Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shiroko just got home after a long day of running errands, and she's currently putting groceries that she bought away in her pantry. As she's doing so, her phone dings as it gets a notification. Curious, the woman picks it up and has a surprised look on her face. The text is from... the other Shiroko. She feels a bit guilty after the things that the younger one was put through because of her, but smiles a bit as she remembers how her and the others made up. The text reads,

"Hey... I know it's been a while since... you know, everything that's happened. How are you?"

The older woman softly chuckles as she reads the message, and replies,

"Indeed it has. I've been well. Seeing Kivotos flourishing and not under complete chaos and destruction is a nice change for once..."

The young girl then asks,

"So... me and my friends were thinking about hanging out tonight, and we were wondering if you wanted to come along. Nonomi first talked about this idea. What do you think?"

Shiroko's eyebrows raise as she sees that the Abydos students still cared about her, and the fact that they're also inviting her out? It warmed her normally cold heart. She replied that she would love to go, and from now until then, she started to clean herself up and get an outfit ready. After those events unfolded back then, her and Sensei went shopping for plenty of new clothes, as her black dress was torn up from the fighting, so she now had options for what to wear.

As Shiroko arrived at the ramen place her and the others agreed to meet up at, she looks at the sign above the entrance. She softly speaks to herself,

"Shiba Seki Ramen... I was told one of the Abydos students works here..."

She takes a deep breath, and exhales as she then walks through the door. When she does so, she finds the girls sitting at a booth, and she sees the short pink-haired girl, Hoshino, stand up and wave at her with a warm smile.

"Shiroko! You made it! Glad to see you here. I thought you'd be keeping this granny waiting!"

Serika raises her eyebrow and sighs,

"You're not even that much older than us, dummy!"

Ayane puts her glasses away and smiles warmly at Shiroko, softly chuckling and saying,

"I'm so happy that you came."

Nonomi gets up and hugs Shiroko, smiling at her and saying,

"I'm glad to see you're okay!"

As everyone finishes greeting each other, they take their seats and order what they want. Hoshino then smirks at Serika and nudges her as she smugly says,

"Serika, why aren't you our waitress? I'm sure we'd love to see you at work again~ can't let the poor master of the house be the only one cooking for us~"

Serika blushes furiously and yells at Hoshino,

"The hell?? We just saved all of Kivotos not even three months ago, and you're already wanting me to get back to work! Tsk. Gimme a break!"

Everyone else chuckles, and Ayane then asks,

"Hey, Shiroko?"

Both Shirokos look at her and make the same sound, "Mm?", as their animal-like ears twitch at the same time.

She then gets a bit surprised, but then sighs as she realizes that they both have the same name. Her face then lights up a bit as she gets an idea. She then turns to the more mature Shiroko, and asks,

"Do you mind if we give you a nickname? I think it'd make things a little easier when talking to both of you."

Both Shirokos look at each other and nod, and the woman speaks in a soft tone and chuckles herself.

"This indeed will make it less confusing. I know I have plenty of titles others have for me, but I find them as more of a part of my past self, that I wish to leave behind. What nickname were you thinking?"

Ayane then rubs her chin in thought, and nods as she thinks of a name.

"What about Kuroko? It's simple enough, right?"

The younger Shiroko chimes in and nods,

"That seems like it'd fit well."

Everyone else agreed, and now, Kuroko was the name she was willing to have, a new name that symbolized her moving from her dark past, moving into the future turning a new leaf. Kuroko smiled warmly as she thought about this, and just as this moment couldn't get any better, the chef brings out everyone's orders of various types of ramen. Everyone then clasped their hands together and said in unison,

"Thank you for the meal!"

With smiles all around, good conversations flowing, and delicious food, Kuroko kept thinking to herself how this is the most fun she's had in a very long time. Spending time with friends and other people she enjoys being around showed her one of the many joys of life, the company of kind and loving others. Her expression then turned a bit sad as she thought to herself,

'Do... Do I really deserve this? Am I worthy of having such wonderful and kind people in my life? The things I've done were-'

"Kuroko! Helloooooo!"

Kuroko then snaps out of her thoughts due to Serika waving her hands in front of her face and calling out to her. She then raises an eyebrow and looks at her with a bit of concern,

"You good over there? You seem sad..."

Everyone else also looks at her with concern, and Kuroko is taken aback at how they all truly do care about her well-being. She still hasn't fully adjusted to this complete overhaul of her lifestyle, but she knew that this was the life she was going to live. One that is full of prosperity, joy, good fortune, and most of all, love from the people she cares about most. Kuroko shakes her head and now puts on a warm smile as she says,

"Sorry, everyone. I was... a bit lost in thought for a second. Let's continue eating, shall we?"

Hoshino then nods and raises her cup as she says with a bright grin,

"Cheers to our newest friend, Kuroko! We welcome you to the Abydos family."

Everyone cheers and clinks their cups with each other, and takes a sip of their drinks together. Once they finished, they all let out a pleasant sigh in unison, and continued enjoying each other's company. After a while, they finished eating, and Nonomi quickly went to go pay the bill for the food. Some time later, she comes back and asks before everyone leaves,

"Hey, guys. We should take a picture together to remember tonight!"

She even calls the ramen chef that served them tonight to join in, and everyone gets together to pose and get ready. Another staff worker holds Nonomi's phone and happily says to them,

"Alright everyone, say cheese!'

"Cheese!!!"

Kuroko then arrives back home on her own, taking off her coat and setting it on the hanger near the door. She sighs as takes off her shoes and puts it on the shoe rack, stroking her silver hair while looking at a nearby mirror. She then walks to her room, turning off the lights in the living room and closing the door, and as she plops herself on her bed, she hears a text notification from her phone. The young woman takes it out and smiles warmly at the text from Nonomi as it has the picture of their time together attached, with her message,

"Thanks for coming out tonight, everyone! We're happy to have you as a part of the family now, Kuroko~ <3"

As Kuroko turns off her phone, she then faces the ceiling and thinks to herself about many things.

'Well... this really is my life now. It's for sure a better change from my past life... I'm just surprised the others were so welcoming of me... even after all I've done. To think a monster like me could have a chance of seeing the light again... I should not squander the opportunity to improve myself... and to finally enjoy myself for once... Thank you, Sensei, and everyone... thank you all so much...'

She then closes her eyes and smiles warmly as she lies in bed, a few small tears running down her face.

Chapter Text

Kuroko just got back home from the gym after a fulfilling workout, and was about to go shower until she heard a ding from her phone. Curious, she takes it out from her pocket and sees that she got an email from a name that seems oddly familiar. She tries to think about where she knows this name, and speaks to herself,

"Yurizono Seia... why... does she seem familiar...? Mmm... never mind that. Let's see what her email says..."

Kuroko then opens up the email as she starts to prepare her clothes that she will wear once she finishes showering. It reads,

"Shiroko Terror... or Kuroko, as you now go by. I hope this email finds you well. How have you been? Enjoying the peaceful life within Kivotos? I hope so. I would like to warmly invite you to a small function with me and the other members of Trinity's Tea Party, which is being held this Friday at 6pm. We would love to meet you and discuss what you've been up to in your now laid back life. If you can, please reply to this email as soon as you can. Thank you, and have a good rest of your day.

- Yurizono Seia"

Kuroko's eyes widen a bit as she looks at the email, and thinks to herself,

'What...? The Tea Party of Trinity wants to meet me...? This is interesting... it looks official, too. It'll be held at the end of the week... I think I should go. It seems like a nice opportunity to even make some new friends once again...'

The woman softly chuckles to herself, and is happy that more people are willing to meet her. Once she responds to Seia's email, saying that she would love to come, she then leaves her phone to charge on her nightstand and takes off her clothes, heading into the shower to clean herself up.

The week went by in a flash, and before Kuroko knew it, she already had to make preparations to go to the function at Trinity. She was a little excited, to be frank. As she opens her closet, Kuroko had a smile of determination as she took out a beautiful white dress, somewhat similar to her previous black dress she originally wore in the past, along with some jewelry from her drawer, and starting putting everything on. The woman also had a lint roller to make sure no part of her dress was imperfect, and made sure she had to look her best. After she did her hair, she took a look at a nearby mirror, checking herself out. She nods as she looks at her outfit and jewelry, and softly says to herself,

"Yeah... This is perfect..."

Once she was ready, she puts on her white heels and takes her purse, unplugging her phone and putting it in there as she leaves her home. She looks at the evening sky and smiles before she begins her walk to Trinity. As she looks at her phone occasionally for directions, she sometimes takes pictures of the beautiful landscapes and scenery.

Once she arrives at Trinity Academy, she walks up to the hallway to where the function is held. Each of her steps echo around her as she approaches the doors that lead to the balcony. She still has some butterflies in her stomach, but quickly cast them away once she arrives. One Trinity student, presumably guarding these doors with another, walks up to Kuroko and halts her for a second. The girl asks,

"May you please state your business here? The Tea Party is currently hosting a function, so any business involving them will be dealt with later."

Kuroko smiles at the girl and says,

"I'm actually the guest they invited tonight, Kuroko."

As the smaller girl hears this, she turns to the other one guarding the doors and nods, and both of them open the doors at the same time, welcoming her. Once Kuroko walks through, she sees three girls sitting a long table together, until they hear her arrival. A smaller girl with yellow hair and cat-like ears notices Kuroko first, and gets up from her seat, motioning the other two to stand next to her. Another girl, taller than her with pink hair, has her eyes sparkling in astonishment as she looks at Kuroko. The last girl, with the same height and beige hair, smiles at the woman as well. In unison, all three of them bow to Kuroko, and the smaller girl says,

"Kuroko, we're very happy you could make it tonight. I am Yurizono Seia, but you can call me Seia."

The woman shakes Seia's hand and greets her warmly. The pink-haired girl happily greets Kuroko and inspects her attire.

