Chapter Text
There were many words one could use to describe the Trinity district.
Students from Trinity would probably use “Dignified”, no doubt while poking a pinky finger out from their teacup while discussing topics like tea, cakes and tea cakes. Students from Gehenna would use “Stuck-up” as they happily blasted away at the Prefect Team while they did something incredibly stupid, like blowing up a highway to make a hot spring. Students from Millennium would use “Antiquated”, as they fiddled with the highest-end of high-end technology. Or maybe “Oppressive” if you were from Red Winter, as you watched the bosses drinking tea looking down at you while you marched on the streets.
“Interesting” was what I found it. Not so much the fact that I’d been shot in this place, the ugly scar gracing my side still tingling at times when I stepped in the district, but by how much there was to see. I’d seen abandoned buildings, left to time with their goods still intact, ancient catacombs, built centuries ago and forgotten, and many more.
Still, I reflected as I walked down the halls to my destination, I’d never been in this part of Trinity before.
“Sensei?”
“Yes Mari?”
So too had my guide.
And as her tufted ears twitched underneath her nun habit, her bright blue eyes showing bits of confusion, Mari spoke up, asking the same question for the thirteenth time, “Um… are you sure I should be here?” The sounds of our shoes clacking against the floor echoed through the halls as I thought about what to say to assure her this time around.
“Of course! I’ve never met these girls, but if I have a member of the Sisterhood with me they should be willing to listen to me right? Besides,” I reached over and ruffled Mari’s head, a little squeak escaping her lips. “I have the kindest and cutest nun in the Sisterhood with me. That counts for something, right?”
“S-sensei! Please don’t tease me.” Her lips pouted as I said some empty apologies, making a note to never reveal the results of the poll the Sisterhood had held.
It had been a close run, but Mari just managed to pip out Hinata for the title of cutest.
Her eyes turned thoughtful as she started. “Although, while I’ve never met any of them in person, I have heard rumours about them.”
“Good ones?”
The tilt of her head as she averted her eyes told me everything.
What a mess.
Seven days ago
It had barely been a week after I’d helped the GSC girls with the reconstruction of D.U Shiratori and the Sanctum tower when a letter turned up on my desk. I had toyed with the idea of it being from Shiroko the bigger, when I saw the Trinity logo on the wax seal.
A shame. I’d been meaning to find her for a while, but with how big Kivotos was, the best I was hoping was that she’d rob a bank or something big, so I would at least know where to start.
And isn’t that a thought. Hoping someone robs a bank so you can find them.
Chuckling at the irony of wanting Shiroko to rob a bank, I rummaged around my desk for a knife, while wondering who would have sent it. Nagisa? Does seem incredibly Tea Party-ish to have it sealed. Could be the Sisterhood as well. Maybe Sakurako wanted me to talk about encountering the Guide of Chroma? Perhaps it was Mine and the Remedial Knights, for a checkup after I fell to earth from 70,000 feet in the sky.
Could be anything, and the only way to find out was to open it. Grabbing a multitool and flicking open the knife, I cut open the seal, letting the prize free of its paper cell. A prize…
“Maybe I won a free trip.” I said out loud, with a hint of sarcasm. Even if I had won, I didn’t have the time to go on one. The sudden utterance made today's assistant look up from the paperwork she was nominally helping me to clear.
Rather, clearing the paperwork she’d brought with her. “Sensei?” I heard Hina rather than saw her, the monitor blocking the tiny girl from view except for her halo, the massive beartrap-shaped object just peeking out above the top.
“Nah, it’s nothing. Just a letter I got from Trinity.”
“Oh.” She went back to doing her work. What a good girl. If I ever had a daughter, I’d tell her to use Hina as a role model. Or considering how many times Hina saved my bacon, I’d just name her after Hina.
Hm, maybe I should just adopt Hina…
I shook my head, and went back to the letter. The paperwork would be immense to adopt her, not to mention the chaos that would ensue. Ako might even want to marry me just to call Hina her daughter.
Shuddering at that thought, I opened up the letter, and read.
Dear Sensei of Schale,
We would like to request your assistance.
