Grown Up- an Ah! My Goddess fanfic

Review. Please.
1. A warning. This may seem like a filler chapter. It’s not. I introduce important details. It is meant to be more of a fun chapter, though. Please enjoy.
2. Another note. I don’t usually title chapters, but I just couldn’t resist this time.

Chapter 6 the advent of mini-Banpei-kun RX

“Keiichi won’t ever be able to guess that mini-Banpei will be able to move.” Skuld chuckled as she sat at her workbench, carefully soldering the last parts into place. “He’ll see the floppy legs and arms and just assume you are actually ‘just’ a zipper pull.” She patted her creation gently on the head with one finger. “Won’t he, mini-Banpei?”
Skuld leaned back in her work chair and stretched for a moment. “A month’s wait for the materials I special ordered from Heaven and week’s assembly time is going to be totally worth it!” She turned her chair towards her computer. “I should probably take care of his boot-up and initialization while everyone is still out for today.” Skuld brought up the proper program and tapped ‘Enter’. “Start!”

Power flooded through new circuits, bringing life throughout the system. MBZP-1, with user-name ‘Mini-Banpei’ began to remember, moment to moment. MBZP-1 took the newfound power and began to run its most basic program, which in turn launched his boot-up.

:Power- connected, charging. Main OS connection – searching…:
:Individual unit OS- booting. Visualization systems coming online:
:Aural systems coming online. Aural data processing begin in sync with VS:
:Mobilization systems- currently sealed. Mission priorities loading, waiting for Main OS confirmation:
:Visualization systems online. Visualization/Aural data processing beginning in…:
:1…2…3.:

“Hey? Hello? Oh, there you are! Can you see me? Your Mobilization capabilities are sealed until you gain wireless contact with Banpei, your main operating system. Please hold on until the wireless connection becomes stable.” A voice came from the flesh colored blur above him. “Hold on a bit.” The blur added.
MBZP-1 zoomed in on the face of the one his limited memory banks informed him was his creator. Creator-User name- Skuld-sama. MBZP-1 zoomed his sight back out and began scanning the room. There were two other presences, both mechanical.
“Skuld-sama, why is it so small? It’s limbs look practically useless as well. What is its purpose?” asked the mechanical presence wearing human clothes. MBZP-1 searched his data banks for information and received the unit-name of “Sigel”. Creator-Skuld-Sama reached back to gather her hair back into a ponytail again. “Neither you or Banpei-kun are allowed to come with me to school, and Keiichi and Onee-sama have banned all of the modifications I wanted to make to my school gear. Mini-Banpei will be a separate unit that can keep an eye on me for you two worrywarts, and help me with little errands in an inconspicuous way. His limbs only look useless. I bought the material for them from heaven, and created a magnetic system that works just like Banpei’s legs. But just without the mechanical parts. And,” Skuld-sama stopped and looked down fondly on MBZP-1 “isn’t he just so cute!”
The second mechanical presence, unit-name Banpei, (OriginalOpSys, MBZP-1 marked as a note in its memory banks) took out a strange object and drew what looked like…blush lines? ‘Sigel’ mumbled something in an undertone, which drew a knowing smile from Skuld-sama.
MBZP-1 noticed another surge of processing power, and put more effort into making wireless connection with Main OS.

:Main OS- found, currently connecting. Connected. Mission priorities:
:1. Forward unit responsible for user ‘Skuld-sama’ safety and relay of pertinent information and mission priorities in Emergency situations to main OS ‘Banpei-kun RX’. 2. Mobilization only permitted in front of user ‘Skuld-sama’ or when no other human present. 3. When Mobilization is permitted, unit MBZP-1 is to stay in ‘stealth’ mode. 4. Obey orders of user ‘Skuld-sama’ and achieve all missions possible within unit capabilities:
:Mobilization System- unsealed. Permission Granted.:
:IOS contact with land-based memory bank marked ‘MBZP-1 Personality Bank. Additional memory provided for IOS and increased unit capacity.:

MBZP-1 activated his mobilization program. He moved an arm. “Look, it works!” ‘Sigel’ exclaimed, “Skuld-sama, you are a genius!” Skuld-sama pulled on her earlobe and… MBZP-1 searched his now expanded information base and found the proper word, ‘smiled’. “You betcha! Give him some space, this will take a while.” she said.
MBZP felt a strange program included with the additional information in the off-site memory bank begin to operate, and based on a strange feeling in his circuits, he sent a message to the main OS. :Permission to add mission priority 5. Protect user ‘Skuld-sama’s’ human expression ‘smile’ at all costs.:
MBZP-1 sat up and turned his head toward the OOS unit, ‘Banpei’. Unit ‘Banpei’s’ visualization units met MBZP-1’s, and there was a pause. And then the return message was received by MBZP-1’s IOS. :Main OS permission- granted. Mission priority 5 added to unit MBZP-1’s memory bank and official IOS procedure: MBZP-1’s ‘emotion’ circuit prompted it’s understanding of unit ‘Banpei’s’ use of ‘markers’. :Personal sub priority 1. Find item called ‘black crayon’ added.:

Skuld sat up against the wall with her arms wrapped around her folded up legs and watched mini-Banpei fall down again. Sigel remained next to her. “Why is it so clumsy?” she asked a bit haughtily, also watching the new unit. Skuld shot her a look and asked, “Has really been so long since you had similar operation troubles that you have already forgotten?” she asked, a bit sharply. Sigel’s face took on an apologetic cast. “Sorry. I didn’t think to check those memories.”
Skuld sighed. “It’s alright. Mini-Banpei has a completely new mobilization system and programming, and without the proper data, it isn’t finished. He has to gain experience of what works and doesn’t work, and using that data he and Banpei-kun are finishing the program. He’ll figure it out eventually. A proper analogue is the stage of human and heavenly development where young children have to learn how to walk on their own. Not that parent’s or siblings don’t help, of course.” Skuld brushed a loose piece of hair behind her ear. “It might seem a bit cruel, but it is really tough but very important.”
Sigel looked and Skuld with wide eyes. “Skuld-sama didn’t know how to walk at first?” she asked, shock evident on her face. Skuld glanced at her. “No. And neither did Onee-sama, Urd, Keiichi, or Sentaro.” Skuld set her chin on her knees. “It’s nothing special.” Sigel gave her a dubious look, but went back to watching mini-Banpei struggle to stand up and walk properly. Skuld broke the silence, “You might just want to think of mini-Banpei as Banpei-kun’s kid brother.” She said musingly, watching fondly as the new unit took a shaky step forward, and then another. “That would make you like an Onee-san, wouldn’t it?”
“O-o-onee-san!” Sigel stammered. Skuld released her legs and leaned back against the wall, smiling in Sigel’s direction. “Yep. Please look after my child!” she said teasingly. Sigel quieted down and took on a thoughtful look, “Alright.” she said quietly. The two relaxed for a moment, watching as Banpei and mini-Banpei worked together harmoniously. Skuld smiled, grabbed Sigel’s side and pulled Sigel closer to her, and then leaned over near Sigel’s ear. “You just love watching your boyfriend act like a reliable and loving older brother, don’t you?” Skuld whispered teasingly.
“B-b-boyfriend? Reliable? Him?” Sigel stammered, with a panicked look on her face, “Never!” Skuld laughed as she pulled Sigel into a hug and Banpei and mini-Banpei stopped what they were doing and looked over at the two of them questioningly.

Keiichi carefully looked over the mini-Banpei ‘zipper pull’ Skuld had asked permission to bring to school. He had to admit, it was really good work. It looked almost exactly like a really miniature Banpei, with the exception of the limbs which were composed of the closely segmented round key chain chains you often saw connecting the cute SD character to the key ring. Well, that and the open/close hook used to attach to the zipper, connected to his hat by a small metal ring.
Keiichi put his hand below the feet and dropped it. It dropped like a stone into his hand, the legs bending and not holding any weight at all. “I’ll allow it. I was suspicious when I saw the hands and feet would probably work exactly the same as Banpei’s, but the limbs are useless. Go ahead. It is very…” Keiichi paused. “‘Cute’.”
Skuld smiled, “Thanks Keiichi. I don’t think you need to check every little thing I ask to bring with me,” she rolled her eyes, “But you could have held it up for a couple of days checking it, and I really appreciate this. I’m really looking forward to showing this to a friend of mine.” Skuld smiled, showing brilliant white teeth. “One that likes cute things.”