"Wow, you look so pretty, Kuroko! I love your outfit, it really suits you! I'm Mika, by the way~☆"

Kuroko softly chuckles as she sees how cheery Mika is, then turns to the beige-haired girl and shakes her hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, Kuroko. I am Kirifuji Nagisa, and you can call me Nagisa. Thank you for coming tonight. We've prepared plenty of food for tonight's occasion, so please, don't be afraid to have as much as you want."

Kuroko looks at the various platters and plates filled with food, and her mind already fixates on it intensely.

'Whoa... this is some exquisite looking food... I'm sure it must be tasty... wait- no... stop it, Kuroko. Focus on the people in front of you.'

Mika softly chuckles as she notices Kuroko eyeing the food, and she teasingly says,

"Oh~? Looks like our esteemed guest is quite hungry already, hehehe~! Shall we eat then?"

Everyone chuckles and starts to fill their plates up with food, before all sitting down at the table together.

"So, Kuroko... How do you like your life now? I'm sure it must be a complete 180 compared to your life before then..."

Seia is eating some carbonara while curiously looking at the mature woman, interested in her answer. Kuroko softly chuckles as she takes a sip of water and says,

"To be quite frank... yeah. It's much better than before... I honestly didn't think I would be living this type of life... considering the things I've done to all of Kivotos..."

Her smile gets warmer as she continues to speak.

"...But to be forgiven, and even be welcomed into society like this... I just can't thank everyone enough... including all of you."

Warm smiles are all around the Tea Party's table, good vibes and true happiness fills the air as all of them indulge in great food and enjoyable company.

After a while, Kuroko and the others finish eating and wipe their mouths respectively with their napkins. The woman thinks to herself a bit, but then nods. She looks at everyone and asks,

"Hey, guys... do you... mind if I take a picture with you all? I'd like to have something to remember tonight by..."

Mika's eyes sparkled as she heard these words. She put her hands on Kuroko's shoulders and excitedly says,

"Oh my gosh, I'd love to!"

Nagisa backhands Mika's shoulder and says in a bit of an annoyed tone,

"Mika! Hands off of Kuroko! She clearly looks uncomfortable..."

Kuroko waves her hands and chuckles a bit as she says,

"N-No, it's okay, Nagisa. Mika is just showing her excitement for me being comfortable with you all. I can at least expect to visit you all more in the future, right?"

Seia nods and smiles as she pats the woman's shoulder,

"Of course. We are happy to see that you have changed your ways and have come to appreciate Kivotos and its prosperity. We will always welcome you with open arms, Kuroko."

When Kuroko takes out her phone and turns on her camera, she positions it with her arm like in a selfie sort of way, and adjusts it to where everyone can be seen. Everyone poses in a cute way as the mature woman then says,

"Okay, guys, say cheese!"

"Cheese!!!"

Kuroko bows and waves to the Tea Party girls as she leaves, and the soft breeze of the night caresses her skin lightly. On her walk back home, she smiles at herself, clearly joyed at how she's constantly making new friends to hang out with now. She then looks to her left as she sees the beautiful view of the city, full of lights and the moon brightly hanging over it. She leans on the railing a bit to take some time to reflect and also enjoy the landscape before her, and thinks to herself once more,

'I guess this is how Sensei feels whenever he gets to be with these students every day, tackling various obstacles that stand in their way... being able to do it together, hand in hand, with constant smiles on your face... This really is the best... I'm starting to understand now... why people fight for this life... for their happiness...'

Kuroko looks up into the sky, now filled with shining stars, and strokes her silver hair as she smiles warmly at these thoughts.

Chapter Text

Kuroko has recently begun planning various trips and journeys around Kivotos, seeing what this now brighter and more cheerful world offers to her. Today's trip brings her to the Gehenna district, where she recently heard of a special festival that's being held the whole weekend. The weather is also perfect, clear blue skies and temperatures warm enough for her to wear her favorite casual dress and sunhat. As she dons her shades, she starts to hear the revving of an engine in the distance, and starts looking around in confusion.

"Jeez, whose car is that...?"

Kuroko softly whispers to herself as she shakes her head and disregards it. Not long after, said car starts to pull up next to her, and she notices it's no car. It's a yellow truck with a few Gehenna students altogether, and one girl, who has long silver hair and a black coat over her shoulders leans out a bit and calls out to her,

"Hello, ma'am. You look new around here. Would you like a tour of Gehenna with us as your guides~?"

The girl in the seat next to her, who has two horns and dark hair, is driving the vehicle and sighs as she says,

"Haruna, I feel like you're gonna do more than just, 'be a tour guide'..."

Haruna ignores the girl's comment and smiles warmly at Kuroko as she waits for her answer.

"...Why should I trust you all...?"

Kuroko says warily, as she looks at the group. Another girl with goat horns and lighter hair pops up from the back of the truck and smiles widely as she says,

"You're here for the festival that's going on this weekend, right? We're heading there ourselves! Plus, there's so many good restaurants on the way over, we'd love to show you!"

The girl next to her, with similar horns but blonde hair and darker clothing chimes in as well,

"Plus, since this is the first time you're visiting here, you don't know what are the best places to visit and enjoy yourself. On top of that, coming along with a group like us is sure to be fun~!"

Haruna nods as she says,

"Exactly, Akari. So, would you like to join us in this amazing journey of gastronomy with us~?"

She widely grins at Kuroko, and the woman has no choice but to comply, as she knows that because she's never been to the Gehenna district before.

"Fine... but don't get any funny ideas. I will not hesitate to teach you a lesson if you mess with me."

Kuroko hops in the back of the truck and sits on one of the seats, and the long-horned girl begins driving the group to their destination.

After many hours, Kuroko and the rest of the group head into the last restaurant of their trip, unexpectedly finding that night has fallen already. Haruna waits for the others to go in, before halting Kuroko and turning to her as it's now only them outside. Haruna looks up at Kuroko and speaks to her softly as she asks,

"You're Shiroko Terror, aren't you...?"

Kuroko's eyes widen a bit as she begins to remember Haruna all those months ago, vividly seeing her with the others... all of them fighting Phrenapates... her Sensei. She slowly raises an eyebrow as she responds with suspicion,

"...And what of it, Haruna...?"

Haruna smiles sadly as she bows her head and softly says,

"I... want to apologize for a few months back... I don't fully remember all the details... but that statue-like thing... he was your Sensei, right? From another timeline..."

Kuroko was taken aback by Haruna's actions and words, and started to tear up. She nodded and said with a bit of a shaky voice,

"I-I... Haruna..."

The shorter girl started to hold Kuroko's hands and looked at her sincerely.

"I know we did what we had to do... but I still felt really bad about it... Losing Sensei... one of the people who never gave up on you... I can't bear to imagine how painful that must feel..."

Kuroko stayed silent as tears fell down her cheeks, still shocked that Haruna said this. She then hugged Haruna tightly and softly whispered,

"Thank you... Thank you so much. I've heard your Sensei and others tell me similar things, but... the fact that you and them still really care about me like this... it helps a lot."

Haruna smiled warmly at Kuroko as they hugged, and she whispers back,

"I'm glad... let's enjoy our last restaurant of the day, alright?"

The woman nods but asks her before they head inside,

"Haruna... would you like to take a picture with me before we go in...? I... want to remember this moment..."

Haruna's eyes light up a bit as she nods eagerly,

"I'd love to, Shiroko."

Both of them wrap an arm around each other's waists as Kuroko holds up her phone to face them. They both smile widely as they say together,

"Cheese~!!"

The two exchange contact info and walk into the restaurant, full of happiness and joy as they now start their new journey of friendship together.

Chapter Text

Kuroko and the others are resting for a bit after trying out all those restaurants they were at. It was hard for them to walk, and even getting into their yellow truck was tricky. Everyone was so full. Well, mostly everyone. When Fuuka got into the driver's seat, she takes a look at Haruna, then at the rest of them. She asks,

"Is everyone present and ready to go...?"

Everyone nods and says they're here, as Haruna says,

"We can walk off the calories as we explore the festival, then enjoy more food! Ah, I cannot wait!"

Fuuka then starts driving to the festival, putting on some indigo hip-hop music to give the ride a chilled out atmosphere. Kuroko shakes her head and softly sighs, trying to regain her composure. It was hard to do so after all that food, her stomach felt like it was going to burst. She suddenly feels a hand on her shoulder and looks at her right, seeing that Akari is smiling warmly at her.

"You feeling okay, Kuroko?"

Kuroko softly chuckled.

"I feel like a balloon ready to pop... how are you okay after all of that food?"

The yellow-haired girl giggled as she said,

"You consider that a lot? That was nothing for me. I would have easily went for 4 more rounds if I wasn't dragged out by Fuuka..."

Kuroko's eyes widened in disbelief. 'How the hell does this girl not gain weight...?' She thought to herself. She dismisses the idea and begins to watch the environment around her fly by as Fuuka continues driving.

As they arrive, Kuroko and the others notice that the festival is packed. Junko and Izumi's faces are filled with shock as they see how many people are attending. Haruna softly chuckles as she flips her silver hair and says proudly,

"Ahh, to see so many people willing to journey into the world of gastronomy brings warmth to my heart. Come, my friends. Let us walk on this wondrous path together~"

As she says that, she gets stopped by a wall of people who seem to be marveling at certain sight. Kuroko, who's taller than the others, manages to see over the huge crowd and notice a peculiar person. She feels a sense of familiarity from them, and she starts to move through the crowd without really thinking about it. Fuuka and Haruna notice who said person is and try to stop Kuroko, but they were too late. She approaches the person and asks,

"Excuse me... are you from the Prefect Team...?"

A short girl with long, flowing white hair with wings hears Kuroko and turns to the woman. She looks at her with a calm expression and nods.

"Yes, I am. In fact, I'm the Head Prefect. May I ask who you are?"

Once the smaller girl asks, her eyebrows raise a bit as she thinks about who this could be. She has a good hunch, but isn't sure due to the more mature appearance. Kuroko has a small smile on her face as she extends her hand and says,

"I'm Kuroko. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The Head of the Prefect Team shakes Kuroko's hand with a smile as well, returning the gesture.

