...
I had nothing to do for an entire day. Hoshino and I agreed to hang out at Abydos the day after tomorrow, but as for today...
Guess I'll just get some work do-
ding
Oh, thank God, it's a text.
Huh, it's from Serika. What a coincidence.
Another part-time job confirmed! Are you coming, Sensei?
Depends. When and where?
Now! The park!
Really short notice, Serika.
But I'm not busy today, so why not?
Guess I've got plans.
—————
After a bit, I arrived at the park to find Serika waiting on me, sitting on a bench.
"Yo, Serika!" I call out.
"There you are, Sensei." The cat girl says, standing up.
"So, what's on the agenda today?" I ask.
"Our task for today is pulling weeds in the park!" She explains happily.
"Out of all the difficult tasks..." I curse.
"I know it'll be hard, but it pays well." She defends.
"Oh, I know it'll be hard. I got roped into doing this once when I was a kid." I pause to sigh. "Oh well, what've we got to cover?"
"We need to focus on that patch-" She says, pointing at a big area, covered in weeds. "-, and the one over there." She says, pointing at another, even bigger area.
"Fuck..." I mutter.
"That part especially is super overgrown, so the weeds will grow back quickly if they aren't uprooted." She continues, not hearing me. "It always feels like for every weed we pull, two more pop up in it's place." She complains.
"Don't I know it." I say, not looking forward to this.
"This reminds me of that old tale with the guy endlessly rolling a boulder up a hill." She says.
"Oh, I know that one." I say.
"If only we had some professional gardening equipment." She complains, looking at two pairs of gloves and a small sickle on the ground.
"We'll manage." I say, cracking my knuckles.
"Here goes nothing, then." She says, grabbing the gloves and tossing me a pair. "Let's get to work!"
—————
Serika's cheerful and optimistic attitude quickly disappeared as our job seemed to drag in endlessly. Just as she said, when we plucked one, two more popped up.
The weeds are worse than the hydra, if anything.
Despite the problems, we finished pulling the weeds just before sunset.
"All done! This should be okay." She says, putting up an energetic front. The both of us are covered in sweat and dirt, our hands are sore and my back hurts. "You did a pretty good job. I guess you're used to manual labor, huh?"
"Yup. Doesn't mean I have to like it, though." I complain, rubbing my back. "Fuck, I'm gonna sleep like a baby tonight."
"Yeah..." She agrees, rubbing her back as well. "This job is nice because I can do it after school... but the pay isn't very competitive."
"I can see why." I say, leaning my chest back, stretching, with both hands on my hips.
"...It's already getting dark out." Serika says, looking towards the sky. "Let's head back, Sensei."
"Sounds like a plan." I say, smiling.
—————
And so, the two of us hobbled toward our homes. Though, I made a detour to donate the money to Abydos once more.
As soon as I got back, I showered the dirt and sweat off, making sure to take extra time to relax under the warm water.
All good things come to an end, sadly, as I hopped out of the shower after a while.
Sitting on the couch in a t-shirt and some loose pajama pants, I hear my phone ding again, due to a text from Serika.
I've been bending over all day. I feel like my back is about to break.
How's your back, Sensei?
Sore.
I thought soaking in the bathtub might help.
So, ewiks,xc-z
Huh?
AAAAAA
Serika then sends me a picture of what looks like her legs, or perhaps her arms over the water of a drawn bath, but the whole thing is distorted due to motion blur.
I quickly delete it.
I almost dropped my phone in the tub!
Bringing my phone to the bath was probably a bad idea...
Well, now you know.
See you later, Sensei.
Yeah, later.
And don't worry, I deleted the picture.
Huh?
Ahhhh! How did you get that photo?
D-Don't look! Don't look!
Already deleted it, dummy.
I'll kill you! I'm going to check your phone later!
Delete it! All right?
I'm gonna check it later!
Aaaaand, she's not listening.
Chuckling, I lay my phone down and get ready to make some dinner.
—————
And so, the next day arrived. Hoshino and I agreed to meet up at Abydos at a bit after lunch, since she had something to do in the morning.