Skuld locked her bike onto the bike rack and then started moving toward her classroom when she saw a familiar figure. “Chika!” she waved and called out and then skipped toward her best friend. “Check this out!” and Skuld held out her school bag. Chika turned toward Skuld and smiled. “Morning, Skuld.” Chika leaned in a bit and picked up Skuld’s zipper pull. “Its cute, Skuld. Where is this character from?” Chika asked. “It looks like a SD mascot character.”
Skuld froze for a moment. I totally forgot about how to explain this. “I-it is!” she said nervously, “H-he is a mascot character for a little known mecha show. It’s kind of like a love comedy,” Skuld fidgeted nervously, trying to find the proper mix of lie and truth. “It’s called ‘The Familiar of Sigel’. This is the SD version of the main male hero, Banpei.”
Chika straightened up and smiled, “That is very interesting. I haven’t watched any anime since ‘Neon G*n*sis Ev*ng*li*n’ was finished*, but it sounds very good. Maybe you can show me an episode or two sometime. Does it have any penguins?”
Skuld flinched a little, “N-no, not really. It might be better if there was, though.” She finished weakly. Chika smiled, and laughed saying, “Well, maybe not, then. Come on, let’s get to class.” Skuld let out a silent breath of relief and smiled as the two friends began to walk leisurely down the hallway to their classroom, chatting comfortably.

MBZP-1 was busy taking in important reconnaissance information while bouncing off the side of Skuld-sama’s bag. This was an important task the main OS had told him was a large part of his first priority. He already had gathered much pertinent information about the ‘friend who likes cute things’, user name ‘Chika’. He continued to gather such information, despite such awkward circumstances. Banpei would be proud!
…MBZP-1 checked to see where this feeling in his circuits had come from and pinpointed his ‘emotion’ circuit. That circuit was not broken, diagnostics told him, and was working properly. :‘Proud’? Query: What is ‘pride’?: The definition was supplied by MBZP-1’s external databanks. He pondered, and then moved on. ‘Pride’ was apparently a positive force, so it had no bearing on the current mission.

MBZP-1 had no way to describe the current need to move around that had dominated much of his processing power since the time Skuld-sama had set her bag down next to the wall in-between the wall and her desk. He was now gaining much less useful intelligence, having already sent preliminary profiles of all the human units who regularly initiated communication with Skuld-sama. Now he had two problems.
MBZP-1 considered all of his problematic situations and began running his problem-solving continuity program. After a wait of thirty minutes in which he weighed all possible solutions and alternatives in his program, he came to an acceptable conclusion. MBZP-1 activated his wireless connection with the main OS and sent a query.

:Mission completion operating an unacceptable inefficiency rate. Permission for Mobilization? Explanatory solution-reaching data attached.:

MBZP-1 waited for a reply from Banpei. After a somewhat lengthy pause, which he decided signified time taken for Banpei to run the query through the appropriate decision-making program in the OOS, MBZP-1 received the reply.

:Permission granted. Solution-reaching data correct. Unit MBZP-1 to begin filling mission parameters in ‘Mobile Stealth Mode’. Particular emphasis on complete basic information of all affiliated facility staff and ‘student’ users. Emphasis also placed upon complete obtaining complete architectural ‘blueprints.:

MBZP-1 began silently initializing his newly completed mobilization programming, a warm glowing feeling from the second line (of praise!?) in the reply when a second message came from Banpei.

:Caution to unit MBZP-1 to follow priorities 2 and 3. Second caution for unit MBZP-1 to keep unit’s body and programming intact.:

MBZP-1 finished initializing the mobilization program, a different and more complicated feeling in his circuits, originating again from the ‘emotion’ circuit. MBZP-1 dismissed pondering the ‘emotion’ circuit mystery for the time being, and began running his problem-solving program to deduce how to detach himself from the zipper.

MBZP-1 left behind the room Skuld-sama and her classmates were in with a strange feeling of ‘relief’ and ‘excitement’. After unhooking himself from the zipper, MBZP-1 had initialized his ‘Mobile Stealth Mode’ program and had managed to silently make his way into the venting system with minimum possible noise or visual exposure. MBZP-1 extended out his limbs, his hands and feet now turned to wheels, and silently rolled down the vent. He reviewed his mission objectives now that his circumstances had changed.

