Student Council wore, with blue and gold highlights in various areas. Her pink hair was done up in a braid crown with longs bangs that went past her shoulders and an ahoge. The girl's halo was a thin circle of light yellow with what looked two small stars at opposite ends. But the most striking things were her eyes. Narrow enough to appear typically closed, they were now opened to reveal a perplexed set of green, with unusual shaped pupils like a goat's.

"That's the report. I find it's premature with how little evidence he has, but Ragna-sensei sounds convinced it's Kaiser and thinks SRT's involvement could help our school's status." Yukino stated matter of factually, keeping her expression flat. She wanted to wait to see Kaya's thoughts. Ragna's plan felt presumption and naive, at least from the little she had heard, but if he was right then it wasn't entirely without merit. SRT hadn't taken any action in some time.

Kaya tapped her white gloved hand to her cheek a few times, pensive frown spread over her features. "How in the world did he figure that out already? They just arrived in Kivotos."

"… You're saying he's correct?" Yukino asked slowly, blinking a few times. The girl was aware Kaya was making some dealings with Kaiser, powerful allies would be needed for her long term goals of leading the General Student Council. But did she know about this and do nothing?

Kaya dismissively waved her hand a few times. "Well, I can't be certain. I don't know the extent of Kaiser's operations in Abydos, but I do know they have a significant presence there and I can't think of anyone else who would be interested. The district was already falling into a sorry state for a long time and would've fallen anyway, but they did ask me to turn a blind eye to help push things along. Not that I would've needed to be asked or been able to do much, even if I wanted to."

"You sound like you already made plans for Abydos a while ago." Yukino asked with a hint of curiosity, body feeling rigid and tense. Something about this didn't… Entirely sit right with her, but Kaya always had a plan for everything and worked far in advance of her current goals. It wasn't like she was questioning the plan, but further intelligence was rarely a bad thing, particularly if it would be something that had to be dealt with soon.

"Of course!" Kaya said with a shameless, smug grin. "The Abydos District has been declining for years, even before my appointment to the General Student Council, and it's been something we could never deal with, but after the president disappeared and we had to commit resources to ensuring the safety of everything else, the district practically became a safe haven for criminals since the school barely exists, let alone has the manpower to properly police itself like other academies. Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to have a place like that around as the Chief of Defense? This isn't like a black market, this is one of the biggest districts in Kivotos!"

The girl's tone and face darkened before she continued, a near teeth gritting scowl on her. "A real superhuman could fix the problem, but there's no hope of that on the horizon as things currently stand. But if I had power, I could've forced the General Student Council to act before it got to this point, but we're past that. If the school were to collapse under the current leadership though, that would be seen as a failure for the Acting President… It's unfortunate, but an opportunity presented itself and I'd be a fool to not take it to serve as an example of what not to let happen again. Sometimes, you need to skirt the rules and sacrifices are needed to ensure they won't happen again, but you already know that. Right Yukino?"

Yukino paused. Oh, she knew that quite well. Reality was often unkind and didn't work out perfectly like a story. That had been a harsh lesson she had to face, no matter how much she had believed in that at one point. However, that didn't mean she had to like it, even if she accepted it. If Ragna was right about Kaiser though, then perhaps there was some merit to his plan and less harm would be needed, particularly since at least SRT would be revived when Kaya took power, the same could not be said for Abydos. It was the first time there was any plan beyond Kaya's own... But what reason would she have to place that much faith in a man she barely knew? Perhaps it'd delay her school's fate, but avert it? Kaya had a plan for that, but that annoying nagging in her head wouldn't leave Yukino alone.

"Yes, I'm aware…" The girl answered lowly, hand on her hip, fingers digging into her side.

"But anyway," Kaya's tone dropped as her brows furrowed, finger to her chin. "I haven't had a chance to meet Ragna-sensei yet, but they're certainly bold if they're planning a move like this so soon. It would be in their authority to have SRT act, however. Hrm…" The girl fell quiet, humming to herself for a few seconds in thought.

"Ah!" Kaya's lips suddenly curved into a wide smile. "Actually, this might work out even better than my original plans. We might be able to use this. You said he's scheduled to visit Sanctum Tower sometime next week?"

"Affirmative. No exact date has been set, however."

Kaya's smile turned almost sinister. "If the timing lines up, then I might be able to use that opportunity to meet with him and get a better idea of his character then. Going by what I've heard and planning a move like this so soon, Ragna-sensei's a man of action and that could be useful… But, if it's too much of a risk to work with them, then SCHALE taking such action involving SRT would look like an aggressive use of authority for such a recently formed organization. If something were to happen and go wrong, that'd reflect poorly on the organization when it has yet to prove itself to the public. And since Rin's thrown her hat in with SCHALE, her as well…" Kaya trailed off, tapping her finger to her cheek several times.

"Yukino, tell FOX there's been a chance of plans."

"A change of plans?" Yukino repeated, eyes widening in a rare display of surprise. Were they not going to need to attack Sanctum Tower?

Kaya nodded, still grinning ear to ear. "That's right. I think we'll wait and see what this 'plan' is. If it turns into something we can use, then we'll just roll with that and kill two birds with one stone. If not, then oh well, we just go back to the original operation, no harm putting things off for a short time. It's a win-win situation! I'll need to talk with Kaiser about this and see what else I can learn about what's going on in Abydos and perhaps prepare better, they'll want to know he's on their trail… We'll talk again once we have more information to make a concrete plan. Keep me updated if Ragna-sensei tells you anything else."

"Roger." Yukino curtly replied before disconnecting the call.

Immediately, the girl let out a sigh she didn't know she had been holding in. So FOX might not have to attack Sanctum Tower… She hadn't even considered any other possibility for a while, but something about the thought felt like a weight off her shoulders. Although, now the short term target would potentially be shifting to SCHALE and Ragna, who against all of Yukino's expectations actually… Was working on trying to help SRT? Was there a chance his offer to help wasn't simply hot air or delaying the inevitable?

Yukino shook her head. No, she had to focus on current matters and couldn't get lost in unfounded optimism like she used to. For now, the best course of action was to wait for more information and how the situation developed. She had much to discuss with her squadmates.

Only time would tell what she had to do for the mission to ensure SRT's future.

---

Spoiler: AUTHOR'S NOTES

Whew, we got a real long one here. This is actually the longest chapter of the story so far, 12.6k words. I swear I'm not trying to write 10k+ chapters every time, there's just a lot of groundwork to setup here, you'll all see at some point.

Next chapter, or 2 might depend a little on how I split it up if it's taking a while and ends up long, is gonna have something I've been waiting to get to since I started the story. Look forward to it!

There's also a litte reference to the PS68 manga this chapter, for any eagle eyed readers that've read it.

 

[Omniwhatever]

Oh, yeah. Was waiting to have a chapter update to post this and almost forgot, but have another piece of fanart my good friend Eisen recently did. Spoilered because of the sheer resolution and screenspace it'll take up otherwise. I think I found an imgur alternate that works right and makes images display. If it's not displaying then gimmie a minute to fix it.

Spoiler: Arona's attempts at teaching Ragna about technology

 

[Omniwhatever]

Spoiler: AUTHOR'S NOTES

Whew, sorry for the long wait. Been real damn busy lately and this was going to be a massive length chapter, but my progress was slow because of a lot of RL stuff coming up and came to a good stopping place with some slight adjustments, so updating now with it instead of waiting perhaps another month or more if things don't settle. Big surprise I teased will be NEXT chapter.

---

Volume 1 Chapter 1: A Typical Abydos Weekend (IX)​

For most students, the weekend was a time to enjoy some extra free time and a break from the worries of school. Particularly on a warm and sunny day like it was currently was, still warm by most standards but just enough to be comfortable next to the typical heat of the Abydos region's desert. And though she may not have enjoyed the same degree of freedom between the school debt and the occasional part time job to help with it, Shiroko still liked the extra hours it provided for her hobbies.

Like checking for exploitable holes in a bank's morning security.

"Nn, security is lighter compared to the afternoon and evening…" Shiroko mumbled to herself, half looking toward the large bank, yet still trying to make it appear like she was merely observing her phone instead of casing out her target. She was being extra sure to keep a low profile leaning on a building off in a shaded corner of the street that saw just enough foot traffic to not stand out by herself, but also not so much as to draw attention to the area. Sometimes, hiding in plain site was the most effective disguise.

But even with their schedules, what would be the best time to sneak in? Morning may have had the least amount of guards, yet there was still significant traffic on the street and it lacked some of the 'easier' possibilities for later hours, such as perhaps stowing away on the armored truck delivering funds in the afternoon or having the cover of night and low amounts of people. Of course, there was always the route of trying to infiltrate the building in the early AM, but getting in and out without being seen would take significant time and Shiroko would be left tired for the rest of the day, which the rest of her school would pick up on…

Maybe checking another bank was a better idea. She had most of the information needed for this one. All that remained was to draw up a plan using what she had. Other targets had mo-

"Having fun with your spying?"

Shiroko nearly dropped her phone, bolting upright so fast it felt like she was going to jump out of her own skin. How did she get caught? She'd ne-

Turning to the voice while reaching for her gun, Shiroko froze after she saw who it belonged to. Tall, red coat, limp right arm, with a weary face that still had a slight curve of amusement on the lips and a slanted, exasperated, green eye staring at her.

"Oh… Sensei, you surprised me." Shiroko said softly, lowering her weapon as the tension from her flight or fight instinct faded away. But it was soon replaced by a lingering awkwardness and shame of being caught like a child with their hand in sweets. What was she supposed to say now? "Nn, I was just, um…"

Before she could make an excuse, Ragna's hand reached up and gently patted the girl on the head a few times. His gloved hand was large, but not rough and still plenty warm even through the material over it. The texture only added to the lightly scratching at her ears in a gesture that brought a sense of calm to Shiroko. It was strange, almost like she had been missing something she didn't know she needed until she'd gotten it again. This was nice...

"Hey, it's your weekend and long as you're not getting into trouble, spend it how you want." Ragna said lightly while rubbing Shiroko's head a few times before he stopped. "You weren't actually going to do anything, right?"

Shiroko's ears flattened, turning her head away from Ragna's gaze. "Nn, I wasn't going to do anything today, sensei…"

"Shiroko, just because you're not planning it today, that doesn't count as staying out of trouble." Ragna said with dry sarcasm.

"You don't get in trouble if you don't get caught." Shiroko answered back, some confidence coming back to her soft voice yet still muted by the sense of heat in her cheeks. She'd been lectured by Hoshino before, but Ragna had a certain presence to him which made the girl feel more nervous than usual about being caught, it was different being lectured by an adult instead of her senpai not much older than her.

"Hah." Ragna's 'chuckle', if it could even be called that, was completely and utterly deadpan. "No, that's not how it works kid. Trust me, been there. It's still a crime."

Shiroko's ears perked back up, the girl standing back up straight with a sense of curious hope spreading in her chest despite the disappointed look in the man's eye. So that's how he knew about the spying she was doing! Was he mad because she was too obvious? Maybe he could teach her some new tricks? "Sensei, have you planned a bank robbery before too?"

