Ako looked at him.
"Please don't get us wrong."
Ritsuka glanced over.
"Your father is a great man."
The way she said it was immediate.
No hesitation.
No joke.
Just a simple fact.
Even Iori nodded.
"Yeah. Weird sometimes. Questionable occasionally. But nobody says he's a bad person."
Ritsuka stayed quiet.
Ako continued walking.
"Sensei helps people constantly. Not because he gains anything from it. He just... does."
Iori crossed her arms.
"You know how hard it is to get students from Trinity, Gehenna, Millennium, Valkyrie, Abydos, and basically every other school to agree on something?"
Ritsuka already knew the answer.
"Impossible?"
"Exactly."
Iori pointed at him.
"Your father somehow got all of them to trust him."
That actually made Ritsuka pause.
Because the more schools he visited...
The more he kept hearing the same thing.
Everyone knew Sensei.
Everyone respected Sensei.
Even the people who complained about him usually respected him.
That wasn't normal.
Especially not in a place as divided as Kivotos.
Ako looked ahead.
"The Prefect Team trusts him."
"Valkyrie trusts him."
"Trinity trusts him."
"Even students who normally hate authority trust him."
Ritsuka shoved his hands into his pockets.
"…That doesn't sound real."
"It is."
For a moment Ako looked genuinely thoughtful.
"Students feel safe around him."
That hit harder than Ritsuka expected.
Because she didn't say: They admire him.
Or: They follow him.
She said: Safe.
Ako adjusted her gloves.
"Your father has done reckless things."
Iori immediately spoke.
"Extremely reckless."
"He has poor self-preservation instincts."
"Terrible self-preservation instincts."
"He causes problems."
"Many problems."
Ako sighed.
"…But whenever something truly serious happens, Sensei shows up."
Silence followed.
Ritsuka looked away.
He hated how much that sounded like his father.
The man disappeared for years.
The man dumped him into fourteen schools.
The man somehow had connections with half the nation.
And yet...
Ritsuka couldn't really imagine him ignoring someone who needed help.
Iori suddenly smirked.
"Besides, if your father was actually a bad person, half the girls in Kivotos wouldn't be emotionally attached to him."
Ritsuka immediately looked at her.
"Half?"
Ako looked away.
That was enough confirmation.
"…Dad what the hell did you do?"
[Chat:]
"HE'S JUST BUILT DIFFERENT"
"Sensei rizz is a geopolitical force"
"Half? Try more"
"The strongest weapon in Kivotos is emotional support"
"Your father accidentally built a harem through therapy"
Ritsuka stared at the chat.
Then at the sky.
Then back at the chat.
"…I am learning things about my father that I never wanted to know."
After that, the conversation drifted to lighter topics.
Ako explained a few of Gehenna's buildings.
Iori complained about paperwork.
And for the first time since arriving, nothing exploded.
Ritsuka wasn't sure whether that was a good sign or a bad one.
As they walked through one of the academy's main courtyards, his thoughts drifted back to what they had said.
About his father.
For years, Sensei had just been...
Dad.
The guy who made breakfast.
The guy who embarrassed him.
The guy who disappeared.
The guy he was still angry at.
But ever since arriving in Kivotos, he'd been hearing the same thing over and over.
From Valkyrie.
From Millennium.
From Gehenna.
From the General Student Council.
Everyone respected him.
Not because of his position.
Not because of his authority.
Because they genuinely trusted him.
That was the part Ritsuka couldn't wrap his head around.
Trust was hard to earn.
Especially in Kivotos.
A place filled with rival schools, ancient grudges, political factions, and enough firepower to start several wars.
Yet somehow his father had managed it.
'What exactly did you do while I was gone?'
The question lingered in his mind.
Ahead of him, Iori was arguing with Ako about whether a certain club should be shut down.
"That club has violated regulations seventeen times this month."
"Only seventeen? That's improvement."
"It is not improvement."
"It is for Gehenna."
Ritsuka couldn't help but chuckle.
The two girls were completely different, yet somehow worked well together.
Then he remembered something.
"...Actually, now that I think about it."
Ako looked over.
"What?"
Ritsuka pointed at her.
"You and Kanna said almost the same thing."
