Only two days were all it took, before the results were sent to Kize. Their manhunt for that CEO was still at large, alongside all the branches of Kaiser Corporation, as if seemingly vanished over a single day.

It should probably had been a normal day of paperwork for Kize. He had ensured that everything had been properly operating. Everything should be in place, paperwork and all.

And yet, this day, there were less paperwork and more letters. Both physical and digital.

He naturally knew that Arius always sent him letters.

He always left them open.

He always read them.

Not once did he smile, not once did he held a complaint.

Each letter always was pointing out their improved infrastructure, always something about them that they've improved on.

'We got a 5G Tower now. Utaha said we can use it to connect through Momotalk. Maybe we can talk through there more often?' - Hiyori

'Dormitory's complete. We've overhauled the lobby a lot and got air conditioning for each room.' - Saori

'Church's been rebuilt.' - Misaki

'Fixed up the faculty lounge. Come around to see it, Sensei.' - Atsuko

"......"

His grip on the paper made creases at the sides, before he slipped it back into the letter.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

It shouldn't have been that hard to discard. Left in that pile of letters he touched and opened, but never fully read.

So why did he put the effort here?

"Sensei! I'm not sure how long we can contain the notifications!!" Arona exclaimed through the Shittim Chest. Her small icon showed one of panic, while Plana simply observed.

"Notifications: 40. All ranging from various previously visited schools."

Long had he muted Momotalk, but even AIs can't contain how much he was apparently needed.

"Open them." Kize's blunt statement, with its complete lack of hesitation a dead giveaway of his detached association.

For two whole seconds, he felt regret surge through him.

A barrage of adoration, requests and invitations strewn all throughout.

6 were from the Hyakkaryouran, many of them asking him on his ability as a lawyer and a 'Sensei' at the same time. Yukari in particular asked him if he was an attorney with a specialist on ghost cases.

He ignored it, but there was an eye twitch at Yukari's incredulous question, followed by his hand pulsing in place.

9 were from RABBIT Platoon, requesting additional supplies of bullets and explosives. Kize could tell Moe specifically asked for those bombs and missiles for her Black Hawk.

He'll file that under approval later.

A whopping 17 were located from Arius. Each and every one of them were simply filled with congratulations of his court victory, others for the fact they now have Internet to take advantage of.

'Sensei! Check it up! We got the 'Net! Now we can harrass ya!' - Amaya

He swiped it away, only to realize he archived her chat.

He left it as it was.

2 were from Trinity's Tea Party. An invitation for a more 'progressive agreement' of Trinity and Arius's alliance, co-signed by both Tea Party and Arius Squad.

Kize chose not to answer. That was their problem, not his.

3 were from Shun. He stilled. Slowly, he heaved a sigh, before he opened them.

One was an image of Kize sitting amongst the children clinging to his trench coat like a scarecrow.

Another, an image of Kize and Shun's back sitting on the front porch side by side, as they seemingly view the sunset. Their shoulders touched. He remembered flinching. But he didn't move away.

He remembered the silence. He remembered how they never talked. And she just sat there with him.

And yet, he remembered that so vividly for it.

The last one was a simple one.

'I'll always be here, Sensei.'

He swiped it, archiving it.

"We got three more!" Arona declared merrily. Is it because the messages were finally ending? Or was it because he had been reading the messages?

One message was simply Cherino demanding that he make his entrance to resolve a revolution.

It was immediately followed up by another message that indicated that she did another revolution and now she's back as the head of Red Winter.

Typical Red Winter. He felt a sigh left his lips at the mere thought of stepping foot into Red Winter.

Which leaves only one message left.

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

From Tsukatsuki Rio. The 'president' of Seminar.

Quotations due to her currently unknown status. From logs he acquired from the Shittim Chest, she resigned, but others still call onto her.

So why message him?

'Seikato-Sensei,

I would like to ask for your assistance. I rarely ask for it, for I have uncertainties, but from what I have witnessed, you are in most probabilities and logically, the most sound individual.

Meet me here.'