Sincerely,
The Trinity Aeronautics Club
Short, sweet and to the point. But more importantly, Trinity had an Aeronautics Club?
I must’ve said it out loud, because Hina’s voice came through clearly with the answers.
“They do. Gehenna also has one, as a matter of fact. We work with them sometimes. Most of the larger academies have them too, what with how popular flying tends to be. I’ve heard the training is rather tough though, and many people choose to drop out rather than continue.”
“Huh. Neat.” It matched well with my experience. Most flying objects I’d seen in Kivotos tended to be helicopters, and not many people could fly those too.
It was a shame that so few people ended up flying. Maybe they’d sell Eagles like they sold grenades then.
An Eagle in the SCHALE vehicle pool…
Her head peeked out from between the monitors, knocking me out of my fantasies. “Is the letter from them?”
“Sure is.” I raised it to let her see. “Short and sweet, just the way I like it.”
“Hm. Did they give any contact information?”
I looked over the letter again. “Not a single bit. I’ll just ask someone to help me sort it out. Right now, there’s way too much paperwork to do.”
Together, we glanced at the stack of paper towering over our heads – not that it was hard to tower over Hina, but the fact that I was taller than most of the students and the stack was taller than me was saying something.
A tired silence loomed over us as we took in how much work was ahead of us.
“You know, I could call in some help.”
Sighing, Hina gave me a look. “Sensei…”
“I know, I know. It’s our duty…”
Present
I’d spent the entire week doing paperwork, and I’d only barely managed to clear up enough of that work to finally get around to checking out what they needed.
Although, maybe I could’ve come earlier. Maybe they’d have laid out a welcome mat for me at least.
Standing in front of the door, Mari and I looked at each other. “So do you want to do the honours, or?” I pointed at myself.
The door was industrial steel, without a window. The only thing that let us know this was our destination was the sign taped to the door, with “Trinity Aeronautics Club” written on it in block lettering, with ‘Club’ trailing off to the end as the writer evidently misjudged how much space would be needed.
“Ah, well…” Mari looked embarrassed as she evidently didn’t want to do it, but also didn’t want to say no, so I just walked up and knocked.
Rap-pap-pap.
We waited for someone to answer the door. After a few minutes, the only thing that happened were a few newspapers flying past.
The two of us shared a look. Shrugging, I knocked again.
Rap-pap-pap.
We waited. A few more minutes passed by, Mari squirming in discomfort.
Finally, I lost my patience. I slammed my fist onto the door. “Hey! Are any of you in or not!”
“Cut it out!”
The door gave way to a small girl.
Black hair shining with sweat was topped with cat ears, while a button nose with fierce eyes made a face scowling at me, her Trinity uniform topped by an open green flight jacket and a black sweater. It felt like I was looking at a dark-haired cat-eared Yoshimi, and the way she was glaring at me did not hinder that impression one bit.
She also had a pistol in her hand. A Hi-Power if I wasn’t mistaken, and looking down the barrel, it was loaded.
“How many times must you slam that thing! If you want to fight so badly, then come and get it!” She started firing wildly, eyes clearly blinded with rage, and I jerked myself out of the way of her gun while Mari moved to stand in front of me in case a stray round got tried finding me.
None of the shots came near us though, and before they could a hand came in through the doorway and chopped the out-of-control midget on the head. A head followed shortly afterwards, blonde with curling hair flowing down, wings of the same colour on her head, and a face that told many a tale of dealing with messes overeager juniors made.
“Sorry about that. Kei just gets a bit rowdy here and there. I’m Maaya. You must be Sensei right?” She put her hand out, and I took it. Her handshake was firm, but not hard. “Yep. So, this is the Aeronautics Club?”
“Exactly right. You must be Sensei. Kei, could you be a dear and let our guests in?” The feisty little kitten was plainly unhappy, but she still holstered her gun and stepped aside so me and Mari could enter the building.
As we followed her, I noticed that Maaya was wearing a white parka over her uniform, with flashes of blue on the oversized jacket. A typical colour-coded Kivotos outfit. Walking down a corridor brightly lit at the end, Mari and I followed her, with Kei trailing behind us.