The guttural groan Ragna uttered came from somewhere deep inside his soul. "Okay, you could point at me for a lot of things, but that's not one of them."

Oh.

All the optimism suddenly left Shiroko like a deflating balloon. She'd just busted herself, hadn't she?

"Look, planning? I've seen some weird hobbies before, but fine. I don't see you that enthusiastic about much and if it's not causing problems, then hey none of my business. Following through? Not fine." Ragna lectured bluntly, putting a hand on his hip.

Some of the tension relaxed from Shiroko's shoulders. Ragna was being a bit more understanding than the response she usually got with her hobby, if still a bit firm and scolding. "Nn, well, to tell you the truth sensei, I wasn't actually going to do anything… Planning things like this is more just a hobby."

Just a year ago, Shiroko would've thought much differently and not seen much wrong with an actual robbery. It wasn't that long ago she had adapted to a more 'normal' life, well at least compared to her previous one drifting around all alone... But ever since she'd met Hoshino on that snowy day, the girl had done her best to help instill a sense of right and wrong in Shiroko, especially after she stole that truck of high grade steel. Well, she still wasn't perfect, but it was hard to change in such a short time when she didn't have a past to draw from like everyone else in Kivotos. What everyone called 'common sense' didn't feel so common to her anyway. Despite some stumbles though, she'd never trade Abydos for anything.

But it didn't mean she had to give up all her habits.

And sometimes there were emergencies.

Or opportunities too good to pass up.

There was nothing wrong with using a hobby to be prepared.

But the doubtful look Ragna was giving Shiroko made it clear he only half believed her at best and made Shiroko's hand nervously fidget with the handle of her gun.

"Alright, fine." Ragna grumbled, resignation in his words. "Just don't get in trouble this early so you're not available later in the afternoon."

Shiroko's ears twitched a few times curiously. "Nn, what do you mean by that, sensei?"

"Eh, nothing too much." Ragna waved his hand a few times casually. "Saw a Ramen Place while I was exploring around the district earlier. Haven't really gotten a chance to talk with everyone much without all the serious shit looming around or cutting things short. If I'm gonna be here for a bit helping with all the annoying crap, might as well to know the district and you girls and I could use a break anyway with all the headaches I've had lately."

Well, that made enough sense. Shiroko had been wanting to get to know Ragna more herself, but there simply hadn't been much time. She liked her initial impressions of the man though and even if still a bit stern, he was more permissive of her habits than expected. Hoshino and Serika might've been a little less receptive to him, but Shiroko was feeling optimistic. There wasn't any grand reason for it, but things were kind of… Familiar, now that she spent some more time around Ragna and thought about it. But that was probably just because he acted so forward compared to most since she definitely never met the man. Still, she couldn't remember feeling so comfortable around somebody so fast before.

Was she supposed to take this like an invitation of Ragna asking her out to eat though?

"So, though the rest of the Foreclosure Task Force could use an excuse for a break too."

Oh…

Huh, that was true, but Shiroko felt a little annoyed for some reason now.

"Nn, I don't have anything to do later, so I'll be available, sensei." Shiroko said softly, repressing that feeling back wherever it came from. "Is that why you're out right now? Abydos is a big place that can be easy to get lost in if you're not familiar with it."

Ragna shrugged his shoulders, speaking lightly and unconcerned. "Yeah, something like that. I'm used to traveling and figuring out land marks myself, so don't worry about giving me a tour or anything."

Shiroko was thinking about offering, it'd be a good chance to talk with Ragna, but she had a feeling the man didn't need it with how comfortable he seemed in the district already. And there was also that other bank she really wanted to get some information on during these early hours. Merely missing a few minutes could end up with critical gaps in her planning, like a shift change of guards. She'd see him later today anyway.

"Anyway, I'll see you later Shiroko, got some other places to be soon. Saw you over here so thought I might as well say hey." Turning to leave, Ragna said with a parting wave to the girl.

Silently, Shiroko matched the wave, until after a few steps the man abruptly half turned back toward her with a stern squint in his eyes and pointing toward. "And don't forget, planning only."

Shiroko's hand lowered like a wilting flower, gaze falling down toward the floor. "I won't forget, sensei…"

Now, Shiroko was truly left to her own devices and thoughts in the streets of Abydos once more. If everyone was going to meet up later, then she didn't have much time to collect more data and go about her usual hobbies and Shiroko had to move. After all, Ragna basically gave her permission to go ahead with her fun by saying planning was okay.

With a subtle smile, Shiroko headed off to her next destination, mentally sorting through plans for her day.

---

The last few day for Kuromi Serika had been, in a word, a whirlwind. As if the debt itself wasn't enough, The Foreclosure Task Force had confirmation somebody was after the school now and had to figure out who it was. Then there was the new teacher from SCHALE who decided to butt his way into everything like a wrecking ball. Sure, everyone had agreed with Ayane to send a message, but at least from Serika, that had been more to say they tried instead of actually expecting a response.

The man known as Ragna the Bloodedge, whatever the hell that title meant, was an annoying mystery to Serika. She wasn't stubborn enough to deny he had been helpful, between somehow knowing somebody was behind the school attacks and quickly forming a plan to deal with one, it wasn't like having him around was all bad. But something just… Didn't sit right with her with an adult showing up and trying to get involved like it was some casual thing to do. She didn't fully agree with her classmates, but Serika wasn't stubborn enough to throw away any help out of pride. Getting a chance to talk about what to tell Ragna and hear the other's perspectives, before he had interrupted the meeting, had likely been the only reason she hadn't stormed out of the room once everyone started telling him about the situation. However, just because they needed some help, it didn't mean Serika had to approve of everything and just accept Ragna trying to slot himself into the situation like he'd always been there!

Ragna knew a lot about Abydos and bothered to research it before coming, but even despite that it was a little freaky how familiar he seemed with the situation and district, but that didn't mean he understood just how severe the situation was. What did he know about how long everyone had been struggling with the debt, even before Serika and Ayane had enrolled recently? So what if he wanted to help, it was easy to talk without experience to back up knowing the true difficult of a task. That just made the aid condescending.

But now wasn't the time for her to start getting in a bad mood. It was almost time for her part time job at Shiba Seki Ramen. Thankfully, she managed to keep this one a secret from her friends. She liked them, but if they knew about this and decided to come visit her with any frequency it would make trying to focus on her job way too hard and cause chaos.

And that was absolutely the only reason, not at all because she'd be too embarrassed at everyone seeing her working and inevitably get teased by it. Not at all.

It would be a nice little shift to let Serika get her mind off some of the current worries for even a day, especially with not having to worry about that nosy adult Ra-

"Hey, Serika."

Serika froze, heart dropping into the pit of her stomach the moment she turned the corner.

No way.

Ruby eyes preemptively widening in horror, Serika spun around and confirmed her fears.

Directly behind her, was Ragna leaning against the closest street lamp, his hand raised in a casual wave.

What the… What was he even doing here!? The man almost looked like he was waiting for her to show up! Why did she have to run into the adult now, of all times and places!? There was no way she could go into Shiba Seki with Ragna standing right there, the last thing she needed was to get found out by HIM, of all people! She had to chase him off and fast. It wouldn't be long till she had her shift and no way Serika would be late for that.

"What do you want!?" Serika growled, face turning into a scowl, eyes narrowing aggressively at the adult who may as well been looking at Serika like she were a harmless kitten. "What are you even doing here!?"

"Hey, I can go wherever the hell I want. Abydos is a big place and going to take some time to learn it. What's your excuse?" Ragna sarcastically fired back with a deadpan face.

"What I do is none of your business." Serika fired back with a hostile glare. "If you want to keep wandering around like some aimless adult with nothing better to do, then go be a bum somewhere else."

Ragna let out a dry huff, looking entirely unphased by the aggressiveness. "Nah, don't think I will. Was actually thinking about checking out that ramen place behind you for a break."

Serika could feel the color draining from her face as her blood turned icy cold. The girl turned around to look out across the buildings lining the street, praying by some miracle it would make another ramen shop manifest out of thin air that Ragna could've been talking about instead of the one she worked in. But Serika already knew the answer, there was no other restaurant like Shiba Seki down the entire street with how few businesses remained open in Abydos.

Shifting to face Ragna again, but only after she had a precious few seconds to recompose herself, Serika resumed glaring at the other, but this time it was weakened by the increasing desperation to get Ragna to leave as fast as humanly possible. Arg, but what was she going to do to make him buzz off? Serika would've felt terrible saying a single bad thing about the store to drive Ragna off and make him swear off the place entirely. If anything, she wanted more people to come to Shiba Seki Ramen with how few customers it had, the owner of it worked so hard on the store. She just… Needed that patronage to happen whenever it wasn't her shift!

"You…" Serika hesitated, wracking her brain for some kind of excuse she could use while also replying quickly. "… can't do that!"

Ragna rolled his single green eye.

Serika gritted her teeth. "The store's…" The cat eared girl's mind was running into overdrive, laying the tracks for her train of thought as fast as she was making it up. "Busy! If you want a quick meal, now's a bad time! So come back another day!"

Ragna slightly moved his head to look past Serika, eye darting over the largely empty street with few cars or people walking it. The dry disbelief was practically written all over his face in bold letters. "Sure a quiet street for the lunch rush."

A low growl escaped Serika's throat. Why did this man have to be so frustrating and stubborn!? She didn't have time for this! "Just… go somewhere else! I'm going… to eat here and don't need you bothering me with your presence!"

"Look, I know you can hardly stand me, but let's have a talk then." Once again not deterred in the slightest, Ragna casually said. "Be easier to deal with all this if you're not trying to glare me to death all the time while solving the attacks."

Serika let out a huff, crossing her arms in annoyance. "Don't act like we're friends and you can just casually ask for a chat! Some of us have important jobs to do to earn money instead of slacking off exploring for your own curiosity."

"Like at the place you're pushing me away from."

"Yes, so-" Serika turned stiff as a statue, mouth hanging open in silent embarrassment as the consequences of her actions dawned on. "I mean, that's not what I…!"

"Really suck at this whole lying thing." Ragna dryly stated, lips curving toward an almost amused grin.

Expression turning into a grimace, Serika's palm slammed into her face with a dull and frustrated thud, as if trying to likewise hide her shame at being caught red handed. Ugh, her and her big mouth…

But the frustration was quickly shifted back to Ragna in the form of a glare, Serika stamping her foot once angrily for further emphasis. "Arg, never mind! Can't you go bother someone else!? If you wanna talk, I can't do it on my shift!" If it got Ragna off her back now, she was about ready to agree to his request at this point.

"Nah, you're not getting rid of me that easily." Ragna fired back almost immediately and got a groan out of Serika. "Already thought of some plans here with everyone else anyway."

Serika's heart stopped for a beat, eyes widening at the implications. "W-What do you mean by that?"

"Given all the shit of the last 2 days and something else is bound to happen soon, thought it'd be a good excuse for a casual break. I haven't gotten to talk with you all much outside of all that crap either."

Was this man just here to make her suffer!? "Grr, just because you're here trying to help us, doesn't mean we all have to suddenly be friends, you know!"