That morning, however, I had nothing to do.
This was remedied by a text from Nonomi.
Sensei!
The text she sent also has a little star emoji next to it.
If you have time today, can you come shopping with me?
Shopping, eh? I'm free this morning, so why not?
Wow!
It's a date!
No, it's just shopping. Shopping!
I'll be waiting for you.
Well, looks like I'll be busy in the vicinity of my destination for later.
Interestingly, I got a text from Shiroko next.
There's a subway in DU where Schale is, right?
Yeah.
Hmm, I bet you use the subway a lot, then.
A fair bit, yes.
Kivotos is pretty big, after all.
Hmm. Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.
...Huh?
What goes on in that wolf girl's head?
Speaking of that, I am gonna go via subway to Abydos. A lot of my commuting is via subway, after all.
Shockingly, I got a text from Serika.
Ayane said the Foreclosure Task Force has been receiving anonymous donations recently.
It's not a lot, but it's about the amount you'd expect from a day of part-time work.
Well, that's nice to hear.
I know! Maybe it's from a citizen who recognizes our accomplishments. Heeheehee.
Who knows?
She's not onto me, thankfully.
Oh well, onwards to Abydos!
—————
At the subway line, I go towards the one that runs to Abydos, when I spot a familiar mop of silvery hair.
"Yo, Shiroko." I call out, drawing her attention.
"Huh, Sensei?" She asks in that quiet voice of hers.
"What brings ya around here?" I ask.
"Well, it's supposed to be a personal matter, but I guess I can tell you about it." She says, mysteriously. "I've been planning a long-distance ride- about four-hundred kilometers. I'm actually in the process of scouting out the path right now."
"Four hundred? Isn't that too long of a ride?" I ask, a bit concerned.
"Well... if I ride all night, I should be able to make it." Shiroko says, unfazed by my concern.
"You definitely have more stamina than I, Shiroko." I say, seriously.
Shiroko blushes a bit, but quickly changes the subject. "Were you off to do some work, Sensei?"
"Nah, Nonomi wanted me to go shopping with her." I say.
"That sounds like her." The wolf girl says. "Now that I think about it, this is the only subway line to Abydos from here. I should've expected to run into you here." She then tenses up. "Uh, not that I was hoping to run into you or anything!" She quickly corrects, her voice still quiet, despite shouting.
"Geez, it's fine." I say with a smile, placating the girl. "And who knows, we might run into one another like this again."
"It's just a coincidence, really!" She reiterates, a blush appearing.
"I know it is, now chill out dummy." I chastise lightly. "Anyway, I'd better get going. I see you later, Shiroko."
"Yeah, bye Sensei." She says, quietly.
As I walked away, I never heard Shiroko mutter to herself.
"Sensei's smile is way too dangerous."
—————
I soon arrived at a shopping mall a fair way from Abydos. It was small, but had quite a lot of stores.
"Sensei! Over here! Here!" Nonomi calls out to me, getting my attention as she waves her arm around enthusiastically.
"Hey." I say, walking over to her. "Did I keep ya waiting?"
"Not really. Maybe half an hour." The blonde says, causing me to cringe. "Oh, no, you were the one on time." She corrects, noticing my face. "Sensei, I chose to come early and wait."
"I wanna ask why, but..." I say.
"All right, then." She says, quickly grabbing my arm. "Let's go! I was really looking forward to our date- I mean, I can't wait to go shopping!" Nonomi corrects herself, as she drags me along.
—————
The two of us went this way and that, here and there.
"Look, Sensei! We should go check that out too!" She says. "Hmm. Maybe we should buy a diffuser too? The club room could use one, right?"
"I... guess?" I say, not knowing what that is.
Her attention then shifts. "Is this a reversi set? This could come in handy!"
"S-Slow down, Nonomi. Do y'all really need a reversi set?" I ask, still a bit awestruck by her energy today.
"Do you know how far this shopping mall is from Abydos Academy?!" Nonomi suddenly shouts, as she gets in my face, causing me to reel back. "We don't get to come here often, so that means buying in bulk."
"Fair enough." I say, as Nonomi pulls back, allowing me to straighten myself again.
