The whirring of the drones faded far too long ago to matter. They needed maintenance, as far as anyone would have figured out. And yet, as far as they were concerned, the plants, the saplings, the seeds were of higher priority. As the second day rolled about, with students still going through their drills, they were also eagerly awaiting when Shanhaijing could continue the sapling works. Dawn had risen, the smallest rays of the sun began peeking from the horizon.

Kize merely observed, the events of the night before still haunting his psyche and keeping him awake. His ears however, picked up the sound of the door opening behind him. The steps didn't sound like anyone from Arius Squad. So it simply left him with only one person.

No, one woman.

"You don't sleep, Arius's Ghost?" Shun questioned, her honeyed words earning an immediate bite to his inner mouth, as if stopping himself from saying anything, snark and all. As far as he knows, she could just simply weaponize it against him, and it's better that he didn't let it shape him.

His silence seem to be a response for Shun, however. As her footsteps grew closer and closer, Kize felt his own sense of self start to shrink ever so slightly, before he noticed a thermos at the corner of his left eye.

"As much as you'd like to keep that moniker, you're still human, Sensei. Here."

He eyed it carefully, and then his head slowly turned, letting only a glimpse of Shun at the corner of his eye. Her warm smile physically pained him to see, only faltered away when she insisted his hand to take the thermos to his hand, her other hand another thermos for herself.

Did she plan this?

"....."

She leaned against the railing, her overdress now properly wrapped around her to cover up much of her skin, before she looked at Kize.

"You did well."

"..."

He calculated his next response. "I did what I had to."

"Did you?"

"....."

Kize knew she was onto something, his hand gripping the thermos just a bit tightly, before he sighed.

"I did."

"Then I wonder why Arius Satellite School has a faculty lounge dedicated just for you."

"..."

Kize didn't want to say anything about that. It was one of his first discoveries as he slinked back into the school when Arius and Plum Blossom Garden began their collaboration. It was the one room he only gave a peek into, but only enough time to process it.

A desk, purely dedicated to him.

Why?

He was barely there, and yet he mattered?

Why?

"You think I don't either?"

"Maybe."

That answer irked him internally, as he inhaled sharply and exhaled gruffly.

"Arius. They call you Sensei. Did you notice?"

"... They call Sensei the same."

"Sensei."

"........."

His silence was palpable, but rife with so much implication. The Sensei before him. The one he's only temporarily replacing was still in a coma. Still recovering. And yet...

Why did Arius call him Sensei?

Call Kize their Sensei?

He gripped the thermos even more tightly, looking away from Shun as he tightened his jaw.

"Why do you reject them?"

"We're done here."

His feet shuffled against the floor as he made his way to the door. And even as he opened the door, Shun continued to answer.

"We're never done, Sensei. Not while you're still running."

The door rattled shut soon after. Shun glanced at the door, as the rays of the sun pricked her skin. She took a single sip of her warm tea from the thermos, and sighed gently.

He still insists upon his role. Stubborn. Almost childish.

—

As the morning sun rose, Arius stood in line once again, this time the authority figure standing before them being Kokona.

"I've seen plenty of progress yesterday! You planted the saplings all crooked yesterday," she announced, hands on her hips.

"But! They haven't died yet, so that's basically a miracle! So what's our next step?" Kokona questioned. It... Was vague whether she was asking Arius on what they should be doing or she was asking Arius because she informed them yesterday and wanted to refresh their memory.

"Uh... We make the garden?"

"We make the garden, let's go! Get the compost and all that, let's go!"

A collective agreement was at hand.

'She definitely waited until we said something.'

——

Afternoon passed in relative ease, as the kindergartners poured out to bear witness to plenty of Arius students caked in dirt and Kokona personally making sure that they were doing it right. Shun was more hands on, making sure their posture and their grip was correct. Stubborn as they could be, her kindness was rather warm.

Weird.

As they settled down to take a break, the children tugged closely to the Arius students, eyes beaming with interest and curiosity as they talked away, asking so much questions that it felt utterly bedazzled to be surrounded by such starry eyed kindergartners.

Arius Squad however, notice Shun the most. The way she seemed intent on looking for someone. And to them, they knew who she was looking for.

"Shun-sensei."

Saori called out to her as she made her approach into an empty classroom. Shun hummed, before turning around to face her.

"You girls had been through a lot. I'm glad to see you've been better."

"No thanks to you. The fact that the moment that our sovereignty was recognized, you jump ship into wanting to collaborate with Arius as soon as possible. What do you gain from this? And what does Shanhaijing think of this?"

"... Mmm."

Saori blinked. That was a noise she was not familiar with. Mulling, as if she was seriously taking her question and giving it thought. But it was a good start for a conversation, perhaps.

"Well. If you want answers, it's simple. You gain a garden and a means to grow your own foods, while Plum Blossom Garden gets to learn about Arius more than just soldiers."

"You could have asked Trinity for it."

"And expect a decline? No. Because as far I'm concerned, you're still a child. You all are."

'... She's saying exactly what Sensei says.'

Saori's thoughts mirrored what she thought of Shun. A sort of Sensei. An instructor, a genuine one, considering her unwavering rapport with kindergartners.

"So why the interest on Sensei?"

"Oh. Him?"

Saori didn't confirm nor deny, because they both know exactly who they were talking about.

"He's broken."

"We all could see it. But we don't ask about it."

She turned around.

"We all have our own battles, after all."

Shun's eyes flickered.

"But that doesn't mean you have to fight alone, right?"

Saori didn't answer that one, too. Because even she knows that Shun's right on the money with that.

