Crossover Together ~クロスオーバ 一緒に~

Oh, what a night.

Even with the damage to the train, it just managed to reach another, minor station on the way up towards the capitol to make amends and fill up on fuel, as any train would. The rather troublesome ride was not without any real notice, as a number of the riders were trying to figure things out and taking some time out of the train to take rest over last night's fiasco. The most troublesome part was that the damage wasn't as bad as any of them thought, despite the conductor of the train saying that two passengers were thrown out of the train, destroying the wall. When they looked, nothing was left except for some knocked over seats, so it wasn't as bad as they expected. If only they saw Sebastian fixing it. As for Team Harmony, they were taking time to rest too after last night, and the rest of the night without any incident. Even if they didn't do much, they really had a bit of a startled night, and they needed the rest all and all. Unlike most of the passengers, they stayed on board and relaxed a bit until Sebastian would come in, and begin his typical morning routine.

"Good morning everyone. I hope you slept well," Sebastian said. Some of them started to get up with Sebastian's wakeup call, Ciel mainly, followed by Nagisa, Twilight and Pinkie.

"Oooo, what a crazy dream I had last night. We were found by two monsters and one of them launched them out of the train."

"That is what happened, Pinkie," said Twilight. Not all of them were so willing to get up as quickly. Aladdin was snuggling up to Blair, his head resting on Blair's breasts. Blair woke up first and soon saw her little Magi snuggling against her.

"You just can't get enough can you?" Blair giggled, poking Aladdin to wake him up. Aladdin needed a little bit of provoking until he actually woke up. Aladdin yawned and stretched his arms.

"What a great night. Are we there yet?" Aladdin wondered, rubbing his eye as he asked. Sebastian took a moment to look outside before he gave his answer.

"One station away, I believe," Sebastian replied. After that he started his typical task of dressing his young lord in his outfit. The others took a bit more time to get themselves up, and step out of their seats to stretch their legs. As they were, Nagisa paused over after a few steps as he found himself in the same spot as last night. It was hard to believe that just last night the car had half its wall missing, but now not a bit of evidence remained with the exception of some cracks in the wall.

"And just last night, there was barely a wall left. Sebastian sure did a great job," Nagisa thought. And who could blame him? Anyone who could repair an entire car wall overnight, and so precisely deserves some praise. Still, it also reminded him about Ed and Al, who which he hadn't seen since last night's escapade.

"And that Ed Elric. If Aladdin's right, he really is a strong alchemist. Maybe Twilight can get some tips from him. ... I'll try and ask him when we get there," Nagisa decided. Out the window, Nagisa took and look and begun to notice the conductor trying to explain the situation (and failing), to get through to the security. It was probably for the best he failed, anyway. He also noted the multiple people boarding the train, probably going off to central too, much like they were. As he was observing the groups coming in. ...

"Hello, Nagisa."

It appeared that one of these riders was willing to meet up with him. And according to the demon sense adding an extra bit to his radar, Nagisa knew exactly who it was. He turned around, and there stood Korosensei. As before, the demon king was dressed as a human, though the outfit instead looking more local to Amestris instead of England as before. In one tentacle, Korosensei had a fair stack of papers for them. The others were quick to see Korosensei as well.

"Oh, hi Korosensei. You have our work again?" Nagisa said. Korosensei's head confirmed the answer by turning orange, the deep orange circle correcting his assumption. Suddenly, in one second flat, Korosensei got each of the paperwork to him, Twilight, Pinkie, and Karma.

"It's a good thing I can get you these. There's never a bad time for a good lesson," Korosensei commented. ...

"Eh, teach? Not to burst your bubble, but you left some questions half done. Trying to do this half-assed?" Karma pointed out. That wasn't the thing Korosensei wanted to hear. Sure enough, Korosensei found about seven questions kinda rushed, and half done. He quickly got a pen out and wrote them in completely quick as a flash.

"I'm working my heart out here! You know how hard it is keeping up with class 3-E and going back to where you are? It's no walk in the park, you know!" Korosensei exclaimed, trying to get through to him as best he could.

"Don't act like we're doing nothing, teach. We just had to deal with those Homunculus last night, and they didn't go easy."

"Oh did you? The way I saw it you stood behind as the Elric brothers took care of them," Sebastian pointed out. Karma clammed up.

"The who now?" Korosensei asked.

"Oh, it's not too important. We'll have these done as soon as we can," Twilight promised. That was good to hear from any student of any class. Just before Korosensei could go off on his way, something else suddenly clicked on his head as a reminder.

"Oh, before I forget!" Korosensei suddenly got something else out to show them. After a quick dry off on the detail, Korosensei showed them all a picture he managed to catch during his latest flight. The picture looked like an Ariel shot of a outdoor hall at night, showing a family going down the hall, and a guard at post around the corner. The picture was very high resolution, great in the details too.

"Is that the interior of central?" Ciel questioned.

"I took a little detour and caught little Envy sneaking around in central."

"Envy?! Where?!" asked Pinkie, excitedly. All Korosensei did was point his tentacle to the guard for their answer. Considering what Envy could do, they had to take Korosensei's word for it. The implications of this was a bit disturbing at the lightest. A deadly Homunculus, roaming around central freely, and without detection whatsoever.

"We need to get there, and fast," Twilight concluded.

"Agreed. Heaven knows what sort of danger Envy could pose," Ciel put in.

As if on cue of the horn, they all begin to hear the whistle of the train go off, good and loud.

"That's my cue to vamoose. Have those papers done by tomorrow morning, and I'll see you then," Korosensei instructed, quickly going out of sight the second afterwards, just before anyone could ask too. It was probably a good thing he did, as the train was starting to move off again, heading out of this station, and to its main one.

"Here we come, central."

~~

Well, back at home, the absence of Korosensei had given the class some time to actually get themselves training for assassination again. Karasuma got out all the stops this time around, and getting the students to face off against eachother with close combat assassin knives. Each student was put in pairs, and basically they were trying to 'kill' eachother. Looking to the students from his post by the 3-E building, Karasuma kept his visual, and silently studying the students and their progress over this course training as he'd been throughout these months. As expected, some students were better than others in this little task. As some like Nakamura and Kirara were doing fair, others like Nabiku weren't keeping up. All the same though, it was more improvement over the very start of it all.

"Block your opponent! Predict their moves. If you all do that, you'll block off every one of his escape routes," Karasuma called during the training. A basic call off to the rest of the class as advice for the real deal. Karasuma wasn't going to take any chances anymore, especially with that report and transfer he would be going on soon. The least he could do was give these students a strong start just before he would go off. And judging by the students here, they were doing very well.

"It'd been months since I've started this job. And after only that, more and more students are showing promise. If this process continues, it won't be too long before Korosensei will reach his final day here. Rio Nakamura's natural charisma and deception makes her moves unpredictable, and Kirara Hazama's merciless approach to her target gives her the willpower of any true assassin. It'll take some time before the others identify themselves."
And when it came to the others, his gaze focused more on Nabiku in particular. she was probably the lowest on the training poll. For Nabiku, assassination and peace just don't mix, and her behavior here just proved that. It didn't help that she was pitted up against Sugino either, who was more up to this game of assassin's stabbing than she'll ever be. It only took a few more strikes before Nabiku got hit with a killer blow, Nabiku toppling over her own feet. Not a good showing. Nabiku sat up off the ground, feeling nothing but embarrassed over the situation.

