Chapter Text
Abydos.
An academy that once held all the power and wealth in Kivotos once upon a time, now nothing more than a desolate landscape of ruin buried by sand. Kayoko remembered a report in the Gehenna archives about a legendary student who defeated close to a hundred reigning Abydos presidents. That brought about the golden age of the district. Whoever that girl was must have been incredible.
They would probably be sad to see the state Abydos is in now.
Kayoko chose this district as her first trip away from Gehenna because it was quiet. She could cruise around with little trouble from authority since Abydos had none and listen to her music too. The sight of old buildings submerged in sand painted the district in tragedy. Some even disappear or reappear whenever sandstorms pass by.
Not all hope was lost for Abydos, as there were businesses that survived. People were still struggling and living in the place they call home.
How do they deal with this heat?
Kayoko took a sip from her water bottle as she took off her earbuds.
“…I should have brought a hat.”
“Nn. You get used to it.”
The water went down the wrong pipe. Kayoko coughed, trying to get herself under control from being startled. It was either the desert at play or she was losing her touch as a former officer from the Intelligence Division. She turned towards the mystery voice to see the person who got the jump on her.
Abydos uniform.
A wolf girl with grey hair and mismatched pupils.
“Nice bike.” The unknown student’s eyes seemed to sparkle at Kayoko’s ride.
“…Thanks.” Kayoko responded while looking to see where this girl could have possibly come from. “I’m Kayoko. You?”
“Shiroko.” The student nodded. “I have a bike, too. Not a motorcycle.”
“So where is it?” Kayoko saw no signs of a bicycle nearby.
“It got blown up.”
Now, that was alarming.
Kayoko tried to piece together a theory in her head from the statement and their current surroundings. The current known location where Abydos students could go to school was nowhere near here. Shiroko here claimed to have a bike, which would make sense for commuting, but there were several kilometers of travel time to consider too. Following that logic, Kayoko concluded that Shiroko’s bike did not just get ‘blown up’ but was destroyed by someone else, which meant the girl was being hunted.
“Recently?”
“Twenty minutes ago.” Shiroko’s ears twitched. “Maybe thirty. I was running a lot after I ran out of ammo.”
Well, that just confirmed it.
“Get on.” Kayoko slipped her helmet on as she made the motorcycle roar back to life.
Shiroko climbed onto the back seat without a second thought, but she was facing the rear with their backs to each other. An odd way to sit but at least that meant someone would have complete eyes on their back while Kayoko focused on escaping Shiroko’s pursuers. The immediate reason for helping Shiroko was the fact she was an Abydos student, and it wouldn’t do Kayoko any favors to abandon a student of the district she was currently touring through. Kayoko sped forward down the road, but she also glanced at her mirrors too for the inbound trouble.
“How many are after you?” Kayoko asked.
“A dozen Kata-Kata left after one fight.” Shiroko identified her attackers as part of the Helmet Gang. “They probably got in their cars after I lost them.”
Right on cue, three vehicles showed up in the mirrors.
They were cheap armored cars, either stolen or bought for dirt cheap. A few Helmet delinquents stuck their bodies out from their windows with rifles already raised. Gunfire erupted and bullets soared past where Kayoko was before she started weaving. Kayoko couldn’t keep dodging them forever as fuel would be an issue for the trip to the Abydos school.
“Ah, that one.”
Shiroko was pointing a finger at one vehicle. One Helmet Ganger emerged from the sunroof wielding a rocket launcher. It didn’t take a genius to guess that person destroyed Shiroko’s bike. Kayoko’s eyes widened as the student fired, and she made a hard turn around a corner. The resulting explosion showered that area in debris now.
“Shiroko-san.” Kayoko grabbed the girl’s attention. “You got a good arm?”
“Nn.” Shiroko nodded.
“Check the box on your right.” Kayoko knew what was in there would help end this chase.
“Grenades.” Shiroko pulled out one from the compartment. “Only two.”
“I don’t make it a habit of carrying a lot of that.” Kayoko replied. “Cook one now. I’m coming up on an intersection and I need you to toss it so it can’t be seen after we turn.”