"Besides..." She begins, a melancholic expression on her face. "The others are paying off the school's debt out of their own pockets. I feel sorry for them. We feel more like a temp agency than a school club..." Before I can say anything, she perks up. "Anyway! Let's continue shopping!" She says, cheerily. "I still have a lot more budget to spend on things we need!"
Nonomi then begins to walk off towards another store. Chuckling at her infectious cheer, I follow.
—————
The two of us spent most of the morning at the mall. Unfortunately, since the school was out of their delivery range, we, or rather I, had to carry everything back.
Eventually, we do make it back to the Foreclosure Task Force room.
Gently, I lower my body and sit the bags of stuff on the floor, before standing back up. My back aches again.
"S-Sensei... Are you all right?" Nonomi asks, worriedly.
"Yeah. I strained my back a bit yesterday and that stuff certainly didn't help." I say. "I'll be fine, though. I've dealt with worse."
"...Sorry. Maybe I did go overboard." Nonomi apologizes, lowering her head. "I swear I don't usually buy this much. I may have... gotten carried away back there."
"Nonomi, it's fine." I say, hoping to dissuade her worry.
thump
A thumping sound, makes us both jump, as we turn to the ground and see some dumbbells have fallen from the bags.
"I picked these out... to give as a gift to Shiroko..." The blonde says, apologetic.
"Fair enough." I say, with a shrug. Bending down, I look at the weights. "Eh, only fifty kilos each. I bench more than that." Sitting them to the side, I take more stuff out from the bags to organize. I then take out a flower pot, sitting it to the side.
"That's for Serika." Nonomi helpfully says, before bending down to help. "Oh, I forgot I bought these."
In her hands are fuzzy, long ear swabs. "Ear swabs?" I ask, a bit surprised she'd buy something like this.
"Truth be told, I bought them as a gift for you!" She says, happily.
"Really?" I ask, a bit surprised.
"Uh-huh! Just wait a minute!" She says, happily. Nonomi gets up and sits down on the couch in the side of the room. She then pats her lap and says, "Come on, Sensei. Lie down on my lap."
My eyes widen a bit at her sudden offer.
"Come on, hurry up!" She says with a big smile.
"Alright." I say with a sigh. Gently, I lay down on the couch with my head rested on Nonomi's thighs.
She giggles as I look up at her. "Here we go. One ear cleaning coming right up! You have to stay still, alright, Sensei?"
"Okay." I say simply, feeling rather calm all of a sudden.
"Don't fidget. I'm putting it in now." Nonomi says, not thinking twice about her words. "Let me know if it tickles." Slowly, a soft fuzzy thing enters my ear gently. "There we go. That's... perfect!" She says with a smile. "Erm..." She says, suddenly nervous. "Come to think of it... Do you find this a little embarrassing?"
"Not really." I say. "It's only embarrassing if you make it embarrassing."
"Well... This is a special service just for you. It's our secret, okay?" She asks, happily.
I just smile at the girl.
She then gets back to work and finishes cleaning one of my ears, prompting me to turn to the other side.
"Hmm? If you lie like that, I can only see the back of your head." The blonde points out.
"Should we have started on this side?" I ask, jokingly, turning my head a bit to see her in the corner of my eyes.
"Uh... More importantly... I can feel your breath..." She mutters, her face very red now. "This isn't working! Sensei, go back to the other position!" She orders.
Sighing, I sit up. "Just sit on the other side of the couch, that way I can face you while you do this ear."
"Oh, that's a great idea!" She chirps.
Nonomi then cleaned my other ear while she was noticeably less flustered. After finishing, we both stand back up.
"So, how do you feel now?" The blonde asks.
"Weirdly refreshed." I say, causing her to tense. "I mean, I've never had someone else clean my ears, so it was certainly new." I say with a chuckle.
Nonomi awkwardly giggles, her face a bit red. "Now that I think about it, I suppose it was pretty embarrassing... But..." She trails off, smiling. "Nevermind."
Before either of us could say anything, the door opens. Looking at the entrance, we see Ayane. "Oh! Nonomi, Sensei, hello!" The elf girl greets.