"I'm Hina... it's nice to meet you as well."

Hina's head has a lingering question in her head as she continues to look at Kuroko, so she decides to ask it outright.

"Are you Shiroko, by any chance...?"

Kuroko softly chuckles as she says while rubbing her neck a bit,

"Yes, I am. I'm just from another timeline."

Hina is taken aback by this fact, unsure how to respond. Kuroko says this to reassure her,

"It's a long story, but I'm not an enemy. Not anymore, at least."

Haruna then interrupts the conversation and softly grabs Kuroko's wrist, softly nudging her away. She nervously says,

"S-Sorry, Head Prefect! We have somewhere very important to go to, so we'll have to see you later! Ahahaha..."

Hina seems confused about why the President of the Gourmet Research Society is interrupting this discussion and taking Kuroko away.

"Wait, hold on-"

Before the girl knew it, the both of them disappeared into the crowd without giving her a chance to say another word. Hina softly sighed before going back to what she was doing.

Later on, Kuroko and the others start walking past various game booths, looking at what was being offered. She then stops in her tracks as she set her eyes on a big blue whale plushie with a very cute face. The others noticed Kuroko staring it down, and Izumi asked,

"Kuroko, do you want that huge plushie? You're staring it down like a hawk!"

Junko laughed as she start nudging Kuroko to the booth.

"What are you waiting for, silly! Go play it!"

The taller girl looks at the other members of the group, and they all nod encouragingly for her to get it. She then walks up to the booth to see what type of game it is, and a small smirk appears on her face. It's a shooting gallery game, and whoever beats the highest score wins the biggest prize, which was that whale plushie. She then looks at the worker and gives them the right amount of money to play. She picks the BB gun and looks at the targets with a serious and determined expression. Once the attendee said go, it was all over from here on out. Kuroko fires each shot with brutal precision and speed, tons of targets falling down so fast people's eyes couldn't keep up. Without even noticing, many other people stop by and watch Kuroko's insane performance, tons of smaller conversations occurring around her regarding her impressive skills. When she was finished, the score displayed was the highest the booth has ever seen. The worker was shocked and looked back at Kuroko, the woman nodding to herself as she sets down the BB gun. When she returned to the group, she got not only the whale plushie, but other smaller plushies to give to the others. All of them thanked her, Haruna smiling as she pat Kuroko's shoulder,

"My, my, Kuroko! That was some impressive shooting! I knew you were good, but that was on another level~"

Fuuka thought to herself, 'Geez... no wonder why it was a nightmare fighting her back then... she's a sharpshooter, and also quick with her shots...'

"I didn't think I'd get so serious for that, guess it got the best of me..."

Kuroko softly chuckled as she noticed all sorts of people who came to watch her play the game. The bystanders clapped and cheered for her, congratulating and complimenting her on the performance. She smiled even brighter as she was enjoying herself even more. She looked up to the sky and noticed how dark it had already gotten, and she started seeing some booths begin to pack up. She then turns and asks the whole group,

"Hey, guys... do you all wanna take a picture to remember tonight?"

They all nodded and accepted the idea instantly, and Kuroko asks the worker from the game booth she was just at to take their picture. Haruna especially smiles warmly at her question, knowing that they were able to do a special selfie with just the two of them last time. The worker motions them to get close, and they say,

"Alright everyone, ready? Everybody say cheese!"

"Cheese!!!"

After the Gourmet Research Society and Fuuka drop Kuroko back off to the border of Gehenna, they all give her warm hugs and wave as they head out and go back to their academy. As Kuroko holds the whale plushie and begins to make her journey back home, a familiar soft voice calls out to her. Kuroko looks to the left and notices Hina leaning on a nearby wall, crossing her arms, as she says,

"Hey, Kuroko. Sorry to bother you... but do you have some extra free time on your hands?"

Chapter Text

"Well... you could say I do now. Is there something you need me for, Hina...?" Kuroko asked. Her mind was filled with so many questions at the moment. Why was she waiting for me? What does she want me for? How do I even continue from where we left off earlier? She couldn't fixate on one thought at all.

"Just come with me. Don't worry, you're not in trouble." Hina simply stated. The smaller girl immediately started to walk without bothering to look back, and Kuroko began to move beside her. The moment felt so awkward as they moved to the unknown destination. Hina took a look at her phone to check the time, which read 10pm. Not really late at all. She nodded to herself as she knew she could bring Kuroko to that place.

"So... where are we going, Hina? You never mentioned our destination..." The taller girl inquired. Kuroko didn't like how Hina was so secretive about where they were going to. She was told not to worry, and that she isn't in trouble, so... why did she feel so nervous?

After a long time of walking, Hina and Kuroko arrive in a back alley, and approach a locked door. The smaller white-haired girl takes out a key and unlocks it, motioning the taller silver-haired girl to come in. As they walk inside the building, Hina flips a switch on the wall, and the lights turn on, revealing... a cafe? Why a cafe? Kuroko was a bit confused, but didn't question it too much. The sound of a machine quickly snapped her out of her thoughts, and she looked in the direction of the sound. She sees Hina prepaing some coffee for herself, and turns to her.

"Want something to drink? Or do you want a pastry?" Hina softly asks. She has a small smile that helps reassure Kuroko and warm up the atmosphere, which helps calm her nerves.

"Oh, can I have some hot chocolate please? I kinda want something to warm myself up... the weather has been pretty cold recently." Kuroko softly strokes some of her silver hair behind her ear. Hina nods and promptly makes her drink. After a few minutes of what felt like deafening silence, the sounds of the machines and cups being moved around filling the air, Hina places Kuroko's cup of hot chocolate in front of her. Hina takes a sip of her coffee as she sits down across from her, looking at the more mature young woman in front of her.

"So, you mentioned to me earlier today that you're Shiroko from Abydos... but just from a different timeline. What do you mean by this? I'm quite curious..." Hina asked as she looked Kuroko with a curious expression. Both of them took a small sip of their respective drinks as Kuroko began to explain herself.

"I'm from another timeline of Kivotos... a timeline where everything went wrong. I lost all the people I held dearly... and almost had my halo shattered. When I thought I lost all hope, a group called the Nameless Priests came to me, and used a power called the Chroma to consume me and turn into what I look like now... It's why even my halo looks like this." Kuroko says with a bit of a heavy heart and points to her halo, showing that a part of it looks broken off.

"I was taught to suppress one of the most important parts of being a person... which was emotion. I was told that I was meant to be the God of Death, Anubis, and that my true purpose was to bring about the ruin of Kivotos. I believed it for a long time, since I was given another chance at life... I wanted to ask the Nameless Priests if they could bring back my friends, but I felt the need to not step out of line... and stay in my own lane." Kuroko begins to tear up, lowering her head and wiping her tears from her face. Hina moves her chair next to Kuroko and begins to slowly and gently rub her back, giving her comfort. She looks at Kuroko with a sympathetic expression.

"I'm really sorry that you lost those who were dear to you... I can't imagine how much pain that must have been for you to bear..." Hina slowly starts to hug the girl, letting Kuroko release all of her emotions from all this time. Kuroko holds the smaller girl close and continues to silently cry.

"I still miss them to this day... including Sensei..." Kuroko whispers in a shaky voice, the two of them holding each other in a warm embrace. They both take this time to be vulnerable to each other, as Hina chimes in.

"Sensei isn't gone in this timeline... but I always am afraid to lose him... I hate thinking about it... I hate it a lot." Hina softly whispers, seeing that she shed some tears as well, which doesn't normally happen to her. Both of them softly chuckle as they look at each other, wiping off each other's tears and calming down. Kuroko takes another sip of her hot chocolate as she regains her composure. After some time, she looks at Hina once more with a smile.

"Thank you for letting me release so much of my bottled up emotions... It felt nice to let it all out after so long..." the taller girl says with a warmer tone now.

"Believe me, it feels great to let everything out... whether it be emotions or something you just want to say, being upfront with things lifts a huge weight off your shoulders." Hina smiles warmly as she reminisces about a time when she did so with Sensei. As the two finish their drinks, Kuroko looks around the cafe and looks back at Hina with a curious expression.

"I'm quite curious... do you come here for work or something? I highly doubt you as the Head Prefect would need to be here for any other reason." As Kuroko says this, Hina has an embarassed look on her face, and looks away. Kuroko tilts her head a bit as she wonders why the smaller girl looks hesitant to answer.

"Y-Yeah... I actually work here. I come here from time to time to work as a barista." Hina softly rubs her neck as she reveals this new fact. Kuroko's eyes widen as she hears this, and smiles a bit wider.

"Wait, really? Can I see you in your uniform?" Kuroko starts getting a bit excited as she waits for Hina's answer. Hina reluctantly nods.

"F-Fine... let me go to the back and put it on..." the esteemed Head Prefect's face is red as she gets up and walks to the changing room. Kuroko isn't sure why she's getting so excited, but she knows that it feels so much better than being sad right now. Moments later, Hina slowly walks out in her uniform, wearing a brown apron that has the Schale logo. Kuroko gasps and has a cheeky grin on her face. She gets to see something so cute in all of its glory.

"Oh my god... I gotta take a picture with you in this! You're just so cute!!" Kuroko quickly takes out her phone and poses next to Hina, the smaller girl trying to shove it away with a flustered expression. Unfortunately, she was too slow, as the camera clicks. Kuroko looks at her phone and shows Hina the photo, seeing that her uniform was clearly showing, but her face and hands were blurry.

Hina pouts and softly says, "Kuroko... delete that right now..." But they both already knew what the taller girl was going to do.

Kuroko laughs and shakes her head as she says, "Don't worry, Hina. I'm not showing this to anyone else, anyway. Pinkie promise." the silver-haired girl holds out her pinkie, waiting for Hina to trust her on that.

After a bit of hesitation, Hina wraps her pinkie around Kuroko's and nods, responding in an embarassed tone, "Fine... you better keep that promise..."

