...
Hoshino and I ended up spending a nice evening inside at Schale, just lazing around, snuggled up together on the couch. We eventually decided to sleep together on my bed, reminiscent of our first date.
As the next day broke, the two of us woke up and got ready for the day.
Though, before she left, Hoshino gave me a peck on the lips as she left, leaving me stunned for a moment, before chuckling and going to my office to get to work.
A little bit after getting started, I got a... rather odd text from Aris.
I am finally going on an adventure, Sensei.
Hang on, she always speaks in third-person, but texts in first? Doesn't Izuna do that too?
I hear I have to train near the town where I am starting out. So, wish me luck.
Huh? Aris?
After waiting a minute or so, she doesn't respond.
Sighing, I get up with the intent to go check on the quirky robot girl.
To Millennium it is!
—————
On the way to where Aris is, I spotted Neru, also walking through the residential area I was passing through. She was muttering to herself, while looking at a can on the ground. With a quick motion, she kicks the can towards the trash, but it clangs against the metal bin.
"Huh? I missed..." She groans to herself, before grinning. "Heh. This is fun!" She goes over and picks up the can, moving back a ways, positioning herself to kick it again. "Right, let's give it another try..." Her foot moves back then forward, kicking the can at the trash can again, and missing again. "Ah! So close!" She says, frustrated. "Okay! I'll make it this time for sure!"
I stifle a chuckle.
"Yo." I call out, walking up to her.
"Eeek! Wh-What?!" The tomboy maid shrieks, leaping back a bit.
"What're ya up to?" I ask, innocently.
"Huh? Sensei?! What are you doing here?!" Neru shouts, her face red and frantic.
"Just passin' through. I figured I'd say hi." I say.
"H-How long have you been watching?" She hisses.
"Since you first kicked the can. Nice kicks, by the way." I compliment.
"Gah! Dammit!" She curses, her face somehow becoming more red. She suddenly runs up to me and grabs a hold of my shirt, pulling me down a bit. With our faces a bit too close, she growls at me. "If you tell ANYONE what you saw here today, there's going to be hell to pay, Sensei!"
"Oh?" I ask, calmly. "And why can't I tell anyone that you were cleaning? You are a maid, after all."
"Huh? Oh, that's because..." She starts, before groaning in frustration from my logic. She lets go of my shirt and continues speaking as I stand straight again. "I'm a Millennium agent of the C and C . And... Well..." She trails off, averting her gaze from me. "If, uh... word got out that the head agent was cleaning..." She grits her teeth and pauses, before reiterating. "If word got out that I like playing Kick the Can..."
"Neru, it ain't something to be embarrassed by." I attempt to calm her. "Hell, even I play that sometimes." I say with a smile and a shrug.
"I... I'm not embarrassed! I swear!" The redhead maid shouts, flustered.
"Sure, sure." I say, knowingly. "Fine, I'll keep it a secret."
"S-Secret?" She asks, caught off-guard. I nod in response. "Well... uh... a secret between us, huh?" She says, more to herself, before breaking out in a grin. "Haha! That sounds good to me. That means you'll keep your promise since it's our secret, right, Sensei?"
"Of course. I ain't the type to break promises." I say, seriously, smiling still.
"I'll be keeping an eye on you, got it?" Neru threatens, half-heartedly.
"Heh, fine by me." I say with a chuckle. "Still, I oughta be going. I'll see you later, Neru." I say, walking away.
"Later, Sensei." Neru says, looking rather relieved.
Now, to see what Aris is up to.
—————
Walking through the streets of Millennium, it doesn't take me very long to spot Aris, walking around with her railgun 'tucked away' on her back.
"Yo, Aris." I call out, walking up to her. It's kinda my greeting at this point, huh?
"Sensei?" The robot girl asks, eyes widening a bit at seeing me.
"You had me worried when you didn't respond. What're you up to?" I ask.
Aris' face then breaks out into a big smile. "Ba-ba-ba-bam! Bam bam!" She cheers, startling me.
"...Fanfare?" I ask, slowly.
"Of course. Sensei, the Legendary Warrior has joined the party!" She says, happily. "The warrior has finally gained an ally. Now she has a party of her own."
