Serika was sitting up on her bed at Abydos' infirmary. She was hugging her knees from above the blanket after being treated for her injuries, and was given time to recover for the day.

Despite being safe at school, she couldn't keep one thing out of her mind.

An image was burned into her head, of Haruna standing in the battlefield with blood dripping down his forehead, and a gash on his left arm, all from saving her.

The thought of a random adult going so far as to selflessly attack from the frontlines only a day after meeting her, was something she was moved by.

Serika's ears twitched, and she hid her face in her arms with a blush, his face still in her mind.

•

Haruna was panting, bandages and ice around his head, while Ayane treated the gash from a piercing round that struck his arm in Angel form.

He felt like he would pass out any moment, but there was work to be done, so he let the pain keep him awake.

"I guess it's best we get back to business. That was the largest blow we could deal to the Helmet Gang," Haruna began. "Going over what we recovered from the raid, Arona has discovered that the tank parts they used in battle were from an illegal model prohibited in Kivotos."

"Contraband... I'll dig a little deeper while you recover, Sensei." Ayane nodded, finishing the bandages on his arm.

"I bet we can find out who those hooligans answer to if we analyze the distribution channels for these parts!" Nonomi suggested.

"That, and why a minor criminal organization is targeting our school so obsessively..." Ayane agreed.

"Sounds good to me. Let's proceed a little cautiously and see where this leads us." Hoshino complied, a hand rested on her chin in thought.

Haruna grit his teeth as he stood up, Hasumi allowing him to use her for assistance.

"I'll do our own recon. On top of that... I have to make a report about this. Which means paperwork." Haruna informed, Hasumi being his crutch as he walked away with a wave.

"Oh! And tell Serika I'm glad she's okay!" Haruna parted, making his way back to Schale with Hasumi.

~•~

The next day, Ayane was beginning the first actual Foreclosure Task Force meeting, to actually discuss what methods they would use to accumulate the money for the debt they owe.

Everyone was brainstorming ideas, though be it humane, or insane, ideas were ideas.

Everyone except Haruna. He was using Hasumi's shoulder as a pillow, so he was ignorant to whatever schemes they came up with.

Eventually, Ayane lost it with all the illegal suggestions, scolding the four as Hasumi quietly observed.

She was wondering if they could even help at this rate...

The commotion did wake up Haruna, so he assumed that it was his turn to come up with a solution.

"Alright, if you guys are done blowing my ears drums, let's talk actual plans over some Shiba Seki." Haruna suggested, standing up and stretching his back.

~•~

The group were seated at a booth once more, excluding Serika, since she decided to clock in while there. Haruna was using CrossArc to investigate which loan sharks had the most power in the Abydos sector.

Serika wasn't around, and was taking the number for a new party that entered the shop, making Hasumi glance over in curiosity.

Out of the four that entered, one particular girl stood out.

A girl with pink hair, down to her upper back, and a smirk so wide and smug that the air around her made her seem evil. Her pink eyes shone with class as she peered into the decor of the ramen and steakhouse.

That was all true, until, "A yen saved is a yen earned. I knew we'd find a place that sold something for less than 600 yen."

She lost all class Hasumi thought she had.

"So, four in your party. I'll show you to your seats." Serika offered, but a petite girl with white hair in a single pigtail declined.

"Oh, no, no, no. You don't have to. We're ordering only the one." She replied, making Serika hide a pitying frown.

"Well... you may as well be comfortable. Plus, we're not relatively busy at the moment." Serika offered again.

"Well, isn't that nice of you? Don't mind if we do." The same girl nodded, and followed after Serika.

They were seated about 12 feet away from Haruna and the gang, but were just barely within earshot of Hasumi, who sat to Haruna's left on the outside of the booth.

The most she could hear was when they spoke naturally.

"Can we get four pairs of chopsticks, please?" The girl asked before Serika left.

"F-Four?! Uh, you're not thinking of sharing one bowl... right?" Serika asked in disbelief.

"I'm so sorry that we're broke and poor— I'm sorry!" A girl with purple hair down to her shoulders suddenly cried.

"Wait, I'm not the one you should be apologizing too...!" Serika was becoming overwhelmed, seeing as the girl began to mutter about a useless existence.

At this rate, Haruna had heard the commotion alongside the others, growing concerned with how disorderly things had gotten.