When Kuroko arrived at home, she softly sighed as she started putting down all of the prizes she won at the festival, remembering the short but fun time she had with Haruna and the others. Her phone buzzes as she gets a text from Hina, which says, "You sure you didn't show that picture to anyone?"

Kuroko chuckles to herself and replies back, "Don't worry, Hina. Not a single other soul has seen this photo. You're in good hands." Hina then sends a thumbs up emoji as a response, and Kuorko puts away her phone for now. She puts the whale plushie in a gift bag and writes on the name tag, "Hoshino", then places her other smaller prizes on shelves and various stands. After that, she heads into bed and slowly drifts off to sleep with a warm smile on her face.

Chapter Text

I was told not to cry when you were gone,

But the feeling is overwhelming, it's much too strong.

Can I lay by your side? Next to you...

And make sure you're alright...

I'll take care of you.

But I don't want to be here if I can't be with you tonight...

Kuroko was setting up a small memorial in her backyard, placing a photo of her smiling with a statue-like person next to her. Another photo with her and her beloved friends from her world's Abydos Academy sit next to it, candles lit around them to make for a calmer atmosphere, and to remember the flames of their spirits still live on in the woman's heart. Kuroko places her hands together and closes her eyes as she says a small prayer in her mind, sending her best wishes to the people she loved dearly. After a few moments of silence, she lies down on the grass, looking up at the beautiful blue sky.

"It's been a while, hasn't it guys...?" She softly says, her silky silver hair spilling out in the area around her. "I've been through a lot recently... I've met so many wonderful people, and befriended familiar faces... I know you guys wouldn't believe it... well, except for Phrenapates. There's another Sensei, a wonderful Sensei, and another group of Abydos students just like you guys. Everyone is just so nice... At first, I couldn't believe it. It almost felt a bit unsettling, to be honest. But I realized how genuine they all were... how kind and bright each person was... my life really has taken a turning point."

Kuroko slowly sits up and moves closer to the pictures, her hands softly grazing the photos. Her face turns a bit dim as she tears up, gently whispering, "I wish you all could be here to experience this wonderful world with me..." She sniffles and uses a handkerchief to wipe her glazed eyes. Suddenly, she hears her doorbell ring, and quickly regains her composure, dusting off her clothes. As she opens the door, she finds Shiroko at her doorstep. The smaller wolf-girl smiles warmly at her as she waves hello. She quickly notices that Kuroko's face is a bit of a mess.

"Kuroko... are you okay? What happened?" She asks in a gentle voice while coming inside. As the door closes behind her, Shiroko looks at Kuroko with a concerned expression. The taller wolf-girl reassures her and says, "I... I'm fine. I was just talking to old friends, is all." Shiroko doesn't seem to convinced on this statement. One of her ears twitches as she thinks about this, and inquires, "You look like a mess, though. Did you remember bad memories or something...?" As Shiroko says this, she places her hand on top of Kuroko's, giving her a bit of comfort and reassurance that she needed. Suddenly, her doorbell rings again.

"Huh? Who could it be this time..." Kuroko's ear twitches as she says this, and walks to open the door once again, and finds a familiar pink-haired short girl standing at her doorstep. "Man, why does your house have to be so far? This old geezer's legs aren't made of steel, you know!" Hoshino chuckles and says. She then sees Shiroko walk up next to Kuroko and greets her. "Huh... guess you had the same idea, Shiroko." Kuroko smiles warmly as she invites Hoshino into her home, and catches her up on the small, but deep conversation the two wolf-girls were having.

"Well... I can understand missing the people you love, Kuroko... it must have been hard, going down the path you had to take before." Hoshino says in a more gentle voice, softy patting Kuroko's back. "But you have us now! Like how we've told you before, you're part of our family, too. We'll help you as best we can, for them, and for you." Shiroko nods and smiles at Kuroko.

"Nn. A friend in need is a friend indeed, as someone said..." She scratches her head as she tries to remember who said that. After some time in a bit of awkward silence, Hoshino looks out to Kuroko's backyard, and notices the small memorial shrine that she made. She gets up and kneels in front of it, closing her eyes as she silently prays for Kuroko's loved ones. Kuroko's eyes widen as she notices this, and before she knew it, even Shiroko did the same.

The taller silver-haired girl then kneels together with the others, and smiles warmly as she says, "Everyone... meet Hoshino and Shiroko... they're some of the new friends I've made... and have helped remind me why life is worth living." She says, a bit teary-eyed as she wraps her arms around the other two's shoulders. Hoshino chuckles and softly ruffles Kuroko's hair as she says, "You're too sweet, Kuroko. Just like how I did with Shiroko, I'll happily help my cute underclassmen out whenever they're in need. You're in good hands with us." Shiroko hugs Kuroko from the side and smiles gently, whispering, "Plus, we can rob banks together, now. I won't be alone on this idea." Both of the silver-haired girls giggle, Kuroko thoroughly enjoying the time she gets to spend with her friends.

Throughout the rest of the day, the three of them reminisce on old memories and spend some quality time with each other. Before they did so, they spent an extensive amount of time reassuring Kuroko and cleaning up her tears, bottled up from what felt like eons of pain, suffering, and now... true happiness.

The moon, and the stars are nothing without you...

No words can explain the way I'm missing you...

Deny this emptiness, this hole that's inside.

These tears, they tell their own story.

Chapter Text

Anubis...

Anubis...

Your duty was not fulfilled. You have failed us.

We will find you.

We will force you to continue doing our bidding.

Anubis... Anubis... ANUBIS!!!

Kuroko shoots up in bed and gasps loudly, hyperventilating for a bit and placing a hand on her chest, looking around her room in a cold sweat. She realizes that it was just a bad dream. But... why did it feel so real? Why did she even think of that? Certainly she was able to move on from that time in her life... right? The young woman slowly gets up from bed, wiping her forehead a bit to clear the beads on it. Her head is now hurting a bit, and as she walks to the kitchen to get herself some water, the whispers calling out her past title still ring. She continues to look around and check if anyone is in her house, but to no avail. As she pours some water for herself, the cool temperature of the cup in her hand helps calm her nerves a bit. After she takes a sip, she softly sighs and pulls out her phone, looking at the time. 2:19am.

"I really need to get back to sleep, but after whatever the hell that was... I just can't. Maybe..." Kuroko softly murmurs to herself as she starts to type a text to Sensei, wondering on the off-chance that he's still up, doing work. The text reads, "Hello, Sensei. Is it okay if we can talk? I'm... not feeling so well, and I can't sleep." She reads through it one more time, and nods to herself as she sends the message. She feels a bit anxious right now, to be quite honest. She doesn't want to bother Sensei, but isn't sure who else could even be up at this hour. She checks the time again. 2:31am. Thankfully, she gets a text notification from Sensei.

"Hi Kuroko. I don't mind keeping you company. Do you mind sending me your home address? I can come pick you up and bring you to my office so we can chat for a while." As Kuroko reads this, a small breath of relief comes from her, a gentle smile creeping onto her face. She starts to change into some better clothes and sends Sensei her address, finishing up the rest of her water.

After some time passes, she hears a knock on her front door, and grabs her purse as she opens it. "Hi, Sensei... I'm glad you came." She tells him with a warm voice. "Don't mention it, Kuroko. It's my duty as an adult and as a teacher to offer help whenever students need it. Even if you graduated long ago." Sensei speaks to her with equal warmth, making her worries slowly melt away. As the two get into Sensei's car and begin driving to Schale, Sensei begins to ask with concern on his face.

"So Kuroko, how come you can't sleep? Did you have a bad dream?" Kuroko runs her hand through her silver hair and nods. "Yes... I was reminded of what I did back then... all of the suffering I caused, the malice within my soul... I was rudely awakened by that nightmare. They... they're still looking for me, Sensei... I can't hide from them-" "Kuroko." Kuroko stops talking immediately as she hears Sensei address her with a serious tone. As they park, Sensei looks at her with a determined expression. "I won't let them hurt you again. I swear on my life I will do everything I can to take care of you, Shiroko... I can't and won't fail you..." Suddenly, she gets pulled into a tight hug, this specific hug gives her the feeling of Sensei not wanting to lose her. The gesture brought her to tears, now clinging onto Sensei as she feels grateful that she continues to have the support of the people around her. She softly speaks in a bit of a shaky voice, "Th-Thank you... I'm just so scared..." Sensei softly strokes her hair and does his best to comfort her.

"Shh... I know. Just know I am here for you, okay? I've saved you once... and I'll gladly do it again." Sensei says this with the upmost sincerity, and it strikes a chord within Kuroko's heart. She holds onto him a bit tighter, enjoying this moment of reassurance and comfort. "I-I... can't thank you enough..." She softly whispers.

The two arrive in Sensei's office, Kuroko takes a seat on one of the white couches. As she looks around the office, lost in her thoughts, she notices a tablet on the small table in front of her. She picks it up and the tablet begins to turn on, the Schale logo appearing on the screen. Sensei hears the sounds from the tablet and promptly says, "We thirst for the seven wailings. We bear the koan of Jericho."

Suddenly, the tablet unlocks after hearing the password, and two small girls appear on the screen, one wearing a blue and white sailor outfit with light blue hair, and the other with a black sailor outfit with a big coat and white hair. Kuroko's eyes widen as she notices the two AI now in front of her. "What the..."

The blue-clothed girl seems shocked too as she notices who's holding the tablet. "E-Eh?! It's you! I didn't think I'd be seeing you again..." The other girl in dark clothing chimed in with a neutral expression and tone, "It has been a while, Shiroko. It seems you have been able to get back on your feet." Kuroko looks at the both of them and thinks to herself, 'So there really is another A.R.O.N.A. in this world... she seems much more lively than the one I know...'