“Catch them by surprise. I get it.” Shiroko nodded in understanding.
A pull of the pin as Kayoko drifted around the corner. Shiroko tossed it just by the corner side of a wall, completely hidden. The first vehicle came into view and was immediately flipped over by the instant explosion the delinquents had no way of anticipating. It collided into another vehicle that ended up veering off and crashing hard into another wall as chunks of debris fell on it, putting that car out of commission as well. Only one vehicle left, but at least there was no risk of a rocket launcher ruining Kayoko’s day.
“Use it?” Shiroko asked, referring to the last grenade in her hand.
“Wait.”
Up ahead was an incline, but an idea formed in Kayoko’s head. She eased off the throttle, gauging the reaction of the last pursuing vehicle. The driver committed to the idea of ramming into Kayoko, likely too focused to pay attention ahead. Kayoko picked up speed briefly to entice them further, and it worked with resounding success.
When the incline came around, Kayoko watched as the vehicle flew over her with all the girls in the car screaming.
They flipped several times before finally landing upside down. Shiroko tossed the other grenade after the girls crawled out, causing the car to explode and launch them in different directions. The helmet gangsters were all passed out on the hot sand, no longer a threat to the unlikely duo. Kayoko sighed before glancing over at Shiroko who switched position to face Kayoko’s back now instead of their backs to each other.
“You would make a good getaway driver.” Shiroko said.
“…What?”
An awkward silence ensued, with only the ambience being the burning car the two blew up. For the sake of her own sanity, Kayoko chose not to examine the implications of that statement. The Abydos wolf girl spoke bluntly in the most alarmingly calm way possible, despite all the trouble she has been through today. That told Kayoko that the occurrence of an attack from the Kata-Kata was about as common as the Prefect Team dealing with trouble on a normal work day in Gehenna.
“Let’s…just get you to school.” Kayoko started heading for the main roads. “You do need to go to school today, right?”
“I’m running late.” Shiroko did not sound worried in the slightest. “Nn. Ayane is going to be mad.”
“A senpai of yours?” Kayoko asked.
“No.” Shiroko replied. “She’s still scary when she gets mad.”
Kayoko stayed cautious of her surroundings in case more Kata-Kata showed up. However, she decided to relax since Shiroko’s hearing would be sharper than her own. If trouble decided to come, the Abydos student would let her know. When Kayoko glanced back briefly at Shiroko, she noted the girl’s condition that raised a question.
No dirt or visible injuries for someone who survived an ambush and a firefight until she ran out of ammo.
“You look fine for someone who had their bike destroyed.” Kayoko stated her observation. “Kata-Kata didn’t even get a single hit on you?”
“Skill issue.” Shiroko sounded smug before sounding sad with her next answer. “Except for the rocket person.”
“That’s fair.” Kayoko conceded to that point.
The Kata-Kata had fired enough ammunition at them that if any Prefect Team recruit shot like that in front of Iori during range training, the assault corp captain would pop a blood vessel.
“What are you doing in Abydos, Kayoko-san?”
Kayoko had been expecting that question to come up eventually the moment she made contact with a student in the district. On the list of places to go as a tourist, Abydos was definitely on the bottom list for any sensible person.
At least she hadn’t picked Red Winter.
The truthful answer would be admitting that her former coworker shoved her old keys back into her hand and told her to stop being bored and have fun.
She wasn’t about to say that.
“I’m taking trips around Kivotos.” Kayoko answered. “Abydos seemed like a good choice…though I’m having my doubts now if I’m going to be chased by the local gangsters from now on.”
The Kata-Kata had to have a reason to pursue Shiroko, and Kayoko found it hard to believe this unusually calm student would be the aggressor.
“No, you should be fine.” Shiroko assured her with a shake of her head. “Kata-Kata is only focused on attacking Abydos.”
That was a loaded answer, but Kayoko could not pry further since it was a school affair. Shiroko would get suspicious if Kayoko asked to dive further into the subject. The two may have mutually cooperated against the Kata-Kata attackers, but they were still strangers that only met today. There was trust established, but not tight enough to be confidants.