"Aris, if you wanted to hang out, you could've just asked." I chide, unable to hide my smile. "Still, we're doing this now?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course! You are the Legendary Warrior! Despite having nothing equipped in your armor slots, your physical stats are incredibly high. Even then, you do not have to be good in battle to help your allies." Aris explains.
"Eh, I've never been much of a healer." I say, smiling along with her.
"Still, even if you were useless in battle, you make the rest of the party happy." Aris says.
"Happy? That sounds like more your job. Your smile is too damn infectious, Aris." I say, causing her smile to brighten.
"Truly? Aris has acquired yet another skill, then!" She says, proudly. "Still, Aris is feeling much better now that you are here. That is proof that you have the skill as well. Not everyone can make their party members this happy. That is what makes you so amazing, Sensei."
I stay silent for a long moment, awed at Aris' sudden and heartfelt words. "Thanks for sayin' that, Aris. That means a lot."
"Now that you are registered to the party, it is time to set off on an adventure." She declares. "So, from now on, we will be..." She pauses, looking around. "...moving forward!" She declares, pointing in a direction.
"That'a way?" I ask. "That's all?"
"Yes. We will move forward. A warrior's adventure always begins by moving forward." Aris says with a tone of finality.
I can't help but chuckle. "Then let's get to movin'."
And so, the two of us began strolling through the city. Aris was oddly excited, though.
—————
After walking a while, Aris and I bid each other farewell. As I walked through the city, I realized it was almost noon.
What made me realize was my stomach loudly groaning.
Making a snap-decision, I walk towards a convenience store I spotted a ways back. However, I stop walking when I'm across the street from my destination. The door opens as a timid-looking girl with a big case on her back is, quite literally, kicked out from the small store by a robotic man.
"I told you, this isn't a library!" The robot man shouts at the girl, who looks just about ready to curl up and die. Geez, she looks about as timid as Haruka.
"I'm sorry!" She cries as the robot man goes back inside. The girl then pitifully sits down on the curb, slumped over.
I walk over to her. "Hey." I call out.
"Wha?!" She shrieks, still sitting down, as she looks up at me in fright.
"What's got you down?" I ask the girl.
"W-Well... I was reading a few magazines inside, b-but the clerk got angry and kicked me out." She explains.
"He DID look kinda pissed off." I muse. "Were you in there a while?"
"Y-Yeah..." She admits, ashamed. "I was reading them all morning."
"You didn't buy any?" I ask.
"I don't have that kind of money." She admits, looking down at the concrete. Not enough for a magazine? How strapped for cash is this girl? She then mutters, though not quiet enough for me to miss it. "I just wanted to read the magazines... Life really is suffering..."
Okay, what the fuck has happened to her to make her say that? Know what? Fuck it. "Which magazine were you reading?" I ask.
"Huh?" She asks, her gaze snapping back up to me quickly. "I-I was reading the latest Kivotos Designer's Weekly."
"All right. Sit here for a sec." I say, walking toward the store.
"What?!" She shouts, but I ignore it.
Walking inside, I buy myself a small box of donuts, containing exactly two, and a single magazine.
Walking back out, I see the girl still sitting there. She doesn't hear me as I walk up. "Here." I say, causing her to jump slightly as I hold the magazine down to her.
"What? Th-This is...?" She asks. "Are you... giving this to me?"
"Yup." I say.
"Waah!" She suddenly cries out, eyes tearing up. "What did I do to deserve this? You're totally gonna make me do something bad to pay you back for this...! Why is life like this?!"
"Huh? The hell are you saying?" I ask, a bit upset by her assumptions. "I ain't trying to blackmail you. Can't a guy just do something nice for someone every now and again?"
She sniffles as she hesitantly looks up at me. "You... You're really just going to give me the magazine?" She asks, leaning back like a cornered animal.
"That's what I've been saying, dummy." I say with a smile, holding the magazine out still.
She slowly and hesitantly takes the magazine from my hands, before muttering. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." I say as she quickly opens the magazine and begins reading it. Before leaving, I take the time to take a closer look at the timid girl.