"Ahem! Allow me to introduce myself properly this time, then. I'm Arona! And the other one you know is now called Plana! It'd be confusing if both of us had the same name, so we had to improvise." Arona said with a cheeky smile while hugging Plana. The white-haired girl was shocked when Arona hugged her, but didn't bother to push her away. "M-Mm. How are you doing, Shiroko? I've heard that you've been taking time to adjust to this Kivotos. It's a lot more... fun, than before." Her normally neutral tone of voice seemed a bit lighter as she said that last part. Seeing Aro- sorry, Plana happy for the first time ever warms Kuroko's heart, making her forget her worries and the reason why she even came to Schale in the first place.

"I've been doing really well, Plana... my life in Kivotos has been a huge 180 compared to what it was before... at first, I thought this was a dream, or a trap of sorts. No way someone like me could be given so many wonderful things on a silver platter... but I realized that there are truly kind people in this world. People who have goodness in their hearts and are willing to help others in times of need... I've even made new friends, actually. I never thought I'd even say those words again, to be honest..." Kuroko softly chuckles to herself as she explains her newfound life. Looking back on all she's experienced in this small amount of time, it's almost too good to be true for her. Both the AI girls look at each other and smile warmly as they look back at Kuroko. Sensei then sits down next to her, and hands her a rusty credit card.

"Kuroko, I want to give you this. It's Phrenapates' credit card... and the only remnant of him that's still intact." Sensei says in a solemn tone as Kuroko holds onto the card in disbelief. Her hands shake a bit as she still isn't sure what she's holding is real right now. "I-I thought... everything about him... was destroyed back then..." Sensei places a hand on her shoulder as he says, "He told me to take care of you and Plana as best as I can... and I was able to retrieve his card before he sacrificed himself for you." As Kuroko hears Sensei say this, she smiles warmly, understanding her Sensei's final intentions and now able to keep the last relic of him close to her. 

After Kuroko reminisces to herself for some time, the four of them spend the rest of the night together, bonding and enjoying each other's comforting presence. Kuroko begins to rest assured that she'll always be in good hands, no matter where she goes. Hopefully... it stays that way.

We will not stop until our duty is done...

Even if it means forcing you to do yours...

Anubis...

Anubis...

Hahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Chapter Text

After Kuroko took a few days to herself to fully recover from all that has happened, she is now ready to get back on her feet and continue her journey. Today, we set our sights on the Shanhaijing District, a very distinct place within Kivotos. Kuroko puts on some more casual clothes this time around, a normal graphic t-shirt and some denim shorts. Before she leaves the house, she looks in the mirror and brushes her silver hair, nodding and smiling to herself as she's now motivated get out there. She grabs her purse and heads out the front door, the shining sun and bright blue sky greeting her as she does so.

She looks at her phone as she finds the directions to Shanhaijing, and notices a nearby bus stop. The woman softly sighs in relief as she knows that she doesn't have to walk so far to her destination. As she sits down and waits for the bus, she looks up the various shops and restaurants in Shanhaijing, and notices the Black Tortoise Promenade, which caught her eye.

"Grew from being a mediocre shopping street to one of the best gourmet districts in Kivotos... huh." Kuroko softly says to herself, and before she knew it, she was scrolling through countless articles about it. To snap her out of her trance, the loud hissing of a bus lowering its suspension shocks her a bit, and quickly walks into the bus, paying her fee and promptly thanking the bus driver. She walks to her seat and sits down, quickly going back to her article scrolling. She couldn't stop finding such high praise, good comments, and even promotional social media posts about the Black Tortoise Promenade. She also noticed the face of said gourmet district, Akeshiro Rumi, showing various dishes that she cooks herself.

'She even has animal-like ears, similar to mine...' Kuroko thinks to herself, even feeling her own wolf ears, funny enough. As she puts her phone away, she started looking outside the window and noticing the new views and sights. She smiles warmly as she enjoys the feeling of exploring once more, and discovering unfamiliar places that she wasn't able to find in her previous life. As she slowly gets lost in the sights, the bus driver calls out that they have arrived at Shanhaijing, quickly snapping Kuroko out of her thoughts. She picks up her purse and thanks the bus driver, then walks out the door, stepping onto new ground. She smiles and takes a deep breath, taking in the fresh air and looking around the area.

"LOOK OUT!!!" Someone said in the distance, rapidly closing in on Kuroko. A gray-haired girl with rat-like ears and a tail was on a skateboard, zooming up to her, and managed to step out of the way to prevent an accident. Kuroko looked quite confused about what just happened, but shook her head to not worry about that. She then looked at her phone and looked at directions for the Black Tortoise Promenade, getting a bit excited to try out the food here in Shanhaijing. Once she began her walk to her destination, one girl with short green hair and sunglasses, donning a special coat, saw Kuroko and adjusted her tie while softly saying to herself, "Huh... I've never seen this girl around here before..." Curious, she began to follow Kuroko without being detected.

After some time walking, Kuroko arrived at the restaurant, and didn't see many people there today. She was pleasantly surprised, and walked through the front door and managed to get a seat at the bar, where she could watch the chefs cook right in front of her. As she sat down and placed her purse next to herself, she looked up and realized who her personal chef would be for this meal. Her eyes widened and noticed the hazel-haired fox-girl she read about in the articles.

"Hello, customer! Welcome to the Black Tortoise Promenade! I haven't seen you around before... are you new here?" Rumi asked Kuroko with a warm smile. Kuroko couldn't believe it. She just read about her a few hours ago, and now she gets to have her personally cook for them?! Isn't that just wonderful! "U-Umm, yes, I am. I'm Kuroko, it's nice to meet you, Rumi..." the woman responded with a bit of nervousness. "Good to meet you, Kuroko. It seems you know me already!" Rumi softly chuckled as she poured Kuroko a cup of water and handed it to her. "Well, what can I cook up for you today?"

Kuroko took a look at the menu as she promptly thanked Rumi for the drink, and took a sip of water. Before she made her order, she looked back up at Rumi and asked, "Rumi, I heard you had a famous fried rice recipe that people usually ask from you. Do you mind if I order some?" Rumi noticed that Kuroko did read up a bit on her, and was happy that she did so. She responded with a grin, "Not at all! I'll get started while you take a look at the menu." Rumi then began to grab the ingredients from the nearby shelves and laid them out on a chopping board next to her signature iron wok. As she started to chop up some green onions, she asked the wolf-girl, "Hey, Kuroko, I'm kinda curious. How did you learn about the Black Tortoise Promenade? I know we've got a huge reputation and all, but I'm just wondering."

"Well, I've been on a bit of a journey around Kivotos, as one could say..." Kuroko began to respond. "I was wondering where I should go explore next, and Shanhaijing District popped up in my mind. I then remembered that it was home to a very popular gourmet hotspot, which was the Black Tortoise. So... yeah. That's how I ended up here." She softly chuckles. Rumi seemed quite interested about Kuroko's journey, and started preparing the rice as she continued to ask her more questions. "A journey, eh? What made you want to go on one?" The hazel-haired fox girl inquired. Kuroko began to tell her previous life's story, which caught Rumi quite off guard. The two engaged in a deep and thoughtful conversation as Rumi kept serving Kuroko's orders. They both were enjoying themselves, and continued to talk as if they were friends for years. Kuroko really enjoyed how inviting and friendly Rumi was, which dispelled her previous reservations about her.

A few tables away, that same mysterious green-haired girl was managing to listen in on the conversation. She took a sip of water and rubbed her chin in thought, becoming more and more invested in Kuroko as she continued eavesdropping. After a little while, she pulled out her phone and began to call someone. Once the person on the other line picked up, they responded in a flat voice, "What is it?" The girl had a small smirk on her face as she said, "President... an interesting person recently came into Shanhaijing. I think she's worth checking out." The other person seemed a bit curious, and asked, "How so?" The girl replied, "She's got one hell of a life story. Remember a few months back when Kivotos had those huge False Sanctums emerging out of thin air, and we had to help save our district?" "Yeah... what about them?" "She worked with the people originally meant to destroy Kivotos, but was able to change her ways through Sensei. The fact that she almost achieved her goal was crazy enough, and it's even more eye-opening that she's been living her new life here. We should get a hold of her." The person on the other line softly sighed as they said, "As interesting as that is, what benefit would we get from taking her in and interrogating her? We would only be wasting her time..." The green-haired girl took a bite of her kung pao chicken and softly chuckled, "Don't worry, President. I've got a good idea..."

Chapter Text

The only way to be something is to perform for the spectacle.

What is the spectacle, you may ask?

That depends on you, the person.

You, the performer.

Only you.

Kuroko felt the tingling sensation of the feeling of being watched. It was burning in the back of her head, and she turned around, looking at the other customers in the restaurant. One of her ears started to act like a detector of sorts, twitching at regular intervals in the way a normal reading would. Rumi raised an eyebrow at Kuroko and looked around in the same direction she was looking.

"Is something wrong, Kuroko?" Rumi asked with a tone of concern and confusion in her voice. She was wondering why Kuroko had to stop their conversation so abruptly. The wolf-girl then responded, "Sorry, something felt... off, like someone was watching me. It was such a strong feeling, too... Is someone stalking me or something...?"

"I wouldn't necessarily call it, 'stalking'. More like observing." A bit of a deeper voice suddenly rang out. Both Rumi and Kuroko were startled as they noticed the newest person who joined the conversation appear next to them, seemingly out of nowhere. The girl took off her sunglasses, her maroon-colored eyes radiating a chilling gaze wherever she looked. She ran her gloved hand through her short, green hair as she took a sip of her drink and said, "Well, I guess I could say I wasn't merely observing. I was eavesdropping, too."

"Mina? Why were you spying on us? You could have just walked up and said hi, you know!" Rumi sighed and facepalmed, disappointed at the other girl's approach. Kuroko was still wary of the girl, wondering why she would spy on them like this. She spoke up and asked, "May I ask who you are? I believe we've never met before."

