Blue Archive - Story of Joshua Sensei

Chapter 7 - Catgirl Rescue Mission

...

"Welcome back, everyone. Great work today." Ayane greets us as we return to the classroom in Abydos.

"We're back!" Hoshino says, as she and I plop down on the couch.

"Thanks, Ayane. You too." Serika says back.

"We finally took down the Kata-Kata Helmet Gang. It should be smooth sailing from here." Nonomi says, sitting down her gatling gun.

"More like we can finally get back to more important matters." Shiroko adds, quietly as usual. What could be more important than those goons attacking their school? I almost don't wanna ask.

"Haha!" Serika laughs happily. "All we have to focus on now is paying back the debt."

"So ya'll are in a worse situation than I expected, huh?" I say.

"Wait... crap." Serika says, realizing what she said.

"What debt?" I ask with narrowed eyes, a bit upset at the prospect of students owing a debt.

"W-Well, the thing is-" Ayane says hesitantly.

"Stop right there! Not another word, Ayane!" Serika cuts her off, shocking the poor elf girl.

"Why not, Serika? It's not like it's a secret." The pink haired girl next to me says.

"That doesn't mean we should go telling everyone!" Serika snaps back.

"Serika." I begin, drawing her attention. "I might be new to being a teacher, but I know a teacher's supposed to help their students. You guys were running low on ammo, though I thought that was just 'cause of that gang constantly attacking you, but ammo's cheap and plenty here in Kivotos. I dunno what this debt is exactly, but you guys needed external help to be able to solve one problem due to the debt causing another." I look the cat girl in the eyes. "It's fine to do everything by yourself, but sometimes it's not enough. There's nothin' wrong with getting help from others."

The room remains quiet after my speech.

"Sensei's right, we can't always do everything by ourselves. And it's not like we're guilty of anything." Hoshino chirps in. "Besides, he's one of us now." She says, playfully shaking my arm around.

"Hoshino is right, Serika." Shiroko adds. "Sensei is responsible, trustworthy, even."

"I know, but he's still an outsider." Serika says, likely trying to find an excuse.

"I'm not saying Sensei can solve this problem on our behalf, but he's the only adult we have to turn to. It's been plain and clear for a long time that the other students aren't gonna help us out." Hoshino says seriously, suddenly seeming much more mature than I've seen of her. "Maybe we can come up with a solution of we discuss it with Sensei, even. Or do you have any better ideas, Serika?"

Caught on the spot, the cat girl fumbles her words. "W-Well..." She stutters. "But Sensei just showed up out of nowhere! Why would an adult care about our problems, anyway? We've always taken care of ourselves! Why do we suddenly need to be supervised...?"

I sigh, catching her attention. "You don't trust me. I get that, we just met, after all. And you're right, most adults wouldn't want to help you just to be helpful. People can be real mean nowadays. But I'm a teacher now, it's literally my job to help students." I lean forward, placing my arms on my legs. "So at the very least, give me a chance."

Serika and I stare at one another for a long while, until she comes to a decision. "F-Fine. I'll give you a chance, Sensei. Only one!"

I smile. "That's enough for me."