"Sorry. You okay?" Sugino asked. Nabiku just stood up.

"I-I'm fine," Nabiku replied. If anything, she just felt out of place. Nabiku stopped a moment to look at the other kids, seeing how deep some actually were in this killing game. She got back to sparring with her partner, just to get "stabbed" by him again after just seven tries. Nabiku would be more than willing to work on plenty of tests rather than do this. Nabiku was soon noticed by Nakamura nearby, who just beat her opponent down.

"Nabiku, what's with you?" Nakamura asked, walking over to her. Nabiku withdrew a bit.

"I-I uh ... I don't like this. ..."

"Come on, lighten up. You're the only one aside Karma who actually got a bit off of Korosensei, remember?" Nabiku didn't want that kind of reminder, even if it was a bit of an improvement over what the class had been doing. Besides, Korosensei wasn't even around to bother with, so why practice on eachother?

"I suppose. ..."

Karasuma watched this all from afar, though he didn't entirely hear the conversation. What he could get though was the expression of doubt on Nabiku's face. To him, it was a look saying that she doesn't believe she could do this.

.......

"Hey, Karasuma!"

Someone else took a step out of the building, and this time it wasn't Korosensei. Karasuma turned around to find another person had come by. He looked fairly middle aged, much like he was, and looked pretty heavy set too. He had short, slicked, black hair, a full gym teacher uniform with a blue overcoat, and a face that seemed overall trustworthy. The man must be that Tataoka 'replacement' Seitenshi told him about. In both arms he had a number of brightly colored bags, two paper bags being held up to his head with one arm, and he looked over to Karasuma with a smile on his face. Though, Karasuma wasn't too moved by the grin, even if it looked very innocent.

"Tataoka," Karasuma simply said. It didn't take very long until the students begin to notice him come out, and soon enough he was already out in the field. Not much prompting for this guy, apparently. With a strong, single whistle, whoever hadn't noticed him yet paused and saw their new instructor coming in.

"Hey everyone, hope you're all having a good time! Looking good with those knives."

"And who're you?" asked one of the kids. Tataoka wasn't too put off by this.

"I'll explain. But first, how about some snacks?"

And "some snacks" was clearly an understatement. After five minutes, the students found themselves being treated to many, MANY sweets and desserts, much of which were pretty pricey, ranging from éclairs to cakes to who knows what else. All put out in display out on a blanket sprawled out, Tataoka sitting and smiling at the sweets as the rest of the students just looked in surprise.

"Wow. You sure?" asked Takuya.

"Go on, eat up. I emptied my wallet for this, so take as much as you'd like!" Tataoka offered. Some of them happily took it, mainly part of a cake or one éclair, each one high quality and the taste was delicious!

"You sure know your brands, these are amazing!" commented a student.

"When it comes to me and sugar: it's love," said Tataoka, a cute smile on his face.

"So cute for a big guy," Nabiku thought.

"So what's your deal? You look dressed up to instruct," asked Nakamura. Tataoka winked to her.

"That's cuz I am. Order from headquarters says that I'll be in charge of physics ed here for Karasuma for now on. Work starts tomorrow," explained Tataoka. It felt rather unexpected to hear for some, but by the way he was behaving they didn't have too much of a problem with it. Comparing him to Karasuma, the options became easy to pick from.

"You know, you're like the opposite of Karasuma: you're like a neighborhood dad," said one of the students. Tataoka took the liking for the name, and playfully hugged Nabiku and Yoshida. Nabiku couldn't help but smile at Tataoka's behavior, Tataoka clearly far more cheery and enjoyable than Karasuma ever was. Even if the subject was still assassination, maybe Tataoka will help her cope a bit better with this assassination game. However, a little further away, Kirara was probably the only one who was truly questioning this man, if not her and Karasuma. This was basically another military assassin trainer, acting like a kid.

There has to be more to him aside from this 'innocent' play. ...

~~

With the whistle running along, and letting off steam, the train had finally arrived safe and sound to central station. Team Harmony, or at least Ciel was, more than grateful to finally arrive there safe and sound. With this arrival, the group went out alongside Ed and Al to the Capitol city of Amestris, which was about as crowded and advanced as they expect from any modern city. Unlike before with England, and perhaps the earlier town too, they didn't really get much time to look around. Instead, they found themselves on a more direct route, heading straight to central rather than explore the city. With knowledge of a potential Homunculus roaming around central, it was probably better to get things moving there anyway. Sooner they fish out the Homunculus, the better. That, and with Lust and Gluttony being potential targets for threats to central as well with Edward's attack on them both it was well worth their time. Here, they all were standing at central front gate.

"Well, we've made it Al. Come on, let's get our report in," Ed said, Alphonse agreeing with a nod of the head. Ed and Al were the true guests here, not the others, although they followed them along in anyway. Front yard to central was wide open and without much trouble, but as they begin to near the main doors inside, some personnel managed to see them all coming in their way. Soon a pair of guards were up and heading right towards them. Ed and All got a pass and were already inside, but the rest were cut off.

"Hault. You all authorized?" asked one of them.

"They're all with me. I have every right to come here, sir," said Ciel, rather sternly. Of course, the guard didn't buy it.

"You?"

"Sir, my young master does indeed have his rights. You wouldn't want to have a negative report back to her majesty, would you?" warned Sebastian. Being a demon himself, intimidation and persuasion play off almost naturally, and it showed that effect on the guards present. The threat was more than enough to at least humble the guards.

"Uh. W-Well, I guess not. Don't test your luck in there," the guard warned, both of them stepping aside and letting them pass. The guards' attempts to be intimidating wasn't going to work on this group, most of the group in question not being intimidated in the slightest as they entered.

"So now what?" asked Blair.

"We're going to the leader himself. King Bradley," Ciel revealed. Well, where else were they going to go off to in this place?
Pretty soon they were inside central, and heading down the halls of the grand place. Being such a large building made the halls seemingly endless in turns and paths, as they tried to reach towards the main place for King Bradley himself. They needed to get there and get him informed about the situation at hand, as best they could, before Envy could cause anymore trouble. Their walk through the halls were guided easily by the set of guards from earlier, bringing them right over to their destination in question, making going around the place look easy. They worked here much longer than they had so they might as well be. After what felt like an hour of going around, the guards stopped at the main office, keeping them at the front doors and nothing over that. The group stopped there, but Ciel took a step to the front door.

"Wait here," Ciel informed. The group stood aside, and so Ciel took the honor of going on in himself. Well, him and Sebastian of course.
Soon as they opened the doors they found themselves in the main Amestris central office, where the highest authority figure worked his days in keeping order to the country. Places like these are familiar to Ciel and Sebastian, so the feeling was more mutual than anything. The main office had the main essentials for any office: including a main desk, a seating area for guests, and few other items to add some uniqueness to it all. One feature unique was the Amestris symbolic green flag, which hung above the guest seats in its full glory. As both expected too, this room was not empty. As sitting at his main desk was the very King himself, King Bradley! The sight of him was more than an intimidating one, especially on young Ciel Phantomhive. Bradley's one eye met up with Ciel's one eye the second he walked in, judging him almost immediately. The king didn't expect any visit from the queen's guard dog at all, and his expression was anything but inviting.