"Knock it off, Haruka. You're making a scene." A girl with white and black hair in a high ponytail that reached her neck scolded the girl, pointing to the Foreclosure Task Force.

The girls all looked over, but to them, Haruna was the one that stood out, and the girl with pink hair let out a gasp of delight.

"Listen, being poor isn't a crime, or anything to be ashamed of. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself!" Serika attempted to cheer them up.

"I... shouldn't?" Haruka asked.

"You're students! No one expects you to be loaded with cash. Yet still, you and your friends scraped enough to share a bowl of ramen together. That's saying something, right?" Serika continued, making the girl smile awkwardly.

Serika rushed off to place their order, and Haruna shook his head in amusement, unable to notice that someone from their table kept a tight gaze on him.

Haruna had yet to organize which Loan Sharks were top candidates, so he decided to come back to it when he could clearly focus.

Haruna didn't realize he never ordered, and decided he just order from the Sushi bar. Hasumi let him out of the booth, and he walked over to Shiba Seki's Master, Inu.

"Yo, Inu, one set of spicy tuna, please." Haruna casually took a seat on a stool. Inu nodded, turning to gather the ingredients, but Haruna continued.

"And when you get the chance," Haruna didn't bother gesturing to the girls who ordered one bowl of ramen. "Give them four of the special." Haruna smiled, making Inu tap the counter.

Haruna tapped his CrossArc, summoning the necessary yen, and set it on the counter, noticed by the girls behind him.

"...I've decided." The girl with pink hair whispered with a grin.

Haruna waited very little for his sushi, and went back to his booth with the Foreclosure Task Force.

"We're kidnapping him." The pink haired girl, Aru, quietly told her comrades, making them all flinch in shock.

"Excuse me— wha—?!" Kayoko, the girl with black and white hair was stopped from shouting by Aru's hand.

"Before you ask questions— you all just saw what I did. He's loaded! And on top of that, he's cute— you do not find that often in Kivotos!" Aru whisper-shouted.

"...Is this love at first sight, or something?" Mutsuki asked in disappointment.

"..." Aru held her temple in annoyance. "Maybe— but we need money, and he's got it." Aru admit, impressing Mutsuki.

"Wow... can't say I'm surprised. He did just summon money out of thin air." Mutsuki shrugged.

"We'll handle him while we're handling them." Aru pointed to the Foreclosure Task Force. "They're our targets, right? And if he's associated with them, we'll just snatch him as a victory prize... or something."

"I don't care what you wanna do with the guy. I just know the hired muscle is awaiting orders." Kayoko reminded her.

Aru looked up and saw the Foreclosure Task Force leaving, excluding Haruna and Hasumi.

Haruna nodded to Master Inu, just as Serika brought over four large bowls of the Shiba Seki set. The girls gasped, before looking at Haruna, who waved to the girls as he left with Hasumi.

"I need him." Aru teared up as she slammed her fist down on the table in adoration.

•

Haruna and the group were about to enter the campus to continue their discussion, but Ayane suddenly gasped.

"I'm reading a large armed group 15 kilometers south of us!" She announced in shock.

"What?! It isn't the Helmet Gang, right?" Shiroko asked. "No, it's not them...! They look like mercenaries! Someone must've hired them." Ayane looked to Haruna and saw he was already cocking back Rin's Pistol.

"Sheesh. What'd they do, pick up some thugs at the crack of dawn? It's only 11am! That must've cost a fortune..." Hoshino shook her head.

"Well, let's make sure their money was well spent, and show them a good time." Haruna smirked, turning back down the street.

•

Haruna, Hasumi, Nonomi, Hoshino, Serika, and Shiroko stood off against the forces littering the abandoned streets and buildings, all sitting around like the thugs they were. They didn't seem very into the job.

"Wait... aren't those the girls from the ramen shop?" Nonomi asked.

"It's you guys attacking us?! After Sensei gave you guys a bowl each?!" Serika shouted with a glare. "You ungrateful pricks!"

"Haha! I really did appreciate that, but it doesn't matter— This is business, not personal." Mutsuki replied, holding a rather large machine gun for her size.

"Agreed. It's regrettable, but business is business. We have to uphold our contract." Kayoko shrugged.

"So you're fixers, then." Shiroko deduced.

"What kind of job is that for girls our age?! Shouldn't you be working normal part-time jobs?" Nonomi asked.