Which makes Kize such an anomaly.

"You've survived a cult, Saori. Surely you recognize another lost soul when you see one."

"I do..."

"...."

An unspoken tension in the air. One that slowly let them both sink in on the implication. They both see Kize not as Sensei. But just... Someone fractured.

—————————

The days passed by, with the only sightings that were known of where Kize was consisted of a thermos placed on a bench outside that was strangely half-full, a shower head that was always operating in the middle of the night, several instruction manuals on how to plant a sapling properly, and a leftover trowel shoved into the ground, with several small saplings grounded into it. And from the looks of it, it was even recently watered.

No one dared question it, and if anyone (read: Kokona) did, no one answered. They didn't need to.

The fourth day into the collaboration, Kize finally emerged from wherever hideout he was in. He barely changed a bit, as he stood by and observed as students began to learn about irrigation. With the collaboration supposedly lasting for one week, Kize only silently observed.

Until the kindergartners noticed him.

"Mister?"

Kize's stiffened. No, he didn't still. He felt every muscle fiber in his body lock up, before his eyes darted down to a child tugging at his coat. He should be doing something about it.

But he didn't.

"Why aren't you helping them?"

"... It's their work."

"But why?"

"....."

He slowly looked down to the child, staring at him with those curious eyes that didn't care about his past. Or who he might be in the eyes of many.

"There you are!"

Kokona's voice caught his attention, as he slowly craned his head to look at her.

"Don't think I didn't see you plant those saplings! You're coming with me!"

Kize's lips pried open to respond with his typical verbal rebuttal, but another tug came down. This time, from another child behind him. And then another. And then another.

"Please, mister?"

"Please?"

"Pleaaaaaaaase?"

A collective plea that sapped any kind of negative energy one could ever have on a person, causing Kize to silently exhale.

This was the day Arius Satellite School would record the first time their ghost actually looked like one.

Trudging his feet towards where Kokona stood from, caked from all the dirt and soil dug up for the sake of the garden, her eyes sharp with determination for someone who was undeniably 11 years old, she had another trowel in her hand, one that she knew he used, before shoving it to his hand.

"Come on. You're planting wasn't perfect, at all. How's the plant gonna get sunlight?"

It was an odd sight, watching her lecture Kize about plants and where to plant them. The man who singlehandedly rebuilt Arius Satellite School, now lectured by an eleven years old instructor from Shanhaijing.

And before Arius ever realized it, Kize was dragged into their activities, forced to dig up more holes for the saplings and using the garden hoe for the seeds. The kind of active participation that clearly showed that he wasn't built for this.

By the time evening rolled around, Kize hid away at the rooftop, wheezing, his coat and gloves caked in soil and dirt... And a lot of touching from children who thought that he was a really good scarecrow.

The Shittim Chest's screen flickered to life, Arona's pixelated grin too bright for the dim rooftop.

"That was a lot of fun to watch, Sensei!"

Kize didn't entertain her with an answer. He didn't try to, knowing how she tends to be. His gloves, stiff with dried dirt, hovered over the thermos's cap. The scent of oolong tea seeped through before he'd even opened it.

Plana's voice cut in, cooler. "Vital signs indicate exhaustion. Hydration advised."

"You sound like her," he muttered. The cap twisted free with a hiss. Steam curled into the evening air, taunting him.

Arona's eyes widened. "Ooooh! Is that from Shun-sensei? It smells--"

"Irrelevant." He set the thermos down. The liquid inside trembled, yet its smell persisted. A smell that was utterly reminiscent of Kize of his unwanted memories. Of when he once enjoyed comfort like this.

He didn't touch the thermos, as if touching it would cause an allergic reaction.

"Inquiry," Plana said. "Why refuse comfort?"

Kize's fingers twitched. "It's a distraction."

"Liiiar~" Arona sang. "You chugged the GSC's coffee like motor oil last week!"

"That was caffeine."

"And this is tea." Plana's text scrolled calmly. "Chemical analysis: negligible tactical advantage. Conclusion: personal bias."

Kize glared at the screen. The AIs stared back.

Arona broke first. "...Okay, fine! But you're all gross and dirty! At least wash your--"

She was brought to silence when Kize's hand gripped the thermos and drank. The tea was still warm. Too sweet. Must be her favorite. Has to be.

Yet his shoulders slumped anyway.

Plana's cursor blinked, smug. "Hypothesis confirmed."

Kize wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "Shut up."

Arona giggled. "Make us!"

The thermos sat half-empty beside him; a surrender, and a promise.

—

The drone observed him.

Every small movement he did was so easily analyzed, so easily understood.

"Well well, Sensei," the stranger's voice cooed, watching as he dug in to place a sapling under orders of that small child.

A pathetic sight.

As he leaned against his chair, replaying all the records he acquired so far. Of Kize's silent observation at the rooftop. Of him watching over the sleeping kindergartners through a window. Of him digging and placing a sapling ever so carefully into a hole he dug.

So utterly pathetic.

"Are you going to do anything about that?" A nearby observer questioned.

"No. Not yet. But have you prepared for the papers against Schale, by any chance?"

"We did. Being a blank slate does have its disadvantages, doesn't it?"

"He didn't even account for it, I'm sure, haha."

For now he kept watching. Every small little movement, recorded ever so carefu--

A gunshot.

And then there was nothing.

"................."

The stranger's grip on the tablet tightened.

"They're sharper than I let on. Must be that petulant sniper girl. Sharp eyes...."

"Do we send another on--"

"No. We're done observing."

He stood up.

"We'll be destroying their efforts instead."