"Well. I have heard rumors about the queen's guard dog, though it's the first time I laid my eye on him face to face," said Bradley.

"Likewise. So you know who I am then," Ciel summed up. A bit unexpected for a first time encounter, but he might as well try and roll with it.

"A pleasure to meet you in person," noted Sebastian, extending a hand. King Bradley paused, but eventually gave him a handshake as well.

"The queen gave you order to come here?" Bradley asked, keeping a close eye on them both. Rather than Ciel answering, Sebastian took the word instead.

"None at all, I can assure you that. All the same, we humbly wish to remain at central for a short while, if you don't mind us doing so," Sebastian asked. Ciel cringed on Sebastian's forwardness to the task at hand, something they don't usually do in any of their previous tasks. King Bradley remained quiet and thinking, seeing into both of them after that. Ciel was just hoping this little revelation wasn't going to cost them anything.
Soon, King Bradley began to move off, and instead of confronting them, he went straight past them and opened the doors. Sure enough, he soon found the rest standing right outside. It didn't help that Pinkie was trying to eavesdrop as well, kneeling by the door with her ear on the frame, Aladdin right next to her too. Guess they were caught red handed. ...

"Ehhhhh ..." Honestly, they couldn't think up of what to really say to Bradley here, the look on his face enough to get them a little bit trouble (Aladdin and Pinkie anyway). However, Bradley took a moment to look over those in the group, and soon brought his attention towards the two guards.

"Well, who's this?" questioned Bradley. Ciel and Sebastian came out as well, not expecting Bradley to just find the others this quickly, and so unprompted. As for the pair of guards, they felt a little bit humbled by the question, and were quick to try and explain.

"W-Well, sir, they arrived with the Fullmetal Alchemist earlier today, and -"

"Eh? The Fullmetal Alchemist?"

"We were going to tell you, but they wanted to see you first, so ..."

Bradley stayed quiet, and looked over the group of kids again. His single eye looked each one of them over one by one. Seemed the longer this went on, the more tension there was between Team Harmony and king Bradley. How was he going to react to seeing a full group of kids just inside basically military central of Amestris? ...

"Unexpected."

"O-Okay, yeah, it is, but uh -" Twilight tried to get the right words together for King Bradley, but Karma Akabane, having the whole Homunculus thing in mind, decided to just go on with it.

"We got a little something to tell ya, and it's pretty important," Karma got out, rather nonchalantly as per usual. That got King Bradley's attention right away, as Pinkie and Aladdin moved into the safety of their team, away from Bradley. The others weren't exactly ready for this jump in subjects, and neither were the guards for that matter.

"Oh, do you now?"

"Yep, and apparently ..." suddenly, Karma's hand suddenly ended up in between Pinkie's cleavage (again, unprompted), and sure enough as Karma expected, he pulled out the same picture Korosensei gave them earlier that morning. This left some confused, but king Bradley was a bit more interested in the photo rather than where it came from, as Karma presented it to the king right away, showing him the exact picture up front.

"You got a shadow in central," Karma finished, his finger aimed to the Homunculus figure standing in the photo. Even if Envy looked like a guard, the position as if spying did look a little questionable, especially when this photo showed it in such a way.

"Hey, I was gonna do that!" Pinkie snapped, rather childishly, as Bradley took this into some consideration. This surely seemed like a minor thing, as night time would be time to constantly have on guard, so probably the guard was just on duty and came across them by mistake. Then again, why was this guard watching them so intently? ...

"How did you get this?" Bradley questioned.

"We had a little help on that," Karma said.

"Karma, isn't this a bit forward?" Aladdin quietly whispered, as Bradley considered this 'shadow' with him and his family.

"It's why we're here, right? Why wouldn't we tell him?" Karma quietly replied, which made too much sense. Looked like Sebastian wasn't the only one who figured that here. Eventually, King Bradley cleared his throat and addressed them again. More precisely, to the two guards.

"Try to find the guard in this photo, and have him come to my office. And if you come across the Fullmetal Alchemist, have him come and see me too," Bradley instructed. Both guards, who were glad to not be in any trouble in the first place, took the photo as a reference and went off on their way to do so. After that was handled, Bradley turned to the rest of the group.

"As for you. ... Enjoy your stay here."

"Wait, what?" Aladdin questioned, just getting a nudge from Karma.

"Thank you for having us," said Ciel, though felt slightly strained almost. The fact that Bradley just jumped at them with little prompting on their part and now willing to let them go about the place just ... well, felt awkward to him. Especially when it just came from nowhere like that. But, regardless, it did give them more opportunity to investigate the place, as with everyone else. It was then that Bradley's eye saw Twilight standing there, as the group started to go. Bradley placed a hand on Twilight's shoulder to get her attention, making Nagisa stop as well.

"Mam? Are you Yugure Kagayaki, by chance?" Bradley asked pleasantly.

"Uh, yes why?" Twilight asked. Bradley smiled.

"Well, let's just say I think one of our soldiers would be getting a surprise soon. That is, if you want to see him."

"You mean ...?"

"He's out in the main training yard right now," Bradley concluded. Nagisa only needed one look at Twilight to see that she grew very excited on hearing this news, the biggest smile on her face in quite a while. There was only one person that Bradley would be talking about, and Twilight wasn't going to wait a minute longer to see him.

.......

With this time to just go around as they pleased, Aladdin took the time to check things out for himself. He was glad that Bradley was letting them go around doing their own thing at Central, as lucky as that may be. He walked around alongside Ciel for the time being, strangely with Sebastian not with him. Ciel had went off with others in the group upon Ciel's command, so it was just Ciel and Aladdin going around together.

"This place is huge. Are they usually this big?" asked Aladdin, looking around the hall.

"More or less, yes," Ciel simply said. That conversation was a bit short, not what Aladdin really wanted. Aladdin looked over to Ciel, the same serious expression still on his face. Ciel was more focused on trying to find that Homunculus over much of anything else, which was starting to bum out Aladdin seeing him.

"So ... do you ... want to check out the soldiers?"

"Just keep a close eye out for any sign of that Homunculus. That's our prime objective right now," Ciel made clear. Aladdin stayed quiet again. He knew it was important to actually find the Homunculus, but that shouldn't be the soul reason to be here, like how Ciel was making it. Aladdin suddenly moved in Ciel's way.

"Ciel, come on. I know it's important, but why don't you try to, I don't know, enjoy yourself a little?" Aladdin insisted. Ciel shook his head.

"Don't give me that yarn. Envy can launch his assault at any moment, and who truly knows when he'll decide to do that?"

"Yeah, who does know? It could be tomorrow, or it could be months from now."

"I said no," Ciel stated, about to walk past him. Far as Ciel was concern, he didn't have any time for any of this. However, before Ciel could fully move past him, Aladdin suddenly grabbed him by the arm, making him stop.

"Ciel. Look at yourself. You're only thirteen years old, and you're acting like a full grown adult. You're not going to have this chance to actually enjoy yourself if you keep this up," Aladdin made clear. Aladdin had been trying, really, but Ciel wasn't going to give him much of a chance.

