With everything that had ever happened, and especially with how there was the inevitable sense that violence would start to escalate from here on out, it made total sense that they immediately head off to find more support. And considering how Millennium was considered one of the 'Big Three' Academies alongside Gehenna and Trinity, there were clearly no shortages of firepower.

They, especially Kize, can never underestimate Kaiser Corporation's deep pockets, even as their stocks are drying up, and they could dig even deeper if left out longer.

It was unsurprising, of course, that the Engineering Department gave them unbridled support first and foremost.

"Of course! You scratched our itch, I think it's about time we scratch yours!" Utaha insisted. The subsequent cheers of the other members that followed was one of solidarity. One Kize knew to capitalize on silently.

The buzzing of constant metallurgy, drones, and discussions between the members was all there was in this giant room of progression filled with desires of unnecessary accessories. And the smell of lubricant oil and welded steel lent itself to a sense of advancement even less convoluted than it should be.

Kize had little time for those kinds of pleasantries.

He glanced behind him, where Yuuka and Noa seem to discuss with Hibiki about something. Was it about Arius? The 5G Tower they installed in Arius, for Arius with no strings attached?

He shouldn't care about that.

Whatever they were doing, it's only natural that it was, indeed, their doing.

That tower was their collective choice. Not his.

Simultaneously, he glanced back to the Shittim Chest, as a notification message blared, and then appeared on his Momotalk.

Rio.

'Acquired full support of C&C. What's our next line of business?'

Kize stared at the words carefully, trying to wrap his head around it for a little while before sighing. He wasn't exactly sure who else could he leverage across, considering how little the other clubs owe to SCHALE.

It was mostly the other way around.

"What's wrong, Sensei?" Utaha questioned. Kize sighing wasn't exactly a new sight. She had seen him done it before back in Arius Satellite School. Although, compared to the first week of his tenure in Kivotos, Utaha noticed a few details she hadn't seen before.

Like his scarred hand, for example. Jagged, bumpy. An existing condition that was clearly caused by, what she presumed, from Hyakkiyako.

Did it hold any significance? Maybe it did. Goes to show that even ghosts bleed.

He seemed too clean during Abydos's trial, too. Except for that part where he zoned out at the mention of Sensei.

"The CEO was last spotted in Millennium's ruins. We're not entirely sure as to who could navigate nor be able to even get through there without a map."

Utaha blinked for a bit, before it made sense to her.

He's preparing for a back up.

If a signal jammer was set up, they get lost, or was in some unforeseen circumstance no one would ever expect, like, say, one of those weird armored robots to attack again, then they could rely on that one person to help them get out in case of emergency.

It was a sound back up plan.

Must've learned his lesson somewhere. Utaha tapped her finger against her desk, contemplating on where or who and why and how...

She glanced at her sentient turret, now equipped with a pair of cat ears simply passing by, before her eyes lit up. She knew of two people who went to the ruins and lived to tell the tale.

Or rather, they were the more infamous ones compared to anyone else.

"Seminar!" The two members turned towards Utaha.

"Tell Rio to go get the GDD at your side!"

——

"Wait, now why'd you need us?!"

"No."

"Panpakapan! Aris has decided! She will participate!"

"Aris?"

The Game Development Department was certainly messier than Rio had anticipated, with the very virtue of empty chip bags and carbonated drinks strewn about as they all seem to stop themselves from further indulgence by Rio's presence.

The fridge's door somehow being half open was also a point of contention for the eyes of the uninitiated and the perfectionists.

They still remember what she did. What she did to Aris as an 'ends justify the means' way.

So why was Aris the one who's deciding that she'll join along?

"No, Aris, you already knew what she tried to do to you!" Reasoned one of the twin girls. She had a pink headset; Saiba Momoi. She had a petulant frown on her, as if a single slight was all it took to shake down her metaphorical house of cards.

"Personally, I wouldn't let her slide," the other half of the twin followed up. A green headset; Saiba Midori. Her expression was calmer, but it did well to hide a tranquil fury.

"Are... You guys having... Weird priorities...?" Their 'manager', Hanaoka Yuzu, pointed out, meekly. Such a thing was... Scuffed, in her mind, but she couldn't find the way good enough to express it to her, or them.