“Sounds rough.” Kayoko left that subject with only a comment. “Hey, I don’t know the best route to your school.”
“Nn. I know the way.” Shiroko nodded. “Keep driving until we see a ruined market stall with a broken puffer fish. Then we need to change roads.”
“Got it. Let’s speed this up a bit.” Kayoko had been casually cruising, but now it was time to really get moving. “Hang on tight.”
Only focused on Abydos, huh?
It was clear some organization had its sights set on erasing Abydos for their own ends. The obvious suspect would be Kaiser Corporation, but to fully confirm that required research. That’s an amount of effort Kayoko wasn’t quite ready to commit to just yet. Shiroko’s directions finally led them both to the front of her school gates.
Must be the annex building. Kayoko drove in slowly until she parked close to the main building entrance. Their proper school has been buried for a long time, after all.
“Please stay.” Shiroko climbed off the bike as Kayoko took off her helmet.
“Huh?” Kayoko looked at Shiroko as she walked up the steps of her school. “Why?”
“You helped me.” Shiroko stopped and looked back at her. “Need to pay you back.”
“You don’t need to.” Kayoko was hoping to find the nearest gas station to fill her tank back up for the trip back to Gehenna.
“Don’t want to owe you.” Shiroko’s tone change startled Kayoko. “We already have enough debt—”
The front door burst open as a trio of students in Abydos uniforms surrounded Shiroko.
“Shiroko-senpai!” A girl with glasses and elf ears was at Shiroko’s front. “We were getting worried! You weren’t picking up your phone!”
“Didn’t have a chance to, Ayane-chan.” Shiroko shook her head.
“Where the heck have you been that wouldn’t let you call!?” One catgirl with twin-tails asked before looking at Kayoko with a distrustful look. “…Who’s this?”
“That’s Kayoko-san.” Shiroko looked back at Kayoko with a thumbs up. “She’s my getaway driver, Serika-chan.”
“Your WHAT!?”
Serika’s eyes could have bulged out from Shiroko’s answer, but at least it helped ease the attention off Kayoko temporarily. It helped that the two of the three were identified, but the last one seemed focused on her. A blond girl with green eyes and a gentleness to her that reminded Kayoko of Chinatsu. The stare wasn’t of suspicion like the catgirl’s, but of curiosity.
“Hi, Kayoko-san. I’m Nonomi.” The girl smiled warmly as she took the first step of the trio to approach Kayoko. “Thanks for helping Shiroko-chan. Sorry for the trouble she put you through.”
“It’s fine.” Kayoko shut off her bike since it didn’t look like she was leaving now. “I think her only trouble would have been getting back on foot if we hadn’t met.”
“What was the trouble anyway, Shiroko-senpai?” Ayane asked, redirecting the topic back to her senpai.
“Kata-Kata ambushed me on the way to school.” Shiroko said it so casually. “Blew up my bike too.”
A moment of silence gave Kayoko the preparation she needed to cover her ears. It muffled the yells of shock and confusion before they calmed down and started asking questions.
“You took the long way around, didn’t you?” Serika accused to which Shiroko had no rebuttal for. “They were absolutely stalking your routes!”
“Shiroko-senpai, you really need to be careful!” Ayane lectured the wolf girl. “You know our last meeting talked about how their tactics have changed.”
“Nn. Their tactics didn’t help their aim.” Shiroko replied.
“Well, they still got your bike!” Ayane pointed out immediately. “How’s your ammo?”
“All out.” Shiroko pulled the magazine off her rifle to show it. “…Again.”
“Our stockpile isn’t doing too well…” Ayane sighed as she rubbed her temples. “We’ll be fighting the Kata-Kata with sandbags and our weapons as clubs at this rate.”
“Uhe~, Shiroko-chan is causing a stir again.”