She has long, sea green hair tied in a long side-ponytail and a black hat with a four-pointed star, the same color as her hair, emblazoned on it. Her eyes are the same shade as her hair, but greyed a bit. She wears a black top, covered with many pouches and belts, along with a white skirt and a long, white scarf-thing, covering her neck and billowing down into a three-part cape. On her feet are black school shoes and tall, black socks. On her back is a massive, dark grey case, likely containing a sniper rifle or a gun of similar length. Her halo is a pentagram-shaped arrange of four-pointed stars. Five, big stars, the same color as her hair and five, smaller stars in-between, the same color as her eyes.
Her face I can't get a good look at, as it's stuck in the magazine.
Letting out a soft chuckle, I move to leave-
GROWWWWLLLLLL
The girl freezes in place as do I, the magazine now held up to cover her reddened face.
"Was that...?" I begin to ask. Hang on, she said she didn't have enough money to buy a single magazine. "When was the last time you ate?"
"Erm..." She says, embarrassed, gripping the magazine tighter. "A day or so ago."
I feel a bit of anger build up. Why doesn't she have enough money to buy food?
Sighing, I open the donut box and take out one. "Here." I say, holding it out to her.
She peers over the magazine, her eyes widening when she sees the pastry. "Huh?! I-I can't-"
"None of that." I scold, silencing her. "We all need food to move and do stuff, plus sugar's good for the brain. We all need to eat, you're no exception."
The sea green-haired girl stares at me in... confusion...? Awe...? For a long moment, before speaking. "Y-You're really giving me this? Why are you doing all of this for s-someone like me?"
"Why not?" I ask. "Besides, why do I need a reason to help someone out?"
Quietly and slowly, she reaches out, but stops just before her fingers contact the donut. "A-And you don't want me to do anything to pa-pay you back?"
I almost nod my head negative, but a thought appears. "Well, you could tell me your name."
Her eyes widen in surprise, before she reaches out again and takes the donut. "Tsuchinaga Hiyori." She says, quietly.
I smile as she begins to eat the donut, savoring the bite as her eyes close and a happy smile appears on her face. "Joshua Birkin." I introduce. "It was nice meetin' ya, Hiyori."
"Y-You too, mister Joshua." Hiyori says, shyly, as I begin to walk off.
Heh... She's a nice girl, but she really reminds me of Haruka a bit too much.
I quickly eat the donut, staving off my hunger for a while. After tossing the small box in a nearby trash bin, my phone dings with a text from... Asuna?
Master! Do you have time right now? Do you want to go to a cafe?
Master? Not Sensei?
Huh?
I'm a maid, so of course you're my master!
Hahaha! Don't worry about the little details!
Fine... I'm not busy anyway.
There's a cafe I've been wanting to go visit, so let's go!
I'll be waiting!
Master!
I let out a deep sigh. "This girl..."
Well, at least I'm already in the Millennium district.
—————
Soon, I arrive at a small cafe... a maid cafe, to be exact? I hope Asuna's wearing something different, else people might think she's working here.
Opening the door, a bell rings and Asuna, standing by the door, greets me. "Welcome. Follow me to your table, Master..."
"Huh?" I ask, surprised that my worries came to life.
"Hmm?" She hums, before she finally recognizes me, breaking out in a big smile. "Master!" She says, glomping me in a big hug. "I didn't even register that it was you!" She happily says, before letting me go. "I'm glad you came. Oh, but I should still show you to your table first." She says, leading me to a booth.
"Lemme guess, people thought you worked here due to the uniform and got roped into doing exactly that." I say, not ask, already knowing the answer as I sit down.
"Yup. I wanted to hang out with you, but..." The blonde maid says, awkwardly, looking down at me. "This is a maid cafe, after all, so I decided to roll with it."
"Fair enough." I say, shrugging. "Still, I hope they're paying you."
"Who said anything about pay? I'm just doing this for fun." She explains. I stare deadpan. "Haha! You're making a weird face, Master!" Asuna's face then turns thoughtful. "Hmm. 'Maaaaaaaster'."
"Asuna?" I ask, confused.
"It's just, you're my Sensei- er, Master, but I'm supposed to call every customer who visits 'Master'." She explains, oddly serious. "Should I call you something else to stand out? Like, 'Master Who Was Already a Master', or 'Master Among Masters'? Or is it okay to just stick with 'Master'?"
Chuckling, I say "Call me what you want, Asuna."