:Priority 1. Gather appropriate Recon. Information. Sub priority 1.1 Complete facility personnel and ‘student’ list. Sub priority 1.2 Completed ‘blueprint’ of facility. Priority 2. Gather Skuld-sama related information, divided into 4 categories. C1-Skuld sama C2 Chika Unaware-san C3 Sentaro Kawanishi-kun C4 Daichi Furakawa-san. Priority 3. Compile information and begin running data through analyzing program to determine possible threats and allies.:

MBZP-1 contacted his external database to help determine where the information demanded by Priority 1 and its two sub priorities would most likely reside. His database informed him that both sub priorities were likely to reside in either the location called ‘the Principal’s office’ or ‘the teachers office’. MBZP-1 recalled all prior information and scanned to find anything pertinent. A chance mention by two unknown students confirmed the general location of the ‘teachers office’. No information as to the location of a location called ‘the Principals office’.
MBZP-1 oriented himself in the appropriate direction and silently trundled in toward his new objective.

MBZP-1 stopped over the grate leading towards the room he had tentatively identified as the ‘teachers office’. He carefully unscrewed the grate, and then began to ponder his next big problem. How to see if there was no one in the room or… he checked the database for the appropriated colloquialism, if the ‘coast was clear’.
MBZP-1 decided to use his aural systems to check for movement. He stilled completely and began to silently listen to the fullest of his unit capabilities. He waited… and heard nothing. MBZP-1 turned in the vent so as to properly see the landing site, so as to run programs so he could land without harm. He ran the programs, and prepared to drop. There was another strange feeling in his circuits. ‘Tenseness’, or ‘Nervousness? Whatever. MBZP-1 dropped.

MBZP-1’s landing had been a bit rougher than calculated, but he had quickly scampered under cover, in case he had been wrong about the number of unaffiliated humans in the room. But he hadn’t, and so he came out into the open on the desk he had landed upon. MBZP-1 saw a number of objects unaffiliated with the work the individual who owned this desk had spread all over its desk, and suspiciously checked his database for more information. There was the ‘family picture’, put out boldly next to the computer, a ‘bobble-head’ for some unimportant sports team, a number of sports-affiliated goods scattered in relatively inconvenient spots around the desk, and the actual work material seemed to be spread haphazardly across the desk.
Deep in MBZP-1, he felt a deep ‘disapproval’ for such an inefficient arrangement. Who was the human individual who owned such an inefficient desk? He looked for the ‘nameplate’. Ichigo Yamazake-sensei. One of the staff of this facility. MBZP-1 opened a new file for the individual and added a slightly derogative comment about this individual’s efficiency level. And then MBZP-1 got down to business.
The computer had been easy enough to access, and MBZP-1 and Banpei-kun had gathered both a complete basic list of both students and faculty in very little time. They had also managed to find a supposedly accurate two-dimensional ‘blueprint’ that showed the overall school ‘campus’.
When the two of them had gathered all relevant information in the system, they pulled out carefully, making sure to leave no trace that they had been there. Banpei advised that MBZP-1 should verify that the ‘blueprints’ they had found were at least relatively accurate. MBZP-1 agreed, and began to prepare himself for leaving the room undetected. Until a chance bit of information that had been secondarily flagged came to his attention. ‘Writing utensils of all types usually reside in drawers, especially in work desks or other work-related furniture’. MBZP-1 looked carefully at the attached secondary information about the object ‘black crayon’. A ‘black crayon’ was indeed a subcategory of ‘writing utensil(s)’.
MBZP-1 decided to have a little look in the drawer of Yamazake-sensei before continuing his mission. He went to the edge of the desk, and braced his feet against the handle of the top drawer and his hands against the edge, and eventually pushed it open. He dropped down.