Mina nods and stands up proudly, even puffing her chest out a bit. "I'm Konoe Mina, the executive director of the 'Xuanglong Office' in Shanhaijing's Student Council. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kuroko." She says with pride and even tries to pull off a cool trick by flipping her guns around, but she accidentally throws one of them into the air, and manages to catch it right before it lands in Kuroko's food. The three of them sit there in dead silence as they try to process Mina's failed attempt at a cool introduction.

...

...

...

"...You're so lucky that it didn't fall into my food, Mina..." Kuroko said with a deadpan, but scary, expression on her face. Rumi's head slowly turns toward Mina with an equally scary smile. "Mina... please never do that again in front of my customers, okay?" Mina lightly shrieked as she saw the terrifying expressions. She quickly bowed multiple times and said in a panicked voice, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so so so sorry!!"

Mina then regained her composure then cleared her throat, sat back down next to Kuroko, and readied herself to say what she was here for. "So, Kuroko, I heard all about your life story. You must have been through hell and back in order to tell that type of story, you know?" Kuroko softly chuckled and shook her head. "Oh, you have NO idea, Mina..." The green-haired girl took another sip of her drink before continuing on. "So, I wanted to introduce you to the president of Shanhaijing's Student Council! Maybe even get you in on a little something to spice up your life, you know~?" Mina gently nudged Kuroko, trying to convince her to come along.

Rumi shakes her head and says, "Mina, you know you can't just say that and expect people to-"

"I'm in."

"..." Rumi freezes as she hears Kuroko interrupt her to accept the offer. She didn't even know where they'd be going, what else they were going to do, but she accepts anyway?! Kuroko really is a character...

Mina softly chuckles and pats Kuroko's shoulder. "Now that's the type of answer I like to hear! I'll let you finish up your food and we can get going. I'll even pay for your meal." Kuroko's other ear twitches as she hears this, and promptly orders more food from Rumi, now that she doesn't have to worry about paying anymore. Rumi shoots Mina a look, and whispers to her as she cooks, "Mina, please tell me you actually have enough money to pay for the whole meal..." Mina smirks as she responds, "Pffft, I'm sure she didn't order much-" Rumi interrupts her by placing the current bill in front of her, and Mina's eyes widen. "66,500¥ ($451.80)?! What the hell?!" She covers her face with her hands as she silently cries to herself, "I didn't even pay for this month's rent yet..."

Kuroko continues to happily eat without a care in the world, not even hearing the back and forth conversation that's unfolding right next to her. After some time, she wipes her mouth with a napkin, and takes one more sip of water before she stands up. She warmly smiles at Mina and says, "Thanks for paying for the meal, Mina. I'll be waiting outside." Once she pushes her chair in and walks out, Mina sighs and shakes her head, a defeated expression on her face as she hands Rumi her credit card. "...Just swipe it and put me out of my misery..." The hazel-haired fox girl also smiles gently as she depletes the money out of Mina's card. "Thanks for paying, Mina. Good luck on your rent this month~" The green-haired girl puts on her sunglasses, hiding her tears as she walks out the door as well.

As soon as Mina gets outside, she pulls out her phone and calls up her colleagues for transportation. A dark van pulls up to both her and Kuroko, and a bunch of guards in matching suits with sunglasses move out, making a human barrier of sorts around them. One of them motions the two into the van and says, "Miss Kuroko and Mina, President Kisaki is awaiting you both at headquarters." Mina nods and escorts Kuroko, the other guards coming in after. The van begins to drive, leading Kuroko to another interesting encounter.

Mina begins to escort Kuroko throughout the Xuanlong Office, and Kuroko observes all the various staff members hard at work. One thought is still lingering in her head, though. 'What does President Kisaki even want from me...?' While thinking about this, the two of them arrive at the President's Office before she even knew it. Mina then presses a hidden button on the wall, and a new voice rings out from beyond the door, and calls out to them, "State your purpose here." The green-haired girl takes off her sunglasses and states, "President, I've brought Kuroko." The door unlocks and promptly opens, and two more guards standing behind the door nod at Mina in acknowledgement. Kuroko then steps forward and sees a small girl in a black and gold cheongsam, her dark and short hair is complemented by her suit jacket and distinct butterfly hairpin that stands out. She gets up out of her chair and walks up to Kuroko, extending her hand out for a handshake.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kuroko. I am Ryuuge Kisaki, but you can call me President. It's nice to finally meet the living legend, here in the flesh..." Her voice is a little soft, but with a warm undertone. Her expression doesn't show much emotion, though, so it's a bit hard to see through those vixen eyes. Kuroko smiles politely, shaking her hand in return and responding, "I extend to you my greetings as well, President. I'm not sure what you mean by 'living legend', though..." Kisaki has a small smile on her face as she says, "It's pretty self-explanatory, Kuroko. A student who was able to break into another timeline with the sole mission to destroy the entirety of Kivotos, along with another version of Sensei being commanded by you. If you were a normal citizen here, you'd probably be dying to get answers on how this is even possible, right?" 

Silence fell upon the room after Kisaki's explanation. Kuroko wasn't sure about being called a legend because of things she was forced to do... things that were out of her control. Her expression turns sad as she remembers all that truly happened. Kisaki picked up on this sadness quickly, and apologized profusely. "I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have painted it like a news headline... I actually don't know the whole story. I was only there defending Shanhaijing when the sky turned red... do you want to talk about it...?" Kuroko was a bit surprised at how quickly Kisaki read the room at that moment. She nods and sits down in front of the smaller girl's desk, and begins to talk about the story we all know and have come to love. Kisaki's expression becomes warm and understanding, now that she knows where Kuroko comes from.

"I see... you're such an interesting person, Kuroko. I can see why people are drawn to you, why people in this timeline want to be your friend. In fact, you're not just interesting, but extraordinary." Kisaki crosses her legs as she continues. "I'm sure your time in Kivotos has been wonderful. Making new friends, going on adventures to explore the world... you must feel like this is almost too good to be true." Kuroko softly chuckles as she responds, "You could say that, yes. I'm just wondering, how come you called me here today? I'm sure there's a good reason for you doing so." Her expression grows curious as she asks this question. "Oh, getting straight to the point? A shame, I wanted to learn more about you, but I guess there's no helping your growing intrigue of the situation." Kisaki has a bit of a playful expression on her face as she stands up and adjusts her black gloves, but then looks at Kuroko with a more serious gaze. She asks, "Is your combat prowess still... intact, by any chance?"

Kuroko raises an eyebrow as she looks at the smaller girl. "What... are you implying...?" Kisaki opens up her computer and turns the screen to face Kuroko, and the wolf-girl's eyes widen at what she sees. Kisaki slowly walks to Kuroko's side and puts her hand on her own hip, saying, "Let's just say... you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours."

Chapter Text

"Oh, Kuroko...! I just can't live up to that expectation... It's just so draining... I don't know if I can really do it... waaaaaa..." Mina is currently sobbing, holding Kuroko tightly in her arms, as the wolf-girl notices a certain picture of her and Kisaki on the bar table. The esteemed second-in-command of Genryumon takes another sip of whatever she's drinking, and once she puts the glass down, she shakes her head.

"I'm a fool... I'm such a damn fool!" The green-haired girl said in a defeated tone. Kuroko instinctively rubbed Mina's back, still not even sure how they got here.

"Just to make sure, Mina... what are you drinking?" She asks.

"Apple juice... I don't wanna actually drink my problems away..." Mina responds as she rubs her eyes and sniffles.

"Okay, it looked like alcohol for a second... also, what were you singing earlier? I heard it as I was coming to the bar."

"It's called 'I've Been A Fool'... it's sung by the main character of my favorite video game series... I feel just like him when he lost everything..."

"But Mina, you didn't even lose any-"

"Oh, the humanity! Waaaaaa..." Mina continued to cry. Kuroko was really at a loss of what to do. After a few seconds, her face lit up and smiled.

"Hey, Mina... why don't you come clothes shopping with me? You know how I have that mission coming up? I should get some proper attire for the occasion, and I believe you have a good eye for fashion." The silver-haired girl looked at Mina with a comforting expression, one that did help cheer her up greatly. Mina immediately stopped crying and wiped her tears away, and looked at Kuroko's infectious smile. She couldn't help but grin herself. She chuckles and stands up confidence now washing over Mina like a great wave.

"You're right... no more crying over it. It's time I take my mind off of it and help a comrade." Mina flips a coin and it lands onto the bar counter, and grabs her picture of her and Kisaki. She waves goodbye to the bartender and tries to have a cool exit. The bartender looks at the coin with a confused expression, calling out to her.

"Ma'am, this is nowhere near enough to pay fo-" unfortunately, Mina and Kuroko were already gone from sight.

Once the two girls arrived at the special clothes store, Kuroko noticed that a lot of the featured wardrobe was made up of various suits. At least it'll be a cool change of clothes, not that her old black dress wasn't damn gorgeous on her, though. As she took glances at the catalog, both of them arrive at the front desk, and they notice it's a Trinity student who's working here. Her outfit is just as dark as her long hair, even her wings were black-colored. The girl's eyes weren't even open either. Something about that simple smile gives her a feeling that there's more than meets the eye about this girl. Kuroko snaps out of her thoughts once said girl addresses them.

"Welcome in! My name is Nakamasa Ichika, how may I help you two today?" Ichika's inviting tone at least put Kuroko at ease a bit, but she wouldn't feel too relaxed. Mina nods as she says,

"My friend here would like to find a new suit for her to wear. We have a special occasion that we will be attending soon, so we want to look as best as we can."

A special occasion...? She's painting this mission like some sort of high-class party... Why?

"Oh, I see~ well, we shouldn't waste any time, then. Please, follow me." The Trinity girl motions the two of them to follow suit, leading them to a changing room, where Ichika promptly brings out some body measuring tape. She wraps the tape around the wolf-girl's various body parts, taking note of the sizes. Once she wraps the tape around Kuroko's chest, Mina's mouth slowly gapes as she can't help but stare at Kuroko's size. The Shanhaijing Executive looks down at her own chest, seeing how inferior it is in size compared to hers. Kuroko raises an eyebrow at Mina in a bit of confusion.