A fresh voice showed a girl with pink hair and sleepy eyes made their appearance. Kayoko knew this girl instantly out of all the others because Hina had talked about her once upon a time back in their younger years. This third-year was someone who had the potential to make waves in Kivotos even among the ruins of Abydos. However, she had gone dark for a long time, and with good reason given the circumstances.
Takanashi Hoshino…So this is who you had eyes on back then, Hina.
Kayoko’s eyes made contact with Hoshino. To everyone else around them, the third-year looked completely uninterested in being so serious. Kayoko knew better and felt like she had been evaluated by another officer. Fight or flight instincts almost took over, but she resisted her urge and remained as calm as she could while the Abydos senior got up to speed with current events.
“We usually only get uninvited guests or the collector to our school.” Hoshino spoke aloud as she casually made her way to Kayoko. “Maybe you’re…a transfer student to our school soon?”
A recruitment attempt and play at humor layered with other meanings.
“Just visiting.” Kayoko kept her tone very formal. “I’d really be in the wrong if I didn’t pitch in for one of your juniors who needed help.”
“Ah…well, it’s appreciated.” Hoshino accepted her answer. “I don’t get to meet other fellow seniors often. So, this oji-san thanks you for your help, Kayoko-san.”
“I want to pay her back for her help.” Shiroko moved to Hoshino’s side. “I used two of her grenades to blow up Kata-Kata cars. She also needs fuel too.”
“Go on and get it then, Shiroko-chan.” Hoshino motioned for the wolf girl to get going. “Your grenades will do.”
“Nn.” Shiroko turned and headed inside the school.
“Wait for me, Shiroko-senpai!” Serika decided to join her, but it felt like that was an excuse to get away from Kayoko too.
“Does your motorcycle use standard pump fuel, Kayoko-san?” Ayane asked.
“Yeah, it uses nothing special.” Kayoko responded, knowing that refusing in this situation would be more trouble and effort than it was worth.
“I’ll help carry it, Ayane-chan.” Nonomi followed her kouhai.
The absence of the four juniors left Kayoko alone with someone that Hina believed to have strength comparable to elite students from the other academies. Hoshino sat down on the steps, tilting her head back to look up at the bright sky as the pair waited in silence. Kayoko wasn’t sure whether to start a conversation or wait out the quiet until Hoshino’s friends returned with the items to pay back Shiroko’s ‘debt’ to her. It was tempting to put on some music, but it would probably look rude in front of the authority figure of Abydos.
“…Are we good?” Kayoko decided to finally break the ice.
“Yeah.” Hoshino’s response was neutral. “I think so. Someone who helped Shiroko-chan can’t be all bad.”
“You sure?”
“Sure as can be when I looked at you.” Hoshino looked down and directly at her. “You’re here in Abydos for something, but what you want doesn’t need this oji-san to get serious.”
“You got all that from a glance?” Kayoko could not even begin to comprehend Hoshino’s sharp intuition.
“Oji-san has good eyes.” Hoshino declared with half-lidded eyes. “What about you?”
“Huh?” Kayoko wasn’t expecting a redirect.
“You’ve got good eyes, too.” Hoshino yawned. “What did you see?”
Kayoko knew the information on Hoshino. About what happened to someone a long time ago. The Abydos senior was expecting an answer, but the calmness to her could change in an instant if Kayoko worded her answer the wrong way.
You’ve been tired for a very long time, Hoshino.
“…Someone tired. Not physically, but—”
Hoshino’s relaxed smile weakened, and Kayoko felt her heart beat a little faster. The footsteps approaching gave way to a silent agreement to them both to end that conversation.
For both their sakes.
“I’m back.”
Shiroko returned with two grenades in her hands, but the catgirl from before was nowhere to be seen. Kayoko assumed Serika only tagged along with Shiroko to get away from a suspicious person. That kind of reaction was pretty common, especially from police officers in the D.U. who always thought Kayoko was up to something.
Only one distrustful Abydos student from their group was a surprisingly good outcome.
“Oh? Where’s Serika-chan?” Hoshino asked, her tone relaxed again.