Rio slowly clenched her gloves as it rested against her sides. Her bottom lip was bitten down, that heavy sense of burden and guilt weighing her down by the second.

"Because Aris believes Rio is here for a good reason! She isn't a villain," Aris assured, as she hopped to her feet. "Rio deserves to be listened to."

"......." No one spoke a word. Aris had been through a lot, even before the magnitude of an event that shook Kivotos to its core. And yet, she clearly had enough within herself not only to forgive Rio... But to still listen to her.

It was painful for Rio, but it was a concession she needed to face.

"..... This isn't about me," Rio pointed out. "It's about Kivotos finally being relatively safe."

"Is that so?" Midori inquired a little further, a very slight head tilt towards Rio.

"Arius's Ghost. I am his collaborator for the cause," Rio clarified. "And our target is the Kaiser CEO."

"How would we benefit from joining you guys?!" Momoi retorted.

"... That Sensei is scary too..." Yuzu slowly shrunk herself into her box. Rio understood how his reputation precedes him. And how he did so much in such a short time.

It was, indeed, terrifying to even observe how staggering his actions were. All legal, majority questionable. And the results? Sudden, explosive changes that reshaped Kivotos's ways that forces them to adapt.

And now he continues to blaze that path.

"He is," Rio confessed, as she slowly took hold of her tablet behind her trench coat. "But that doesn't mean that he doesn't mean well. And besides..."

Rio glanced at Aris, who hoisted her railgun with a smile. Who listened intently.

"Getting rid of the CEO means you'd have a really good reference for your game's story, doesn't it?"

"........ Wait, let her cook..."

"Wha--sis, why would..." Midori slowly trailed off, realizing that there was undeniable value there. And since Momoi was the writer of the club, she'd see the best value from it.

And then seeing an epic stand off would be peak.

Yuzu only peeked her head from the box, before hiding back.

"Yuzu agrees!" Aris declared. Rio blinked, before slowly deciding it was better to go with the flow. A slight grip of her tablet, and she realized that something still festered in her soul... And wanted out.

"...." Her breath shook. And she gulped. And then, she spoke.

"I'm sorry for what I put you through, Aris."

"Don't worry, Rio!" Aris quickly assured, approaching her while reaching her hand out to Rio. "Because of that, I gained many friends in Millennium! If anything, I would like to thank you!"

Rio seemed taken aback, before she quickly bit down her inner cheek. Her expression steeled for a moment, as she reached out and took hold of Aris's hand.

But her emotions were always true, and it threatened to spill right then and there.

"Panpakan! The Game Development Department has joined your party!" Aris declared happily, before noticing that Rio was starting to take her leave.

"I'll... I'll leave a message at Momotalk," she managed out, before she walked out the door.

No one had seen Rio since. But if one paid attention, one could hear sniffles coming from somewhere in Millennium.

A rare sound. But one where only few knew its significance.

It disappeared around a few hours later, where students had reportedly seen Rio walk towards where Arius's Ghost stood, who was surrounded by equipment made by the Engineering Department, the members themselves, Seminar, and the Game Development Department as their guides into the ruins.

"Wonder how Sensei is doing," Arona questioned in the Shittim Chest. "He's probably dreaming of giving us castellas."

"Retort: He is still asleep..." Plana trailed off. "I hope so too."

Kize didn't give them any statement. He didn't want to. And he couldn't.

—

The train came to a stop at some place better left undisclosed. But one thing was certain.

This was Japan. No halos. No guns. Even Ayumu's own halo seem to disappear under the sunlight in the outside world. Her small wings also seemed well concealed, as if the real world ordained normalcy to every facet of their being.

Torii gates were erected and maintained at a shrine they spotted at their arrival on the train station. Skyscrapers darted across the lands as far as they could see, with specks of people flooding through the pavement, all without halos.

As expected. They were expected to lose their halos when the students in Kivotos graduated and moved with their lives as adults, after all.

With faintest scent of sakura blossoms and clean air infiltrating their sense of smell, Ayumu slowly pushed Sensei out of the train and carefully held onto his wheelchair when they suddenly realized their biggest enemy had came to be when they looked down.