"I'm not asking to be, but what the hell did I even do to give you such a chip in your shoulder? Save some of that hostility for the people actually attacking the school." Ragna fired back with a scoff. "Not exactly trying to dismiss all you've been doing up till now. But, maybe I've got some experience with heavy shit like this and know it's not gonna be easy as waving a magic wand. You don't exactly know my history either."

Serika opened her mouth to shout back at the man.

And paused.

That was… She Hadn't... Thought about that. She barely knew anything about Ragna, yet he'd somehow picked up on exactly what one of her major issues on the situation was. She hadn't been trying to keep it a secret, but with how few her interactions were so far that was some quick intuition. Was that why some of his knowledge seemingly appeared out of thin air too, especially knowing someone was behind the attacks?

Arg, well so what if he maybe had some similar experiences. Maybe he understood things a little better than Serika had given him credit for then, but that still didn't mean he knew everything or excused him trying to get so comfortable around everyone! She'd deal with him later.

"I don't have time for this!" Serika huffed, fleeing from the conversation by abruptly turning away to march toward Shiba Seki Ramen, a small building with its logo displayed proudly over the entrance alongside the image of the owner's head, a bipedal Shiba Inu with a white bandanna, pipe, and blue samue.

Even if she wanted to talk more with Ragna and try changing his mind, she was out of time. Serika always took pride in her work ethic and showing up a few minutes early to be prepared if she could. It wasn't worth breaking that for Ragna. Even if… It meant she was going to have to deal with everyone later...

Today was going to be a long day.

Trying to push down her stewing negativity, she couldn't let her bad mood reflect on her job serving customers, Serika headed into the shop to prepare for her shift.

---

Shiba Seki Ramen was a modest store. A line of mostly empty booths lined the walls, with some extra seating to be had across from them at the bar, where the owner of the restaurant could be seen preparing everyone's food with enthusiasm and motions that spoke of his great experience in the culinary arts, filling the air with the enticing smell of freshly prepared food. The furnishings had been made to further enhance the warm, personalize atmosphere that the building's setup created, red paper lanterns hanging from the support beams for atmosphere and a pale yellow adorning the walls to pair with brown highlights.

It was a cozy place for Serika, now clothed in her work uniform of a black T-shirt and blue with a purple tinted skirt proudly displaying the restaurant logo, to work that, even after her short time there she greatly enjoyed. The girl had several roles, weaving between tables to take orders from the occasional customers, watching the front door to welcome in any new ones to their tables, and then manning the register for payments. On paper, it sounded like a large workload for a single person, but in practice with how few customers came in so she never had more than a few tables at once, and the overall size of the place, it was nothing Serika couldn't handle. And after a while, she had settled into a rhythm that was quickly becoming familiar, thoughts of what was to come pushed far into the depths of her mind.

The sound of an opening door brought Serika's attention to the entrance. With a practiced friendliness, Serika put on an inviting smile. "Welcome to Shiba Se-"

Serika's expression froze, a twitch developing in her smile as she realized that the hour of her doom had finally arrived, signaled by the five familiar figures before her.

"Hello! Table for five~!" Nonomi's ever radiant and warm voice, typically a source of calm but now merely a contributor to anxiety, came with a wave from behind the assembled group of Abydos students and Ragna. The only one who looked remotely sympathetic toward Serika's plight was Ayane.

"You all actually showed up!?" Serika stammered, her professional demeanor shattered like fragile glass. After so long without any sign of them, Serika had started to believe that Ragna had just been messing with her! Arg, why couldn't it have been that!

"Hey, don't look at me like this is my fault." Ragna spoke up with a flat sarcasm, glancing down at the Foreclosure Task Force Chairwoman looking cheekily at Serika. "Hoshino had the same idea and was going to bring everyone here anyway."

Hoshino let out a light snicker. "I guess great minds think alike~."

"W-Wait a minute, what was your excuse for coming here then!?" Serika, red faced, protested. That had meant she had been doomed from the very beginning, her entire conversation with Ragna and trying to steer him in another direction all pointless. Sometimes, there was simply no winning in life…

Hoshino put on a playful green. "I figured this was one of the only places you could work at, so we just came by to see our hard working Serika-chan in uniform doing her best~."

Serika's face started heating up even more. Urg, could she not catch a break?

"Are these your Abydos classmates, Serika-chan?" The words of the establishment owner and her boss, Master Shiba, called out to the girl from toward the back of the shop with a firm, but not aggressive and close to casual if anything, tone. "Stop with the chit-chat and take their order."

"Y-Yes, sir." Serika replied, her composure deflating like a popped balloon as she tried to regain some professionalism. She was on the clock, she had a duty to perform for the sake of Shiba Seki, no matter how… Frustrating this was going to be. She could see that grin on Ragna's face, clearly enjoying this. "This way to your table… Please."

In a merciful affair, thankfully, Serika was able to get every seated reasonably quickly. Though, because nothing could ever be normal with Abydos, there had been a slight issue over Ragna's seat. Nonomi and Shiroko both invited the man to sit next to them. However, as if making a masterful stroke to avoid taking a side and a surprisingly reasonable move, the man had ultimately settled on having a chair pulled up to the end of the booth to avoid trying to squeeze into a tight fit. The booth was already crowded with Shiroko and Hoshino needing to store their guns in the little empty space available as while most diners would put weapons outside the booth, Nonomi and Ragna required that space for their weapons almost the size of themselves.

That didn't mean Serika could go right to taking everyone's order though, because of course, why would anything ever be simple for her?

"So, how long have you been working here?" Shiroko asked inquisitively, eyeing Serika's uniform.

"Er, maybe about a week." Serika answered awkwardly. The sooner she got everyone's orders, the sooner they could leave.

"Oh? Now I get why you were running off from time to time. I guess it was because you were working~." Nonomi said with a glowing smile.

Serika let out a low huff, raising her pen and paper as if to urge everyone to do what they came here for. "Just order already! I hope you brought money and aren't going to make Nonomi-senpai pay for it all."

Hoshino leaned back comfortably in the booth, tilting her head slightly with a playful smirk and wagging her finger at Serika. "I think you mean, 'May I take your order?' right Serika-chan? We're your guests here after all."

Serika tensed up, the hostility fading from her face into a meek embarrassment, cat ears flattening as she forced her voice to be polite. "Ugh… May I take your order?"

"That's more like it~. And don't worry about the cost. Sensei's paying this time." Hoshino proudly declared, gesturing with her head toward the adult.

Ragna's expression fell flat, eye shifting to glare accusingly at Hoshino like she'd just committed daylight murder in front of him. "What? Wait a second, you little brat. Yeah, I said that, but then you said you were originally planning to invite everyone and pay for it anyway."

"Hm~?" Hoshino's expression didn't falter under the glare, in fact it only seemed to grow more playful in response. "That was my plan, but since you so generously offered to treat your hardworking students, I don't need to do it. You've got money to burn and were planning on it anyway, so no problem, right?"

"That's not the same thing as you suddenly turning the tables and you know it." Ragna's ensuring groan was guttural, coming from somewhere deep within him. The man started muttering lowly more to himself than anything. "Every goddamn time… Why do I even go out anymore, always end up getting extorted for food by somebody, dammit…"

Ayane raised a hand, looking at Ragna sympathetically and at Hoshino with second hand embarrassment. "Hoshino-senpai, that's not fair. You made it sound like you were paying."

"No," Ragna raised his hand, his glare to Hoshino slowly shifting to a knowing smirk, leaning on the table toward Hoshino with confident aggression. "She'll pay for it when she doesn't get any snacks out of me later."

Now, it was Hoshino turn to falter, the teasing grin fading to one that looked more forced and the feeling was only exaggerated by the subtle, unsteady tone that seeped into her words. "Ah, now you're bullying ojisan, sensei!"

"Nn, I feel like there's some secret we're missing…" Shiroko muttered, eyes shifting quickly between Hoshino and Ragna.

"Uheee." Hoshino's typical laugh was tinged with a hint of nervousness she was visibly trying to suppress with a dismissive wave of her hand. "The young folk these days have such wild imaginations."

"Orders." Serika hissed, clicking her pen twice for emphasis.

Thankfully, Serika was able to take everyone's order quickly and get some peace from the busiest table of the restaurant to go resume her other duties. But in her downtime between dutiess, the girl couldn't help some of her attention drifting toward spying on the discussion happening at the table. Between the bits of conversation she picked up purely by chance, there was this weird feeling she couldn't shake.

"So, how are adapting to and feeling about Abydos after a few days, sensei?" Nonomi's words were full of warmth.

"I know we're not exactly the most extravagant district compared to what your first impressions of Kivotos must've been like." Ayane added with a sense of awkwardness.

Ragna waved his hand, speaking casually. "Never spent much time in cities, so Abydos being a bit more quiet compared to the rest of this place is more what I'm used to. 'Quiet' is probably the wrong word for anywhere in this city though. The sound of guns might as well be white noise."

"Nn, even when we don't have to defend the school, there's never a dull day in the district." Shiroko agreed, some subtle positivity in her words. "Even during the weekend with days off."

"That's sure easy for you to say when you're looking for trouble." Ragna sarcastically added.

"Sensei…" Ayane spoke with a tone that Serika knew all too well, that tone where she had picked up on something small that was slowly fanning a fire in her. "You and Shiroko-senpai mentioned meeting up earlier. Did something happen…?"

Serika spied Shiroko ears flattening dejectedly. Oh, no, had Shiroko finally stepped into the life of crime? The girls suggestions for how to save the school and raise funds were often questionably legal at best. Serika's ideas were usually shut down for being a scam she realized far too late, yes, but at least when she brought it up it was assuming the idea was legal!

"She wasn't doing anything." Ragna's words took on a firm edge to them. "Because you're not going to actually break into anything, right?"

"You said just planning's alright and I stayed outside the bank…"

The glasses wearing secretary of the Foreclosure Task Force let out a short gasp. "S-Shiroko-senpai, were you spending your weekend spying on banks again!?"

"Hah, sounds like you've already have a run in with our Shiroko-chan's hobbies." Hoshino let out a long sigh, slumping in her seat.

"Nn, I thought I was subtle, but sensei saw right through me…" Shiroko muttered, just barely audible to Serika among the sounds of the restaurant. "I guess I need to be less obvious in the future then."

A groan came deep from Ragna's throat. "That's the lesson you took from all this? Seriously, Shiroko? Guess I should've expected that..."

"Oh! Speaking of lessons~." Nonomi began, clapping her hands together. "How was the course material Ayane-chan gave you?"

"… You're sure persistent about that idea, aren't you?"

Now she got it.

In a matter of days, Ragna had somehow slotted into the group like he'd always been there. Serika, alongside Ayane, was a more recent addition to Abydos as a first year, but she'd still been around long enough to befriend everyone, develop a relationship, and learn how to handle everyone. But this guy hadn't even been around Abydos a week, not even half a week, and he was already acting like he'd known everyone as long as she had.

Even with Shiroko questionably legal hobby, the man sounded more mildly exasperated and stern than the kind of reaction one might expect, especially with her first impressions of Ragna's personality being abrasive and forceful. Instead of deep concern, disbelief, or anything like that, he took it with a level of acceptance, yet caution, that the rest of the Foreclosure Taskforce had about Shiroko's habits, which had apparently been worse according to some offhand comments in the past, after getting to know her. He even had something with Hoshino.