Coordinates were placed below. Kize didn't blink. It narrowed instead. Coordinates were already an interesting sight, but Rio's own written understanding of him was... Conspicuous.

He sighed, just Arona blipped to life.

"Sensei! We should definitely visit her!"

"Observation: She is truthful. A pragmatist, like you, Sensei."

Something about that statement made his eye twitch. Yet, there was also undeniable intrigue.

He was logically sound? In this world where children roam with guns and bullets were the equivalent of rocks thrown their way?

"... Has the GSC finished analyzing those bullets Shiroko Terror brought?"

"Inconclusive. Analysis: The bullets, when used in ballistics, is inferior to even .22 long rifle round."

"....."

So what significance did the bullets hold for the Stranger to smuggle into the PMC base? Something didn't add up. Standing up, he sipped his thermos, capped it, slid it into his pocket and took hold of the Shittim Chest.

"Notify Rin that I'll be taking some bullets from that crate."

If the GSC can't figure out how the bullet works, may as well ask one of the most technologically advanced schools in Kivotos imaginable.

———

Seikato Kize had gone through a lot of the motions. By this point, especially after the court case that took place in Millennium, he should have been used to it.

He just didn't expect the fact that the coordinates took him directly into a secluded alleyway where he was pinned against the wall by a girl who was nearly as tall as he was, short of 4 centimeters, with long black hair and red eyes in a dark gray trench coat.

His thermos gained another dent at its cap from steel impact against concrete walls with a loud 'clang'.

Their eyes met, his icy blue met in a half squint compared to Rio's analytical, reticent red. One of her arms pushed against his torso, the other holding firm of a tablet that pressed against his ribs.

Painful, but a dull kind of pain.

"......."

"......."

Neither spoke, even as the world walked without their eyes on him. It was safer that way for them.

But then, perhaps out of pragmatic curiosity, or perhaps testing his reactions, she leaned in slightly closer, and that was one inch too far from professionalism and could veer into harassment.

Two things he will avoid in this ghostly life of his.

"State your business, Rio," Kize declared, pushing her off of him. She dusted off her trench coat and stood straight, clearing her throat. Kize could see the faintest tint of pink on her cheeks and already, Kize can sense that this was not a good picture nor outlook for anyone.

Especially himself, with how he couldn't tell whether she was awkward or flustered. Or worse, had admiration.

He could already hear the cooing from Arona, even if she said nothing at the moment.

"I've found out where the CEO is."

Her bold declaration was met with immediate scrutiny.

"How did you do that when the GSC couldn't?"

"Pattern recognition, Seikato-Sensei."

"....."

Kize didn't speak. Not because of her answer, but her address to him.

Seikato-Sensei. Formal. A first. In fact, the very first person to address him as such.

"Seikato-Sensei?"

"What do you know so far?"

Kize's snap back into professionalism was immediate in his deflected question. Rio stared at him for a short while, as if assessing him again.

"He never left Millennium."

His eyes turned half lidded at that declaration. A bold one, especially one that held little way in accountability.

"Specify."

Rio's response was a quick tap to her tablet screen. Efficient, and very clearly experienced.

For two seconds his mind veered elsewhere.

Miharu.

They didn't match one to one. Her red eyes betray any sort of warmth. Her trench coat was too much like his. Her use of her tablet was too efficient.

Yet her hair, her mannerisms. It almost felt familiar enough he could call back to Miharu's dark brown eyes, her dark rimmed glasses glinting against the fluorescent light while she walked around in a lab coat like she owned every single facet of land she walked on.

"Here."

Rio's voice cut off his thoughts, and soon, he bore witness to various CCTV angles. Its time was the day before, evening. 3:23:11 PM.

An entry to a clearly abandoned warehouse. Location marked on a mini map.

"......"

And yet, something still didn't add up.

"Why are you only telling me this?"

An inquiry that caused her to stare at him a little longer, as if deliberating her choice in choosing him. However, Kize noticed the grip on her tablet tightening, and for a moment that passed, he saw a fleeting emotion.

Anxiety.