"You look happy." I point out, seeing the elf girl's smile.
"I just worked out a pretty good deal with a scrap metal dealer we've been working with for a long time now." Ayane explains.
"Scrap metal?" Nonomi asks.
"Where'd you find something like that?" I ask.
"It was inside the abandoned storage facility in the far corner of the school. It was covered by a tarp, so for the longest time I didn't even know it was there." Ayane explains. "It weighed three-hundred kilograms, so I got a pretty good price for it." She says, pleased with herself.
"Which storage facility?" Nonomi asks, tilting her head slightly.
"What?" The bespectacled girl asks, confused. "...It's this way." She says, motioning us to follow her.
—————
A few minutes later, Ayane, Nonomi and I arrive at a small building behind the school. The door opens with a clang as Ayane has to really push to open it.
"This is the place." The elf girl says. "It's a little messy since they seem to have kept all of the east materials here as well."
"Wow! It's really dusty in here." Nonomi observes.
Sure enough, the small room is cluttered and dusty.
"I found it under this tarp here." Ayane says, motioning towards a tarp on the ground.
"Did the tarp say anything?" I ask, curious about what else it's covering.
"Huh...?" Ayane asks, confused, before bending down to observe a patch with writing on it. "Hey, there IS something written on it..." She adjusts her glasses as she reads aloud. "Handle with caution. This is special high-grade steel that must be kept in a climate-controlled environment."
"Special high-grade steel?" Nonomi asks.
"High... grade?!" Ayane shrieks.
I remain silent, surprised by this turn of events, as Ayane begins to panic. "...You have the number of the guy you sold it to, right?"
"CRAP!" The elf girl shouts as she dashes past us, back towards the school.
"C'mon." I say to Nonomi, who's still a bit wide-eyed, as I chase after Ayane.
—————
Once we reach the club room again, we see a still-frantic Ayane. "I can't reach the scrap dealer!" She shouts, slamming the landline phone down. "He's not picking up his phone!"
"Ayane, calm down and think." I order. "Is there any other way to get to him?"
"I... I don't..." The elf girl says, nervous.
"Come on, you can do it, Ayane!" Nonomi cheers, having also arrived.
Ayane then sighs. "Okay, first let's assess the situation... The scrap metal truck is probably headed to the fright station to meet the train that goes to the recycling center."
Idly, I notice Nonomi's smile strain a little bit when Ayane says 'train'... It's almost unnoticeable. What's that about?
Ignoring that, I focus on Ayane continuing. "After it's loaded onto the fright train, the scrap metal will be impossible to track down! And we won't be able to find it after it gets on the highway to the freight station, either."
Ayane opens up her laptop and frantically taps on they keyboard.
"Can we call the fright station?" I ask, pitching my idea.
"The freight station is unmanned, so there won't be anyone to call." The bespectacled girl says grimly. "And even if we leave now, the truck will get there before us. Going to the freight station would be a waste of time!"
"So... we need to catch the truck?" Nonomi asks.
"Probably." I say, as Ayane taps the keyboard even faster.
"Correct. I'm trying to figure out the route the scrap metal dealer will take." Ayane reports. "Thankfully, he's been working with our school for so long that I have all his information recorded."
Tap, tap, tap. Her lithe fingers are a blur upon the keyboard.
"Where will he go next...? He usually goes to the construction material management center at the Abydos Shopping District." Ayane says to herself.
"So, we go there?" I ask.
Ayane shakes her head negative. "Only if the truck has any room left. That truck is currently loaded with three-hundred kilograms of cargo. That means it can't possibly take on anything else at the construction material management center! That place only carries large amounts of cargo!"
"And the next stop for him is...?" I ask.
"Probably..." She taps and taps. "The Abydos Central Park, District Three."
"Isn't that the one that's being torn down?" The blonde pipes up.
"Meaning there's lots of small stuff to get." I conclude.
"Yes, and it's only three kilometers away!" Ayane says.
"How long?" I ask.
"He should be there... in about ten minutes!" The elf girl says.