"Being the queen's guard dog hasn't any room for childish jargon. My lord, the queen of England instructed me to help you in your endeavors," Ciel reminded. It was then that Aladdin turned to face Ciel, both his hands grasping Ciel's hand. Aladdin looked right into Ciel's eye, a look with a mix of innocence and pure honesty. A kind of look Ciel Phantomhive hadn't seen in ... well, ever. Not before he met him anyway.

"Then here's what you can do. Be a true kid, have some fun, enjoy your life a bit more. You think you can you do that for me?" Aladdin asked kindly. Ciel stayed quiet on this odd request Aladdin was telling him. To enjoy his life? So many instructions he had been given in terms of tasks by anyone higher over him didn't come close to such things. Who ever truly worried about his own feelings outside the Phantomhive manor anyway? ...

"Yes sir, I'll get onto it," said a voice from further down the hall. Ciel and Aladdin both took a peek down the hall corner, and found that Alphonse and Ed had just finished giving their report in. They didn't see the two since they got there in the first place.

"Hey, it's that fullmetal alchemist," Aladdin noted, though when Ciel saw him, his eyes were already admiring Ed, so Ciel could only guess where they're going to go from there. Without much confrontation, nor any prompting from Aladdin, Ciel simply stepped out towards Ed and Al, Aladdin following behind him. A simple clear of Ciel's throat got their attention.

"Oh, hey there. How're you enjoying Central?" asked Al.

"Pretty fair, thank you. A bit dull really," Ciel admitted, considering nothing really happened yet in their investigation. Ed took a look over to Aladdin, seeing his same fonding eyes as he had back on the train. Ed felt his smile come up on him on seeing his little admirer.

"Well, if it isn't Aladdin. You look like you're pretty good, huh?"

"You bet I am. It's my first time going around an actual military base like this," Aladdin explained, enthusiastic about it. Ciel watched them both interact and begun to think over a little bit.

"Oh, Ed? Can I see another Alchemy trick? Please?" Aladdin asked. Ed, feeling confident and with only them around at the moment, decided to show off what he can do. After a quick clap, and placing his hand on the wall, blue sparks started to fly out. Ciel looked pretty surprised and Aladdin pretty much in admiring fanboy mode as Ed summoned out a spear right out of the wall, made up of the same metal as the wall itself. Aladdin was simply psyched!

"AMAZING! You can pull weapons right from the walls themselves, that's so incredible!!" Aladdin said, complete admiration all over his face and tone. Ed was easily enjoying the attention as he played around with his drawn out spear. Ciel took a glance to Alphonse, who rubbed the back of his head.

"Is your brother always so easily enthused?" questioned Ciel.

"It doesn't take too much to get him going," Al admitted, humbled. Ciel nodded and looked over to Ed and Aladdin.

"Pardon me, Ed. But, if I may ask you something," Ciel asked. Ed turned to him, giving Aladdin the metal spear for the Magi to check out.

"Oh sure, what's up?"

"... It's about this alchemy of yours," Ciel started. The question, tone and all, shifted the mood fairly quickly. Ed being a Fullmetal Alchemist was fine and all, and personal objections weren't anything on Ciel's mind, but Ciel still felt one question needed to be answered, just to clear things up for not just him, but for the others as well.

"How many people know about it?"

A silence filled the room for just a moment or two, Ed knowing enough that he was being serious about the matter.

"Ciel, I thought we just promised you would be more cheerful," Aladdin reminded.

"First off, no you didn't. Secondly, wasn't you the one who insisted that something like this shouldn't be shown off so recklessly?"

... Uh oh. Aladdin froze up, realizing what Ciel was actually getting at. The shocked expression on Aladdin's face as he looked to the spear he was holding, and over to Ed. Aladdin did say that things like magic, angels, demons and such aren't supposed to be a common knowledge, yet here was Ed showing it off without a second thought right at Central.

"He finally remembers," Ciel thought.

"AAAHHH! You're right, what's wrong with me?! I got so caught up in his amazing alchemy I forgot to bring it up!" Aladdin said, now completely panicked about it.

"You hadn't brought it up in a while, Aladdin," Ciel commented before turning back to Ed. Ed felt like he did some sort of mistake in front of the wrong person now. Seeing Aladdin freak out like that changed the mood very quickly. Ed got his answer out after getting himself together from his ego.

"Aside from you? Well, not as many people as you'd think. The only ones who know for sure about it are right here in Central," Ed replied, easing Aladdin's nerves about it the second he got it around. At least that was enough at ease, Aladdin knowing enough how good keeping the truth from public is when it came to the military.

"What's wrong?" Alphonse asked. Ciel raised his hand.

"Nothing in particular. It's a cautionary measure for the public's sake."

"Ok good. Come on Al, we gotta get going," Ed said. Al nodded and started going off with his brother.

"Come on, Aladdin," Ciel instructed, but with his mind now properly thinking, started to follow Ciel at first, but suddenly something else crossed his mind. Aladdin started to remember something. ...

Yeah you're right. I'll get it eventually.

.......

"Hey Ed, wait," Aladdin suddenly said, going right back over to him. Ciel stopped when Aladdin did this, just in time to see Aladdin right back up with Ed and Al.

"What's up now?" Ed asked. Aladdin looked right to Ed specifically.

"Ed, you did an amazing job back on the train, so that can say you're good at alchemy, right?" Aladdin asked. That was honestly a question too obvious to answer. They all were they, and they all saw Ed clobber Lust and Gluttony already, sending them both flying off the train with a few alchemic tricks.

"Yeah, why?" Ed questioned. Aladdin grasped Ed's hands, the same way as he grabbed Ciel's hands moments earlier. Whatever Aladdin had in mind, it seemed pretty important.

"Ed. Please, be our group's alchemic teacher!"

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah, my friend is into this alchemy stuff too, maybe you can - OW!"

Ciel made sure to whack Aladdin in the head after that sudden question. It really was a random question, and one Aladdin kinda jumped at Ed about. Ed, as expected, looked rather taken aback. Yeah, he was good at alchemy but no one had ever asked him this before, his face and expression telling them that.

"My apologies for jumping at you like that. Come on, Aladdin," Ciel firmly stated, dragging Aladdin away by his ponytail. He could see what Aladdin was going for, but they shouldn't bother them that abruptly. Ed though was left stunned on hearing that come out of Aladdin.

"Teacher? ..."

"There you are!"

Ed and Al turned to find the guards from earlier finally finding them.

"What's going on?"

"It's our highness King Bradley. He's requested for you two to meet up with him in his office."