Ako blinked.
"What thing?"
"That my dad was a good man."
For a moment, Ako was quiet.
Then she answered simply.
"Because he is."
No grand speech.
No dramatic explanation.
Just certainty.
The kind that came from experience.
Ritsuka looked away.
That answer bothered him more than any long explanation could have.
Because people didn't sound like that when talking about politicians.
Or leaders.
Or celebrities.
They sounded like that when talking about someone who had genuinely helped them.
And somehow...
That made it harder to stay angry.
Not impossible.
Just harder.
'Don't get any ideas.'
His father still had a lot to answer for.
But for the first time since coming to Kivotos, Ritsuka found himself wondering about something besides the questions.
He wondered about the answers.
They kept walking through the courtyard.
Then someone called out.
"Hey, it's you."
Ritsuka turned.
Aru was standing a short distance away with the rest of Problem Solver 68.
Ritsuka pointed at her.
"It's you."
Aru pointed back.
"It's me."
The stream immediately recognized her.
[Chat:]
"PINK HORN GIRL!"
"THE VILLAIN CEO IS BACK"
"ARU!"
"THE FIRST DAY DISASTER!"
"THE GIRL WHO GOT THREATENED BY PURPLE TEXT"
Aru's eye twitched.
"Why do they remember that?"
"Because it was funny."
"It was traumatic."
Ako looked between them.
"You know Aru?"
Ritsuka nodded.
"We met on my first day."
Aru folded her arms.
"You make it sound like we bumped into each other at a cafe."
"You were standing on top of a pile of cars."
"...Fair."
Then Ritsuka looked at the girl standing beside her.
Long white hair.
Black bangs.
A black ponytail tied behind her horns.
Red eyes.
A bored expression that suggested she had already accepted whatever nonsense was about to happen.
She wore a black hoodie over her uniform and carried a shoulder bag that looked like it had seen more action than some military vehicles.
Most notably, she seemed completely unfazed by the fact Aru was talking to strangers in the middle of the courtyard.
'She looks like the responsible one.'
Which immediately meant she probably wasn't.
The girl looked at him for a moment.
Then at the phone.
Then back at him.
"...You're the streamer."
Ritsuka pointed at himself.
"I am."
She nodded.
"I've seen clips."
That somehow worried him.
Aru immediately looked offended.
"Wait, you've seen his clips and not mine?"
The girl gave her a flat look.
"Aru, your clips usually involve property damage."
"That's not true."
"Aru."
"...Mostly property damage."
The stream was already moving.
[Chat:]
"WHO IS THE WHITE HAIRED GIRL?"
"She looks tired"
"She looks like she has to babysit everyone"
"The responsible friend"
"The one keeping the group alive"
The girl looked at the chat.
Then sighed.
"They figured it out fast."
Ritsuka laughed.
"So what's your name?"
"Onikata Kayoko."
Onikata Kayoko
She said it casually.
As if she wasn't the only person in the area giving off the energy of someone who had already dealt with three disasters before lunch.
Aru immediately threw an arm around Kayoko's shoulder.
"This is my best employee."
Kayoko looked dead inside.
"We are equal partners."
"Best employee."
"Equal partner."
"Best employee."
Kayoko slowly reached for her gun.
Ako immediately stepped between them.
"No."
Iori, who had been watching the entire thing, nodded.
"Good call."
Ritsuka looked around the group.
Then at Aru.
Then at Kayoko.
Then at Ako and Iori.
Then back at the stream.
"...Why does every friend group in Gehenna look one bad decision away from becoming an international incident?"
Nobody answered.
Because everyone knew he was right.
Kayoko slowly lowered her hand from her holster.
"Good."
Ako nodded.
"Very."
Aru clicked her tongue.
"You people never let me do anything."
"That's because whenever you're allowed to do something, paperwork appears," Kayoko replied.
"That's slander."
"It's documentation."
Ritsuka laughed.
For some reason, watching Aru get shut down by her own team was incredibly entertaining.
The group continued walking together through the academy grounds.
Well, "walking" was a generous term.
Aru was talking.
Iori was complaining.
Ako was mentally calculating how much work she still had.
Kayoko looked like she was considering taking a nap standing up.