"Alright, then. I'll just stick with 'Master'." She says, coming to a decision. "Regardless if it's you or a customer, a master is still a master at the end of the day. So I won't refer to you any differently while we're here." Asuna then lets out a giggle. "I swear, Master, I knew when we met that you'd be fun to be around."
"Still, it seems a bit odd for you to want to visit a maid cafe, being a maid and all." I point out.
"Huh...? Oh right, coming here was my idea, wasn't it?" Asuna says, her blue eyes lighting up in remembrance. My eyebrow raises. "What's with that face? Did you really think I forgot? Give me some credit." She says, before pointing her finger at me accusingly. "And you shouldn't be so concerned with the details, anyway." She then pulls back her finger and continues. "That aside, the reason I invited you here is..." She trails off in thought.
She really did forget...
"Oh! Now I remember!" She says, suddenly. "I'm on a secret mission today. I'm going to be tailing and arresting a certain individual. That's why I asked if you wanted to hang out at this cafe together." She says with a chuckle.
"It's not so secret anymore, now is it?" I ask.
"Oh geez, you're right!" She says, a bit worried.
"Still, that doesn't answer my question, why maid cafe?" I reiterate. "And for that matter, why come here if you're on a secret mission?"
"Hmm. That's a good question." She admits. "Who knows?"
I stare, dumbstruck, at Asuna for a long moment. "Who... knows...?" I slowly ask.
"I just get the feeling that if I hang out here with my Master, things will work out somehow." She says with a big smile. "Yup! That's how I feel. Call it a hunch!"
Then again, she had a 'feeling' during our raid at Millennium, and threw our plans out of whack, so maybe she's onto something.
Sighing, I relent. "Fine, fine."
"Still, this is the first time I've been on anything like a date in a while." She muses. "Maybe I should drop the part-timer gimmick." She says, before plopping down opposite me. "There. You don't mind me sitting in front do you?"
"Not at all." I say, smiling. This girl really moves by the beat of her own drum, huh?
The bubbly maid then raises her arm into the air, waving it wildly. "Over here, Miss Maid! We're ready to order!" She calls out.
"From maid to master, just like that." I say, with a chuckle. "Still, I've never heard of volunteer work lasting a few minutes." I tease.
"I told you not to sweat the small stuff." Asuna chides me. "The Digital Decadent Dessert Set is great here..." She says, changing the subject.
The sound of the bells around the front door catches our attention.
"Welcome, Master!" A girl, clad in a maid uniform says, greeting the newest customer. Out of the corner of my eye, I see that it's a rather wide robot man in a suit.
"Good. Looks like I lost them." He mutters quietly, but not quiet enough. "This looks like a good place to lay low for a while. They just don't know when to quit."
Looking the the other way, I see Asuna staring at him intently. Is this the guy she's after? He does sound pretty suspicious.
"Now to find an empty seat." He muses quietly. "There, and- wait, why is there a maid sitting down?" He asks himself, looking at Asuna, who now is looking away from him. The idiot walks right over to Asuna and speaks to her. "Hey, you. Shouldn't you be up taking orders?" He asks, a bit haughtily.
"Who? Me?" The blonde girl sitting next to me asks.
"Why is a maid sitting down and looking through a menu? Are you out of your mind?!" He roars. Guess someone really likes maids, huh? "Is this your idea of customer service?" He asks, angrily, before stopping and focusing his gaze on Asuna's features.
Asuna, too, focuses on his features.
"Is this the guy?" I ask.
"Target spotted!" Asuna declares, hopping up out of her seat. "Yay! I guess this means I caught you!"
"You're-?! H-How?!" He desperately asks, taking a step back. "How did you know to go undercover here?! That's impossible!"
With a few quick movements, Asuna knocked out the man and tied him up with some rope. Where the hell was she keeping that?!
"Damn. That was fast." I say, looking down at the tied up guy. "Was you being here seriosu just a hunch?" I ask Asuna, seriously.
"Yup!" She proudly admits.
"Your luck is absurd." I say, dryly. "Still... Let's eat somethin' while we're here." I say, causing Asuna to smile happily.
We talked and ate for a while, before departing. As I left, I saw a few maid-clad girls pick up the tied-up guy and take him off.
I hope this doesn't start any rumors...
—————
After making it back to Schale and getting some work done, I got another text from Asuna.
Thank you so much for today!
Everything went smoothly, thanks to you!