Stairs.

Sensei was ever so slightly unamused by this, especially with how Ayumu proceeded to carry him in one hand, and the wheelchair in the other, before walking down the stairs.

As embarrassing as this was, it was a norm that wasn't to be looked down upon.

"Where do you think we should start, Sensei?" Ayumu began as they reached the bottom of the stairs, with Ayumu placing Sensei down onto the wheelchair.

"..... Hm." Sensei leaned against it, contemplating his next move. 28 job rejections. So if there's anything to go by with that, it was more than likely he had to have been a tenant somewhere. Then they can start from there.

Taking out the tablet once again, filled with the information, he looked again. A proper observation showed the address. He tilted his head slightly before proceeding to put said address into the map application.

To his miraculous surprise, it existed. He didn't need to say more, as he gestured Ayumu to the required direction.

Soon, Ayumu began pushing Sensei's wheelchair to move towards the apartment complex. Last they checked from Kivotos's database, Nara was known for being Japan's first permanent settlement. Everyone else kept moving all over the place, which meant that this place had some historic history.

Did that also translate to their archaic mindset or was that shared quite well with everyone else here? Sensei decided that that question was better left unsaid.

Considering their current circumstance, however, it was natural that people were going to inevitably stare. There were no words exchanged, no words to be said. Just pairs of eyes peering at Ayumu, Sensei, or both, as Sensei checked the map of Nara so that they wouldn't ordinarily get lost.

He shouldn't care about them staring at him. Especially considering how the passersby were just as much of adults as he was.

"Sensei... I think they don't like us," Ayumu whispered anxiously.

"They don't like us," he agreed. "But at least they tolerate us. That's as good as it can get."

Ayumu pursed her lips, her expression scrunched into worry.

"Being an adult is scary..." She stated. Sensei smiled softly.

"It is. But being an adult doesn't mean you have to grow up."

Ayumu stared at Sensei in confusion, as they turned to another direction, as directed by the map.

"Can you explain better, Sensei?"

"Let me put it this way." He cleared his throat. "Say that you're really into video games. Like the Games Development Department who are really into retro games. That's something they're passionate in doing. If they keep this up, as adults, they get to keep that passion and make money making games for people!"

"... But, what about the others?"

He knew her implication. Students who lost their passion. The delinquents. The Helmet Gang. The latter two were always going to be trouble, even if they grow up or stay in Kivotos. And yet, he chose to smile.

"Then I'll guide them to their purpose, whatever it may be. That's my role as an adult, after all." He looked to the sky. That clear, free, blue, slightly cloudy sky. "And so is Kize's."

"Kize?" A random voice suddenly called out from the crowd. An unknown variable, all things considered, as both Ayumu and Sensei looked at the direction called out.

It was a man with messy black hair and tired, dark blue eyes. Some strands of his hair were visibly white, however; a sign of stress. And yet, he still had a smile on his face.

"Apologies if I was interrupting your conversation. I just so happened to hear my neighbor's name being mentioned and I wanted to hear what you might know of him."

They tilted their heads at the man. He visibly seem surprised, as he seemed to realize something.

"Ah, apologies again. My name is Daichi. Daichi Youta. Kize and I were neighbours, see. We've never seen eye to eye with each other but he'd always help pay my rent when I couldn't. So I'm returning the favor!"

Sensei's smile wasn't even hidden. This revelation was rather wholesome to him. But then he was reminded of Kize's earliest circumstance.

He was kidnapped out of his home, brought to an unfamiliar, unknown land and forced a role that he accepted purely because he was rejected 27 too many times.

He clenched his fist slowly, gently. Because as much as he denies it, he belonged to Kivotos now.

"Did he say why he did it?" Sensei asked.

"Never! That's the weird thing. I actually thought he might be a ghost or something, too, since he hasn't come out of his room. Apparently he hadn't paid rent yet for the two months, so I went ahead and paid for him."

"...." Ayumu couldn't help but finally heave a sigh of relief. If there was one thing she saw today that relieved her, it was the sight that kindness in the outside world wasn't dead at all.