"Three kilos... Do we have a car or taxi nearby?" I ask quickly.
"No, a taxi won't get us there in time." Ayane explains.
"So, we run?" I ask.
"Most likely, yes." Ayane says with a nod.
"All right, then." I say, turning away and crouching down. "Hop on my back."
"Wh-What?!" Ayane shouts, her face red.
"Dammit, there's no time! Get on and hold on tight!" I order.
"A-Alright." Ayane says, shakily. "Nonomi, I need you to navigate for us."
"Can do!" Nonomi chirps as the elf girl grabs onto my back.
"Let's go!" Ayane orders.
And so, I begin running through Abydos, the bespectacled girl holding onto my back tightly.
—————
"Nonomi! We're at the intersection!" Ayane says into the comms, as I bring myself to a stop.
"Right!" Nonomi says as I turn on my heel and sprint again.
A moment later, we come to a street, but...
"There isn't a crosswalk!" Ayane says, frantic. "Nonomi!"
"Go straight!" The blonde relays. "There's a bridge in about three-hundred meters!"
"On it!" I say, moving again.
After a few minutes of sprinting, we arrived at where the cargo truck was stopped. Ayane hopped off my back and spoke to the dog man in overalls, while I sat on the ground to catch my breath, my face covered in sweat.
Ayane ended up getting twice the original amount. She smiled and excitedly told me the good news as I caught my breath.
Then, we began the trek back to Abydos, where I took a quick shower to wash the sweat off of myself.
—————
After the shower, I got a text from Hoshino.
Sorry, Sensei, but I'm gonna be a little late.
I got held up here.
It's fine, I've just been hanging out here with the others. Take your time.
Thanks, Sensei. I'll be there at a bit after 3.
See ya then.
I wonder what she's up to?
Shrugging, I pocket my phone, only for it to ding again. This time, a text from Shiroko again.
Supplies: Binoculars, CCTV locations, and GPS tracking jammers.
Check the route. 360 degree field of view required.
Shiroko?
Oh.
Sorry, Sensei. That wasn't meant for you.
I've done it again, I think it's because I bookmarked you at the top of the messenger.
You need to download a notepad app or something.
Um, don't worry about that text.
I'm worried about that text. I should go find out what she's up to.
—————
Using GPS trickery, I found Shiroko pretty quickly. She was sneaking around the Abydos district, muttering to herself and glancing at a watch hidden under her sleeve.
"It's one-thirty pm... Kaiser's delivery truck is right on time." The wolf girl says quietly. "They're going to load the heaviest items first."
Sure enough, there's a Kaiser truck with men loading various things into the back.
"Part of the warehouse will be unattended once the clerk leaves." Shiroko continues. "That leaves me a window to infiltrate the building through the back door. I might need to have a car ready, depending on how things go..."
Is she... casing the place? She'd better not be planning on robbing people, or I swear, I'll flick her on the nose so hard!
"Hmm." The wolf girl hums to herself. "It's too crowded right now, so I'll need to pick a better time... Great. Onto the next area."
Shiroko then continues walking through the city, focused and determined.
Quietly, I trail after the silver haired girl, curious and suspicious of what's she up to.
—————
Shiroko comes to a stop some time later, staying out sight as she views the highway from a vantage point, even going so far as to pull out a pair binoculars. All the while, I hide a few meters behind her.
Shiroko glances down her watch once more. "Now two-ten pm... The Kouki Electric truck driver always takes a nap at this time under the overpass of the KV highway." Sure enough, there's a truck parked under the overpass down below. "That could be my way into the building... if I could just make it into the truck's cargo hold." She muses, before pausing and humming to herself. "That would require bringing food, since the truck will be driving nonstop for five hours on the outskirts..."
She hums once more and says, "Moving to the next area.", before she pockets her binoculars and begins trodding off.
Just what the hell is she up to?
Regardless of my thoughts, I continue to follow the wolf girl.
—————
After a while, she comes to a stop at a building, before ascending the stairs, all the while, I stalk behind her. On the rooftop, she crouches, peering over the edge, looking down at the city.
Or, more specifically, at a bank.