It's all because of you.
Oh, shush. You totally had that handled.
Nope! It was thanks to you!
I'll be contacting you every now and then, Master!
Heh, looking forward to it, Asuna.
I laugh to myself for a moment. What a girl...
Before anything else can be done, I get another text, this time from Momoi.
Oh, brave warrior...
Oh god, not this again.
Please come to the Game Development Department's club room as soon as you get this message...
Okay.
Huh? What's with this lukewarm reaction? I wasn't expecting this!
Fine.
I will arrive at the meeting place post-haste, milady.
Seriously? Haha!
Hmm... Based on this scenario, either type of story branch should be just fine...
...Or, maybe not.
Still, come over to the club room! I'll be waiting!
So hurry up!
I'll be there soon.
Geez, that girl...
Welp, time to go back over to Millennium, I guess.
—————
At a time midway through the afternoon, I arrive at the Game Dev girl's club room to find...
"Y'know, I came because it seemed kinda urgent... but seriously?" I ask Momoi, her face all but planted against the tv. The new, flatscreen tv.
"Oh! Welcome, Sensei!" The pink twin says, pausing her game and getting up.
"Nice tv." I observe. "I buy that?"
"Yup! You did say we could buy any tv for our room and that you would pay for it." She says, proudly.
"Fair enough." I say, letting out a single bark of laughter.
Momoi then clears her throat. "Today, I have no plans except... studying." She says, smugly.
I look at her deadpan for a moment. "...Studying?"
"That's right. I wanna study up so I can make more fun games." She explains.
"Lemme guess, in order to study games, we have to play games?" I ask, already knowing where this is going.
"Correct!" She proclaims. "But, to be precise, we need to try a wide variety of games, but that's just my opinion."
"Know what? Fuck it, work can wait." I say, sitting down on a bean bag.
"Hahaha! Now that's the spirit, Sensei!" Momoi says happily, plopping down as well.
"Still, if you just wanted to hang out and play games, you could've just said so." I point out.
"Yeah, well... You should be praising your adorable student for how ambitious she is!" Momoi defends herself.
"Hehe. So what's going on in that adorable head of yours?" I ask, causing her face to redden a bit. "You gals usually make retro games, so are we gonna be 'studying' other games?"
"Tha-That's right!" She says, suddenly. "We're gonna broaden our horizons! We should dig into all kinds of game genres and take our creativity as far as it can go! So, with that in mind..." She pauses, picking up a game and presenting it to me. "...this is the game I've prepared!"
Looking at the case, I see a knight fighting enemies and the title... "Dark Spirits Four?" What is this, Dark Souls?
"Yes!" Momoi says happily. "It's the latest game in the Spirits series, and the new pinnacle of the Spirits-like genre!"
Oh god, it IS Dark Souls.
"The appeal of this game is its famously insane difficulty." She continues. "Above all, the Dark Spirits series is very unique in how it tells its story. Instead of explaining the story up front, it makes you examine notes and lore scattered across the world to piece it all together." Definitely Dark Souls. "It makes the player follow closely and dig deeper into the narrative and worldbuilding."
"Huh... Sounds like Dark Souls." I point out finally.
"Dark Souls?" Momoi asks, with a cute head tilt.
"Yeah, it's a hard series that doesn't tell the story and makes you read weapon and item descriptions to understand the lore. Plus there's also a 'Souls-like' genre of games similar to Dark Souls." I explain. "I'm honestly looking forward to playing it if it's anything like that."
"Really? Well, I WAS gonna play it, but I'm curious to see how good you are at it." The pink twin says. "Let's get it started!"
—————
A few minutes later, the game starts up. My character, clad in knight armor and wielding a massive greatsword with two hands, moves out into the world.
"Oh look, it's the first enemy!" Momoi says. "It still looks kinda strong, even though I've already played this."
Sure enough, a big dog-thing lurks ahead. It kinda looks like a werewolf.
"Meh." I scoff.
"Whoa! You're just gonna run up to it?!" She screams.
My character rushes the wolfman, who lunges at the knight. Taking my Dark Souls expertise into play, as the enemy attempts to thrust it's arm out, like a sword, I move my character up against the beast while swiveling around it. Before it can react, I backstab it, dealing enough damage to down the beast.