~~

As the rest handled their own look around the Central area, Twilight and Nagisa went right off to the training yard of Central, as where king Bradley had said where this person would be. Sebastian joined them just in case someone would get suspicious over them just roaming around without permission. At least there was some form of adult supervision, and Sebastian already handled some guards upon arrival so the two were pretty much covered. Twilight, Sebastian, and Nagisa all soon reached the main training yard of Central, which was, to be honest, what they expected it to look like. In an opened, outdoor area of Central, a number of Amestris soldiers were practicing their combat on a number of things. Some took close combat practice while other practiced on firing grounds. Many of the soldiers, while varying in height, build and hair colors, all had similar uniforms on and while some did see them, they didn't bother them much. Though, that could probably be because of Sebastian, but that was Nagisa and Twilight's main explanation on the matter anyway. Still, Twilight was trying to find this person Bradley was talking about, and her search lead her over to the shooting gallery. A number of soldiers stood along the shooting gallery, aiming over at some set up targets placed about a good fifty feet away, each one making pretty good shots. No bull's-eyes, but pretty close anyway. It was here that Twilight eventually saw one of the soldiers amongst this group, not only a bit younger but very familiar. Aside from the main soldier uniform, he had similar skin to her, his eyes a bright cerulean blue, and his short hair a sapphire blue with light blue streaks in it. The boy got about seven pretty good shots into his target before he took a break from it, along with the others he was practicing with. It seemed that he'd been practicing for a while according to his slightly tired expression on his face, as he wiped some sweat off of his forehead.

"Good job, Yoroi, that beats your personal record," said the instructor, proud of him.

"Really? Aw yeah, that's great!" said Yoroi.

"Twilight. Is that ...?" Nagisa quietly pointed out. It didn't take too long until Twilight got her conclusion on this boy, and eventually this same boy turned and found Twilight standing there herself. Of course, Yoroi stayed rather shocked at first, but eventually a smile appeared on his face.

"Yugure!" shouted Yoroi. That was the cue Twilight needed, and she ran right over to her older brother, excited and grateful to finally see him after who knows how long. Nagisa and Sebastian both went over too but stayed aside to let them bond a bit.

"Yoroi, it's been forever! How have you been?" Twilight asked.

"Sis. This is a surprise!" Yoroi said with a smile. Looking around though, Yoroi didn't really see any of their parents anywhere. The only parental guardian he could make out was Sebastian (maybe), but he didn't see neither mother nor father anywhere, any moment, anytime. He placed his firearm down nearby and walked over to Nagisa and Sebastian.

"Nagisa, how are you buddy? You've grown up a lot since last time I saw ya," Yoroi said, giving him a good handshake. Nagisa's relationship with Twilight's brother was rather vague, but Nagisa still remembered Yoroi from way back in the day. Not to mention it's the first time in a long time someone complimented him on his height.

"Really? Well thank you," Nagisa said bashfully. Though Yoroi still was a bit taller than Nagisa and Twilight. Maybe an inch taller than Karma even! But anyway, Yoroi then looked over to Sebastian standing there, the only person he didn't recognize out of the three. Sebastian gave a small bow, hand over heart in a gentleman's bow.

"Sebastian Michaelis. A pleasure to meet you," Sebastian introduced, hand extended as a nice gesture to Yoroi. Yoroi went and shook his hand as well.

"Yoroi Kagayaki," Yoroi said. At least Twilight and Nagisa could say that Sebastian was on good terms with Yoroi. Still, Yoroi wasn't going to ignore the elephant in the room.

"So, where's mom and dad? Are they around to talk to?" asked Yoroi. Twilight clammed up in embarrassment.

"Eh ... well, about that -"

"I'm afraid your parents aren't here, Yoroi. I'm your sister guardian for her visit here," informed Sebastian. Yoroi's behavior changed to an unsure one over his friendly behavior. Pretty unexpected to find his sister running around in a place like this without either parent to help her out.

"Wait what? You mean you're alone, Yugure?!"

"No! ... Well, technically no, I have my friends with me," Twilight answered, trying to calm Yoroi down.

"But then, why're you here? how're you here?" Yoroi then questioned. Twilight was so excited to see her big brother, she had flat out forgot this otherwise obvious concept. How is she going to tell him about what she did to get here? Especially concerning that she almost died multiple times now?! Her brother may be a soldier for Amestris, but not even he would believe something as crazy as that! Her involving with angels and demons? He'd never believe it!

"I-It's a long story," Twilight said, rubbing the back of her head. Really what else could she truly say to him?

"Well you can tell me later then. A representative from England is coming sometime today, and King Bradley wants me present for the exchange," Yoroi explained. How convenient to hear, and one that got them a bit intrigued.

"England, Yoroi?"

"Just got word yesterday, yeah. And not just any representative either, but the queen's granddaughter!"

Did they hear him right? The granddaughter of England's Queen coming to Amestris's Capitol central? He couldn't mean what they think, did he?

"You don't say," Twilight simply said.

"I know. Wish I have more time to chat, but I have to go get ready. I promised Bradley I'd start straight after training today," Yoroi said as he started to head in.

"We'll meet up later, ok?!" Twilight called to him, trailing behind. Nagisa and Sebastian had a moment to themselves here, both watching Yoroi and Twilight go in. It was nice to see brother and sister interacting with each other, though very convenient with Victoria coming over for a visit. Nagisa turned to his demon companion.

"You really think it's Victoria coming?" Nagisa asked.

"A surprisingly convenient story if I do say so myself. Perhaps this should be worth looking into, wouldn't you think?" Sebastian stayed. Nagisa needed little time to get what Sebastian was trying to say. Just getting a report about Homunculus roaming about central, and Victoria visiting the same place seemed just too convenient.

"You better tell the others, Sebastian."

"Willingly."

~~

"Is he here?!"

"He'll be here, just you wait."

In his office, Bradley and Salim both were waiting for the guests to come in for their talk. With Team Harmony apparently out of the way, Bradley took up more important matters with this meeting with Victoria. A bit of a rather odd meeting if it was just Victoria, and not her with the queen, but Bradley took the matter in stride anyway, despite the obvious confusion. The visit was to be taken place in the Central's main meeting room, where Bradley was patiently waiting in at the head of the round table. Like the flag in his office, the Amestris symbol also was engraved at the center of it. Bradley wasn't the only one in the room waiting though, Salim too waiting excitedly for at least one of them to show up. It wasn't just Victoria coming in after all, and Salim was more excited for the latter to show rather than Victoria herself. For the moment it was just those two, but eventually it didn't take very much longer until the doors opened up. The sight of them coming in was enough to make Salim very giddy about the situation, Bradley smiling to his son. Those coming in were a few of Bradley's guards, including Yoroi, Edward, and Alphonse. Out of all of them, it was probably Al who stood out the most, for obvious reasons, and when Salim saw him he knew immediately who could possibly be the Fullmetal Alchemist Bradley told him about.

"You brought your son, sir?" asked Yoroi. Though he didn't mind it personally, it was a surprise just before a meeting like this, as Salim went straight over to Alphonse with great enthusiasm.

"He wanted to meet the Fullmetal Alchemist himself for so long, I just had to. He'll be out before the meeting starts," explained Bradley.

"Wow, it's so amazing to finally meet you! I heard so much about you!" Salim said, eyes sparkling as he looked up to the huge armored man. If anyone could symbolize a Fullmetal Alchemist, it would be Alphonse. Right?

"Eh, ok ok, i-it's not me. I-It's my brother, there," Alphonse said, hand up in submission and shaking his head before pointing to the Fullmetal Alchemist. Salim paused for a moment in confusion and looked around at the other guards, to him none of which appeared to be the Alchemist. Ed waited and waited and waited, but Salim didn't get the hint. So, rather than say anything, Edward tapped Salim on his shoulder, and presented his automail arm to him. It honestly wasn't the first time. ...