"Mina... why were you looking at my chest like that?"

"U-Um, what?! I wasn't looking at your chest, pfft..." Mina tries to respond normally, but you can clearly see how flustered she is. Ichika chimes in as well.

"Well, I can't lie, miss, you have a nice pair yourself. It's hard to not to glance at it." She softly chuckles, and her eyes open a bit, revealing her gray irises through her slightly smug expression. As she writes down all of the measurements on a notepad, she thinks about what suits and other clothes could fit her, even looking at the wolf-girl's hair color to make sure she could find colors that'd compliment it. She then nods.

"I think we have some good choices for you... I'll be right back." Ichika then leaves the room, leaving the two girls in here. Mina breaks the silence after a bit as she asks,

"How are you feeling about the upcoming mission? I know it brought up some rather... harsh memories. I just want to make sure you're okay..." She looks at Kuroko with great concern.

"I'll be fine... but I appreciate your concern. I think the biggest thing is being able to see the entire crash site... to even see it again. I honestly thought it'd all be lost in the atmosphere."

"It's quite the spectacle, isn't it? That was must have taken magic or something to get that through time and all that..."

"Heh... far from magic. But... I guess it seems like that at face value..." Kuroko softly chuckles. The two's thoughtful conversation comes to a halt as Ichika comes with a huge rolling rack of suits to try on. Both of their eyes widen as they look at each other, then back at the suits. The Trinity student is breathing a bit heavily as she pulls all of them inside.

"Okay... I got all the suits I think would look good on you, ma'am... Are you ready to try them on...?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess..."

After about three hours of endless suit switching and changing, Kuroko managed to put on one suit that really changed the air around the three girls. It was a special silver that matched her hair, and the tie had the same design choice like the wolf-girl's semi-broken halo. The black dress pants had overall straps that also complimented the whole look. Once Kuroko tucked her dress shirt in and adjusted her gloves, she looked at the mirror, and her eyes widened. Everyone was silent as they took in the sight of Kuroko in this special outfit.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Mina was blushing really hard, even having a slight nosebleed that she had to clean up with a tissue, and Ichika was also blushing, just not as deep. But damn, did Kuroko look clean as hell in this outfit. She turns to the others as she asks,

"So, what do you guys thi-" until she notices Mina nosebleeding. "M-Mina?! Are you okay?!"

Mina nods as she cleans it all up with extra tissues, her mind racing with the same thought. Shit, she's hot, she's hot, she's hot, oooooo she's so hot!

Ichika softly chuckles as she responds in kind, "I take it you two are taking this one?"

Kuroko turns back to the dark-haired girl as she nods, "Yes, we will. Thank you for helping us out, Ichika." The Trinity student nods as well, bringing the bill and a mobile check register. The wolf-girl takes out her credit card and pays for the outfit, and Mina fully calms down and regains her composure. Once they do this, Kuroko looks at Ichika as she asks,

"Hey, Ichika? Do you mind if you take a picture of the both of us? I wanna remember this fun day of fashion..."

"Sure, you two are so cute together~" Ichika's slowly opens her eyes and smiles warmly, replying with a soft chuckle.

Mina and Kuroko pose together, back to back, like protagonists of an action movie. Maybe that's why Mina wanted to get Kuroko a new get up in the first place.

"Okay, you two, say cheese~!"

"Cheese!!"

Click!

The two then promptly thank Ichika for her help once more, and they begin to walk out of the store, Kuroko holding her previous clothes she was wearing in her hands as she proudly dons her new formal outfit.

"Have a good day, you two!" Ichika happily says as she waves goodbye to them. Those two remind me of the time I went to the mall with my friends... good times... the dark-haired girl softly sighed to herself as she thought this.

The newlyfound partners in crime, on the other hand, continue to discuss about the upcoming mission.

"Now that you got the deadly looks, we just have to make sure you're just as deadly on the battlefield! You can't just look the part, and not play the part!" Mina smiles widely.

"Trust me, you'll see how deadly I am in combat, Mina..." Kuroko playfully responds. The two start to head back to headquarters, until all of a sudden they both get halted by a man. He points at Mina as he speaks to her in an annoyed tone.

"Hey, you! You didn't fully pay your bill for the drinks you ordered! Pay up, now!"

As the two girls look at each other, Mina immediately bolts off faster than a race car, and Kuroko is shocked as she quickly runs after her. The man gets really angry and runs after the both of them.

"M-Mina?! What the hell are you doing?!" Kuroko asks in a surprised tone.

"I've already graced that man with my presence AND sang a song for him, that covers more than enough for the bill!" Mina responds, still trying to sound cool... again.

"That's not how that works!!!"

Chapter Text

"You and Mina will be visiting the crash site of the Ark of Atra-Hasis, where you, Kuroko, will use your power to safely seal the traces of the Chroma that we will help you find. We have special assistance that we'll send out to you so this operation can go smoothly."

"So it really is the Ark... after all this time... I never thought I'd see it again..."

"I know this ship holds a lot of... major memories for you, Kuroko, good and bad. Just know we've got your back, okay?"

"Yeah... thank you."

Kuroko's gloved fingers softly grazed the body of her black SG 550 assault rifle, each second of her feeling her firearm gave her a sense of comfort. As she looks at the faded and scratched Abydos emblem on the mag well, the memories of her friends slowly pour in. All of their accomplishments, hardships, laughs, tears, were all experienced together... as a family.

The faint sounds of the engine of the van that was harboring her and Mina acted as white noise for Kuroko, to help her mind drift off into these thoughts. She also takes out a black Sauer P229 pistol, the one that she used to shoot-... No. Let me put that away. I... don't want to remember that.

"I've never seen a student utilize different types of firearms before..." Kuroko snaps out of her thoughts as she turns to look in the direction of Mina's voice, seeing her curious about the guns that are currently sitting on her lap.

"O-Oh, um... you could say it was for a good cause, in a sense." She softly chuckles as she responds. 

"A good cause, you say? Enlighten me, then."

Kuroko then shows Mina a black M134 "Minigun" with a chainsaw grip, followed by a two-tone Beretta 1301 Tactical semi-auto shotgun.

"You... have more?? Whaaaat?!" Mina responded with deep intrigue and curiosity for Kuroko's arsenal, her eyes sparkling at the sight of these weapons.

"These were all of my friends' weapons... unfortunately... they're not here with us anymore..." Kuroko responds in a solemn tone. Mina's eyes widen, and frowns.

"I'm... I'm so sorry... I can understand why you're using their firearms now. To honor their names and keep them close to your heart." Mina's voice softens as she now realizes this purpose. Kuroko simply nods, the air between them now falling silent as they continue to head to the outskirts of D.U. Shiratori City, the crash site of the Ark.

Many, many minutes pass as the two keep to themselves, until they both snap out of their thoughts as the driver calls out to them.

"We're here, you two! I wish you both the best of luck on this mission. We've got your back."

The two girls thank the driver and walk out of the van, Kuroko closing the door as they take a look at the crash site. A huge crater in the ground, the various sections of the ship scattered everywhere, billions of pieces either lodged into the ground or spread out somewhere. This huge mass of destruction truly was something to behold. Kuroko began to feel something grow within her, but she isn't sure what that is. The feeling was familiar... 

"My god..." Mina covers her mouth as she looks at everything. Kuroko walks up next to Mina, her expression turning sad as her memories are really pouring in now.

"Hello, are you two the associates I was told about for this cleanup?" An unfamiliar voice calls out to the two girls. They both turn in the direction of the voice, and a black/blue-haired woman in mostly white clothing approaches them.

"Acting General Student Council President... a pleasure seeing you here." Mina responds as she promptly bows in a formal manner, Kuroko following suit.

Acting GSC President... She was there when I fought the other students... what is she doing here...?

"Good to see you here as well, Mina. Wait, are you...?" The woman asks while looking at Kuroko.

"My name is Kuroko. It's nice to meet you on, um, better terms, at least." Kuroko nervously chuckles as the lady in front of them gives her a warm smile.

"I'm Nanagami Rin. It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Kuroko. I'm glad you're helping us this time around. How is your life in Kivotos now? I've heard things have been looking up for you." Rin asks as her and Kuroko firmly shake hands.

"It's much better than before, that's for certain. I've... been enjoying myself. I didn't think I'd even be able to smile like this ever again... so I'm really happy my life has turned around for the better." Kuroko's voice is warm as she explains her gratitude to her new friends to Rin. Rin smiles along with her and understands her happiness.

"I'm happy to hear. And now, it's time for us to wash away these old wounds from Kivotos." Rin states as the three of them turn to the destroyed ship in front of them. Rin puts on a construction hat and takes out a noteboard, jotting down various descriptions of the state of the Ark and how much damage the crash caused as a reference for the repair reports.

Kuroko and Mina looked at each other and nodded in understanding, ready to carry out their mission.

"We're ready at your command, you two!" Another voice calls out to them, and they see a recon team from Mina's fellow Genryumon members look at them with determination, happy to assist them in this mission.

"Thank you, everyone..." Mina warmly smiles as she responds. "You all remember the mission, correct?"

All of them nod in acknowledgement, ready to go.

"Alright team, let's move out!" Mina exclaims, motioning everyone to go with her, Kuroko following suit and smiling as she gets to face her past stronger than ever.

As the group starts to carefully head down the crater, watching their step as they move closer to the Central District of the Ark. Kuroko lets out a small grunt as she holds onto her forehead, the feeling within her is getting stronger each inch she moves at this point. Mina notices this and places a hand on Kuroko's shoulder, looking at her with concern.

"Hey, are you okay? What's going on?"

The other people begin to look at her with worried expressions as well.

"Gah... this can't be... why is it still so prominent even when it's all destroyed..." Kuroko responds, her voice a bit weaker.

"Kuroko, talk to me! What is happening??"

Various beeps and other sounds began to blare around the group, and eerie robots with wires acting as tentacles began to emerge from the rubble, surrounding the group.