"Holy crap!" Momoi shouts, staring at the screen, before snapping her gaze toward me. "How did you do that?!"
"When an enemy does a thrust attack, just get close and swivel around the other side of 'em." I explain, sagely. "Then you can backstab 'em and kill 'em quick."
"...You really ARE good at this!" She shouts, shocked. "Oh hey, look! It's a treasure chest!" She says, pointing it out.
As my character closes in on the chest, an arrow hits the ground. I quickly swivel my camera over to see a different wolfman, wielding a bow.
"Ah, this one is sniping us with arrows like a coward!" Momoi exclaims.
"Feh." I scoff, my avatar rushing the beast. As it lets loose another arrow, I dodge through it. When I get close, I hold down the trigger to charge a strong strike, then-
BAM
The strong attack kills the enemy as it attempts to swap its bow for a sword.
"Wow!" Momoi cheers.
—————
"Yeah, there! There's gotta be a hidden passage!" Momoi exclaims, pointing at a small tunnel off the beaten path.
As my character enters it, I find a corpse with an item on it. "Oh? Not bad." I say, looking at my new loot. Taking a guess, I smack the cave wall behind the item with my sword, causing the wall to disappear, revealing another area with a chest.
"Holy crap! An invisible wall?!" The pink twin shouts.
"Knew it." I say, going to open the chest.
—————
My character then rests at a checkpoint as I peer over to find Momoi munching down some crackers. "Oh, these cod roe crackers are delicious. You want one, Sensei?" She offers.
—————
"Oh, Sensei! It's a new boss!" Momoi screams. "It's probably resistant to electricity!"
"Doubtful, look at the water all around." I point out. "It's likely weak to electricity and resists fire."
—————
Hours and hours passed until we reached the end credits of the game, the club room illuminated only by the tv and the moonlight shining through the window.
"Whew, that was fun." I breathe.
"It was really fascinating!" Momoi says, agreeing. "Amazing, Sensei!"
"I told ya, lots of practice." I say, smiling.
"Games are fun to play alone, but playing together is great, too." She says, happy. "Okay, then."
"Hm...?" I ask, curious as to what she's up to.
Momoi then leans over to me and excitedly declares, "Let's start round two right now, Sensei! By the way, this game takes the training wheels off the second time around!"
"Sorry, maybe next time." I say, flicking the girl's close face, causing her to recoil. "It's late and I'm kinda hungry."
"Oh... Oh, well." She says. "Next time then."
"Next time." I say with a smile and a nod.
—————
After leaving the Game Development Department, I walked through the cool, night air of Millennium. Deciding to look for something new, I decide to stop by the Millennium library to find a cookbook, in hopes to get some new cooking ideas.
As I enter the building, I find someone I recognize standing near the entrance.
"Yo, Karin, right?" I ask.
The dark skinned girl whirls around to see me. "Sensei?" She asks, her golden eyes wide in surprise. "Yes, that's right, I'm Kakudate Karin. I suppose I never got the chance to introduce myself during..."
"Yeah, I can't blame ya for that." I say with an awkward chuckle.
"What brings you here?" The maid asks.
"Lookin' for cookbooks. I want some new recipie ideas. What about you?" I ask.
"Well... That's because... I have make-up tests." She admits, shyly.
"Tests? Plural?" I ask, worried.
Karin stiffens, confirming my question. "I-It's not what you think! Er, well... I can't deny that I've never had high grades, but this is the first time I've ever failed." She explains, ashamed. She sighs, before continuing. "It was out of my control."
"Your maid stuff kept you busy, huh?" I ask.
"That's right." She admits. "C and C is a bit different from ordinary club activities. It's a generic volunteer club by day, but at night its members are expected to become agents for Millennium's sake. I have my studies, duties as an agent, and, in my case, work a part-time job. I'd still be busy even if there were three of me."
"Goodness... I thought I had it rough." I say, sympathetic. "Though, why do you need a part-time job? Workin' as a secret agent is a tough gig, shouldn't they be paying you for that?"
"Well... It's partly for the funds, but I'm also following one of my two dreams." The sniper explains. "One of them is to be the hostess of my own cute cafe. I know studying is important, but gaining experience working at different kinds of establishments is more relevant to my goal. And, truth be told, I've never had a knack for studying..."