Maybe he knew more about the situation than Serika gave credit for, but nobody knew that for certain so why in the world did everyone let him in so easily? Hoshino had at least been a little skeptical the first day, but now she seemed fine!

Serika just couldn't understand it.

---

It had been a while since Shiroko had gone out for a good meal with everyone, or well Serika didn't exactly count since she was working but the shop was quiet enough to say a few words now and again to her. Close enough to count as "everyone".

But, all good things had to end eventually. And that end had come once the meal was over and the party departed into the warm orange glow of the afternoon sun slowly fading away to the coming of dusk.

"See you tomorrow, Serika-chan!" Ayane, now outside the store with everyone, waved to bid farewell to the part timer that'd been allowed a quick break to see her friends off.

"Take ca- Wait." Ragna abruptly cut himself off, taking a step past everyone back toward the shop, half looking back toward the four. "Got one thing I almost forgot to take care of, so don't wait up for me."

Shiroko blinked curiously. What was he-

"Except you."

Ragna stopped Shiroko's thoughts dead with a point of his finger. Right at her.

"Wait right here. I wanna talk to you."

The singled out girl's whole body stiffened up straight, letting out a low, anxious whine at the sense of impending doom washing over her. Maybe Ragna wasn't quite as accepting of her habits as she had initially thought. "Nn…"

"Uhe~, Shrioko-chan's in the dog house now." The words from Hoshino were playful and only furthered Shiroko's anxiety.

"Hah?" Serika let out a confused scoff. "What else is there for you to do here? You already ate!"

Ragna ignored the outburst, taking a few more steps toward Serika. "It'll be quick, so you wanna argue with me about it or get it done so I can get out of your hair faster?"

'Ugh, fine. Just make it fast so I can get back to important work!" With a low growl, Serika turned around and made he way back into the shop, Ragna following after her.

A gentle hand on her shoulder, that Shiroko identified as Nonomi's when she turned toward it, brought Shiroko away from the scene. "Don't worry too much, Shiroko-chan. Sensei might be a bit tough, but I think he's just worried about you. We know you're a good student~."

"You haven't actually robbed any banks recently, have you Shiroko-senpai?" With a forced, nervous laugh that none the less managed to contain some force within the words, Ayane spoke up.

"No…" Shiroko shook her head, ears low. This almost certainly had to be about what happened earlier today, but was it really? Ragna was surprisingly permissive for somebody who just found out about her habits, even Ayane and Serika had taken a little time to reach some exasperated acceptance after finding out, but if he wanted to talk to her about it now that would've been quite at odds with his earlier behavior.

"Then, you'll be fiiiiiiine. I remember what a troublesome little pup you were when you first showed up like it was yesterday, and now look at you. Kids these days grow up so fast." Hoshino said with an exaggerated stretch.

"Hoshino-senpai…" Shiroko let out a low whine, her cheeks starting to heat up in embarrassment. Did she have to say it like that in front of Ayane?
Not waiting for a reply, Hoshino turned slowly and started to walk. "But this ojisan's had enough excitement for one day, so I'll leave sensei to sort it out. Have fun, Shiroko-chan~."

With some sympathetic farewells, Shiroko was left standing alone in the fading rays of the sun, thrown to the wolves to fend for herself toward whatever lecture Ragna was preparing for her.

It was an awkward, tense silence that left Shiroko fidgeting occasionally in anticipation. Seconds ticked by like minutes, to where she soon lost track of how much time had actually passed. But eventually Ragna, holding a takeout bag in his good hand, emerged from the shop alongside a screech from Serika to leave already.

"Hey, Shiroko. Sorry for the wait." Ragna said casually, approaching her. "Stop looking so tense. This isn't about the bank. Actually wanted to ask you a favor."

Like air from a deflating balloon, the tension left Shiroko's body and her shoulders relaxed. Instead, she was now filled by a burning curiosity. "Nn, a favor?"

"You remember what I said about whoever's behind the school attacks is probably going to escalate, right?"

Shiroko nodded, slowly.

Ragna leaned against a nearby wall of a building as he spoke. "Well, Serika gets off at 9:00PM. The owner told me when I was telling Serika to be careful tonight. I'm sure whoever's responsible is pissed we stopped their plan and with somebody all alone like that deep in the city here late at night, I bet they'll try something. Everyone's dangerous as a group, but all on your own it's much easier to pick people off. I'd do it myself, but Serika can still barely stand the sight of me and like hell she'll let me stick around her at night. So, think you could check on her for a bit then? Can't exactly ask everyone to stalk her on just a hunch in case nothing happens and you pass through this direction on your way home, right?"

"I do." Shiroko curtly answered.

"Yeah, so I'm sure Serika'll be a lot less pissed off with you around for just a brief walk with her. I'll still be out in the general area taking care of stuff, so if something comes up just call me and I'll be there immediately. Think you can do that?"

Shiroko paused, carefully absorbing Ragna's words and tossing them around her head. Ordinarily, Shiroko might've been at little uncertain if it was worth being this cautious, bordering on paranoid with how confident the man sounded. Yet, Shiroko found herself immediately believing Ragna and his plan before any doubts came up. It wasn't as if there was the question of if she could trust Ragna, she simply did without having to think about it, just like if any of the Foreclosure Task Force had told her to do something. There wasn't any reason Shiroko could've brought up as to why if asked. It wasn't that an attack was expected in the next day or two from precedent, it wasn't how he'd somehow figured out there was bigger players behind the situation, she simply… Knew Ragna could be trusted somehow. "Nn, you can count on me, sensei."

"Thanks." Ragna's expression lightened toward a smile. "I don't want to take any chances with who're dealing with just because somebody's feeling stubborn. But hey, probably better if you don't mention I sent you, if Serika asks and nothing happens."

"Don't worry about it, Ragna-sensei." Shiroko made her voice reassuring, despite the usual quietness. But then the girl lingered silently in front of the man, her ears twitching a few times expectantly with a slight forward lean of her body.

The adult stared at her with a confused green eye for a few seconds, till realization finally crept up and Ragna let out a low groan. "Shiroko, I only have one hand."

Without wasting a second, Shiroko snatched the bag from Ragna's hand in her own and looked at the man with waiting eyes.

Though he let out a deep, exasperated sigh, the man still reached his hand up and gently stroked Shiroko's head a few times as she leaned into the relaxing gesture. "There, happy?"

"Nn." Shiroko answered with a subdued smile spreading over her, holding the bag back out for Ragna, who claimed it once more.

"Alright, take care of yourself, Shiroko." Turning around and walking away, Ragna stated. "If there's any trouble, call me immediately."

Waiting a few seconds to wave goodbye, Shiroko finally turned around and began making her own way back. Just in case, she was going to have to be prepared for tonight. Perhaps nothing would happen, but better she have something and not need it, then need it and not have it. She had a couple hours till it'd be time to check on Serika, plenty of time to ensure her drone was in top shape and supplied.

Tonight, Shiroko expected to be anything but quiet.

 

[Omniwhatever]

Volume 1 Chapter 1: Perilous Night (X)​

After a long day, evening and the end of her work had finally arrived for Serika. Gone were the customers and cozy atmosphere of the restaurant smelling of freshly made food, replaced instead by the subdued sounds of Serika and the cafe owner, Master Shiba, finishing up cleaning for the day to head home. Besides a few comments, the work had been mostly done in silence as the smallness of the shop meant locking up tended to be a reasonably quick affair.

"You can hang up your apron, Serika-chan. I'll take care of the last few things." Her boss's voice brought Serika out of the auto-pilot she'd set herself up in scrubbing a countertop.

The girl turned around to face the other, finding them sweeping one corner of the room, blinking in confusion. "Eh? Are you sure?"

"Positive. It's already late and you should be on your way home. Take care of yourself and watch out for any trouble, will you? I know you can look after yourself, but can't have anything happening to my newest and best employee." Master Shiba stated with a hint of casual warmth, yet underneath the words was clear concern and weight.

Serika let out a low groan. Arg, now he was also getting in on it. "Is that why you told Ragna-sensei when work ended? I'm not a little kid."

The humanoid dog stopped their sweeping, making a half turn toward Serika. "Yeah, it is. I wouldn't let it get to you though. You mentioned dealing with some gangsters at one point and he made it sound like they haven't given up. I think he's just being a responsible adult thinking about their students in his own way. Not everyone shows they care the same way or is the best about showing it. Least that's how I see it."

Serika frowned, looking down at the floor with a low grumble coming from her throat. Sure, the base idea of having some extra caution wasn't bad, but Serika still felt some kind of reflexive frustration and annoyance over getting reminded of that like she didn't know. And on top of that, Master Shiba was also defending Ragna? What did everyone see in him that she couldn't?

"… Alright, I'm heading out now." With a low voice, Serika removed the hair covering on her head and left to go change back into her school uniform, to finally put this whole day behind her.

But after she had changed and begun the walk down the largely empty roads of the nighttime Abydos District, cold air biting at her skin with the rays of the sun long since gone, Serika's mind wouldn't give her any peace. How had the situation gotten so complicated in mere days? The debt situation was bad enough, but now some evil benefactor was chasing after the school for yet unknown reasons and she had to deal with the damn adult that seemingly everyone tolerated. But… Why? Was she the weird one out for being so overtly hostile? Ragna had somehow known the truth of the situation the minute the helmet gang showed up while also being annoyingly persistent about her safety or trying to get to know everyone. By any account, the man was helping, even if he was kind of frustrating. Ragna had been right, that she didn't know anything about his history, but that went both ways because he didn't know that of Abydos. But was that really true? Was whatever situation he'd been in before that let Ragna simply know certain facts truly so close to the current one? If that was the case, was she being too harsh?

Something came right at her and Serika's hands shot up on reflex to grab it.

"Nn, hello, Serika. Heading home?" Exactly where the object had come from, Serika saw Shiroko standing about a body length from her. In her hand was a waterbottle, which Serika realized was an identical copy of what was in her hand, while beside her was a bike leaning against some rails.

"Shiroko-senpai…? What're you doing here this late?" Serika asked with a furrowed brow. She knew Shiroko would sometimes be out late cycling and for… Other habits, but seldom did Serika ever run into her. Shiroko almost looked like she'd been waiting here.

Shiroko's hetereochromatic pupils briefly flicked over to her bicycle and then back to Serika. "I was on my way home and stopped for a quick water break. I thought maybe I'd see you if I came this way around this time too."

… That was really coincidental.

"Nn, you look tired, Serika." Shiroko added before Serika could form a proper reply.

Serika turned her head away, opening up the water bottle Shiroko had handed her without meeting the other's gaze. "I'm fine."

The girl could see Shiroko didn't look entirely convinced as Serika downed a few gulps of water. She may have looked mostly the same as ever, but Serika had known Shiroko long enough to pick up on her classmates more subtle reactions. The slight droop of her ears, the barely there curve of her lips, and slightly narrowed eyes. Shiroko wasn't usually the most overtly expressive, but it didn't mean she cared any less.