"It's not a part-time job! This is a real, respectable business! With titles and everything!" Aru shouted in annoyance, but continued smugly, "And I'm the boss!"

She gestured to Mutsuki next, "She's the Chief of Staff."

Then Kayoko, "And this here is the Department Head."

"The title isn't nearly as impressive as you make it out to be." Kayoko sighed.

"Who hired you?" Haruna finally spoke up, a blank stare towards Aru.

While a bit intimidated, she found it rather impressive someone she found so cute could make such a face.

"We can always get it out of them by force." Shiroko added, nudging Haruna's arm with a smile.

"Good luck with that— we don't spill trade secrets," Aru flung her hair back with a smirk. "Get 'em."

•

Haruna ignored every thug and rushed past with the speed gifted to him by his irregular halo, leaving the Foreclosure Task Force to take on the thugs.

Haruna raced around the street, eyeing down Aru as a winged shadow appeared over him.

Feeling nostalgic, Haruna smirked as he ran for Aru, seeing Mutsuki take out a case of something and spin around.

The case flew towards him, but he rolled under it, before leaping up, feeling the heat of the explosion behind carry him into the air and further towards Aru, where he spun around and switched to Hoshino's shotgun as he closed in.

"Oh god, he's a badass!" Aru said in fright and delight.

She spun her sniper rifle and blocked the horizontal swing of the stock of the shotgun, nudging it away enough to spin the rifle again and nearly hit his chin had he not been flying forward.

He placed the barrel in front of him, firing once to ricochet in thin air and back toward Aru.

Hasumi on the other hand, was soaring around Mutsuki, trying to find an angle amidst the bullet hell she threw at her.

Mutsuki was grinning from ear to ear until she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She turned in time to narrowly avoid Haruna's diagonal slash of his shotgun's stock, making her surprised he appeared so fast.

She looked over to Aru, and saw that Hasumi had switched targets, now in close combat with her instead.

With her distracted, Haruna kicked her away, but saw she dropped another case of mines at his feet, sending him crashing into a lamppost.

Falling out of the dent it created, Haruna could barely move from the direct hit, making Mutsuki laugh as she picked herself off the ground.

Haruna grit his teeth, but suddenly felt something hit his head and land in front of him.

"Hu— oh, I'm fine." Haruna was healed via a care package sent from Ayane.

Mutsuki scoffed as Haruna hopped to his feet, rushing back at her as he switched to Shiroko's assault rifle and began firing as he closed in.

Mutsuki weaved away from every close call, before pulling out another case and kicking it up, before roundhouse kicking into him.

Haruna caught it by the handle, and spun on his heel, throwing it back before she could detonate it, making her gasp as her trigger finger got the best of her.

Aru flipped back from a calf kick, before seeing a large eruption of flames from near by, seeing Mutsuki slide out of it in a daze.

From the fire, Haruna summoned Hasumi's sniper, blowing the flames away and walking out with a glare.

"I'll ask again..." Haruna switched weapons, back to Rin's pistol.

"Who. Hired. You?" Haruna asked.

His patience was running thin, since they had just thrown his kindness out the window, not that he blamed them.

Aru gulped seeing his tenacity and craftiness to overcome Mutsuki in such a short time. 'He may be out of my league...' she thought, before noticing it was really quiet.

On cue, Kayoko and Haruka ran up to her with panicked faces.

"They clocked out! We've gotta go!" Kayoko urged, pushing Aru away as Mutsuki ran with them. "Huh?!" Aru screamed, seeing all the thugs they hired leisurely walking away from the battlefield, chatting it up with one another.

"You've gotta be kidding me! We... We payed so much for them!" Aru whined as she was pulled away.

「She payed for six hours of their service... at 6am. It's 12pm now.」

"Kayoko, use the fear shot! We've gotta ru— I mean, retreat!" Aru ran away as well, and Kayoko aimed her pistol into the sky, before beam of purple energy flew upward.

As soon as it was fired it crashed back down into the ground, sending a shiver and chill down Haruna and the girls spines, locking them in place.

Haruna coughed from the feeling, but gathered enough strength to summon a stack of yen with his CrossArc, and throw it at the back of Aru's head.

Aru was about to shout in annoyance, but turned and saw that Haruna was brought to his knees from the paralysis.

She gave a solemn look towards him, then the money, before running away with it in hand, and Problem Solver 68.