MBZP-1 continued down the vent, a little disappointed. There had been no ‘black crayon’ in the drawer, although other writing utensils had indeed been there, along with a number of other things, including a train pass holder with two outdated train passes in addition to the current one, as well as a picture of a girl the MBZP-1 had recognized from the retrieved higher education data, but he could not make a positive identification until the data had been fully processed. He had made a note on Yamazake-sensei’s profile anyways.
On the other hand, the leftover string and various thick paperclips he had found and borrowed made a wonderful him-sized grappling hook he had used to get back in the ventilation system. MBZP-1 checked to make sure that the attendant item was still firmly looped around his torso. It wouldn’t do to lose such an efficient and useful tool.
MBZP-1 continued to trundle down the ventilation shaft; a bit louder since the ambient background noise had risen significantly since a bell had rung. He passed over another grate and heard an important word. “…Skuld-sama…”. MBZP-1 stopped. Mission priority 2 now overrode the sub priority of checking to make sure gathered data was accurate. MBZP-1 stopped, positioned himself to receive aural information as well as possible, and a small amount of visual data as well. He settled in to retrieve as much valuable information as possible.

Underneath mini-Banpei, the second weekly Skuld Fan Club meeting had begun. “Alright, everyone, come to order now.” said the male student at the front of the room, “If you don’t settle down, we’ll be found and disbanded. You guys know that official or unofficial fan clubs for other students are strictly banned in this school. Shut up, and we can start.”
A hush fell across the room. The male student swallowed. “My fellow brethren, we are all gathered here for one reason.” He looked across his audience carefully, trying to make the illusion of meeting every eye. “We are here to proclaim the awesome beauty of our idol, Skuld-sama, to the rest of the school, no the rest of the world!” he said passionately, a slightly disturbing gleam in his eye, one mirrored by nearly every other pair of eyes in the room. “For this reason, I have brought you here together, my brethren, for the specific and dangerous purpose of creating this fan club. We will not let something as silly as a school rule stop us!” He paused momentarily, but then quickly continued.
“Well, just because it won’t stop us, doesn’t mean we want to be in trouble. So our mission is to provide support for Skuld-sama in every way possible, from the shadows. This is dangerous work, as if we are caught, there is a large likelihood of every member being severely punished, and the leaders can possibly be ‘executed’, depending on how the principal,” and every boy in the room shuddered at the mention of. The speaker swallowed and continued, “Depending on how she is feeling at that moment. If you are new, and you don’t wish to put at least this much on the line for Skuld-sama’s sake, you may leave now.” The room stayed quite.
The speaker nodded, “Alright, brethren. My name is Jounichi, and it was originally my idea to put this together. The purpose of this club is,” Jounichi pulled a pre-prepared chalkboard to the front of the room, and flipped it, showing a list of precepts he had prepared for the club. “One, Skuld-sama is everyone’s. We will punish any boy getting close to her in an impure way. Two, to cheer on Skuld-sama at any time she may need it, in the face of punishment. These cheering squads will be the brave front-line soldiers, examples for us all. Three, we also exist to make Skuld-sama’s life easier. If there is any capacity we may be useful in, we must volunteer her our services. And,” Jounichi paused dramatically, “Finally, Four, we exist to praise Skuld-sama’s beauty and grace!”
A hushed clapping fell over the room, followed by a muffled standing ovation. MBZP-1 began to prepare a preliminary report for the main OS.

:Organization, Skuld Fan Club. Status; unofficial, suppressed, supportive. Possible allies in emergency situation?:

Underneath mini-Banpei, the members had returned to their seats. “The meeting after next, all members on our secret roster will receive a secret membership card, with the number corresponding to when they signed up. These will be free, paid out of my own pocket.” The assembled members murmured approvingly, and Jounichi smiled. “Next week, we will have elections for the leadership positions in the club. But, now onto the main event!” Jounichi stepped down from the front. “Open discussion about Skuld-sama! Who wants to go first?”
A member toward the back raised his hand and then made his way to the front. “I just want to talk about how I came to love this school.” He began nervously, clasping sweaty hands before him. “I was staring into the hallway, when Skuld-sama walked by, and I realized why our girls school uniforms are perfect.” He swallowed, and continued, “The uniform colors perfectly match Skuld-sama’s complexion, and the shirt is just tight and thin enough that if you catch girls in the right light you can sometimes see…” the member blushed and swallowed, and all of the other members reacted similarly. “And the skirt length is perfect!” he continued on, speaking faster and in a rising tone. “Mid-thigh is just long enough to make girls feel comfortable wearing them, while we get to enjoy the sight of the contrast between Skuld-sama’s creamy skin and the color of the skirt, and…” his voice rose triumphantly, “the length is just short enough that it can be flipped up in a good wind!”
The room burst into cheers and clapping, and as the member blushingly returned to his seat, up in the ventilation shaft MBZP-1 was editing his report, rage overheating his circuits.