"Mr. Armor just called you brother! Does that mean your Edward Elric: the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

"Yeah, that's right," Ed said, smiling.

"OH COOL! You are a tiny alchemist just like everyone says!"

... And there goes his smile.

"What was that? You. Brat. Say it again, once more! I'll send you flying. You hear me? Your little body will be sent out into space," Edward warned, fist clenched as his automail hand was placed on Salim's head. Salim wasn't really scared though, keeping his admiring smile, and ...

"That's true too! You hate being called small just like everyone said!"

"WHAAAAAAA?!" Salim could thank his lucky stars that Alphonse was standing there to grab his brother before he went ballistic, grabbing hold while his angry brother flailed and tried to reach little Salim, pissed off as ever. Ed kinda forgot the moment where he was, too angry to care really, until Bradley stepped in and placed his hand on Ed's head, just enough to snap him back. One look at Bradley's disapproving, intimidating expression was enough to quiet him down.

"Eh, sorry sir, really. It won't happen again," Alphonse said, releasing his brother. It was NOT good time to get into a fight, especially when this close to the arrival. And speaking of which ....

"Everyone having a good time?"

Speak of the devil. Look who happened to arrive on the scene just after the outburst from Edward: Victoria. The girl had arrived not too long ago, and she only waited until after things calmed down with Ed to enter the room. At least nothing too bad had happened for Bradley's sake, otherwise the whole thing would've gone to pot. Victoria didn't seemed too fazed by the supposed yelling she heard outside. Still, Victoria went over to Bradley and Salim at this point.

"Madam," said Bradley, taking a seat as the guards lined up behind him.

"Ok, Salim, you can go. You can talk with the Alchemists later," Bradley instructed, Salim still admiring over Edward when he said that. After Salim left, escorted out by one of the guards, it was straight down to business. Victoria took her seat across from King Bradley, Bradley's assigned guards standing at attention over behind him. Victoria wasn't too used to heading to these meetings herself, but then again it was on her own terms this time. Even if her grandmother told her not too.

"It's a pleasure to make it here, Bradley. I hope you've been keeping well," Victoria started.

"Likewise. Now what's this all about?"

"Before I'm to begin, let me make it clear that none of this is fabricated, nor made up. I will be telling the truth all through our discussion, alright?"

Meanwhile, outside of the meeting room, one figure wasn't going to miss this. Peeking around the corner to be sure, Nagisa made sure that no one else was there at the meeting doors. Under the influence thanks to Sebastian, Nagisa had to get this for himself, just in case if this is proven correct. He was all by himself, and with the coast clear and words heard from the room out, Nagisa went right over to the main doors. He didn't dare try to open up and walk in, as this was a meeting he shouldn't be barging in on, not in his lifetime. All Nagisa did so was stay quietly right next to the door, eavesdropping on the conversation to see what he can catch.

"If Envy is in there ..." Nagisa thought.

Back in the room, Victoria started her statement to King Bradley by presenting an object she brought with her to him. The object was a newspaper from England, the main headline concerning the fire started in Victoria's home. Front page news, that one.

"Sorry to hear that," Bradley said.

"It's mended. It's not the fire itself what I want to tell you anyway, it's who, or what started it," Victoria explained, Bradley placing the paper back down on the table.

"And who would that be," Bradley questioned. Victoria took a sigh before she locked eyes with Bradley.

"A demon."

"... Demon, Victoria?"

"A hellhound to be precise, yes. Just one demon caused this much damage, and that hellhound said there's more on the way. Tokyo Japan, and London England had already complied to a protection agreement, but let's be honest, your soldiers are clearly more qualified to this task."

"Are you asking to just take my men unannounced over just one pyro assault? Out of the question," Bradley made clear. He could believe Victoria about the whole demon hellhound thing or not, but he wasn't going to bend his back and give Victoria his troops.

"Not exactly, it's more of an exchange, naturally."

"You can call it what you wish, but I'm not just going to move my men over to London over one attack," Bradley stated. It was then that Victoria brought out her next bit of evidence to present to Bradley, this one more personalized and one she picked up before stopping by. Something a bit more varied.

"Then how about multiple assaults? Kidnapping, attempted murders, and after some research some Homunculi activity. How does that grab you?"

The final word made Bradley pause as he looked at what Victoria presented to him: files discussing about the conspiracy of Homunculus activity, recent reports detailing the Royal Ball incident specifically. Two accurate drawings of the Homunculus Lust and Envy were on the files too, and while Bradley had little clue on Lust, Envy's face looked ... well, vaguely familiar.

"Small world: apparently a group from your country had come by to investigate the exact same thing," Bradley revealed, as the others took a look at the pictures, Ed and Al in particular. One look by Ed Elric and it was enough to surprise him. It just took a glance from Bradley and Victoria too to see that.

"I'm going to have a guess and say you know those Homunculus?"

"Know them? Hell, they tried to kill us while getting here. Said something about witnesses, sir," Edward revealed. So now the Fullmetal Alchemist, and Queen of England all encountered these Homunculus.

"And Team Harmony is here too? How cute," Victoria giggled. What a coincidence that her Ciel would be here as well.

"So that's their name."

"Yes, but they're not all mine. Hence the agreement with Tokyo, you see, as only one of mine is in the team. How are those little kids doing, by the way?" Victoria asked.

"I'm allowing them to stay for a while to investigate this Homunculus issue," Bradley replied, though this revelation did pose a bigger threat than expected. And that kind of danger going around Central of all places!

"That is nice to know. And their little angel can surely help central out a lot."

"Angel? I'm not looking for innocent peacekeepers."

"That's not a metaphor, I mean a real life, heavenly Magi angel. They have this little angel, Aladdin, and he actually saved my life during the demon attack."

"Aladdin? Magi? How'd she know that?!" Nagisa thought. A surprise enough that Victoria was here at all, but Aladdin didn't tell her straight up that he was from heaven, or anything like that, nor did he tell her what he exactly was. That just seemed to convince him that she must be the Homunculus! Nagisa kept his focus on the conversation more from there, more intently this time. So much so that he failed to notice that he too was being watched. And by the rest of the team no less. ...

"Nagisa? What's he doing there?" Wondered Aladdin.

"Eavesdropping obviously. But not even Nagisa would be this gutsy," Karma noted. It may not be the first time Nagisa listened in, but there was still limits all the same. And Nagisa was surely pushing it. Pinkie peered suspiciously towards Nagisa.

"He's not fooling me. I bet that is Envy!" Pinkie concluded quietly.

"Maybe, but maybe not," Twilight said.

"Why would he be here, if not? Let's get him!"

......

*BANG*

Well she did it. Before anyone could stop her, Pinkie and Blair suddenly charged Nagisa, and tackled him to the floor. The loud bang from the impact surely got the attention from those in the meeting room, conversation cutting to a halt. Nagisa immediately panicked from the attack, and Blair managed to pin Nagisa down, sitting on his back while holding his arms behind him.

"What the hell?!" Nagisa gasped, barely comprehending what just happened.

"Stay down mr. Homunculus!" Pinkie warned.

"WHAT?!"

Soon the doors to the meeting room opened up and Victoria and Bradley came out to see the situation, just to find Nagisa down on the ground.

"And what's going on out here?" asked Bradley.