“What is this building, by the way?”
Pride in her craft seemingly overcoming her rage, Kei answered my question. “It’s our hangar. The airplanes are maintained here, in controlled conditions, and are only brought out to the airstrip when we plan on flying. We take great pride in the physical condition of our aircraft.” Her step became surer and her expression less angry as she continued on about the storage conditions of the hangar.
Maaya sidled up beside me as Mari nodded with every sentence Kei said, pretending she understood anything she heard.
She started talking to me above a whisper. “Sorry about that, Sensei, we’ve just been on edge for a bit, and she’s been on the brink for longer than most of us.” At that, she chuckled, a sheepish look on her face - probably embarrassed that her little kitten nearly perforated me.
If she was afraid I would hold a grudge over that, she was mistaken. People had tried to kill me before anyways, one got pretty used to it. “No worries. I guess that’s why you needed my help?” I took a look around the corridor. It was a very long corridor indeed, with little outcrops and steps, as well too many holes to be simply wear and tear.
“Yep. But first…” We neared the light, and with a flourish, Maaya and Kei moved to the doors hiding the contents of the room from us.
“Let us welcome you to the Trinity Aeronautics Club!” The door opened, revealing a massive room, filled with aircraft. My jaw dropped as I took in the various aircraft surrounding us.
A Spitfire hung from the roof, evidently a display piece, as the floor of the hangar held jets of all sorts. Lightnings huddled beside Jaguars, with students in overalls climbing over a Phantom, one of its engines laying on a stand, removed for servicing. In the back, I saw the characteristic large single tail of a Tornado, while the visage of a Vulcan loomed menacingly over us.
“You know, when I heard Aeronautics Club, I wasn’t expecting fast jets.” My mind showed me images of the Crusader tanks, Tiger tanks and various helicopters I’d seen used by students so far. “Somehow.”
Maaya just laughed, as Kei dragged us to the back. “We can use the briefing room in the back to get you caught up on what’s going-.”
The building suddenly fell dark as a shrill alarm sounded, seemingly from all around us.
The mirth disappeared from Maaya’s face as quickly as the anger returned to Kei’s. Maaya brought out a submachine gun from within her jacket, a short-barrelled side-loader without a stock, as she ran towards the entrance. “We’re under attack!” She gave me a smile, filled with something I’d come to see more often than I’d liked in Kivotos so far –the spark of madness. If I were unkind, I’d say insanity, or psychopathy. Maybe the most accurate term was bloodlust. “Sensei, I’ve heard stories of your command of tactics! Please use this moment to show us!”
I ignored the voice in my head telling me to get the hell away from her, and pointed towards the doorway where the rest of the members were currently rushing out. “Let’s go!”
There were more important things than another crazy student.
The enemies had been wearing the Gehenna uniform.
“Do you see why we needed your help?” Maaya came up to me as the last of them ran away, seemingly understanding the expression on my face, a similar look of concern on her face.
We’d used the hallway as a choke point, and while the majority of the club held the hallway, we’d gone around and attacked them from the rear, taking their rear-guard who had been evidently used to lazing about while the vanguard took the brunt of the action. Once we had done that, well, fire from the front and rear did wonders to erode morale.
Maaya had run in, gun spraying.
Well, spraying was the wrong term - every shot seemed to hit, but she hit her enemies hard and ruthlessly. Even if a student was already on the ground, she made sure to put another shot in to make sure they stayed down. Ruthless indeed, but the way her eyes shone throughout… she had the eyes of a warrior.
And not just her. There were two people who stood out during the retreat, someone who was probably their commander, a tall purple-haired with horns and a flight jacket hanging from her shoulders saying some loud shtick about ‘this not being the end’ while covering the retreat of the rest before leaving with who I presumed to be their leader, a green-haired student with a red capelet, a snazzy hat, and the eyes of a soldier.
“So, this is what you needed help with?” I gestured towards the battlefield. It was now very clear how the bullet holes in the corridor had been made.