That wasn't too different from what Master Shiba had said, come to think of it…

"I'll walk with you home for a little then. I'm still going that direction." Taking a few steps toward her bike, Shiroko suggested with a hopeful stare.

Serika let out a weak huff at the forceful invitation. She knew Shiroko was doing this out of concern and she appreciated the girl being a good friend, but the day had been a long one in part because of her. Yet, this time Serika held her complaints. Maybe Shiroko could help keep her mind off the day a little. Tthere was still a decent walk toward her house and Serika didn't love the idea of being alone with her thoughts the whole way. If she remembered the layout of everything right, Shiroko would only be with her for several minutes anyway. A break would be nice. "Sure, fine. Let's hurry up and get moving."

Not a moment later, Shiroko had fallen in step right beside Serika, rolling her bike along at a pace to match. But the two walked in silence and Serika could see that Shiroko looked like she had something on her mind and was close to bringing it up, but appeared to be deciding how to say it.

"So, what did he yell at you about." Serika finally broke the maddening silence with a dry tone. Shiroko… Probably deserved a bit of a stern talking to now and again about her habits to help keep her in line. The girl behaved herself pretty well, but sometimes Serika wondered how far she would go if somebody wasn't there to give Shiroko a not so gentle reminder with how she would bring up the idea of robbery now and again as a money solution.

Shiroko turned toward her, ears flattening in confusion for a few moments, till realization dawned on her and they flicked upwards. "Nn, Sensei didn't yell or anything. He just cares in his own way."

The sudden heaviness in her chest brought a frown to Serika's face, the girl turning her gaze down to the ground in front of her as she walked. So even Shiroko was saying the same thing about Ragna… What the hell was it about that guy? Shiroko even had the slightest smile on her face while talking about him. And all Serika could wonder was why?

"You sure like him, don't you…" Finally finding words, Serika said in a low voice and with a sigh.

"I trust him." Shiroko answered plainly, as if already guessing what Serika truly wanted to say. With how… Unique her thought process could be, it was easy to forget how perceptive Shiroko was about her friends.

The grip on Serika's water bottle tightened, fingers starting to crumple the plastic as Serika's cat ears flattened aggressively. "He hasn't even been in Abydos, in Kivotos, for a week. We barely even know him, let alone have a reason to trust him."

"Is there a reason to not trust him?" Shiroko asked with a tone that made the question rhetorical, having already decided the answer herself.

Serika let out a low grumble. That was the important question, wasn't it? What was the reason to be so hostile to Ragna? Several answers immediately jumped into Serika's head, yet when trying to put them to words for Shiroko she found herself hesitating, doubt staying her response. She couldn't say he was being too helpful, Serika wasn't some cynic that thought everyone was out for themselves or hiding something, quite the opposite and might've been a reason why she was so quick to trust a sales pitch. Ragna had also been right, Serika didn't know much about him and sure that was a reason to not trust him so completely like Shiroko did, but was that a reason to be so actively hostile? That's what she had thought before, but that stupid, nagging question of his from earlier made her so uncertain if that was true. Sure, it was kind of weird how Ragna just knew things, but if there was anything malicious behind that, surely he would've done something already.

"Well, what reason do you have to trust him so much then, Shiroko-senpai?" Her usual fire not present, Serika finally answered, looking Shiroko up and down.

"Nn…" Shiroko flicked her head to the side, looking away in a surprisingly long silence as thoughts were visibly turning in her head. Serika had expected a little pause to organize her thoughts, but with how much faith she had in Ragna and the friendliness shown to the man, she didn't expect such a long one. It was like Shiroko was trying to figure out the answer as well. "... I just feel like we can. He's already helped us work toward finding out who's behind the attacks and definitely made an enemy out of them. Ragna-sensei's also worried about us too because of that. He's kind and wouldn't get so deeply involved if he didn't care. I think they've got experience with these kind of problems."

Serika's shoulders slumped with a sigh. "Did he say something to you about that?"

"Just a feeling." Shiroko shook her head, not meeting Serika's gaze.

Ugh, she'd been hoping Shiroko would say yes to that. Serika really had to ask Ragna more about himself, huh? Maybe she'd learn something to better justify her thoughts or… Maybe she was being too harsh.

Well, no matter. She'd leave that matter for another day as while double checking the street signs, Serika noticed something important that brought her to a stop. "Shiroko-senpai, I think we walked a little longer than we should've. If we keep going, your dorm's going to be in the opposite direction."

Shiroko abruptly stopped to check the street signs, turning toward Serika with a stone faced expression after a momentary pause. "Nn, don't worry about it. If I've come this far, why don't I go a little further till your dorm's in sight. I could use some extra kilometers on my bike anyway. I didn't get to ride as much as I usually do with the stop at Shiba Seki today."

"Ugh, Shiroko-senpai, you don't have to do that. Just go home already." Serika answered with a huff. She'd appreciated the break from her thoughts Shiroko provided, but now she was beginning to wish for some time alone to collect them. The neighborhoods in Abydos were so isolated now that getting one would be easy with her friend gone. Night time though it was, Serika definitely noticed most of her walk had almost nobody else on it. Abydos wasn't exactly a bustling place, but merely a month ago she at least saw a few people on this route. Things just kept going downhill, but she couldn't let it stay that way.

Undeterred, Shiroko shook her head. "It's fine, Serika. Your house isn't that far anyway."

"Your idea of distance isn't normal, Shiroko-senpai." The girl answered with visible exasperation. Sure, it wasn't more than a few kilometers, but the way Shiroko talked about it was the same way somebody would talk about going down the street.

"Nn, it's been a while since I've been down this area of Abydos anyway. This is a good excuse to see it again."

Serika groaned, crossing her arms. "You don't have to do that with me. Come back here and explore it in the day time or something, easier to see and safer anyway."

Once again, Shiroko's determined expression didn't falter. But there was something else, almost hard to tell with how muted the girl kept some of her emotional expression. Concern, maybe? "I'm already here. I may as well stay just in case."

Serika's ruby cat like eyes narrowed, looking Shiroko up and down. Sure, she had just mentioned safety and Abydos wasn't a peaceful place. It was borderline lawless if anything given the lack of her school's ability to enforce the law in a serious capacity. However, especially with that comment, something about Shiroko's insistence of staying with her and the fact she was even waiting for Serika to begin with didn't add up. "… Just in case what?"

Though her expression remained relatively composed, if still a little perturbed with a frown, Serika could see her friend was nervous. Their ears had flicked up in surprise, a dead giveaway Serika was onto something. "Nn, well, the district's been getting less safe the last few months and we should see another attack any day at the usual rate…"

Are you kidding?

Serika gritted her teeth into a scowl, voice raising to almost a shout. "Shiroko-senpai! Did he put you up to this!?"

Shiroko stiffened up, her eyes momentarily widening before she had a chance to visibly try restraining her reaction. "Nn… o…"

"You can't hide an answer like that!" Serika lectured with a glare. "Ugh, I can't believe him! How stubborn can one person be? I thought I told him I didn't need somebody looking after me!"

That matter Ragna had come back into Shiba Seki for had been both to get a to go container, a rather unusual request, but he had also tried to talk with Serika about being careful on her way home, given whoever was behind the attacks was going to attack again. And, sure, that was a good point, but Serika didn't need a babysitter. She could take care of herself!

"Serika…" Shiroko raised her hands defensively, a frown on her face that bordered on distress. "Sensei's just worried. I don't want anything to happen to you either… I think he's right that they're going to try something new."

Seeing her friend upset, the fire of Serika's anger simmered down slightly, but only slightly. The behavior was coming from a place of worry and Shiroko meant well, so Serika couldn't be overly mad at her and even Ragna's actions did too, as he had been very pushy on the idea of upcoming ideas. But she couldn't help feeling frustrated and patronized. She could still be mad at Ragna for roping Shiroko into this silly waste of time though, that must've been why he asked her to wait outside the shop. But getting angry at her wouldn't solve anything.

"Senpai, how did you let him talk you into this?"

"He asked and I trust sensei." Shiroko answered plainly, not hesitating for a moment in her answer.

Seriously?

The answer had been so quick and certain it'd actually caught Serika off guard. That can't possible have been it. Why did Shiroko trust somebody she just met so much? Serika could take care of herself and to go this far just on a hunch? "Wh-"

"To hell with all this waiting, we'll just take both of them and charge extra!"

The sound of numerous footsteps silenced Serika and sent a chill up her spine.

Mind gearing into high alert, Serika threw the sling on her gun over her head and readied it, eyes darting around to watch a large group of the Kata-Kata Helmet Gang appear around the intersection from out of alleyways or around other buildings to quickly surround her and Shiroko. Serika could see her friend mirroring her own actions, quickly sending her bike rolling with a shove into a nearby building and away from the ensuring combat.

Right away, Serika could notice something was different about the Helmet Gang. The girls had come out in force, with up to 20, maybe even a few more, by her rough estimate, but all of them were wearing black, military like body armor. With how almost everyone in Kivotos was at least bullet resistant, body armor tended to be a rarity outside anything military with how much extra gear or ammo it let one carry. It was often more an inconvenience in daily life, where a gun fight could erupt at any moment, without much gain when even getting a full magazine dumped into one's head would only cause a moderate headache for most, perhaps knock a person unconscious if they were on the weaker side or lacked a halo. But well made body armor coupled with the natural durability of Kivotos residents, particularly those with a halo, could take most bullets from being an annoying, if painful, experience to one barely felt without strong weapons or person wielding them. A powerful edge if one knew a fight was coming.

Ragna… Had been right. This was the next move of whoever was after the school. If Serika had been all alone when she ran into this…

Ugh, she could feel guilty later! A fight was on their hands now!

A series of explosions, alongside panicked screams, erupted from behind Serika as the ground shook, making her turn around on reflex to the source. The girl saw small missiles impacting the ground around the gangsters, blowing them aside and covering the immediate area with thick clouds of smoke. Eyes flicking upward, Serika saw Shiroko's blue and white drone emptying most of its missiles into the group that'd blocked off her and Shiroko's rear escape.

"Get down!"

"Wha-"

So many things happened at once, Serika's mind only started to make sense of them when she was already tumbling through the air.

Shiroko had tackled Serika and pulled her into a bear hug, almost like she were trying to protect her from something. The reflexively turn from such an action had given Serika a fraction of a second to witness a brown blur the size of a person barreling toward her before everything exploded. The world shook, rattling her bones as fire and smoke blanketed Serika's vision before it all turned into a distorted mess as Serika spun through the air, causing the buildings and lights of nighttime Abydos to blend together and robbed her ability to even attempt orienting herself. The only constant was Shiroko's iron grip on her body, the only thing keeping both girls from being tossed apart.

Almost as quick as it'd come and before Serika could begin to orient herself, she hit something hard and Shiroko's grip loosened enough for the two to tumble apart.

Head pounding and ears ringing, Serika bolted up, reaching for a dark wall, the side of a building, to help push herself up and stay upright. Her mind fought to push away the disorientation the explosion had caused while trying to make sense of it. The impact of that had been massive, the already present smoke from Shiroko's rockets combined with the other explosion to blanket most of the intersection in a thick cloud that killed whatever visibility the remaining lights of the district provided.