"We got your Homunculus right here, chief," announced Karma.

"I AM NOT!" shouted Nagisa. Apparently the others weren't buying it, and Pinkie even grabbed him by the collar.

"Big liar! Now, where's OUR Nagisa?! YOU DON'T TELL ME AND I'LL SHAKE YOU UP UNTIL YOU DO!!" Pinkie screamed, shaking Nagisa just mad to get the truth out of him.

"PI-I-I-I-nkie! I-I-I-I-I AM NAGISA!" Nagisa said, dazed from the shaking. Unfortunately it wasn't getting through to her, or anyone else at first.

"You really going to try this again? You did this once already, it's not going to work twice," Karma said.

"I'M NOT TRYING ANYTHING," Nagisa insisted. Unfortunately, King Bradley moved them out of the way, and suddenly had Nagisa by the collar, enough to lift him off the ground! This was bad, this was very bad! And the situation didn't get any better when the leading man of Amestris pulled out a sword he had with him, enough to freak out almost everyone there! Was he going to kill him right then and there?! Even if he was a Homunculus, this was a bit extreme.

"Let's not be too hasty."

"SAVED!" Nagisa thought. Sebastian finally stepped in, appearing after a while, and got his hand around Bradley's own sword. A bold move for anyone who knew Bradley, and Sebastian even pulled the sword out of his hand.

"Got some nerve, don't you?" Bradley commented sternly, dropping Nagisa to the ground. A bit surprised, but he was thanking the lord for Sebastian to come to his own rescue. ...

"Allow me, sir."

"Wait, what - OW!"

Well, ok, maybe. Sebastian's move happened all too fast for any to even react to, and suddenly Nagisa found that his hand had been cut by the sword! The slice was so fast and precise, one false move and Nagisa would've had a finger missing! They all weren't sure what Sebastian was trying to do, but Sebastian made sure to present the cut he made to the rest, grabbing Nagisa's arm and moving it in position. The blood flowed freely from the cut, coating his fingers in a faint crimson red, but they all then realized something after a bit. The previous encounters, whenever a Homunculus got attacked or cut, they would heal on the spot, but Nagisa wasn't healing the same way. Or rather, not at all for that matter.

"There. Any real Homunculus would've healed by now, am I right?" Sebastian inquired. Now they all got what Sebastian really meant, and apparently cutting into Nagisa's hand was the first thing Sebastian thought up to do. Not the first thing Nagisa would think to do, but still resulted in the answer all the same.

"Eh ... oops," Pinkie said.

"Yeah he's clean. Sorry, man," added Karma. Nagisa may be cleared of that, but Bradley was still suspicious over him.

"You may not be a Homunculus ... but then why were you listening in on the meeting in the first place?" questioned Bradley. Nagisa felt more unsettled again, his hand hidden away as Bradley took his sword back, the tip now stained red. Wrong word now and he might get sliced up again. Things were already a little tense as it is.

"Eh, uh ... w-well ... I uh -"

"Curious over me, aren't you?" Victoria suddenly said. Nagisa looked to Victoria, and immediately had to answer, his answer coming out in a quick nod. With the accusation, and what Bradley told her, she got everything all around together fairly fast. So, with a smile, she extended her hand out towards Bradley, as if trying to offer a friendly hand to him.

"Bradley, if you don't mind?" Victoria suggested. Bradley found this odd, but he took her offer in fairly decently, and his sword cut her hand as well. Victoria cringed slightly, but not much reaction besides that. That didn't mean the others were left unfazed either, either cringing or shocked Victoria would do this so quickly and carefree. As with Nagisa, her cut didn't heal up so fast, and it proved that she was indeed the true Victoria.

"I believe that answers your question," Victoria finished, even grabbing Nagisa's bloody hand with her own blood-filled one. Nagisa felt pretty unsettled by this display, seeing how calm Victoria was, even with her hand now seeping blood like his was. Nagisa could see in her eyes that she wasn't concern in the slightest.

"Uh ... yeah."

"Are you okay? Didn't that hurt?" Aladdin asked.

"It did. Perhaps you should patch us up," Victoria joked. If it was considered a joke. As this was happening, Ed and Al both couldn't help but overhear what happened. Seeing this just envoked and proved the Homunculus problem even further.

What was going on at Central?

~~

The late night back in Japan held some bit of hope for 3-E when it came to the new teacher Tataoka. With the night coming around, one student was actually busy with her own little bit of research in the matter, or at least in Tataoka himself: Kirara Hazama. Not getting much homework earlier that day gave Kirara plenty of time to try and get her act together on what was what. On a laptop she had in her room, she was off and at work in doing her own little bit of research. She only knew of Tataoka by the one name though, so she only had that to work with, and the fact he was apart of the military.

"Tataoka. Now where have I heard of that name before? ..." Kirara wondered, as she surfed the internet to try and figure things out. With the main light being the monitor in front of her, Kirara was fully focused on this little investigation. She'd normally could care less on who was actually teaching and who wasn't, but this Tataoka just sounded bizarrely familiar to her, almost like some past call that just came back to her.
In her little game of conspiracy research, Kirara finally managed to locate a information page regarding Tataoka, but rather than any simple information page, this one was instead more focused on a conspiracy site (a website talking about urben legends, conspiracies, and stuff like that) which included images of the cheerful Tataoka with a few of his previous military students. They all were shirtless, hands behind their backs, and smiles on their faces. The smile on Tataoka was as cheerful and giddy as earlier that day, and the smiles on the other, older military men were also big, while a bit unsure. A bit strange though: the picture couldn't see any of their hands, nor any part of their back. Tataoka had his arms around two of the four men, all smiles and in a similar manor to how he did it with Nabiku and Yoshida earlier. Kirara knew now that Tataoka wasn't all he seemed to be, if he was on this page.

"Alright, what dirt do you have for me?" Kirara commented, just before she clicked on the conspiracy page regarding Tataoka. When she saw the top title for Tataoka, her suspicions were immediately confirmed.

Tataoka: Sargent or Torturer?

Straightforward, and scrolling down the page just a few times showed the same image from earlier, only here with their backs to the camera. It showed Tataoka alright, but it was the four other men that Kirara immediately took notice. Their backs were red, scratched and appeared being cruelly whipped with red stinging slashes down their backs in several places. Once more, their hands were tied up behind them, making all of them unable to use their hands for anything at all. Gakuho allowed this guy to work at their school? Intriguing, yet disturbing. ...

.......

It was training time back at Orora high again. A day had past, and now training was being taken a little differently. As he had mentioned yesterday, Tataoka was now going on and was in charge of the training sessions of 3-E. Karasuma was still around and observing Tataoka, to make sure he knew what he was doing. Korosensei was nearby and observing the 3-E class, chilling out on a lawn chair and drinking up a latte. The students were all lined up along the yard, ready for Tataoka to begin the training, all a bit more cool with it than they'd usually be. With how Tataoka treated them yesterday, they were expecting a much better time with this over their time with Karasuma. Funny thing though: Kirara was absent that day, and probably the only one aside from Karma who wasn't looking forward to Tataoka's little session. The others were more than ready this time, and waited for the word to start.