:Organization, Skuld Fan Club. Status; unofficial, repressed, supportive. Red Flag: members are, perverted, uncouth, and maniacal. Slight possibility of widespread member insanity. Possible enemies in non-emergency situations. To be prevented from coming near Skuld:

Skuld smiled at Chika, happiness beaming from her face. “It is a wonderful school day, isn’t it?” she said happily as she rummaged over near the wall to find her lunch that Belldandy had packed for her. Chika looked at her slyly, “My, my, aren’t you in a good mood. And just because you watched Sentaro correctly answer a history question you considered difficult.” She said softly as she leaned on Skuld’s desk. Skuld blushed, “Shhh! Chika!”
Chika laughed, “Just teasing. Hey, is something wrong?” she asked after Skuld got a shocked, and then slightly worried look on her face. Skuld looked up and smiled again. “Nothing, why do you ask?” Skuld replied, as Chika gave her a suspicious look. “Hey, let’s go look for the guys. Usually they wait for us at lunch, but they seem to have mysteriously disappeared today.” Skuld added. Chika’s face took on a look of understanding “Ooohh, so that’s what you were worried about.” Chika grabbed Skuld’s arm and laughed, dragging her out of the classroom. “Come on, let’s go look for your lover-boy.” And as they made their way down the hallway, Skuld desperately wondered, Mini-Banpei, where did you go?

MBZP-1 was making his way away from the den of the enemy and was headed toward the attached teaching facilities for younger ‘students’, when he had another stroke of luck. “So, Sentaro, a little desperate for time away from the love of your life? This is something new and unexpected from someone who has been in love with a beautiful girl for three years.” Daichi said, taking out an onigiri, “Hiding in an unused storage room, seriously, what gives?”
MBZP-1 stopped and settled in to take care of, at the very least, priorities C-3 and C-4. Why settle for second hand reconnaissance when you can get information directly from the source?
Sentaro shot his best friend a dirty look from his position, sprawled across a stack of cardboard boxes. “It’s not like her coming to school is only so she can be with me. She deserves some time hanging out with girl friends, and talking girl talk. Without me getting in her way, or making her feel guilty about not sitting and talking with an old friend. I’m not the center of her universe**.”
Daichi’s moment of silence spoke volumes for him, but he continued the conversation before it got awkward. “So, you want a little guy-only talk then. Okay.” He continued casually, taking a bite of his onigiri. He swallowed, and asked “So, why do you like her so much? Besides the obvious, I mean.” Sentaro gave him a flat look, and asked, “Were you listening to a word I was saying?” Daichi ignored him and asked, “Well?”
Sentaro blushed and fidgeted. “Well, she is really good with her hands, and making things.” Daichi raised an eyebrow, “Like jewelry? That’s a bit unusual.” Sentaro shook his head. “No, she mainly works with machines.” Daichi wrinkled his forehead. “Machines? Like, sewing machines?” Sentaro got annoyed look on his face. “No, with motorcycles and stuff. You know, like machines, automobiles, and robots and stuff.”
Daichi got a stunned look on his face. “Her? She works with motorcycles? That isn’t very girly.” He said, astonished. Sentaro lost his temper for a minute. “That’s rich coming from you, considering your hobby.” He said disgustedly. “I thought you’d know better.”
Daichi looked ashamed. “Sorry. I forgot. A guy who puts up with a surprised reaction from most people who find out he likes to cook and sew should know what that kind of reaction feels like, huh?” he said softly. Sentaro immediately calmed down. “No, it’s okay. But seriously, you have no idea how good she looks in mechanics overalls.” He said. “Sorry I snapped.” Daichi smiled and said, “No, its okay. You were just being a good friend and reminding me I was being hypocritical. But I never pegged you as having such a weird kink. Mechanics overalls?”
Sentaro shot him another dirty look. “Shut up. It’s not a kink. She looks good in everything, but especially in those clothes. It’s because she gets all excited, and she looks even cuter than normal.” Daichi eyed his friend with a slightly disbelieving look. “If you say so.” Sentaro narrowed his eyes. “Oh yeah? I’ve seen you eyeing the class rep recently. Tell me what exactly is so cute about her, huh? There has to be a reason you keep looking in her direction.” Sentaro said smugly. “Fess up.”
Daichi was the one who blushed this time, and then carefully looked away. “I’m only interested in how other people in class view her. I mean, she has this reputation for being the perfect class rep, and getting things done really efficiently and well, but doing it in a weird way. That, and she has scared off all of the boys who volunteered to help her with committee’s and things. I just find that kind of stuff interesting.” Daichi rambled, not looking his friend in the eye. “It’s not like I really like her or anything.” Sentaro chuckled. “Right. Sure. Here’s just a piece of friendly advice, though. It’s best not to rely on rumors to learn more about a person you like. Not that that’s what you have been doing or anything.”
Daichi fidgeted, “She likes penguins a lot.” Sentaro looked at his friend amusedly, “You probably noticed that two minutes into conversation with her. You’d have to be a complete idiot to miss that once you get to know her at all,” he said, grinning. “Let’s try for something less obvious next time.”
MBZP-1 decided that he had gleaned all the useful information he could from this conversation when talk then turned into an endless round of gentle teasing. He compiled the recorded data and sent the report to the OOS and continued on.