“Yeah.” Kei staggered up behind Maaya. She’d been shot a few times, but nothing majorly serious broke through the protection of her halo. “They’ve been coming at us for weeks now. We asked the Tea Party for help, but thanks to a couple of issues going on elsewhere, especially with what happened a few weeks ago, we’re at the bottom of the priority pile, especially since we’ve already fought them off once.” She heaved a sigh of exhaustion, and it immediately became clear why her initial reception had been so hostile.
“Have you contacted anyone at Gehenna to deal with the problem?”
A weary smile crossed her face. “Nope. That’s why we asked you. We needed this dealt with fast, and to be honest, we don’t trust the Prefect Team in Gehenna to be able to clear this up.”
“Why not? They should be more than able to handle Gehenna students going rogue.” My mind flashed back to the Prefect Team's extensive rogues’ gallery. “More than capable.”
A flash of surprise ran through Maaya’s face. “Didn’t you see their patches?
They’re from the Gehenna Aeronautics Society.”
Many constants existed in Gehenna Academy.
Never let Juri cook, the Hot Springs Development Club will do anything to build hot springs, the Gourmet Research Society is insane; but at the very top of the list of constants was that Head Prefect Hina is the strongest person in Gehenna.
Another constant that should be added to that list is how much work is put on her shoulders.
And while I didn’t enjoy adding to her workload, if the circumstances called for it, I knew no one else would be better for the job.
That job being marching into the Gehenna Aeronautics Club and demanding answers.
“Of course, that won’t be easy, considering how they officially fall under the Pandemonium Society.” Hina was staring at me through lidded eyes, the bags under them deeper and darker than when I last saw her. “Still, I shall try to help as much as I can.”
Her eyes slowly leaned over to the side. “However, who are these people with you?”
A light flipped on as I realised I’d forgotten to introduce them. “Oh, well, this one is Mari, she’s a member of the Sisterhood, Maaya and Kei belong to the Trinity Aeronautics Club, and Iroha is a member of the Pandemonium Society.” Maaya was the picture of confidence, but Kei fidgeted a little as she was introduced to Hina, the reputation of Gehenna’s Head Prefect evidently preceding her. When it came to Iroha she just lazily waved, then went back to the cup of coffee she was drinking.
Hina looked like she was about to say something, but a simple sigh escaped her lips instead. “I know who Iroha is, Sensei. Anyways, regarding this matter with the Aeronautics Club, I’ll lead you to their clubroom so we can have a talk.” The dark expression clouding her face left little doubt as to the nature of this talk.
“Wonderful!” I clapped my hands. “And hopefully, with a member of the Pandemonium Society with us, we can have a civilised chat, right?”
Maaya and Kei fidgeted under my gaze. Hina took a look at me, and sighed. “If that’s what you want, Sensei.”
“Of course it’s what I want. I don’t enjoy seeing my students attacking each other.”
Iroha gave me a look, before stretching herself out. “Hah, alright. Fair warning though, it might come down to shooting in the end. The leader is a bit of an oddity, to say the least.”
I sighed. “She’s from Gehenna. How many people in Gehenna can be classified as oddities?”
Iroha avoided my eyes.
The Gehenna Aeronautics Club hangar was a marvel of brutalist architecture, concrete and brick organised in a grand style that reminded one about an Estovakian prison camp. The few posters hanging on the imposing building didn’t do much to dissuade that impression, with the purple and red so favoured by Makoto just reminding me of the good ‘ol days…
“Well?” Iroha’s voice snapped me out of memory lane. “Are we going in?”
“Yeah, let’s roll.” Opening the door, the first thing that stands out is the collection of fighters, like in Trinity - except these had a much more Yuktobanian flavour to them, in stark contrast to the Osean flavour of the Trinity hangar.
Fulcrums shared elbow room with Fishbeds and Flankers, a classic combination of jets. Mechanics ran here-and-there, with engines being moved on carts and radars being serviced. There was a distinctly more commercial, and dare I say it professional feel to the Gehenna hangars and operations, and even though the aircraft were of the same type, I recognised distinct variants. Flanker-B’s, Flanker-D’s, Flanker-D’s.
A shiver ran through my spine as I saw that familiar foe.