“She’s back in the club room.” Shiroko answered while opening up the empty box and placing the two grenades in it to replace the ones she used during the chase. “Nn. These are my custom grenades. They’ll be good.”
“Thanks.” Kayoko hoped she wouldn’t find for a use for them too soon.
Ayane and Nonomi returned with the blond carrying the canister of fuel. The blond passed it to Kayoko, and she accepted with a quick thanks before opening the tank to fill her ride. Hoshino saw the opportunity to escape and stood up as she turned around to enter the building. Ayane noticed their senpai leaving immediately like it were an instinct.
“Where are you going, Hoshino-senpai?” Ayane asked.
“Serika-chan is all by her lonesome.” Hoshino stretched her arms. “Oji-san needs to make sure she’s not sulking alone.”
A final hand wave without looking back, and the sleepy senior was gone. Kayoko was relieved, since this would allow that conversation from before to cool down. It wouldn’t be forgotten, but they could move past it.
“So…” Nonomi clasped her hands together with a smile. “Will you be coming back to Abydos sometime?”
Kayoko knew the option to say no was the simplest one. It also had consequences down the line if she did end up in Abydos again and was discovered by the students to be staying around. A level of trust would be lost that she gained today, and if nothing else, that Serika girl would probably boast that she was right to not trust Kayoko. The memory of Gisa and the others on the recorder came to mind about having fun with her newfound freedom from Prefect Team responsibilities.
“I’ll stop by now and then.” Kayoko made her choice. “Need to make sure I’m up to date on my classwork before any visits can happen.”
“Great!” Nonomi’s eyes brightened as she pulled out her phone. “Then how about we exchange numbers?”
“…Sure.”
Phone numbers and a nearly empty fuel canister were exchanged between the two. Shiroko then held out her own phone with eyes shining just like when the wolf girl first saw Kayoko’s bike back on the road. Kayoko entered a second new contact on her phone, and Ayane peeked over Shiroko’s shoulder. The expression on the girl in glasses went from neutral to horrified.
“Shiroko-senpai!”
“Nn?” Shiroko blinked at Ayane.
“You can’t label her as ‘Getaway Driver’!”
Shiroko at least had the decency to look like she was contemplating her actions.
“Get back here, Shiroko-senpai!”
…At least until she turned and ran.
“Nn!”
“That’s not an answer!”
Nonomi giggled as both disappeared into the school. Kayoko couldn’t help letting out a small huff of her own at the sight. If there was something to be said about this Abydos group, it’s that their friendship felt genuinely close to a family. The blond Abydos student turned to her with an almost motherly smile.
“Shiroko-chan was really excited today.” Nonomi said. “She doesn’t get to make a lot of friends outside Abydos.”
Friend, huh… Kayoko wasn’t so sure they were that just yet after barely a day of knowing each other.
“Like you heard Hoshino-senpai said, we get more unwanted guests than friendly visitors. It really puts our guard up…especially Serika-chan.” Nonomi looked away and back at the school building. “Don’t be put off by her attitude.”
“She’s right to be wary.” Kayoko chose to defend Serika’s behavior as she secured the fuel cap. “My face doesn’t exactly signal friendly.”
“No, but your actions today did.” Nonomi laughed awkwardly, not denying Kayoko’s claim about her face. “She’ll come around if you spend enough time with us. Serika-chan is a good girl.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Kayoko put her helmet back on and started up her ride. “See you around then, Nonomi-san.”
“I hope so.” Nonomi waved goodbye as she backed up onto the steps. “See you later, Kayoko-san.”
Kayoko drove off, leaving Nonomi behind as she headed back home to Gehenna. Abydos was in a position of uncertainty with a debt problem, some unknown party sending delinquent forces to push them out of the district, and no sight of any incoming students to refill their student population. Despite that, the Abydos group continued on living and could even have absurd fun through their struggle. She stopped briefly to glance back at the school building she just left.
She wasn’t sure if Gisa and the others would approve of this Abydos situation as having fun.
Only way to know for sure is trying.
Abydos disappeared behind her as she rolled forward.
There were worse places to come back to.