"Well, that won't be necessary anymore," Sensei stated.

"Wait what why?"

"He's got a job now. He lives around our area and he's pretty busy with work, so he sent us to pick his stuff up. Can you help us?"

"Oh, sure! This way!"

——

A short thanks, and the opening of a door later, they were met with the darkness that was once Kize's room. From the faint outlines, they could see dust forming in the air, with the overwhelming smell of sterile air.

For a man who lack self-preservation, he sure was meticulous.

A quick click of the switch, and the light came on.

"........."

It was a singular apartment complex. At the very end of the room was a single bed, unkept and messy. A telltale sign of someone who tried too hard to sleep, before finally giving up.

But other than that, the room was painfully ordinary. There were no hanging murals, no signatures. No visible certificates. No dreams. No hope.

"........." Ayumu glanced at Sensei, who nodded. Ayumu slowly pushing his wheelchair in, towards where the desk was, beginning their investigation into the room.

Ayumu's first look was towards the phone, left on the nightstand. It was clearly a somewhat old model, collecting dust while its owner disappeared. Wiping them away, Ayumu opened the screen and slid open.

It was unlocked with no password.

It was confusing for Ayumu as to why that was the case, but then it hit her.

He didn't have a job. He didn't have anything to hide if no one bothered to find him anyway. And the lack of a password as well meant he was so sure of his non-existence that he saw no need for electronic privacy.

She scoured the phone for anything of substantial value. Even as his internet service was effectively cut off, most likely from being left unpaid. Phone numbers. Contacts. Anything.

Nothing. Just a single phone number: himself. He had no other installable applications. Just the core function of what should be considered a phone.

Not even a hint of social media to keep up with the news or the likes. He had shut himself out.

Sensei dug through the drawers and finally pulled out something. A dossier. Somehow kept in good condition without a hint of dust or tear.

Something has to be here.

He opened it and there it was.

No fanfare, no cheer. Just a simple certificate officiating his high school graduation.

But his name was different.

"Katashi Sekai..."

That name didn't ring a bell. To either of them.

But it was a clue. He flipped through it again.

Another certificate. This time of his outstanding credential in law school in Tokyo, hence his next certificate: Degree in Law.

Tokyo.

Populated, dense, and utterly impossible for someone like Sensei to navigate through, even if he found a way to get there.

Sensei flipped through another certificate, one that showed Kize that he had a degree as teacher. And then, he flipped.

Kept in the dossier weren't just certificates, although there we plenty of 'outstanding teacher' ones. There were drawings, handwritten post it notes. Long winded letters denoting how much Kize meant to them.

One of them claimed that Kize was 'the greatest teacher to have ever taught.'

"....."

One more thing to check. His laptop that was now on his desk. Sensei switched it on.

There was darkness. Undoubtedly darkness on the screen, before it finally lit up. A symbol, and then the operating system worked itself up, revealing itself to the world after a month of inactivity.

With roaming data on, Sensei began connecting, and when it did, he clicked on the browser.

The immediate appearance wasn't even a welcome screen, but an email. Lists upon lists of messages were sent his way, all of them automated.

All 105 of them were from job applications. Unread.

All 105 were rejections, blatantly shown as the subject of the email.

That 28 rejection was merely what the GSC could find from him.

They didn't know it was to this extent.

He wasn't just erased. He was eviscerated.

"..." It was a painful sight to see. For both of them. To know that Kize had been through this for... A whopping two years was painful. It was more than likely he just gave up at some point, but then continued trying to apply, considering that there were wide gaps of months of nothing between the emails.

If there was one thing he was so starved of, it was purpose. And it showed here. Showed in its rawest, untold form.

"Kize..." Ayumu muttered under her breath, now understanding the full weight of Kize's detachment. Why he was the way he was.

Why he always stagnated even when he was told he was needed. He was cared.

Sensei had checked the drawers one last time, and this time, it was within the bottom most. He pulled it out, and bore witness to two newspapers and an older model phone that clearly had seen better days. Sensei didn't know where to start for this.

They needed to find a charger for the phone first. But what about the newspapers?

