Kouga's eyes fluttered open, greeted by a ceiling painted in sterile white. The faint scent of antiseptic clung to the air, and the steady hum of medical equipment confirmed what his body already knew—he was in some kind of infirmary.
He shifted slightly against the sheets, feeling the unfamiliar softness of the hospital bed beneath him. Sunlight streamed through the narrow window at his side, and from the angle of the rays he guessed it was morning.
Turning his head, he noticed Kiana slumped over in a metal chair pulled close to his bedside. Her upper body rested on the mattress, her chest rising and falling with soft snores. One arm curled beneath her head like a makeshift pillow, while the other dangled limply by her side. Strands of her messy white braid had fallen across her cheek, giving her a strangely innocent look that contrasted with her usual loud energy.
For a moment, Kouga simply watched her in silence, the weight of exhaustion still pressing on his limbs. Despite everything, despite the blood, the battles, and the threats, seeing her safe brought him a quiet relief he hadn't realized he needed.
However, Mei was nowhere in sight. A faint unease crept into Kouga's chest, tightening with every second. Just as he began to push himself up in a panic, the door slid open.
"Well now, this is a surprise," a familiar voice drawled. The woman stepped in with a smirk tugging at her lips, arms casually folded beneath her chest. "We weren't expecting you to wake up for another two days at least."
Kouga narrowed his eyes, studying her. She was clad in a brown military jacket, the collar undone just enough to hint at the valley beneath. A belt cinched around her waist, though it didn't seem attached to anything, and an aiguillette draped neatly off her right shoulder into a hidden pocket beneath the collar. Dark brown shorts hugged her hips, paired with thigh-high boots of the same shade—the right one wrapped with a belt to match the height of the left.
"But," she continued, a playful tilt to her voice, "perfect timing. I was just heading to the principal's office to discuss your group's enrollment. Come along if you want."
Kouga's gaze hardened. "Where's Mei?"
The woman's hands came up in quick surrender. "Easy there. She's fine. We haven't touched her. Honestly, after what you told us… we'd have to be suicidal to try."
Relief loosened the tension in his chest. Kouga gave a short nod and swung his legs off the bed. He glanced at Kiana, still dozing peacefully with her head resting on the mattress, and carefully pulled the blanket up to cover her shoulders.
Before leaving, he gave the woman a small, tired smile. "Thank you, Miss…"
"Murata," she said, her grin widening. "Himeko Murata."
Kouga followed her out, careful not to wake Kiana as he adjusted the hospital blanket over her shoulders. Only then did he step into the hall beside Himeko.
"What is this place?" he asked after a few moments of silence.
White stone pillars stretched to his left, holding up the roof and lining a courtyard filled with trimmed greenery. To his right, Himeko walked with a casual but steady pace. The architecture made the place feel more like a museum than any school he had known. Yet she'd mentioned a principal.
What kind of school needed a veteran soldier as a teacher?
"It's a school for Valkyries," Himeko answered, then glanced at him as if remembering something. "Right, you probably don't know. Schicksal isn't common knowledge outside of certain circles. So—"
So there are others besides Anti-Entropy fighting the Honkai, Kouga thought. The faces of Siegfried and Ryoma came to mind, men who had carried that same burden.
He hummed, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, and let the rest of her explanation fade into the background.
They walked on until the sight of their destination pulled him from his thoughts. A grand, church-like structure rose before them, its white marble gleaming under sunlight. Light blue domes crowned the main roof and the spires surrounding it.
Inside, they ascended staircases that seemed to wind endlessly. Kouga's sharp eyes caught it—Himeko's movements stiffening, her teeth clenched against something. By the time they reached the principal's office, she was gripping her right shoulder with one hand and pressing her other against her lower back.
"Are you okay?" Kouga asked, his tone edged with concern despite himself. After all, she had faced the Herrscher and him.
"You and your Herrscher friend are a pain in the ass," Himeko hissed. "It's been three days since that fight, and I'm still sore."
Before Kouga could respond, a high-pitched voice cut across the room.
"Using the Nexus system while it's still under development, and then forcing it to its maximum output just to block a Herrscher's attack—honestly! You should be grateful you're not flat on your back in a hospital bed!"
Kouga's eyes snapped across the office, scanning for the source. He saw nothing at first—just twin red sofas facing one another, a polished wooden table between them, and a matching desk with a high-backed chair at the far end.
Then the voice rang out again: "You reckless bomb woman!"
It came from the other side of the desk. Kouga stepped closer, and at last noticed the tuft of white hair barely visible over the top of the chair.
Himeko, however, didn't seem fazed in the slightest. In fact, a smirk tugged at her lips.
"Ah, Madam Principal, you are here," she said, tone playful. "You're so small and cute I nearly didn't notice you at all—"
Her teasing lilt made Kouga glance between them, a single brow twitching.
"Why did you bring the boy here?" the small figure asked, her voice sharper than Kouga expected. She climbed down from the chair and walked toward him, her steps measured.
"Oh, right—the kid." Himeko gave a lazy shrug before gesturing back at him with a flick of her hand. "This is Principal Theresa. She'll be handling the enrollment of you brats."
Kouga blinked. That's the principal?
What stood before him looked less like a hardened commander and more like a miniature version of Kiana. The same sky-blue eyes, the same pale hair—though shorter, and with a gravity that Kiana often lacked. The resemblance was so uncanny he almost spoke aloud, but held his tongue.
Theresa's black, nun-like dress only heightened the contrast: innocent appearance wrapped in authority.
"I'm just glad we were able to find survivors so quickly," Theresa said at last, turning her attention from Kouga back to Himeko. The warmth in her voice hardened into command. "Major, I want a full report of what happened that night."
"On it," Himeko sighed.
And so she told it. Every beat, every bloody detail, laid out with the kind of precision only a soldier could manage. Kouga stood still, his arms folded, listening as his own battle was recounted like a mission log. She described Mei's loss of control, Kouga's reckless interception of the beast's blade, and the Herrscher's awakening. She didn't spare herself either—explaining the risk she'd taken with the unstable Nexus system to block the Herrscher's attack.
Finally, she spoke of the aftermath.
"After the Herrscher was suppressed," Himeko continued, her tone dropping as if the memory weighed on her bones, "Kiana and I carried Mei and this idiot onto the Hyperion. Both were unconscious . We returned here immediately."
Kouga's jaw tightened at her phrasing, but he said nothing. He knew better than to interrupt a report.
Kouga frowned as something nagged at him. Wait…
"There was another girl with us," he said, his tone edged with urgency. "Gray hair. Name's Bronya."
Theresa and Himeko exchanged a glance. The redhead gave a helpless shrug, while the principal exhaled softly, folding her small hands together before speaking.
"We'll send another team out to search for her," Theresa assured him. Her attention shifted back to the glowing holographic display, which now showed Kiana's profile—her name, her sparse education records, even her photo. For a brief moment, Kouga caught softness in the woman's expression. But it was gone in an instant, replaced by professional steel.
"Before we do, however, we'll need you to answer a few questions."
"Shoot," Kouga replied simply, folding his arms and bracing himself.
Theresa leaned forward, stretching her short arms across the desk to tap the display. The screen flickered and shifted, cycling through several files before halting on one in particular.
It was a video—grainy but clear enough. Kouga recognized it instantly. It showed him transforming, his armor shining into place, followed by the brutal clash with the building-sized Honkai beast.
"Here's the first one." Theresa's gaze lifted from the projection and locked onto him. Her voice was calm but sharp enough to cut glass.
"How can you do the things you do?"