"Three pm." Shiroko confirms, glancing at her watch once more. "Heavily guarded... but there's always an opening when the guards change shifts. If I strike in the five minutes they're transferring duties, I'll have an open path to the safe." She muses to herself.
"Not bad."
With my words, Shiroko jumps to a standing position, as she whips her rifle from her back, aiming to square at me.
"But, not good enough." I finish my comment with a smile.
"...S-Sensei?!" She shouts as she lowers her gun, her voice still quiet, despite how wide her eyes are.
"You need to work on your situational awareness. I've been following you for an hour and a half." I say, surprising the wolf girl even further.
She seems to sink into herself, filled with embarrassment, shock and worry. "Um, well... I can explain..." She begins.
"Why are you casing a bank?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
"I, uh... How should I explain? This is..." She asks herself, trying to form words.
I merely sit in silence, awaiting her answer.
"This more like... a hobby, than anything." Shiroko says.
"A hobby?" I ask. "Casing banks?"
She somberly nods in affirmation. "...Sorry."
Letting out a long sigh, I continue. "Well... so long as you aren't going and committing any crimes... It's fine, I suppose."
As I say that, her eyes light up with some emotion, her face not betraying which one it is.
Though, a small smile did grace her pale face.
—————
The wolf girl and I ended up walking back to Abydos side-by-side.
"Though I have to admit, you certainly were being pretty professional about your hobby." I comment.
"I was?" Shiroko asks, her mismatched pupils locked dead into mine.
I nod positively with a hum. "Y'know, I robbed a bank once." As I say this, Shiroko's blue eyes widen by a fair margin. "Long story short, some pals and I wanted to take down this scummy agency, but they had their own PMC they hired to be a private army. So, we needed guns, and money to buy the guns. The only logical thing to do was rob a bank." I explain.
Shiroko, despite her calm appearance, seems enraptured by my story. "How much did you take?"
"After the cut for the guys helping us exclusively for the heist and the ones that helped us keep the money off the books... It was about three and a half million dollars." Shiroko's eyes widen a bit. "If my exchange rate is what I remember it to be, it'd be about four hundred-fifty million yen. More than enough to buy what we needed to take down those assholes."
"What did you do next?" She asks, as we make a turn, continuing towards Abydos.
"We bought stuff. Guns, lots of guns. Oh! And an attack helicopter." I explain. "After we got everything, we suited up and went out. We had already cased the building weeks before, so we were prepared. Some of us caused a big distraction out front, getting all those PMC guys to focus on us, while the helicopter shot a few big holes in the building, allowing the rest of us, myself included, to hop in. Long story short, we took down the PMC guys, made it to the safe and took all of their important documents, money and stuff. A few weeks later, all the bad stuff they'd done was out in the open." I flash a wicked grin at the wolf girl. "Their multi-billion dollar company fell to the ground in less than a week. Many got arrested, many fled, and many were thankful to get away from those crazy bastards."
"Were they that bad?" Shiroko asks.
"Oh, God yes. I found out after that they were directly in cahoots with my old pal Rick. Their head guy even held a pretty big stock in Galveston." I pause to let out a laugh. "If I could've seen Rick's face when he saw how much money he lost!" Pausing, I recompose myself and continue.
"Anyways, those guys were pretty scummy, engaging in shady deals, smuggling stuff- sometimes drugs, sometimes people-" The wolf girl's face crinkles in disgust at my words. "-, overworking their employees and a bunch of other shit that got a lot of people jailed for multiple life sentences, some executed and some fined to a point where they couldn't even take out a loan since the banks wanted nothing to do with them AT ALL."
"I... see." Shiroko says, in her usual quiet voice.
"Don't feel too bad about 'em. That bank we robbed was owned by them, sure, but so were the police in the whole state, who were all taking bribes from them." I say. "Not to mention the drugs and literal slaves." I scoff. "They got off easy if anything."
"So... you helped people back home too." The wolf girl comments, catching me off-guard.
"I... I guess so." I say, caught in a small stupor. "I never really thought of it that'a way..."
I guess I did help people back home... even if it was just a few.