"You are... Well-detached."

He blinked once. Twice. Thrice.

No one ever points out.

Something Miharu will notice and say so.

Stop.

Stop comparing her to Miharu.

He heaved a sigh. His mind won and parts of it was left to wander in depths while his main focus was towards Rio.

"So you're asking me because I'm disposable."

Not a question. A statement. Because as far as he knew, that was the truth he kept telling himself.

"Somewhat."

Somewhat?

She paused. He stared, a microscopic shift in the form of a raise to a single eyebrow and a slightly tighter grip to the pocket of his coat. Only then did she continue.

"You are disposable. But in truth, you are valuable. Having the backings of SRT and Arius are powerhouses."

"So disposable."

"And valuable."

"........"

"........"

She wasn't backing down. He had no counterarguments.

Only three people had such capabilities in this living realm. Strangely, all three are women.

And the one before him was just a student compared to the other two.

Miharu was a given.

Shun was always a spineful.

But Rio? Right out of the gate?

Kize could scoff at allowing himself to be silenced by a mere student who talked just like him. One that spoke in logics and the complete lack of platitudes.

Instead, he was just silent.

Slowly, he inhaled. And then, exhaled.

"We'll observe the CEO further. It sounds too convenient."

"I agree."

"We'll check in with the other Semin--"

"No."

Kize stared at Rio. The lack of pause, followed by the slightest aversion of eye contact, told him something about her.

"They will need you."

"They're better off without me."

Kize didn't blink. A new weight that he didn't see before was on her shoulders.

Guilt. She did something that rendered her into secrecy and resignation.

But she helped Sensei still.

She helped when it mattered.

And then it hit him.

Her pain lied in the unseen.

"........."

Kize glanced down to the Shittim Chest in his pocket, before slowly slipping it into his hands. Rio naturally noticed this.

"I'm still contacting Seminar."

Rio flinched at his statement.

"Why?"

Kize looked at her in the eyes. No longer did she had that same analytical stare she had before. It was replaced with something more human.

Painfully human that he refused to call out.

"Because you're still their president."

She flinched once again. To reduce her to a mere role. A role she once was, now was no longer, due to her own actions.

Her gloves squeaked against her own knuckles when she remembered.

How she ordered to break Aris's halo. How she constructed a city specifically to do so. And how she failed to see that everyone went against her, knowing the dangers Aris posed.

Bonds that bound. One that Aris had forged, despite not even being a student. A robot that formally identified herself as 'Aris'.

That was when she realized how she never accounted for emotions.

Even as she resigned...

Even as she isolated herself out of guilt...

They still called out to her.

Sensei called for her.

Himari, her bitter rival, called for her.

Both needed her help simultaneously.

'Good job, Rio!' She heard Sensei said out in relief.

'Nicely done.' As snide as Himari was, such words were... Something.

And she didn't allow herself to take it in as she disconnected the call, rolling into a ball as she hid beneath her desk.

She thought she had seen herself in front of Kize. A thought of projecting what she could be: detached, but adored.

Instead, she only saw herself. Detached, broken... Perhaps even shameful.

And yet, he still told her that. That she was still Seminar's president.

Why couldn't he accept that he was a Sensei, then?

She had no answers. No matter how many footage she watched from livestreams, from social media. Everything she needed to learn about him, yet here he was, in the flesh... Different.

Like a painful reminder of something that she shouldn't be in her future.

How strange it was for her to call out Sensei for being adults and holding all the power, namely the 'adult card', which was just a glorified credit card.

But Kize was none of it. He was a bureaucrat who tried to distance himself, tries to disconnect, and uses his power to exploit loopholes for the benefit of the students while disregarding his own self.

In summary, self destructive.

She was sure someone else reached the same conclusion, but nonetheless...

And so, they stood. One, a man who dug his grave and was ready bury himself without a tombstone.

The other, a girl who followed her logic, only to be defeated by bonds she didn't account for. When she did, she felt guilty.

And yet, they're both ghosts, standing in a world that refuses to let them disappear.