Mina held Kuroko close to her with her left hand as she drew her Black Dragon pistol out of her holster with her right hand. She began firing at the floating robots, and the other recon team members followed up on the covering fire. Mina then heard Rin's voice over their comms, talking to them as the team fended off the robots.

"Mina, do you need backup? I have multiple squads ready to move out and assist."

"Not yet, I think we'll be fine. This amount is manageable for us." Mina responds in a calm manner, still shooting at the robots and hitting their eyes with deadly precision. Once that initial wave of enemies died off, Mina shrugs and chuckles.

"Hah, see, Rin? We didn't need backup. We'll be fi-"

Suddenly, a huge explosion of unknown black goo erupts a distance away, and a gigantic turtle-like robot emerges from the ground, and it roars triumphantly. Its eyes lock onto the group, and Kuroko shoots Mina a dirty look as she whispers to her,

"You really need to learn to shut up sometimes."

"...Seems like I do." Mina replies flatly, her deadpan expression prominent on her face as she looks at the new obstacle the group has to go through.

Once the group gets ready to keep fighting, an armor-piercing bullet flies through the air at incredible speeds and snipes the robot's left eye, and it cries out in pain. The group turns around and notices the gleam of the riflescope in the distance, and hear new voices in the comms as they call out,

"Bullseye, heh. You're all clear to move in on the target."

"Understood. It's time to move in. FOX Squad, RABBIT Squad, move out!"

"Copy that. RABBIT Squad dispatching now!"

Chapter Text

"Miyako... that side..."

"...over them, and make sure they're..."

"FOX Squad, where..."

"Where is Kuro..."

"...ind her!!"

"Make sure she's okay..."

"Get down...!!"

Kuroko's eyes shoot open and gasps as she remembers that she's on the battlefield, noticing she is lying on top of some rubble, and holding her head as she tries to regain her composure. She takes a few moments to look around and figure out what's happening, and notices various girls in what seems to be SRT uniforms working together with Mina and her fireteam. The first pair of students that stuck out to her was a girl with long, dark brown hair and fox ears, then the girl next to her, with short white hair and a headband with rabbit ears. She saw how in sync the two were, and it was a sight to behold. She listened to their comms and impeccable orders on the fly, along with their flawless execution.

"RABBIT 1, cover me. I'm engaging with a lot of enemy forces over on this side, so I need you and RABBIT 3 to assist me with a sweep to give enough room for Kuroko."

"Understood. RABBIT 3, change positions to assist me and FOX 1."

"R-Roger, RABBIT 1. Moving out."

As Kuroko slowly begins to move the rest of her body, she notices just how fast these SRT students operate. FOX 1 begins to dash around the enemy, slipping through their attacks, and RABBIT 1 follows up with a perfectly timed stun from her flash drone. Mere milliseconds after seeing that, other robots begin to emerge from the ground, only to be sniped down by what seems to be RABBIT 3. She continues to move the rest of her body so she can wake up fully.

Mina then notices Kuroko getting up, and she rushes over, sliding and rolling past projectiles and other attacks from the robots that plague the crash site. She places a hand on Kuroko's shoulder.

"You're awake! Are you alright?! You passed out for a little bit, but in order to deal with these things, we need your help! FOX and Rabbit Squad are currently fighting off enemy forces with us, keeping you safe. You gotta hurry before they overwhelm us!" She says with an urgent tone.

Kuroko nods, fully waking herself up as she looks up into the sky, a blue helicopter flying over the both of them. It then starts to launch tons of missiles at the huge turtle-like robot and its allies, a crazed laughter ringing out in the comms as another voice calls out,

"Moe! Chill out, damn it! We need to get Kuroko and Mina up here first! Stop acting out of line!"

"B-But Saki, the beautiful explosions... I can't help but want to see them over and over again! Hehehehe!!"

"RABBIT 2 and RABBIT 4, stop messing around! Pick up Kuroko and Mina, NOW!"

That callout from RABBIT 1 seemed to have startled the two girls in the helicopter, as Kuroko sees it immediately turn around and hover over her and Mina, and a rope falls down in front of them. A girl in a white rabbit helmet with really dark gray hair peeks out of the cabin, and motions the two to climb up the rope. Once Kuroko and Mina make it inside, Saki quickly brings up the rope and closes the cabin door, signaling Moe to start flying the helicopter into a proper position. Saki then shakes Kuroko and Mina's hands as she introduces herself.

"Pleasure to meet you two. My name is Sorai Saki, I'm a first year student at SRT Academy. As you both already know, we're your extra firepower and security for this mission, since we have a good idea of how terrifying this technology is. You out of all people, Kuroko, know firsthand how dangerous all of this is in the wrong hands. That's why we need your help exterminating this entire crash site for good. You still got that power left in you?" Saki looks at Kuroko and asks with a curious expression on her face.

Kuroko looks at her hand and concentrates on... on what? No way she could actually have anything left, right? She then realizes she has something very, very important. She then reaches into her suit jacket pocket, and takes out a rusted credit card. Mina and Saki look at her with curious expressions, but they snap out of it once Kuroko calls out to Moe and asks,

"Hey, Moe. How long until we get into position?"

"Hehehehe, we've just arrived! We're going to have to open the cabin so we can give you an opening, Otogi has her drone and eyes up here for extra air support, just in case. Whenever you're ready, Kuroko!" Moe responds with her classic cheeky smile, and presses a button that opens up the cabin door. FOX 1 calls in comms,

"Come in, RABBIT 2 and RABBIT 4. Is Kuroko in position?"

Saki replies, "RABBIT 2 here. Kuroko is in position, ready to engage."

Both FOX 1 and RABBIT 1 signal the other SRT members to bait the enemy robots into Kuroko's line of fire, and as they do that, Kuroko raises the rusted credit card up, a bright glow emerging from it as her weapons that she brought up begin to glow, now floating alongside her as she wields her signature SG 550 assault rifle. She aims her rifle at the huge turtle-like robot, it and the other robots turning around to face Kuroko. Once Kuroko pulled the trigger, a huge beam of energy shot out as a result of all of the weapons' powers being combined. Mina's crimson eyes widened in awe as she and everyone else bore witness to this insane power. Who knew this was even possible?

"Take cover!!" FOX 1 calls out to everyone who's on the ground, finding something to hide behind before the moment of impact.

BOOM!

The beam strikes the huge turtle-like machine, and a gigantic explosion erupts from it, the power of this attack utterly obliterating the now pile of scrap. The sound of impact was so loud and strong that everyone in the surrounding area, except for Kuroko, had their ears ringing.

Kuroko looks at the place of impact, that attack leaving another crater inside. She puts her rusted credit card away, along with her extra weaponry, not paying much attention to the terrified expressions of the other girls who are present in the helicopter with her.

"W-What... are you...?" Saki asked in a shaky voice.

"That explosion... was truly beautiful... one to write home about..." Moe's eyes were sparkling as she looked at Kuroko in awe.

Mina was completely silent. She knew Kuroko was definitely not one to mess with. All of their individual trances were rudely interrupted as FOX 1 calls out in comms,

"Is everyone okay? Is no one hurt?"

"Target has been taken out. Heading back to the ground." Kuroko simply responds, her cold demeanor after unleashing her power stays ever present.

Once the helicopter reaches the ground, all of FOX Squad, the rest of RABBIT Squad, Rin, and the other Genryumon members wait for Kuroko and the others as they all begin to step out of the helicopter. Each of the FOX and RABBIT Squad members promptly introduce themselves to her, with Yukino giving her a firm handshake and saying,

"Your efficiency and combat prowess is unmatched. We could use someone like you on our team." She grins.

"As much as I appreciate the offer, I have my own goals to pursue." Kuroko responds neutrally.

Mina notices how the wolf-girl isn't as soft anymore after utilizing that card. Is there something more than meets the eye, even after knowing basically all there is to her...? She thought to herself.

After the team completed their proper extraction, cleaning up all of the excess metal and wiring buried within the dirt, Rin called various construction crews to either make use of the materials or dispose of them. Everyone was contributing to the clean up, and things went much more smoothly after that. Kuroko, however, found something in the rubble that caught her off guard.

RABBIT Squad's Miyu and FOX Squad's Niko were engaging in friendly conversation as the two worked together to clean up, and almost walked past Kuroko without noticing the woman's shocked expression. Niko knelt down next to Kuroko as she asked,

"Hey, Kuroko... what is that?"

Kuroko's gloved fingers seemed to be feeling the texture of a certain cracked stone mask. It was reminiscent of a human face, and looked eerie due to the poor quality that it's now in. Miyu sat next to them as well, as she nervously asked,

"I-Is that something important to you?"

Kuroko nods, as she responds, "Yes... It was the mask of someone I hold very dear to me... I should keep this for safekeeping."

Niko and Miyu look at each other, giving each other a look of uncertainty as they don't know how to make Kuroko feel better. Before they knew it, she was already gone.

Kuroko turns the knob to activate the shower, and promptly walks in. The warm water on her skin feels therapeutic in a way, as it washes away the stress of everything that's happened just from today alone. She puts her arm up to the shower wall, and leans her head on it as she just lets the water run down her head and body. Her mind is filled with various thoughts about what happened. The fact that she was able to revisit the Ark of Atrahasis again? The fact that Phrenapates' mask was still intact? Those robots were still active? She couldn't help but lose track of time just replaying those moments in her head.

She shakes her head as she starts to clean herself, not letting herself get distracted. Her mind then thinks about the various new companions she met today, the RABBIT and FOX Squad.

So those were the renown SRT students that help the General Student Council...

They seem nice. Maybe I should get to know them more. I didn't get to learn much about them during the mission.

After getting out of the shower, drying herself off as she puts on her clothes, she looks at the cracked stone mask she brought back home earlier, now resting on her nightstand. She has a bittersweet smile on her face as she looks at said mask and climbs into bed, exhausted from all the events that unfolded today. She closes her eyes and whispers softly,

"At least you'll always be in my heart..."