They took a look at one of the newspaper's front page.

'Teacher dating student, faces misconduct'

TOKYO - Allegations of a teacher in one of Tokyo's many prestigious academies for high schools dating one of its students have circulated all over the city.

According to the allegations, a teacher named Katashi Sekai had managed to convince one of his students named Misuzu Kobane to go out on a date with him. This began in 15th July 20XX and had been going on until Katashi had allegedly asked for sexual favors.

Katashi Sekai is well established in the academy as one of the most beloved and caring teachers in the academy, so for him to stoop to such lows is anyone's guess.

So far, we have reached out to the academy and to Katashi Sekai to ask for an interview in order to confirm or deny the allegations. Both have yet to reply.

"........." Ayumu's grip on the newspaper shook. The date of the newspaper was nearly 4 years ago. She wasn't sure how to feel about that revelation. Kize... Was different?

Then was he trying to redeem himself while hating the fact that he was surrounded by students? That they loved him?

Something didn't make sense with that statement. Off-putting. Very clearly it was told wrong.

Kivotos never had a law in place for age of consent, but child abuse is very much considered a crime. But to see that the real world had a lot of different rules in place that Kivotos lacked made it seem rather...

She didn't know what the word was. It was a complicated mess, one that Kize found himself tangled in through his tumultuous career.

Sensei clung to the other one.

'Teacher acquitted of misconduct charges, public opinion still skewed'

TOKYO - The court of justice had a verdict; Katashi Sekai is declared not guilty after the defendant, Misuzu Kobane, had confessed their crime of false allegations of misconduct.

The allegations were thought to be Katashi asking for sexual favors towards Misuzu, which had officially been disproved as false due an eyewitness and his own alibi.

"6:35 PM. September 6th. Katashi Sekai's house. If you don't trust my testimony, you can trust his parents." This was spoken by one of the key eyewitnesses and apparent close friend of Katashi, Miharu Yoshikawa. Her statement was confirmed soon after by Katashi's parents, as he never left his house. Using a lie detector found that she and Katashi's parents did not lie.

From a lack of evidence, anecdotal evidence that all chalked up to 'he say, she say', and a strong set of alibis from the attorney, the court concluded that Misuzu Kobane had been given the guilty verdict for false allegations.

We tried to get a word in to interview Katashi post-court case, but he simply walked back to his car and drove off.

Despite the allegations all seemingly buried, the very fact that he brought it to court had ramifications to the public. They have called for justice, with many seemingly thinking that Katashi had forced her to confess a lie.

Only time will tell how this will all pan out.

A picture of Katashi, head hung low and visibly hunched forward, like an inactive doll, was at the front page. That newspaper was just one month after the one Ayumu held.

His muscles contracted painfully, shaking the newspaper in his hold before weakly slamming it against the desk. So that's why he's so jaded.

That's why he's so detached.

That's why he's always trying to never let himself be loved.

Because he let someone in. And they decided to kill him.

"That's... That's why he's been the way he is," Sensei concluded. "He never chose to trust himself to be close to the students. Because if he did, it brings this into his memory and... Kills him inside all over again..."

"... Sensei." Ayumu quietly voiced out. He glanced at her.

"The name. Miharu... Do you think... We should find her?"

Sensei took a deep breath. A deep, shaky, breath filled with the tranquil fury of a man who realized his fellow man had been framed and kept such pains for 4 years.

"We will."

"You don't have to look far."

They both nearly jumped in place at the sudden voice of a woman. Both turned to face the source and was met with a woman in long black hair in a braid. Her dark brown eyes had bags under it, with her glasses drooped slightly before she pushed it back up.

Her clothes were in relative normalcy. A white shirt, with black trousers and all. And yet, she wore a lab coat. Nearly pristine, but still had undeniable marks of chemicals.

"... Who are you?" Ayumu squeaked out. The woman tilted her head slightly, before she closed her eyes, her shoulders slouched as she heaved out a sigh.

"My name is Miharu. Miharu Yoshikawa." She heaved a small sigh, her fingers gently clinging to her own sleeves. "I've been looking for Katashi for a long while. Can you tell me?"