We continue toward the sand-blasted school, as, almost unnoticeably, Shiroko smiles, her mouth hidden behind her scarf.
—————
Not long after, the two of us return to find Ayane, Nonomi and Serika conversing with Hoshino in the Task Force's club room.
As she notices me, Hoshino's heterochromatic eyes light up and a big smile grows on her face. "Hey, Sensei!" She says happily, as she runs over and hugs me tightly.
"Wha?! Hoshino, don't just hug Sensei like that!" The red-faced cat girl chastises the older girl.
"Heh?" Hoshino asks, letting go of me to look at Serika. "I just wanted to show how much I missed Sensei. Unless..." A sly grin appears on her face. "You're jealous?"
"Huh?! N-No way!" The cat girl quickly denies, turning her head away from us, her face crimson. "I'm anything but jealous!"
"Oh? You sure you don't want a hug?" I ask, holding my arms out towards the long, black haired girl.
"Hell no!" Serika snaps back.
"Oh, oh! Can I have a hug?" Nonomi asks, a smile on her face.
"Sure, get in here." I say, as Nonomi skips over, wrapping her arms around my torso happily.
"Wow, I didn't know you were so muscly, Sensei." The blonde comments, poking my stomach.
"Oh, let me!" Hoshino chimes in as she starts to poke my stomach along with Nonomi. "Whoa, you're right!"
"Hey, s-stop poking Sensei!" Ayane chastises, her face red. I idly note that Serika's face is still red and Shiroko's cheeks are dusted pink.
"Oh, fine." Hoshino says with a sigh as she and the blonde stop poking me, the latter having a pout on her face. "Anyway-" The pink haired girl begins, turning toward me. "-, I'm done with my stuff, so are you ready, Sensei?"
"Yup, let's go." I say.
"Huh? Where are you two going?" The cat girl asks.
"Oh, we're just gonna go hang out somewhere." Hoshino says lazily avoiding the question.
Nonomi gasps suddenly. "Does that mean you two are going on a date?!" She asks, stars in her eyes.
The heterochromatic girl just shrugs with a smile, before turning to me. "Actually, go ahead and wait outside for me, Sensei. I wanna tell my juniors a little secret." She says, holding a single finger over her mouth.
"Alright." I say, putting my hands in my pockets and walking out of the room.
She's totally gonna spill the beans, huh?
—————
"So, what did you want to tell us?" Serika asks the pink haired girl, her face skeptical.
"Are you two actually going out on a date?" Nonomi asks.
"Very likely. Hoshino isn't usually this forward with Sensei." Shiroko observes.
"S-Stop making assumptions, girls!" Ayane chastises the other three, her face red.
"Well..." Hoshino says, drawling out the word, teasingly. "We're not really going on a date today, but we did go on one a few weeks ago."
"R-Really?!" The cat girl shrieks, her face red once more. The other three girls faces also turn red.
"Yup." The short girl says simply. "Plus, after that date, he became my boyfriend." She adds, nonchalant.
—————
As I plop down on a crate outside the school building, I let out a sigh. I've been up and around all day, hopefully Hoshino wants to relax too, seeing as how she was busy.
Hmm... Maybe we can-
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"
"AH!" I shout, falling off the crate and landing on my ass in fright from the couple of banshee shrieks that came from within the school.
I guess they didn't take it well.
—————
"Ow, ow, ow..." The pink haired girl whines, covering her ears with her hands and closing her multi-colored eyes. She cautiously opens one eye and uncovers her ears. "Are you guys trying to break this old lady's ears?"
"You and Sensei are d-dating?!" Serika shouts, her face practically steaming from the furious blush on her face.
"I never thought Hoshino would end up with a boyfriend before us..." Nonomi mutters, her face a crimson. Hoshino's sudden confession has knocked the wind out of her sails as her cheery attitude has disappeared.
"Y-Y-You... and S-Sensei...?" Ayane asks, her red glasses, the same color as her face now is, have fallen a bit and are skewed on her face.
"Boyfriend..." Shiroko mutters, pulling her scarf up to hide her blush. "Hoshino is dangerous..." She adds, muttering quietly enough that the others don't hear.