Whatever shot her was powerful, artillery grade. A high caliber anti-air or anti-tank gun, maybe? Serika was still rattled despite not even being a direct hit, which was only avoided because-
Alarms blared in Serika's mind, as did the sound of bullets whizzing by through the cloud of smoke, eyes darting around till she found Shiroko lying a few meters beside her, trying to shakily push herself up with arms that trembled trying. Her cyan halo flickering a few times from being on the verge of unconscious and only stabilizing after a moment.

"Shiroko-senpai, hang on!" With a shout, Serika bolted over to the girl, gritting her teeth through some bullets bouncing off her body, and wrapped their arm around her shoulder, rapidly helping Shiroko to her still unsteady feet. The second year had been closer to and taken the brunt of the explosion shielding Serika and that left her to figure a way out of this situation.

Serika's eyes darted around the street, begging to find some inspiration to move. What was she supposed to do? They were outnumbered and outgunned against artillery. Her and Shiroko were sitting ducks out in the open and another round would be their doom against so many of the Helmet Gang.

Cover, the two needed cover. They needed to hide but arg where!? Serika didn't have time to think, it'd be seconds before someone charged through the smoke and saw where they went! Bullets were already blindly flying around her and Shiroko. She just had to choose something and pray it worked.

"Senpai, this way!" Serika shouted, practically dragging Shiroko to the nearest house and diving through an already broken window, arm around Shiroko's waist to get enough a hold to lift them one handed.

With a thud, Serika landed upright, holding Shiroko tightly toward herself to keep the girl from collapsing again. It did little to stop her from attempting to break out of the girl's grip though. "Nn… Serika, get down…"

"I know that…!" Serika hissed in a raised whisper, dragging herself and Shiroko away from the window and into the darkness of the abandoned house. She could barely make out any of the interior details, but Serika didn't care, they weren't important and worth the attention.

Carefully guiding Shiroko back down toward the floor to take precious moments to recover, Serika released her hold and gripped her gun tightly, leaning against the wall beside the window to keep herself out of sight but still let her see a glimpse of outside with a tilt of her head.

Through the rapidly dissipating smoke, the girl saw around a dozen of the Kata-Kata Helmet Gang emerge, the crackling spray of bullets falling silent as they began to start looking around the area.

"What a pain, that girl was ready for us."

"Hurry up and find her then so we can make her pay for it. This was supposed to be an easy job."

"I told you that was crap when they gave us a bunch of body armor 'just in case'."

"Whatever, just find them already! They've can't have gone far! Keep an eye out for that drone too! Flew off somewhere."

A nervous sweat appeared on Serika's brow while she saw a little movement from the slight peek she could afford. She could only silently pray that the Helmet Gang went to literally any other house first. This section of Abbydos was somewhat rundown with a few buildings already abandoned and looted, something Serika had to hope would buy her and Shiroko at least a couple minutes in their spot.

Glancing over at her friend to see how they were doing, Serika almost did a double take seeing Shiroko on her phone, with the brightness turned down at least. Not that it'd do much to hide it in a totally black house.

Creeping over as quickly as she could while staying silent, Serika crouched down next to the wolf girl to help keep her words whisper quiet as well. "Shiroko-senpai, what are you doing on your phone now? They're going to see us!"

"I'm messaging sensei, he said…" Shiroko paused, wincing slightly. "Said that he would be in the area just in case. We need help for this and he already heard the explosion. He can't be far."

Serika bit her lip, forcing down an annoyed reply. Loath as she wanted to admit it, Ragna would've really helped about now. If her suspicions were right and it was a flak 41 cannon, it could be a problem even with backup, but without any the odds were bad. If she hadn't been so caught up in her own frustrations, Shiroko wouldn't have taken that hit for her. Serika wasn't used to seeing her so physically capable friend look so weak. Even with it not being a direct hit and Shiroko shielding her from it, Serika's body was plagued with a dull aching. Even if some of that was from the bullets that came afterwards, she could only imagine how bad it hurt if Shiroko was so unsteady. If Ragna hadn't been so persistent trying to help her despite constantly slapping away the helpful hand, Serika would've been all alone to take such a hit. And from there…

Serika shook her head, banishing away the unsettling thoughts before they could take too deep a root in her head. Now wasn't the time.

"Senpai, can you stand?" Serika, still keeping her gun prepared to shoot at a moment's notice, asked in a whisper, looking around the room and settling her gaze on the stairs. If Ragna was on the way, they needed to be ready for a fight and with the Helmet Gang sweeping the streets, going out the back was a trap waiting to happen. Upstairs would at least buy them some extra time. "Let's go upstairs and get in a better spot."

"Nn… I think so." Leaning a hand on the wall and with shaky legs, Shiroko managed to prop herself, still looking ready to tip back over from so much as a gentle push but at least she was standing mostly on her own again.

Trusting Shiroko's self-assessment, Serika crept up the stairs quick as she could, turning back to see Shiroko about halfway up after her, following a bit slower but quickly starting to recover from her initial disorientation. Maybe they could-

Serika's blood ran cold as front door was thrown off its hinges and too the floor.

"They're in here!"

With no hesitation, Serika raised her rifle, power flowing into it with a faint blue that had her gun spraying bullets even faster and harder than usually possible into the girl's helmeted face, sending her stumbling backwards out the doorway and to the floor with a shout.

Serika preferred being more selective with her ammo given how conservatively she'd gotten used to treating it, but right now wasn't the time to hold back anything and her covering fire gave Shiroko the time to stumble up the stairs to behind the corner opposite to Serika for cover.

A few more of the Helmet Gang started funneling into the front door only to meet a volley of bullet from both Shiroko and Serika, but with both their faces and bodies armored, it let the girls push through and set up at the bottom of the stairs, where as before it would've at least made them retreat through the door or dive off for cover.

Now facing returning fire, Serika ducked back behind the hardwood wall and inched away from the edge as a few bullets riddled the corner of her cover. Hands racing as fast as they could, Serika unloaded her magazine and retrieved another from her bag, loading it and racking her gun with lightning quick, practiced motions. She heard trampling footsteps coming up the stairs between the bullets and had to move fast.

Opposite from her while she reloaded, Serika saw Shiroko produce a grenade from inside her own bag, pull the pin out with her thumb, pivot out from her own cover, and shove her palm with the grenade in it into the Helmet Gang member at the top of the stairs with such force that with Shiroko's better leverage the girl went tumbling backwards into her allies, all the heavier armor worn sending each of them barreling down toward the bottom steps like knocked over bowling pins.

With the grenade.

A brilliant flash of fire and light erupted at the bottom of the stairs, briefly blowing away the darkness and the bottom steps apart, shredding sections of the nearby walls in the process as the sounds of pained yelling mixed with shattering furniture.

"How many explosives did you bring?!" Not waiting for a reply from Shiroko, Serika peered from behind her cover and started shooting once more, every flash from her muzzle lighting up the dim room as her bullets slammed into a few of the downed girls, sending one scrambling into a side room, but two more that'd been further from the explosion fought through the volley with only a light flinch and returned fire, striking Serika twice in the chest and forcing her back behind her wall before any more rounds could hit and throw her aim off.

"Nn, not enough." Shiroko answered as she replaced a magazine in her own rifle before giving Serika a quick thumbs up. "But they can't up as easy now."

Serika peeked out to fire a few more empowered rounds at a girl before ducking behind safety once more. "We're still stuck up here! Don't you have anymore rockets in your drone or something to help!?"

"I used them all to make a path."

Serika groaned in frustration. That was a good use for it, but it didn't make her feel much better about the current situation! While the front door and stairs prevented too many from swarming her and Shiroko at once with the 10:1 number advantage, the current position was one of attrition both would lose if something didn't change soon.

"Everyone out! We'll just do this the hard way!"

At all once, the sounds of gunfire ceased, only to be replaced by numerous footsteps retreating directly outside the building. That should've brought Serika some relief, but instead it only heightened her anxiety and the growing pit in her stomach. No way they were giving up that easily with how heavily armored the group was and hired specifically to target the school. If not for that stupid body armor, her and Shiroko would've been able to knock out or send a couple retreating by now with how combat with the Helmet Gang typically went. However, the most Serika could tell from her limited view of the street and the gang gathering in it, was they'd only managed to make a few girls unsteady on their feet with only two actually needing anyone to lean on.

"They're planning something." Shiroko said lowly, emerging from her cover with a tight grip on her gun. "I can hear what they're saying from here, let's wait a second."

Staying still while the enemy planned right in front of them was a terrible idea to Serika, but even a few extra seconds of peace was time they didn't have to stall for help arriving and so the girl strained her ears listening for whatever the leader was yelling about. She looked to be saying something over a phone…?

"Just shoot the house on the right in front of us! Who cares about collateral damage in this abandoned place? It'll flush them out or knock them out!"

Just shoot the ho-

Serika's eyes went wide, locking with Shiroko's as her's mirrored Serika's reaction with the same realization dawning on both girls.

Without another word, both girls bolted for the nearest window at the end of the hallway, Shiroko nearly stumbling and just managing to correct her stride in time to not fall.

A tremendous rumble shook the ground before Serika could take more than a few steps. She expected to be blown aside, the roof blowing apart wherever it struck, the whole world to spin like it had from the near direct hit of the first round.

Yet, aside from a rumble that felt close, but not disorientatingly powerful, none of that happened and the sheer confusion briefly stopped both her and Shiroko. "Nn, did they hit the wrong house?"

"Not YOUR right, MY righ-Ack!"

The leader's words were cut off by sound of a shotgun rapidly going on. A very familiar shotgun.

"Is that Hoshino-senpai?" Disbelief and worry for the sole third year in her voice driving her to move, Serika bolted back to where she'd been a second ago and saw Hoshino's small form standing in the doorway, blocking it off with her riot shield and firing into the street. It was hard to tell with the obstructed view, but it looked like a few of the Helmet Gang were already on the floor "W-What are you doing here!? Shiroko-senpai, I thought you called sensei!?"

Shiroko looked at Serika, then over at Hoshino, visibly confused. "I… did…?"

"Ojisan came rushing to help and I just get complaints about not being someone else. You're gonna hurt my feelings." With a fake hurt under the casualness of her voice, Hoshino turned toward Serika and Shiroko as numerous metallic pings from bullets echoed off her iron riot shield, waving her shotgun at them once. "Sensei's taking care of the artillery, so if you could give me a little hand wrapping up here?"

"Er, uh, right!" Serika wasted no further time, vaulting over the rails besides the stairs and hitting the ground running to take a position beside the window she'd broken to get in. Though, as soon as she looked out she questioned if Hoshino even needed the support.

3 girls were unconscious, one being dragged further from the firefight by another girl, a fourth was trying to pick herself off the ground with clear difficulty, two more were scrambling back clumsily for cover and clearly not in peak condition, while several others were returning while clearly looking for somewhere to hide on the mostly empty street. In total, perhaps there 10-15 of the Helmet Gang, slightly less than Serika recalled seeing. Where had the others gone? Had they surrounded the house to cut off escape, perhaps?