“Surprised?” I turned to my right to see Hina looking at me. She must’ve thought I was looking at the way the mechanics were working. “The… general, of the Aeronautics Club, is a disciplinarian. Of course, she isn’t a real general, it’s a title given by those under her, but it’s one that fits well. She regularly comes to the Prefect Team, asking for permission to help subdue the troublemakers in Gehenna, however we usually refuse. Bombs tend to cause excessive collateral damage.”
As opposed to the normal amount of collateral damage done in subduing any perp in Kivotos. Considering some of the things I’d seen the Prefect Team do, I shuddered at what they considered excessive collateral damage.
Before I could respond, I heard Maaya growling to my left. “12 o’clock, look sharp.” I turned to see the purple-haired shouter and the green-haired girl with the eyes. Thanks to Iroha and Hina however, I knew the identities of the two.
“General Hisako, Assistant Yuko, it is good to meet you. I apologise for scheduling this on such notice.”
The green-haired girl, barely taller than Hina, also known as General Hisako, stood in front of us, arms crossed. “I would believe that apology if I didn’t see that Trinity scum behind you. Did those idiots ask you to stop us?”
“Why you-” Maaya grabbed Kei by the shoulders at that bold statement, the tiny wildcat raring to go, even though we were in the middle of “enemy territory”.
Even more reason why we shouldn’t provoke them more. Looking at Hisako, her facial muscles were strained - she was doing a damn good job hiding it, but she was clearly pissed. One wrong move and we were going to have to leave this place fighting.
Hina clearly saw it, and Iroha too. Jumping in between, she interrupted the two of them. “Yes and no. We are here to ensure that a group falling under the Pandemonium Society is not acting on its own accord, and to see which side started this and sort it out… peacefully.” Iroha said pointedly, her eyes on the holster beside Hisako where a small semi-automatic sat with her hand on top of it.
“Why you- Don’t misunderstand your place! We work with you, you don’t command us!” Yuko was much taller than she had seemed in the fight at the Trinity Aeronautics Club, an impression built by her slim profile, and her hands were already around the grip of her triple-barrelled shotgun, of a similar make to Juri’s. She was stopped by Hisako putting an arm out.
“...Fine. Follow me.” With that, she turned around, and we followed her to the back of the hangar.
The meeting room she brought us to was lavishly appointed, with more purple and red covering the decor. In the centre, a large sofa set sat around a table, Hisako placing herself in the lounge chair. The rest of us awkwardly sat on the sofa, Yuko choosing to stand beside her leader instead.
“We can speak freely here.”
I expected Hina to take the lead, but instead Iroha started speaking. “First of all, why are you attacking a Trinity clubhouse?”
“They refused my challenge.”
Silence reigned as we took in what she said.
I turned to look at Maaya, who immediately leaped up in anger. “You-! We beat you fair and square, and we chose not to indulge your childish cries for a rematch!”
Hisako looked at her with cold eyes. “You refused nonetheless.”
“Hold on a moment.” Iroha looked like she was having a migraine. “What challenge are you talking about here? Was it the-“
“A dogfight!” “A dogfight.” The two leaders of the aeronautics clubs glared daggers at each other, showing how perfectly in sync they were.
Iroha’s cold look matched theirs in vitriol. “You mean the one that occurred a week after the Eden Treaty was signed that required me to work overtime to clear up the misunderstanding?”
Silence once again reasserted its power over its domain.
“…tch.”
“Returning to the reason we are here today,” Hina brought the conversation-slash-loredump back on topic, “we need you to stop attacking them.”
“Then I want a dogfight with her.” Her blue eyes stared back at Hina.
This was going to be a tough cookie to break. A plan was formulating in my head though…
“How about a dogfight with me?” Heads snapped around to stare at me, various emotions dancing around their faces.
Hisako barked out a laugh. “You?! Can you even fly?”
“Yep. Do you have a F-15 anywhere? Might need a bit of time to get used to the Flankers.”
Yuko scoffed. “An F-15? A Flanker of any generation will make mincemeat of it. Doesn’t matter if it’s an original -27, the twin-seat -30, or even the -33.”
Fighting words, but… “Hah. Are you kidding me? Do you even realise how many of those I’ve shot down?”