And Ritsuka was just trying to keep up.
The stream was having the time of its life.
[Chat:]
"Kayoko is done with everyone"
"I understand her"
"Aru's own team roasted her"
"Gehenna is just one giant friend group"
"One giant dangerous friend group"
As they passed another courtyard, Ritsuka noticed something.
A lot of students were looking at them.
More specifically...
Looking at him.
He frowned.
"Why is everyone staring?"
Aru immediately answered.
"Because you're famous."
Ritsuka stopped.
"What?"
"You streamed yourself getting shot by Abydos."
"What?"
"You streamed yourself almost blowing up Millennium."
"What?"
"You streamed yourself getting called to the GSC President's office."
"...What?"
Kayoko looked at him.
"Those clips have millions of views."
Ritsuka stared.
"Millions?"
Ako looked surprised.
"You didn't know?"
"I thought only the stream viewers watched them."
The four girls looked at him.
Then at each other.
Then back at him.
For the first time all day, they seemed genuinely confused.
Iori spoke first.
"You know people upload clips, right?"
Silence.
Ritsuka stopped walking.
"...People what?"
Aru's grin slowly grew.
"Oh no."
Kayoko covered her face.
Ako sighed.
"Nobody told him."
The chat immediately became unreadable.
[Chat:]
"HE DOESN'T KNOW"
"NOBODY TELL HIM"
"THIS IS AMAZING"
"BRO YOU'RE INTERNET FAMOUS"
"THE ABYDOS CLIP HAS LIKE 20 EDITS"
"THE RIO INCIDENT IS EVERYWHERE"
"WAIT UNTIL HE FINDS THE MEMES"
Ritsuka slowly looked at his phone.
Then at the girls.
Then back at his phone.
"...What memes?"
The collective reaction from everyone around him was immediate.
"Oh no."
That was the exact wrong thing to ask.
After that was done, Ritsuka finally made it to his first Gehenna class.
To his surprise...
It was mostly normal.
Students sat at desks.
The teacher stood at the front.
Lessons were being taught.
Nobody was shooting at each other.
Nobody was blowing up buildings.
Nobody was trying to conquer a district.
It was almost disappointing.
Ritsuka sat down and looked around.
'Maybe Gehenna isn't that bad.'
Five minutes later, he regretted thinking that.
At the front of the classroom stood a large automated teaching robot.
It had a monitor for a face and several mechanical arms holding books, pointers, and what appeared to be weapons.
Ritsuka frowned.
'Why does the teacher have weapons?'
The robot's screen lit up.
"Question."
A student's name appeared.
The girl stood up.
The robot asked a mathematics problem.
The student thought for a moment.
Then answered.
"...Twenty-seven?"
The robot paused.
"Incorrect."
CLICK.
A turret emerged from its shoulder.
BANG!
The student immediately dove behind her desk as a rubber bullet flew past her head.
The entire class continued taking notes like this was completely normal.
Ritsuka stared.
The student returned to her seat.
The robot retracted the turret.
"Please study harder."
Ritsuka slowly raised his hand.
"Excuse me."
The robot turned.
"Yes."
"What the hell was that?"
The classroom looked at him.
The robot answered immediately.
"Negative reinforcement."
"THAT'S NOT NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT."
The teacher robot paused.
"Correction."
The screen changed.
"Extremely negative reinforcement."
A few students nodded.
"Fair."
Ritsuka looked around the room.
"Why is everyone okay with this?"
One student shrugged.
"It's only rubber bullets."
Another nodded.
"They hurt less than Hina's lectures."
The entire class agreed.
Ritsuka wasn't sure what that said about Hina.
The robot's screen flashed again.
"Question."
A name appeared.
Ritsuka Morning Star.
Silence.
The entire class looked at him.
Ritsuka slowly stood up.
"...Of course."
The robot displayed the question.
"Name the primary purpose of the Prefect Team."
Ritsuka blinked.
That one was easy.
"To maintain order and discipline within Gehenna Academy."
The robot paused.
Then nodded.
"Correct."
Nothing happened.
Ritsuka relaxed.
Then another message appeared.
"Bonus Question."
Ritsuka froze.
"What?"
The robot continued.
"How many cafeteria explosions occurred last month?"