Whatever, it didn't matter, she had the chance to really fight back now!

Readying her rifle, Serika unleashed several bursts between the recovering girl and those trying to retreat, slightly staggering but not knocking any of them over because of the body armor.

"Where the hell is the flak 41?! It shouldn't take this long to reload it!" One of the girls screeched, slowly moving backwards.

"I can see the tank's flipped over, it's useless!"

"This was supposed to be easy, we are NOT being paid enough if we lost the flak gun! Grab everyone and get out of here!"

With the brief opening, Serika reloaded her gun, joined by Hoshino doing the same, while Shiroko rolled down into a position by the opposite window for her own defensive position. It gave the Helmet Gang a few moments to grab the unconscious girls and start scrambling away, but it was also a perfect break to reload without anyone shooting at them either, just in case.

"That's right, you better run!" Serika furiously shouted at the retreating enemies. She was so tempted to fire some parting rounds to blow off some steam from this whole mess, but thought better than to waste the ammo and she still needed to make sure Shiroko was fine after covering for her stupid mistake.

Though combat was done, Hoshino kept her riot shield prepared, stepping outside to look down the street where the ambush had initially happened. Only after a few seconds scrutinizing the direction, did she truly appear to relax and folded her riot shield back up to let out an exaggerated yawn. "Iyaa~, looks like that's about it then. Sensei's done over there. Serika-chan, Shiroko-chan, you both still holding up?"

"I'm fine." Serika immediately answered dismissively. She definitely was feeling sore and expected to wake up that way in the morning, but nothing she couldn't handle. She wasn't sure if the same could be said for Shiroko, however, and Serika's gazed turned toward the 2nd​ year with some worry. "What about you, Shiroko-senpai? A flak gun hits really hard. I still think my teeth are rattling…"

The usual casual demeanor on Hoshino quickly took on a dash of concern in line with Serikas. "Huh? You actually took a hit from that? You sure you don't wanna sit down for a few minutes?"

"Nn… It wasn't a direct hit, or else that would've knocked one of us out." Shiroko shrugged off the concerns with a shake of her head, leaning on the bullet hole riddled wall for some support. "I'm still a little dizzy, but I'm okay. I'm glad you weren't hurt much, Serika. It would've been bad if we both couldn't fight."

Serika frowned, letting out a huff. "Nobody told you to put yourself in danger like that for me. But, um, thanks, senpai..."

Despite her protest and guilt over Shiroko getting injured for her sake, Serika knew things would've been a disaster without her and had to be thankful. Serika would've already been getting dragged off to who knows where to never be seen again… But if she'd just been less stubborn, then maybe Shiroko wouldn't have needed to do that in the first place.

Shiroko stared at Serika blankly, tilting her head. "Nn, but that's exactly what Ragna-sensei asked me to do. If you want to thank anyone, thank him."

Urg, Shiroko saw right through her. But… She was right. Serika had been almost nothing but annoyed at best to hostile at worst with Ragna. If somebody had done that to her, she would've almost certainly just moved on and not kept bothering with somebody who clearly had issues. Yet, Ragna didn't. He was still worried about her and persistent enough to look out for her and have some tact about it. She probably would've just ran off trying to avoid him had he shown up in person.

Gah… Not only was she going to have to talk to Ragna to learn more about him, she was going to have to apologize and thank him after all this. Her cheeks were already burning up at the thought.

"Uhe? That's why you two were together?" Hoshino spoke up, eyes darting between the two girls. "He didn't have much time to explain things to me."

Shiroko nodded, her expression drifting toward a smile. "Nn, sensei was right that whoever's behind this was going to step up their attacks. He thought something was going to happen tonight since Serika got off work so late and asked me to stay with her. Sensei's got a really good sense for figuring out what's going on with this situation."

It was brief, so brief in fact Serika was half wondering if she'd imagined it, but there was… Something in Hoshino's expression and eyes, something so unlike her usual demeanor that Serika wasn't even sure where to place the emotion she thought she saw. But just as quickly as it'd come, Hoshino was back to her usual self.

"Well~, I guess he does. Serika-chan's sure lucky to have an adult that's as stubborn as she is and not pushed away so easily."

"Hey!"

Ignoring the outburst, Hoshino took a few steps down the street, beckoning for Serika and Shiroko to follow. "But, we shouldn't keep sensei waiting. I might start to feel sorry for whichever unlucky girl got left alone with him for interrogating."

On Hoshino's instruction, Serika made her way down the street with her friends, though not without a short stop for Shiroko to retrieve her bike which had thankfully remained in one piece from her rolling it out of the way before the battle begun. Soon, she saw Ragna in the middle of the street, a tank on its side with a massive flak 41 gun mounted to the top, next to him and a few of the armored vests the Helmet Gang had been wearing at his feet. The man had a pensive expression on his face, granted, he almost always looked slightly annoyed with one eye closed to Serika, as he stared up at the buildings, like he were looking for something. Whatever search he was making was interrupted as his working eye flicked over to the group and he turned his head to face them. "You three sure took your sweet time coming over here. Good to see you're all still in one piece."

"Well, since there's nobody here, I'm guessing you already tried 'talking' to the Helmet Gang to see if there was anything you could learn?" Hoshino greeted with a wave.

Ragna let out a guttural groan, face falling to a scowl. "Yep, not that it did much good. Didn't know anything new, so I told them to drop what their employer gave them and get out of here and find a better line of work. Don't think anyone's gonna listen to me there."

"Uhehe… Robbing somebody and offering advice is an interesting strategy, sensei." Hoshino said with a dry sigh. "You're not planning to make that a habit, are you?"

"Hey, I've seen some pretty messed up people change so can't blame me for trying. Don't exactly have the time to do much about it right now anyway. Felt like somebody was still watching, but couldn't find anything..." The man grumbled, taking one last, quick look toward some of the taller buildings around the area. "I'm sure as hell not gonna let them have this back to use it on us again and maybe we can figure something out with what's left behind. With how many tanks are in this place, I'm gonna assume one of you can drive. I'm not dragging this all the way back to the campus."

Serika glanced over to the sideways trank, then back to Ragna, ears flattening with her dull stare. "Sensei, that's not in any condition to drive."

Turning toward the tank, Ragna reached up his working arm, grabbed the side of it and, with a grunt, proceeded to turn the vehicle weighing at least double digit tons back upright with a loud and creaky thud.

Wow, Serika knew Ragna was strong but this man was a monster if he could go around flipping a tank with one hand. She almost felt bad for the Helmet Gang that had to take a punch from him.

"Hope you're not expecting me to drive it with one hand." Ragna sarcastically added.

Shiroko gave an affirming thumbs up, already loading her bike around the folded down back flap. "Most people in Kivotos our age could drive a tank, sensei."

"Yeah, alright. Guess that's one problem done then. Figure best thing to do tonight would be to take it back to the campus and rest there. Think everyone's had a long day." Ragna said, hand on his hip and taking one more look around the area.

Hoshino let out an exaggerated yawn, stretching in an equally over expressive manner. "I won't complain about that. Ojisan doesn't have the same energy to stay up all night you kids do."

"What were you doing out here with him anyway, Hoshino-senpai?" Serika asked with a hand on her hip, looking up and down her shorter senpai curiously. Going out for a night time stroll was one of the last things Serika would expect from Hoshino with how much she loved to nap.

"Err, well…" Hoshino's word turned unexpectedly meek, holding a shaking hand up.

"I found her taking a nap on a bench." Ragna flatly interjected. "Since she was already here, decided to keep her around just in case.

Hoshino spun toward the man with her jaw hanging open and betrayal written over her face. "S-Sensei!?"

Serika slooowly turned her head toward the smaller girl, giving her a dirty, exasperated look. She could believe that with all the places they fell asleep in at the school. It was good Hoshino had been there, but still.

"Nn, that sounds like Hoshino-senpai." Shiroko commented, starting to climb up the tank and around the folded up side flaps.

Hoshino slumped forward even more deeply than she usually did, a look of resignation spread over her the likes of which could only come from someone who knew they were fighting a hopeless battle. "Hah… Whatever happened to respecting your elders…?"

"Hey don't look at me like this is my fault. You're the one who didn't say anything earlier." Ragna flatly added, starting to pick up the armored vests and toss them onto the back with Shiroko's bike.

Why did it feel like there was something Serika was missing behind those words…

"Uhe… Ojisan's gonna take a nap on the way back." With one of the most resigned 'Uhe's Serika ever heard, Hoshino shambled after Shiroko inside the tank, leaving the girl alone with Ragna.

Part of her wanted to wait till another time, to give a proper thanks when she wouldn't have to worry about anyone else listening in, it was especially kind of embarrassing with Shiroko around after their earlier discussion she had been proven entirely wrong in. But on the other hand, not thanking the man right after his planning saved her and things were calm again just furthered the growing guilt in her chest. Might as well get this over with now, at least Hoshino would be asleep in record time and not hear this...

With a deep breath to compose herself, Serika gently tapped Ragna on the shoulder a few time as he tossed the last vest onto the tank. "Hey…"

"Hm?" Ragna turned his focus over toward the girl.

"S-So…" Serika trailed off, nervously avoiding eye contacting with Ragna. "Thanks for the help and stuff… I'm not sure what would've happened if Shiroko-senpai wasn't here."

Ragna's face twisted in an amused grin, smug even. "What do you know, you being nice once wasn't a freak accident. What did I tell you? I've got some experience with heavy shit like this and know what we're dealing with."

"Arg, fine, you were right about that." Serika said with a grimace, doing her best to push down the instinctive angry response this time. "You don't have to look so smug about it, geez…"

"Look, I'm just glad you're alright." Ragna said, leaning on the side of the tank. "Met some stubborn people before. Sometimes, you gotta be just as stubborn to help. Gonna take a lot more than a bit of screaming to chase me off. I've been that hardheaded idiot before and caused trouble for myself or others for it, so I get it."

Personal experience huh… That would explain why he was so determined to lend a hand no matter how many times she slapped it away. He was still a bit prickly, but maybe she had been too harsh on Ragna and the others were right he still cared in his own way.

"What happened?" Serika couldn't help the curiosity in her voice. She had been wanting to get to know Ragna better and so much of his past was still a big mystery.

"That's… A long as hell story and I'm ready for this day to be done already, so ask me again later. Come on, let's get going. Ayane and Nonomi are gonna have a hell of a surprise when they show up to this thing tomorrow." Ragna answered dismissively, stepping onto the tank.

Well, Serika couldn't deny being a little disappointed at the answer, but the man had a point. It was late, she was tired, and even if it would be on one of the futons at school Serika couldn't wait to lie down and rest after such an eventful day.

There was sure to be many more like it with someone after the school, but despite how daunting a prospect it was, something in her felt a little more at ease now. They'd managed to fend off an attack like this and even came out ahead, Abydos could take whoever was after them.

She wasn't entirely sure what to make of Ragna yet, but the man deserved a fair chance after today.