"Yeah, we're dating." Hoshino confirms. "Though I guess I should've expected you girls to be jealous about this."
"HUH?! We AREN'T jealous!" The cat girl roars.
"You totally are." Hoshino says with a grin, causing the cat girl to grind her teeth in frustration. "Though you shouldn't be."
"Huh?" The blonde asks.
"What do you mean by that?" The elf girl asks.
"Well answer me this: How many guys that aren't robots or animals live in Kivotos?" The short haired girl asks.
"Not... many?" Serika asks, confused by the question.
"Try none. You know as well as I do that human men have been a myth for as long as any of us could remember." Hoshino corrects. "On top of that, Sensei is a pretty handsome guy and is willing to go pretty damn far for us, as y'all already know." She pauses, letting the other four girls remember their second trip to the desert after Hoshino gave herself up to Kaiser. "So, I figured that so long as he's with me, I don't mind sharing."
Four pairs of eyes widen dramatically and four faces become a deeper shade of crimson.
'Huh.' Hoshino thinks to herself. 'I didn't know Serika's face could get that red.'
"Y-You're fine with sharing...?" Said cat girl asks, slowly, disbelieving.
"Yup." Hoshino says with a smile. "I met this other girl from Millennium who's starting dating him too. She's headstrong and a bit tsundere, just like Serika."
"I am not tsundere!" The cat girl defends herself, averting her gaze from the short third-year.
"So you're saying... you're okay with Sensei dating other girls too?" Nonomi asks for clarification.
"That's right." The short girl says with a smile. "Though I wanna meet 'em first, make sure they aren't up to no good. Sensei of all people shouldn't have someone try to get with him only to use him."
"That's right, he told us about..." Ayane says, remembering their Sensei's backstory.
"Yeah..." Hoshino agrees, somberly. "But, I trust you girls, so if you wanna go after Sensei too, I won't stop you."
The four girls tense up at the third-year's words. They all try to say something, especially Serika, who holds her usual embarrassed outburst in.
"Anyway, I'd better not keep him waiting. I'll see you girls later!" The short girl says suddenly, leaving the club room with a spring in her step, lazily waving her hand above her head.
—————
"Sorry about that. Did I keep you waiting?" I turn my head to see Hoshino walking up from the building.
"Nah." I say, hopping off the crate. "Though you were telling 'em something important, so it's fine."
"I knew you'd figure it out." Hoshino says with a smile.
"That, and I could hear their screams all the way out here." I add, deadpan.
My pink haired girlfriend lets out a genuine laugh from my words. "It was pretty loud, huh? Nearly popped my eardrums. But, enough'a that." She says, boldly grabbing onto my arm as she gazes up to me with love-filled eyes. "What do you want to do?"
"I dunno." I shrug. "I suppose we'll figure it out on the way." I say with a grin.
"I suppose so." Hoshino says, responding with a grin of her own.
And so, the two of us walk away from the school, arms latched together as we head out to spend a wonderful evening with one another.
—————
AN
And so, a seed of thought is planted within the heads of the remaining four Abydos girls.
Also, just so you all know, I got summer Izuna from one of the free ten-pulls. I also got summer Hoshino.
UUUUUOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH OJI-SAN BELLY AND CHEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!
...
...
...Ahem. Got a bit carried away there. Sorry.
Also, playing on iOS has caused Blue Archive to crash all the time. Apparently, JP got an update which made the game consume less RAM, but Global hasn't had that.
It makes sense, seeing as how the Wakamo update (a bit less than 2GB) was what made the game start to crash for me in the first place. The summer update (a bit over 2GB) has made the game crash ALL THE TIME. I can't even play the Conquest in the second summer event, since it won't even load.
Though apparently, it runs fine on iPads. I guess they have more RAM...?
And no, turning the graphics to 'low' doesn't help either.
What a fucking mess. I'm actually liking watching/reading/listening to Blue Archive content more than playing the game.
How odd.
Edit: February 10, 2023: Changed Chapter title.
Edit: April 8, 2023: Added some dialogue.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next!