Miharu Yoshikawa. That should be a name of significance, considering her association with Katashi-Kize. Their eyes flickered to each other, a few blinks shared before going back to Miharu.

"We can't exactly tell you here," Sensei confessed.

"I knew you'd say that." Miharu's response immediately caused them to blink a little harder.

"W-what do you mean?" Ayumu questioned.

"Come on." She gestured to the two. "His parents might wanna hear this from you two. Come to Nara Park. We'll be there."

And in a few steps, she disappeared from the doorway, the faint smell of perfume wafting into the apartment room. Sensei felt his hand twitched on his lap. He felt himself breathing manually, trying to calm his heart so that it wouldn't break his body apart.

That was too convenient. Someone close to Kize, here in Nara, despite the fact that they were native to Tokyo.

Wonder what that meant.

"... Should we trust her, Sensei? Everything seemed... Too convenient," Ayumu whispered softly to him, gripping the newspaper she held in a sense of nervousness after such an encounter. Sensei glanced to the unkept bed, and then to the mementos of who had once lived here. The laptop, the phones, the dossiers.

He'll be keeping the dossier especially. Kize should be remembered for it.

"Convenient or not, we at least have answers. They either tell us things we already knew, or we learn something new," answered Sensei. A beat passed, and then, he continued. "Let's have some faith."

With the laptop and phones now stored in her bag, Ayumu proceeded to push Sensei's wheelchair out of the room. They had already checked the closet and the bathroom. No clothes. Typical utilities. Nothing noteworthy.

In the end, he really lived a life of ordained erasure. A painful life of no identity, no purpose.

"... He's had it rough, hadn't he?" Ayumu uttered.

"He did." Sensei gripped his wheelchair ever so slightly tighter. "Which is why I won't let him leave Kivotos..."

They soon walked out, noticing immediately that Miharu was still there. And she heard it all.

"Kivotos, hm?" Miharu commented, glancing at them while her eyes were preoccupied with the world outside the apartment complex. The mundane, expectant world that never gave a second chance to the outcasts.

"... What do you know?" Sensei asked.

"Nothing solid. Just rumors."

"... Are you going to take him back?"

"Depends..." She trailed off. "Are you two going to follow me?"

"You hold the answers," Ayumu chimed in. "It'd make sense if we do."

"Good..." Miharu nodded, slightly soft spoken, before she let out a frustrated sigh. "Because that bastard made at least three people worry about his health more than he cares for his own."

"... He's always been like this?" Ayumu asked, beginning to push Sensei's wheelchair while they began their descent via elevator.

"Oh, like you wouldn't believe," Miharu groaned out. "Pulls all-nighters, tries his absolute hardest to the most dumbstruck of students. Always trying to finish his paperwork in record time when he doesn't need to--" she let out a visceral sigh.

"If I wasn't around, he'd have overworked himself to death."

"....." Sensei glanced at Ayumu. He knew Kize's deeds, but he didn't know the full extent of his health. Did the GSC let him go through all this?

"We didn't. We forced him to rest at points. Plenty, at that!" Ayumu defended. "Before the court case, we had Kize rest with Shun..." She stopped, realizing the foreign presence overhearing their conversation.

Her expression didn't change, mostly. Just the half lidded gaze to the elevator's door and the faintest hint of something else that was left unnamed, due to how many things mixed within it all at once.

"So Katashi is seeing someone."

"It's not romantic, I assure you," Sensei insisted. "They're colleagues. Very close ones, but not to that extent."

"How so?"

"........" That was hard to speak of in particular. He knew Kize and Shun were, indeed, colleagues. But the rumors kept going on about them being a married couple of sorts, and he was sure that it's still going strong.

Painfully strong. And since learning Kize's past as Katashi, rumors kill.

"... There are rumors of them being a married couple," Ayumu began. She flinched when she saw her hand twitched. And then, her right eye twitched as well.

"Oh. I see. He's married?" She questioned, a smile creeping up on her face. A kind of smile that immediately left shivers down their spine.

"I-it's a rumor.... It's a rumor. Kize-Sensei always denies it, no matter how many people kept pestering him about it," Ayumu replied. She watched in abject horror as Miharu's eyes suddenly intensified.

"So I've been replaced, hm. Shoulda known that asshole woulda forgotten about the gal that took care of him the most. Shoulda left him to die."

"... You... Shouldn't, say that..." Ayumu shrunk after she said it. After all, Kize had done so much for Kivotos.