---

The hour may have been late, yet with all that needed to be done before the day was over, the night still felt oh so young to the person waiting inside Kaiser's main office building within Abydos. It was honestly quite the sterile, gloomy environment with scant few lights on in the lifeless waiting area. He was quite used to such decorum as a Captain of the NOL's intelligence branch, but even in other worlds the upper class couldn't help being so boring, could they?

Huh, that was a new one. Is this what contempt felt like? Hm, no, on second thought, that was a little too strong from how he saw people use the descriptor for emotion. He was still trying to figure out exactly how something should truly feel instead of merely knowing it academically and how to exploit it in others. Something not as extreme, but still negative...

Annoyed! That was it!

…

………

Yeah, this one wasn't that great. He'd gotten a lot more out of kicking that annoying vampire to death a bunch of times, but not all emotions could be winners. At least he could check this one off the list. Interesting feedback loop of being annoyed at being annoyed. Maybe that was something to look into later.

Oh, well. At least he had some decent company to talk with.

Off to his right was a man in a black suit, who had so creatively decided to name himself "Black Suit" after it. Though, "man" was perhaps a generous description as his face was similarly black, but with white cracks that glowed with an energy spread across it, the only notable identifying features being a large and pure white eye alongside a similarly colored mouth.

Well, not like he could knock the fashion too much, even if he'd definitely dig at the naming sense. He was wearing something similar, a simple black long dress coat over a standard black suit and leggings, held up with two belts, with white undershirt. Completing the look was a similarly colored fedora atop his short green hair.

Actually, now that he thought of it, Black Suit kind of reminded him of the form Terumi's spirit took if it got turned monochromatic and put on a nice suit. That was a picture he never expected to imagine, let alone see.

"Now then, Hazama. I think I've told you all you'll need to know going into this meeting, so let's go meet the PMC Director. I think having someone so knowledgeable about this new factor, Ragna the Bloodedge, will be quite the benefit based on what you've told me about him this last week." Black Suit stated, taking a few steps down the hall.

Hazama quickly fell in step alongside the other. "Say, you mentioned there was supposed to be some kind of plan going on tonight. I'll bet-"

Hazama ramping up his condescending tone was interrupted by the sensation of a telepathic call. He could feel it in that ingenious little addition that let him walk around despite the lack of seithr in the air, even if he was basic and most of his powers were still restricted. That could only mean one person was calling him, they had created it after all. "Oh, hang on a moment. I think we're about to get something interesting on the new 'teacher'.

With a quick application of Ars Magus to answer and project his words to the other end, Hazama answered. "Why hello there. You sure picked a bad time for some late night chit-chat, but I suppose you must have something interesting to report about Raggy?"

"Correct, Hazama. This matter also concerns your dealings with Kaiser and Black Suit. Is he with you?" The deep, masculine voice Hazama had come to know so well as his creator answered.

Hazama briefly looked over to Black Suit, flashing a grin. "Ah, perhaps I was wrong and your timing is perfect then. He was just about to introduce me to the PMC Director and the sharply dressed fellow just happens to be right next to me. You caught us right before our little meeting could begin."

With another light application of Ars Magus, Hazama 'connected' Black Suit into the exchange. "Go right ahead, the floor is all your's."

"What have you discovered?" Black Suit asked plainly, yet with a clear curiosity infecting his words.

Almost immediately, a reply came. "I will make matters brief as you have business to attend to, the full implications of this are better discussed with the rest of Gematria present. I have reason to believe Ragna the Bloodedge's existence is related to the strange ripples in Kivotos."

"Is he…? You and Hazama are more familiar with him and the Azure than we are, perhaps that's why you found it so quickly. I take it you felt something once in his presence?" Black Suit answered slowly, as if working through the implications in his head while he spoke.

"It is the opposite, in fact. There is something about his existence I can't comprehend, cannot Observe. I see him, yet it's almost like gazing upon a mirage. I believe it related to why neither Hazama nor I could recall Ragna's existence until we saw reports of his presence here." The man stated matter of factly, as if giving a research report.

Hazama's near perpetually closed eyes flicked open with unrestrained surprise, revealing the yellow snake like orbs beneath them. Had he heard that right? "Excuse me? First he pulls off a disappearing act not even the Master Unit could, and then you can't Observe him even after winning that game of hide and seek? Oh, dear. That can't be unrelated. Rags certainly has gotten up to something interesting…"

There was simply no way those were unrelated. Hazama knew Ragna almost as well as Terumi did and the both of them were clearly heading for something special near the end of the whole pain in the neck with the Embryo, but Hazama had never gotten to find out exactly what it was since he'd jumped into the Cauldron to escape and well, then he'd completely forgotten Ragna existed till Hazama saw his sour face over the news reports about some new teacher at SCHALE.

Ragna the Bloodedge, feared across the entire world with a list of crimes that'd take longer to read off than a whole phone book, the man who's default mood was "grumpy and frowning", being a SCHOOL TEACHER?

The thought was so stupidly funny Hazama had been certain it had to somehow be an alternate universe version of the guy he knew for a solid 5 minutes.

He'd then spent another 5 minutes laughing about it after realizing it had to be the same Ragna he knew. How in the world did that even happen?

Well, he could think on it later, couldn't get too distracted by that hilarious mental image right now. Back to business. He was starting to understand why Terumi had been so extreme in all his displays.

"You are correct. There will be time to discuss it more later, however. Concerning your affairs, I assume the assault I just witnessed miserably fail was under the orders of Kaiser."

Hazama let out a sharp laugh, putting an elbow onto Black Suit's shoulder and leaning on it. Exactly how he'd expected things to go. "You'd almost certainly be correct. See, what did I tell you, Black Suit? You both need someone like me, experienced with what's becoming the biggest pain in the neck to the whole operation. I didn't become captain in an intelligence department just because I could count on some good ole nepotism from my friend here."

Black Suit let out a soft sigh. "I suppose it isn't surprising. There has seldom been any true complications in this long project. Complacency is an insidious enemy. We'll discuss things further with the PMC Director."

Riiiiiiiight, still had to get to that. Hazama had been waiting for this. Kaiser Corporation, based on what he had learned so far talking with Black Suit and research he'd done, acted exactly up his alley. He just needed a quick way to integrate himself with the organization and side step all that annoying grunt work and 'climbing the ranks' rat race. And Black Suit was the perfect key to open up that shortcut. Gematria was an interesting bunch from the brief time Hazama had known them, but the analytical and dry scientist types were so much more his companion's speed than his.

"Well, hate to just talk business and run, but we'll all busy people and I'm sure our robotic friend will be even more fuming if we're late after his brilliant plan went up in smoke, so we'll talk more afterwards. Until next time." With a casual, borderline patronizing tone, Hazama disconnected the line and removed his shoulder from Black Suit, taking a few steps ahead of him with a grin. "Well then, shall we get going?"

Without another word, Black Suit lead Hazama to a wide set of double doors, opening them without bothering to knock or announce their presence.

Inside the large room with an ornate black marble floor with only a few basic furnishings, there was a stockily build, tall robot seated at a desk. He was dressed in a professional looking black suit with a coat possessing orange highlights and two lines of fabric going from the sides of his metallic silver neck down past where Hazama could see. His face was distinctly non-human, but still close enough to display human like emotion. The clenched mouth that looked like it was nothing but jaw, four horizontal slits of glowing orange "eyes" that were ever so slightly narrowed. It was clear the man was feeling a touch frustrated.

Good note for himself, that emotion sure sucked when Hazama felt it, but it was oh so much better looking on another person. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all.

"Hm?" The machine spoke up with a voice that sounded distinctly robotic in the way the voice was modulated, yet it wasn't emotionless, quite the opposite in fact. "Black Suit and... I take it this is the ally you mentioned before?"

Black Suit stepped forward, with Hazama following closely behind. "Correct. This is the man I briefly told you about yesterday. And who I believe may help in a reassessment of the current situation with the unexpected new factor. I presume that your latest attack did not go to plan, from your demeanor."

"You'd presume right." The PMC Director grumbled. "A tactical tank and body armor as insurance, yet still failing to utterly in their job. It's almost as if that new teacher at SCHALE knew what was coming with how quick the response was. Someone must be leaking information in advance with their knowledge, but I can't pinpoint where it could be coming from…"

Hazama stepped forward, putting on a perfectly practiced mask of business professionalism, much of the more playful or casual tone he spoke with earlier banished. "Well now, it sounds like Ragna the Bloodedge is proving to be quite the headache. Rest assured that I will do everything in my power to help deal with it. He's proven to be very difficult to handle back where I come from, but in his current state it should be a significantly easier ordeal than it otherwise could have. You should consider yourself lucky he only has one arm right now."

"You're from outside Kivotos, just like he is, correct?" The Director's gaze scrutinized Hazama closely. "I wasn't told much, but Black Suit informed me you have significant history with that man."

"Oh, yes. Ragna the Bloodedge and I go a ways back, in a manner of speaking. But before that, where are my manners?" With a polite voice, Hazama removed his hat for a quick, mild bow, putting the fedora back on his head the moment it was over. "Honoka Hazama, at your service. Just Hazama is fine. May I have a seat? This may turn into quite the extended discussion depending on how much about Ragna you wish to know."

The PMC Director gestured toward two chairs in front of his desk. "Take a seat. I want to know as much as I can. Ragna himself is a capable fighter from what's been observed so far, but even the data we had previously on the Abydos students doesn't match the capabilities we have seen recently. It can't be a coincidence he showed up at the same time. There was a fixer agency, known as Problem Solver 68, with a good reputation I was planning to hire in hopes of better results than common criminals. But, if I can know more about this annoying threat, it will be easier to prepare the right response."

Hazama, with a quickly muttered 'thank you', took the offered chair, alongside Black Suit, as the Director spoke, waiting for him to finish. "Then, I think I can help. I'm not much of a fighter myself, I deal more with information and intelligence. I'm sure a man such as yourself can appreciate how the right knowledge and leverage can be stronger than any brute force."

"Hah," The robot let out an approving chuckle. "I like you already. With the right black mail, not even a single finger has to be lifted."

Hazama grinned a rehearsed, fake friendly smile. Oh, yes. He could definitely work with an easy target like this. "Well then, let me tell you what I know..."

The PMC Director had absolutely no reason to know even 1/10th the full truth of Hazama's relationship with Ragna. But, well, there wasn't anything wrong with sharing some of the "official" history that would've been at play while filling his role as "Captain Hazama". He'd just need to censor a few extra bits here and there, keep it to broad strokes, no sense in inviting further questions or trying to explain being from another world aspect. Just the bare minimum to establish some trust and authority on the matter. The Director may have thought he held all the cards, but the machine was simply a means to an end for both Hazama and Black Suit.

And he couldn't wait to see the eventual look on Ragna's face once they met again.

---

Spoiler: AUTHOR'S NOTES

GUESS

WHO'S

BAAAAAAAAAAAACK.

Oh, did you think Ragna was going to be the only Blazblue character featuring in this story? OH, NO. NOT AT ALL.

If you're here just for Blue Archive and don't know who this duo is and why I've been waiting the whole story to get to this chapter for them...

Oh, you're gonna learn.

And if you do know Blazblue, it shouldn't be hard to guess who Hazama was talking with.