"That sounds mighty admirable of you, Karin." I praise with a smile. "It take a lotta courage and dedication to do something like that."
Karin's dark face erupts in a blush, before she seems to remember something. "Oh! Sensei."
"Hm?" I ask.
"What if I said there's a student that needs your help?" Karin asks.
"I'd ask 'what's the trouble' and 'how can I help?'."
"You're a teacher, right?" She asks.
"Kinda...? Not in the literal sense, but I DID finish high school." I say, kinda knowing where she's going with this.
"C-Could you...?" She asks, hesitant.
"Sure." I say, smiling.
"I'm not asking you to tutor me, just... here." She says, handing me a paper. "Here's a list of questions and answers I had put together. Would you mind asking me random questions from the list?"
"Not at all."
"Thanks!" Karin says with a smile.
—————
And so, the two of us sit down at a table.
"Okay... The separation of powers includes the legislative, judicial and what branch?" I ask the studious maid.
"I know! The answer is constitutional!" She declares.
"Executive." I correct.
"I-I knew that." She says, awkward. "I think it's fair to say that I got it half right." I only look at her deadpan. "J-Just give me the next question." She says, wilting under my gaze.
"Okay." I say.
"You actually have a really nice voice, Sensei." She compliments. "I think it'll help me memorize some of these answers."
"Well, uh... Thanks." I say, a bit awkward. "Say, this ain't on the paper, but what's your second dream?"
"That's easy!" She says, likely not hearing me. "To be a good wife for- Wait!" She says as her face erupts into a blush. "Th-That's... You don't need to know about that... At least not yet!" She shouts, pointing at me. "F-Forget what you just heard!"
"Ahaha, all right, all right." I say, raising my hands in faux surrender.
"Anyway, what's my next question? I'll definitely get it right this time." She declares, confident.
"All righty, then. What's it called when prices drop and economic activity slows?" I ask.
—————
So, I helped Karin study for a few hours. When I got back to Schale, I found she had texted me.
My other dream is... Well, I'll tell you once it comes true.
I've never told anyone.
That's fine. I was just a tad curious, I can wait.
Thanks.
I have a feeling you'll be the first to know.
I let out a few chuckles to myself, before my phone rings.
"Hello?"
"Sensei, our project is almost done."
"Oh? How much longer?" I ask.
"A few hours, honestly."
"Really?! Damn. That's quicker than expected. Thanks again, Utaha."
"No problem, Sensei."
—————
"I'm back."
"Hiyori, where were you?"
"Erm... Millennium..."
"You know we can't be out in the open like that!"
"I'm sorry! I just wanted to see the newest magazine!"
"Hiyori, how did you buy that magazine? None of us have that kinda money."
"Well... I got kicked out of the store for reading and not buying. Then, this guy came up and bought it for me and even gave me a donut when my stomach growled."
"Which guy?"
"I dunno. Though, he kinda looked like us, but without a halo."
"..."
"Atsuko?"
"..."
"Huh?! You mean th-that guy was...?!"
"Maybe. You didn't get his name, did you?"
"Erm... I think it was Joshua."
"..."
"Then that's him."
"Oh, how could I have run into someone like that?!"
"Calm down, you couldn't have known. Hell, maybe Leader will get a kick out of this."
"No! Please don't tell Saori!"
"..."
"Geez..."
—————
AN
Sorry this look so long, I went back and re-worked a few things here and there in earlier chapters. Go take a look at 'em, you'll see if I made any edits at the bottom of a chapter. As of posting this, I've changed stuff for the first twenty or so chapters' docs, but have only updated a few of them on FanFic/Wattpad.
And yes, I skipped Karin's first Bond story because I couldn't work it in too well.
Also, while I'm here, I'd like to recommend three Blue Archive fanfics for you all.
1) 'The Sensei From the Imperium!' by Eyeshield on FanFic. I know nothing about Warhammer, but this is a damn good crossover.
2) 'Control, Power and Lust' by Shiwu_Shiro on Ao3. It's an AU fanfic and a rather... lewd one, but it's damn good as well.
3) 'A Courier for Kivotos' by Unknown Sixth on FanFic. Never played Fallout, but I'm liking this one already. It, too, is damn good.
Go give both of those a look if you want more Blue Archive reading.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next!