"He didn't forget you. He never forgot his past," Sensei interjected.

"Then why exactly--"

"Because he's a beloved teacher, still."

The elevator was silent all of a sudden. Miharu stared at the two, as if absolutely refusing to believe their words.

How was Katashi still beloved, after what he did? With his, what, raspy and edgy personality? What the hell kind of name is even 'Kize'? That's not a name, that's an edgelord's attempt at sounding Japanese.

".........." Deep breath in, deep breath out. She saw how Sensei gripped the wheelchair harder with that declaration, and knew he spoke the truth.

A justified rage, which is as close to the truth without telling her anything.

"Then tell me. How has he been teaching the students?" Miharu began, as the elevator doors opened. Of course, as first respects, she pressed the open door button, allowing Sensei and Ayumu to progress out first.

"Well... For starters, he..." Ayumu gulped, assured only by Sensei's nod. "... Rebuilt a broken school with its students and let them redefine themselves."

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

Miharu stepped out of the elevator, but that was the extent of her movement. Hands-off, detached, painfully human.

Just like Katashi would on a depressive day.

She gripped her wrists back to reality, a shaky sigh leaving her lips before she walked forward. She could talk more, but she reckoned that it was better to converse with his parents.

They have always wanted to look for him. Hopefully they get answers here, too.

—

Another set of gunshots echoed through the ruins, as another robot fell to the ground. Acting as the guide, the Saiba siblings focused their efforts in making sure that they remember the patterns of the robots like it was some kind of game.

To them, it was. They've been here often times already. Since it was also the place they found Aris, it also made sense that they would frequent here to find parts for Aris in case she needed it.

Kize didn't say much, as they all proceeded onwards to face against the unknown.

"We are 200 metres closer. Careful," Rio commented, glancing upwards.

"Don't worry," Utaha assured, petting her turret. "We have see through."

One of the many wonders of Millennium's Engineering Department. Gadgets that were needed were now properly used as its intended purpose.

Millennium's ruins, however, was another beast.

Much of it was mapped already. But the very sight of concrete, empty buildings, rotting away under the relentless gaze of the sun, the brazen breeze and the rain made every building look as if it were ready to topple and destroy itself.

Technology, old, new and in-between, lay across the ground at a near constancy. The smell of burnt solder, the sights of green motherboards, bent metal sheets and discarded technology that had no place in Kivotos...

All plots of land of desolation in the name of progression.

Kize didn't respond, his ears plugged with wireless earphones. Just a simple, acknowledged glance at Rio before glancing back to the Shittim Chest. It was at that juncture that the two AIs appeared onto the screen.

"Activating protect the Sensei mode!" Arona declared into his ears, followed by Plana plainly stating the matter.

"Translation: Protectorate Authority for Sensei has been activated."

Kize stared at the two, wondering what exactly did that entail. It wasn't like he had such a thing previously. So why now?

"Sorry, Sensei. You were only given provisional authority. This time, we're making sure you're getting at least the same standard of protection you should get as Sensei!" Arona chirped.

"Translation: We can officially protect you against missiles at best."

Kize had a look that was undeniably one of a mix of disappointment and exasperation at the existence of such a function. There was also a sense of curiosity as to how that's even made possible.

But not getting shot by missiles is better than getting shot. He'll take the chances.

"We're here," Rio commented. The building they faced towards was rather... Ordinary. It was like all the other buildings: decrepit, dank, and most unlikely, abandoned. The only difference being that someone had the decency to install tempered, one sided glass windows on it, despite the fact that they could just come off at any second.

Kize concluded that there was something more to it than just a tall structure of brittle concrete.

On cue, everyone immediately split apart. Rio held two fingers to the earphone on her left ear.

"C&C, in position?"

—

"Position." Kakudate Karin loaded her Boys Anti-Tank Rifle in response, the sound of her magazine box into place. Perched in position on the tallest building in the ruins was a maid with dark skin, eyes on the specks below.

"Setting up one more~" cooed Murokasa Akane as she pressed one more dynamite to the base structure of another building.

"We're ready!" Cheerfully called out Ichinose Asuna, on a roof of another building, hopping from one to the next. For some inexplicable reason, she was wearing a bright blue bunny suit, standing out amongst everything in the ruins. Beside her was their leader, Mikamo Neru.

Time and time again, Kize had questions as to why and how Asuna could even manage to walk in that so casually, but could never verbalize it. Or rather, chose not to.