Hina and the rest of the room recoiled at those words, as Sensei seemingly changed from the normal if slightly foolish person he always was into something else.
His physical appearance did not change, not one bit, but there was now an aura around him that caused their senses, even Hina’s, to scream “danger”.
“It’s like theirs,” thought Hina. “Just like the most dangerous people in Kivotos.”
She heard, from beside her, a tiny whisper that would have been hidden by the room if not for the deafening silence that had fallen.
“The eyes of a true Ace…”
Across the table, she saw the corners of Hisako’s mouth twitch up and shivered. There was no way she was going to turn it down.
“I think Trinity has one, no?”
I turned to face Maaya. “Is it your preferred machine?”
She cocked her head to the side in confusion. “We don’t have one in Trinity, but it being my preferred one doesn’t matter if you’re going to have a dogfight with her right?”
“One on one is too easy. What about a four on one?”
The room chilled at that sentence. A full one to two degrees drop in temperature as everyone saw Hisako seethe.
“Are you implying that I am not a worthy opponent?” Her eyes told more: choose your next words carefully.
“I like fighting impossible odds. If you want to face me at my best, I’m going to need a mountain to climb.” I made sure to give my cockiest, most punchable smirk for that, because it would turn the bomb I was going to drop next into a nuke.
“Besides, I think fighting four aces” I waved to Maaya and Kei, Hisako and Yuko, “would be more fun.”
Hina and Iroha looked at me like I had grown four heads and was now juggling a loaded gun.
Kei was looking between me and the Gehenna crew, her expression torn between worry, shock and anticipation.
Maaya looked like Santa had come early.
Yuko looked like she wanted to shoot me.
Hisako finally changed her expression. Instead of the continuous dead stare, she had the widest smile on her face, and I couldn’t tell if it was out of joy or anger.
“You want me to work with her?” She held that laugh for a moment, before she started full-on cackling. “You, in my base, my headquarters, with my people outside ready to pounce on you, are saying you want me to work with HER?”
She waved her hand. “One of mine will pass you my details. Find your plane, and tell me when we shall do this. Now, leave.” Her tone brokered no argument, and once one her faceless mechanics passed us a slip of paper we were out of there.
Once we left, I buckled as Iroha knocked my legs out from under me, sending me sprawling to the ground. “Sensei, have I ever mentioned you are an absolute idiot?”
“Once or twice.”
“Iroha, you should have broken his legs so he wouldn’t do such a stupid thing ever again.” Hina looked down on me, her expression cold as ice as I looked right up her skirt.
“I can see your underwear.”
“Wh-!” Her face turned a shade reserved for blood and fast cars as I rolled to dodge the foot that nearly slammed down on my face.
I got up and dusted myself off. “Really though, Hina, you don’t have to worry about me. I know I can handle myself.” Especially in the skies.
But first… “I need to find a F-15.” I turned to Maaya and Kei. “Do you two know where I’d get one?”
Maaya turned to the sky in thought as Kei’s ears twitched while she held her chin. “I… think Millennium has a few. Of all variants, and some modified ones.”
“I just need an E, or if not a C.”
“An E? Do you have a WSO in mind?”
“I’ve flown without one.” My mind flashed back to that day so long ago, the sole member in a squadron that never seemed to get any reinforcements, as I scrambled to defend my country. As everything crumbled as the missiles blew everyone else out of the sky. Black reapers of death scything down those who ran, a lucky shot by a wingman I had never met before saving me as I was nearly shot down, blinded my own rage.
Gracemeria was so beautiful from the sky. Even after spending all this time in Kivotos, I never forgot. Even if I may never return, I had my memories of it.
“Well, I’ll go off to Millennium. You two,” I pointed to the Trinity Aeronautics Club members, “better get yourselves ready. I won't go easy on you. Iroha, Hina, thanks for helping me out today.”
I started walking off, waving to them as I went. “See you all another time.”
The noises faded off as I made my way out of Gehenna, back to SCHALE, all the while reminiscing in memories from another time in my life.
One I was going to reenter. Kivotos had known of Sensei, now, I was about to introduce them to Talisman.