"Alright, gang, now as I'm in charge there's gonna be a few changes, though I know you're all looking forward to it," said Tataoka. There wasn't any complaints about that, naturally, and Tataoka readied to get the schedule out, checking over the attendants first. Karasuma and Korosensei kept watch over Tataoka during this process with some bit of suspicion, as he presented the schedule to them. ...

Training time took up ninety five percent of that schedule!

"What?! We don't have time to study with something like that," gasped Sugino.

"Don't get freaked out, kids, you'll adapt to it I know you will. Now, if we can -"

"Eh, sorry, but no. We still have school to attend to," said Nakamura. Tataoka was starting to move over towards her, his smile on his face signature as usual. Nakamura looked up to him from there, thinking he might reconsider.
Instead, all that she got was her head and back severely gripped! Each hand of Tataoka grabbed Nakamura, one gripping her scalp, as the other one grabbed hold of the base of her back. The pain hurt a ton, and caught everyone by surprise! He was supposed to be this neighborhood dad, what was he doing?! Nakamura was actually lifted off the ground before being forcefully dropped, the pain still stinging.

"There's one thing that needs to be clear: there's no such thing as "no" here. You do not say "no" to me," warned Tataoka. That view of the friendly neighborhood dad was gone in an instant. Karasuma and Korosensei shared their surprise too.

"What're you doing crumbling my students?!" Korosensei asked, panicked over the well-being of his students. Tataoka turned to his target, his signature smile across his face. However, this smile was no longer as fun-loving or cheerful, and now it was that of pure malicious.

"It's nothing but discipline, target. They need to be trained good and hard to take you down," Tataoka said. A rather light term for that.

"Discipline?! That you just did is straight up assault, no teacher should ever physically harm their students so unprompted!!" Korosensei yelled, getting more angry at him. Tataoka placed both hands on Korosensei's shoulders, his gaze down at first. At first he said nothing, but then his hand pulled out his signed job slip, showing it to Korosensei. Then came a sinister grin and evil eyes.

"Remember that promise? Your promise to the government states that you will not harm any figure at Orora High. No teacher, no student, no further employee. And as I'm technically a school instructor, your promise is put to me. ... I can teach how I want to teach, and you'll support my methods."

Tataoka got him there, and that made him furious, his head turning red in anger. He kept that promise for months now, and now this same promise was holding him back from saving his students from this tyrant. Oh, the loopholes are the worst thing to happen at this point in time, and Korosensei didn't know what to do. Tataoka turned his attention back to the students again.

"Uh ... Mr.Tataoka? Please don't make us do this. ..." Nabiku said, the kindest she could do, hands clasped together in pled. Tataoka's cruelty knew no boundaries, and all Nabiku got was a horrid clock to her head! So hard of a swing, Nabiku was knocked head over heels, landing on the ground hard! That freaked out Korosensei even more, and the rest of the class. Karasuma quickly went over to Nabiku's aid, the poor girl hurting like crazy and in tears.

"Are you okay? Can you move your neck properly?" Karasuma asked urgently. Nabiku didn't get any severe damage, but the swing and hit was still a harsh one, leaving a red mark almost covering her whole left side of her face. Even if it was an open-palmed strike, it still was powerful. With both Nabiku and Nakamura injured in such a way, Tataoka looked back to his students.

"Anyone willing to argue?" Tataoka questioned. After seeing the rough behavior before, they weren't so willing to complain this time around. Just what Tataoka wanted to hear from them.

"Then let's begin."

.......

There they all were. End of the day, and all look ready to collapse. Tataoka and his methods of training were nothing but harsh, even for the most experienced of trainees. It wasn't exactly the matter of the exact task (squats, push-ups, etc.), but it was more about how much Tataoka actually wanted them to do. Each task, each athletic exercise they were given to do was far beyond any real capability for them to handle, one way or another. When doing push-ups for example, Tataoka amped up their ante to about hundred a piece, none of them allowed to take a break until they were finished, and even then Tataoka forced them to keep pace and not slow down. The other exercises were just as cruel: sit-ups were ninety five per person, squats were about one hundred and twenty, and others were similarly harsh.
Worst one came from practicing assassination itself. Tataoka took it on himself to be their practice target, but instead of typical dodging like Karasuma would do, he fought back hard! Any swipe at him lead to a kick or punch to launch them back, and no holding back either. Tataoka may have enjoyed showing up his challengers, but all the 3-E students suffered their fare share of injuries, be it bruises, red lumps, or even bloody cuts all to show his surpermecy. All cuts weren't in obvious spots, but their pain was evident on each and every one of them as they were walking home. Needless to say they looked more like they were left in a gang fight rather than any sane gym practice, some barely able to even walk straight. All of them had some sort of bandaged wound, Korosensei approved and his courtesy, but seeing these 3-E students going home like this was a bit of a disturbing sight. For Nabiku, her injuries mostly remained to just the injury on her face, though Tataoka added some bruises to her torso and right leg too, and that was when he let them off easy! It was indeed a severe dilemma, one that could actually kill them, and after what they've gone through they all knew that.

"Worst. Day. Ever," groaned Nakamura, her injuries mostly on her arms which were bandaged up.

"Damn Tataoka, why did they have to pick him of all people?" added in Terasaka, who probably suffered the worst of it with a broken arm in a casket. Yeah, it was THAT bad, and on the first day!

"Here's a better one: how'd he get past Gakuho?!" asked Takuya.

"Actually no. That false happy-go-lucky face fooled everybody," Nakamura noted. It still didn't really help the issue all too well, and Nabiku stopped for a moment, looking over her injuries. She only avoided bandages and blood because she stayed back from trying to attack Tataoka, but even then her injuries were still severe on a more minor definition. The most terrifying part was that this was just the beginning of it. ...

"OI!"

The group stopped on that sound and looked off ahead. Up ahead of the path someone else was coming in to see what was going on, and this figure seemed ... different, and a bit of a relief to see.

"Niji," Nabiku quietly said, though it was just enough to be heard by the others. Niji went right over to them, running from the main building path towards the 3-E building, and as she came over, she stopped in front of the others just to see the injuries they all had.

"Dang. What happened, Nabiku? Did you guys get in a fight or something?" Niji asked, concerned a bit.

"You know her, Nabiku?" Nakamura questioned.

"Well, we known eachother for a bit," Nabiku admitted. And indeed, they were knowing eachother for a little bit. But that wasn't the main issue here, Niji observing the damage done from Tataoka's training.

"We got beat up, if you have to know."

"What got to you?" Niji asked.

"Tataoka, our new instructor. He's so ruthless, it's bullshit!" Terasuka groaned, holding his broken arm. Niji cringed on the revelation, and brought her attention over to Terasuka's arm, stuck in a makeshift cask. Whoever this Tataoka was, he didn't pull back a single punch on any of them. Poor things.

"You saying one man did this to you?"

"Yes. He's so cruel," Nabiku whimpered, tears coming down her face again. Niji was quick to bring a hand out and wipe some tears off of her.

"Ok, ok enough with the water works. I'll help you out," Niji promised. Niji wasn't going to leave Nabiku like this, not by a long shot. It was very nice that Niji was so quick to offer her help.

"You will? Well, thanks but what can you do?"

"Just point me in the right direction and I'll sort it out. Trust me, I promise it'll work itself out."

What have they got to lose?