Students in promiscuous outfits were not the strangest thing in Kivotos, but it always leave a sour taste in his mouth.

"Toki, you're our saving grace. Prepare, okay?"

"Okay."

Asuma Toki's answer was brief, but with how she had been stationed in Eridu in preparation, it was, doubtlessly, a required firepower with Abi-Eshuh.

There was no kill like overkill. But in all truth of the matter, with Kaiser? Overkill was a necessity.

"Building surrounded. Eyes focused. Sensei, on you," Rio declared. Kize didn't reply. Just a sigh of the faintest contempt, before he stepped towards the keypad near the door. Wordlessly, he slid the Shittim Chest onto the keypad.

"Hacking into the doorframe," declared Plana. In just seconds, the door slid upwards. Darkness was what they first saw, followed by Rio lighting up the path.

In stark contrast to the outside world, the ground was made of steel, audible as their heels and boots made contact against it. Further in gave away that this place was once a lobby of sorts. With how little the light showed of the outside world, Kize was rightfully cautious.

"Engineering Department, set--"

The door behind them slammed down. Muffled yelps could be heard outside, followed by their voices calling out to them.

"You two okay in there?!"

"Hey!!"

Kize didn't react as much. He expected the separation, considering Kaiser's likely personal vendetta against him.

What didn't help was the fact that it was him and Rio in this unpredictable darkness, and only them. Kize slowly heaved a sigh.

Annoying.

"Well well. Welcome Sensei," the CEO called out from one of the loudspeakers. Kize didn't look for the source, but Rio did. Her head craned all over, trying to find its source, to no avail. Gunshots rang from the outside, more than likely only causing mere discomfort to the building.

Kize was certain they were going to blow up the building, but he trusted their intelligence to know that doing so would be stupid and accomplishes nothing.

"I see you brought your sheep to the slaughterhouse, too? You really are a heartless bastard," the CEO sneered. Kize clicked his tongue.

"Rich, coming from a man who exploited Kivotos. I'm just giving you your dues," Kize replied coldly. Immediately, a loud screech blared into both Kize and Rio's ears, forcing them to immediately throw away their earpieces. Electric sparks spurred out of them, before exploding on the ground.

Kize almost let out a cuss word.

Bastard.

"EMP detected. Resistance successful," Plana declared as a matter of fact.

"Damnit! My little baby is dead! Curse you Kaiser!" Screamed a muffled Utaha from outside. Rio tried to see if her tablet worked, only to be met with darkness and her own darkly lit expression.

Was it a mistake being here?

"EMP. Hm." A scoff seemingly left his lips, only to follow it up with him simply walking through the darkness, each step more calculated than the last. Rio quickly followed him.

"We need to try and get out of here, Sensei. This is too risky."

"We have no way out. The only way in is to force him to let us out."

And he walked once again. "And besides... He needs to pay for what he'd irrevocably done to Kivotos as a whole."

Rio flinched. Cold. For a few moments, she saw his back as someone else's.

Hers.

—

The Super Phenomenon Task Force usually reported Decagrammaton's activities, but so far, ever since Sensei had gone off of his coma, they couldn't find much. Just very brief blips of activity, but then radio silence.

Akeboshi Himari never left her eyes from the screens, only looking away when sleep was required. So did Izumimoto Eimi, who fanned her ever heating body while the air conditioning blew cold wind her way.

"Strange how there has been a lack of Decagrammaton as of late, hasn't it?" Himari commented, as her electronic wheelchair moved back with a faint whirr.

"Millennium has been working a lot of counter measures against it. Wonder if any of them even work..." Eimi muttered under her breath as sweat began dripping from her skin. Her body temperature was simply too much, even if mitigated by the temperature of the room.

"Well, it's safe to say that-- hold on." She quickly looked at the screens again, looking through every visualizer, picture, infrared.

Any kind of little signal..........

Her eyes widened.

"Found it. A strong signal!" She leaned forwards, reaching out and began typing on the flat glass board that had a keyboard interface on it.

"That's an EMP blast, Himari," Eimi pointed out.

"And I, as the undeniable genius, know exactly what I'm doing," Himari declared immediately after, as they pinpointed the source.

A ruined building with tempered glass panes in Millennium's ruins.

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

Where was it did the Engineering Department, C&C, GDD and Seminar heading off to again?

"... Oh dear."

"... Himari?"

"Eimi. Contact GSC. Kether is waking up. And the Replacement and his cronies are right on top of him."