The entire class immediately began whispering.
"That's unfair."
"Nobody knows that."
"Even the Prefect Team argues about the number."
Ritsuka looked horrified.
"WHY IS THIS ON THE TEST?"
The robot waited.
Ritsuka thought back to everything he'd seen today.
Then took a guess.
"...Thirty?"
The robot paused.
The class held its breath.
Then the screen flashed green.
"Correct."
The room erupted.
"No way!"
"He got it!"
"First try!"
Ritsuka looked stunned.
"WAIT IT WAS ACTUALLY THIRTY?!"
A student shook her head.
"No."
Ritsuka blinked.
"What?"
The girl pointed at the robot.
"It was thirty-one."
The robot's screen changed.
"One explosion was later determined to be a controlled detonation."
Silence.
Ritsuka slowly sat down.
'This school is insane.'
The stream chat was losing its mind.
[Chat:]
"THEY HAVE EXPLOSION STATISTICS"
"WHY IS THAT TEST MATERIAL"
"CONTROLLED DETONATION IS CRAZY"
"GEHENNA IS NOT A REAL PLACE"
"BRO GOT THE BONUS QUESTION RIGHT"
Ritsuka buried his face in his hands.
And somehow...
This wasn't even lunch yet.
Lunch break finally arrived.
And once again, Ritsuka found himself questioning the outside world.
Because Gehenna's cafeteria was amazing.
Not "good for school food."
Actually good.
The meals were balanced.
Fresh vegetables.
Proper protein.
Soup.
Rice.
Fruit.
Everything looked like something you'd pay money for at a restaurant.
Ritsuka sat down with his tray.
Then took a bite.
A few seconds passed.
He looked down at the food.
Then took another bite.
Then another.
Then another.
Across from him, Iori raised an eyebrow.
"...Good?"
Ritsuka swallowed.
"Why are all the schools feeding students this well?"
Ako sat down beside them.
"Because proper nutrition improves academic performance."
"That's not what I mean."
"Then what do you mean?"
Ritsuka pointed at his lunch.
"This is better than half the restaurants I've been to."
Ako looked genuinely confused.
"It should be."
Iori nodded.
"Students need healthy meals."
Ritsuka just stared.
'Why is that considered a revolutionary concept?'
The stream chat was moving so fast it was becoming a blur.
[Chat:]
"I HATE HIM"
"THAT LOOKS SO GOOD"
"MY SCHOOL SERVES CARDBOARD"
"I GOT A COLD SANDWICH TODAY"
"WHY DOES ANIME SCHOOL FOOD ALWAYS LOOK BETTER"
"THE ANGEL NATION IS UNFAIR"
A middle school student in chat typed:
[Chat:]
"We got mystery meat today."
Immediately followed by:
[Chat:]
"What's the mystery?"
[Chat:]
"Nobody knows."
The chat erupted.
Ritsuka almost choked laughing.
"That's not supposed to be a mystery!"
Meanwhile, Ako was looking at the screen with increasing concern.
"I am beginning to understand why your viewers are jealous."
"See?"
Iori took a bite of her lunch.
"They sound miserable."
The chat took that personally.
[Chat:]
"WE ARE"
"SAVE US IORI"
"ADOPT US INTO GEHENNA"
"I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE"
Iori stared at the messages.
"...No."
A collective wave of disappointment flooded the chat.
Ritsuka laughed.
For all the chaos he'd seen today, lunch was surprisingly peaceful.
No explosions.
No shootings.
No rogue robots.
Just students eating together.
Then a loud explosion echoed from outside.
BOOM.
Everyone paused.
Iori checked her phone.
Ako checked hers too.
A few students looked out the window.
Then everyone calmly went back to eating.
Ritsuka slowly lowered his spoon.
"...Nobody is going to investigate that?"
Ako took another bite.
"That's the Engineering Club."
"Oh."
Another explosion.
"Shouldn't somebody stop them?"
Iori shook her head.
"They already have permission."
Ritsuka looked out the window.
A column of smoke was rising into the sky.
"...Why?"
Neither girl answered.
Because neither knew.
And somehow that worried him more.
To be continue
Hope people like this Ch and Give me power stones and enjoy