Skuld and Chika had given up looking for the two boys and were eating their lunches on the campus grounds, ignoring the ever-larger groups gathering around them. “I wonder where they went.” Chika mused as she took a bite of eggs. “It’s like they just disappeared!” In the meantime, Skuld was panicking despite her calm appearance. Yes, where did mini-Banpei disappear to? And where are the boys, when I need them. I could calm down if Sentaro was around? Skuld took a bite out of her lunch and tried to calm down. “It’s not like the boys can skip the rest of school. They’ll be back.” She said confidently to Chika. Chika nodded, “They probably went to do some guy talk, or whatever. It’s not like it’s of the utmost importance or anything.” In her head, Skuld was stuck between wailing But it is of the utmost importance, and mini-Banpei where are you? Please be safe.
“Yes, you are right.” Skuld said instead, and Chika smiled. “Well, this way, we can get in some girl talk!” Then a shy voice broke in, “Umm, may we sit here and eat with you?” asked a girl from another class, shyly holding lunch and surrounded by her friends. Skuld smiled, “If Chika doesn’t mind, I have no problem with it.” As their gazes turned to Chika, she shrugged and said, “The more the merrier. Especially when it comes to girl talk.” The girls broke out in smiles, looked at each other, and sat down. Another conversation about things I seem to the only one not understanding. Skuld thought as talk turned yet again to her shampoo brand. Hopefully mini-Banpei comes back safe.

MBZP-1 had verified the relative accuracy of most of the main facility, and had turned his attention to the facility attached to the ‘middle school’ portion of the building, the ‘primary school’. The building was actually one, but he had only verified the middle school half of it. And so MBZP-1 began on the primary school half.
By this time, MBZP-1 had put together an efficient system for handling the verification process. After he had worked his way through verifying the hallways, MBZP-1 moved on to the most dangerous and time-consuming part of the process, verifying accuracy in the classrooms.
MBZP-1 had started to visually verify the information of the first classroom when a personal sub priority flag popped up. He opened the message and a shock of excitement coursed through his circuits.

:Items ‘crayon boxes’ filled with ‘crayons’ present in area:

MBZP-1 rushed to finish the rest of his mission, in order to fulfill his personal sub priority. He hoped to find a classroom that did not currently have students in it, but was disappointed to find that all of them were currently occupied by the proper groups of human units.
After MBZP-1 had finished, he retreated into the safety of the deep ventilation system, sat down and put his ‘chin’ on his hand, and turned on his problem-solving program. Now that he had finished the mission for the most part, he though he would have the time to do this one little thing for himself.
MBZP-1 input the number of classrooms total, forty two, the number with crayons in them, twenty-eight, and the number of students in each classroom, which varied. His onboard processor began to overheat, and so he forged a wireless connection with his database, to give the program more computing power. In a while, he had come up with a (nominally) acceptable solution.
MBZP-1 made his way to the classroom where the least amount of students currently resided and took up a lookout-post in the vent after silently removing the grate. MBZP-1 now knew that he would have to wait for a moment in time when no person in the room was looking where he wanted to hide, and that is when he would have to make his move, as silently as possible.
While MBZP-1 waited, he overheard a conversation between two of the smaller human units. “My onii-chan is cooler than your onii-chan any day!” one of the two proclaimed in a loud voice, “He can do a handstand for almost ten minutes!” The other shot back hotly, “Your onii-chan is not cooler than my onii-chan. My onii-chan can jump rope nearly 300 times in a row!”
While the two bickered, MBZP-1 thought to himself,
:Why are these two human units bickering about something so silly? And what is so great about those things? Banpei has much more impressive capabilities. Banpei can fly and has many multi-purpose attachments:

MBZP-1 then began to wonder who these ‘onii-chan’ people were. He queried his database. When he received the definition, he noticed certain similarities from the definition and the ‘relationship’ he shared with the OOS Banpei-kun RX. MBZP-1 began to play with the variations of title, to see which one fit his ‘older brother’.
:Banpei-nii? Negative, too informal. Banpei onii-chan? Indeterminate. Do not ‘care’ for it for an indeterminate reason. Aniki? Negative, does not fit OOS image. Onii-chan? Yes. Sub priority added; try addressing OOS Banpei-kun RX as ‘onii-chan:
MBZP-1 almost missed his chance while musing about this topic, but he luckily refocused his processing power on his original purpose when the students in the class began to face a particular chair, and the teacher began to speak, the attention of all in the classroom directed away from his angle of attack. He began to move.
Using his grappling hook to slow his fall and swing him toward his target, MBZP-1 swung out of the vent and disappeared into the depths of the bookshelf near to the vent opening. He landed behind the row of books, harder than he had calculated, and then quickly flipped the string of his grappling hook, unhooking it from the inside of the vent, and quickly pulled the grappling hook in and out of sight.
And then he stopped. He stopped moving, acted like the mere zipper pull he was supposed to be most of the time, and waited. He waited cautiously, carefully, for 30 seconds to see if anyone had noticed. In the noise of the classroom, he had hoped to mask his overly loud and not particularly graceful entrance. He moved then, carefully and silently padded behind the row of books. He returned his grappling hook to it’s now accustomed position around his torso and plastered himself against the side of the bookshelf, and began his problem-solving program again.
MBZP-1’s problem was that now he had no way to safely observe the behavior of the human units. He now had no way to know when he could safely move. But before his problem-solving program could receive input, MBZP-1 heard the adult moving toward the bookcase. “Today’s book for reading time is called ‘The Borrowers’ by Mary Norton. It will take a couple of days to read in class, but I believe all of you will like it.”
MBZP-1 froze. “Ah, here it is.” Said the teacher, stopping at his shelf and reaching for a nearby book. She removed it and walked away, leaving MBZP-1 with a feeling of relief, as well as a new appreciation for unpredictable circumstances. He waited until the human attention was again focused elsewhere and then moved toward the new opening, just big enough for him to squeeze through. And, conveniently enough, see through as well.
MBZP-1 began to move stealthily from one ‘safe’ hiding spot to another, getting closer and closer to the closest ‘crayon box’, while the teacher and the students seemed engrossed in their activity.
Eventually, MBZP-1 reached his target. Now the problem was to secretly find the desired item ‘black crayon’ and leave without being spotted. MBZP-1 turned his attention back to the classroom. Were they going to stay occupied enough for him to complete this safely? Some of them were looking a little restless.
While caution prompted a logical end to this endeavor, a feeling of ‘irritation’ and also a feeling of ‘determination’ rose in MBZP-1. No, he was going to finish this! And so MBZP-1 leaped into the abyss.
Literally, as it were. He leaped quite the distance (for him) and managed to quietly land on a book bag and climb into the desk, where a ‘box of crayons’ temptingly beckoned him. He scampered in.
The inside of the desk was filled with a number of things, including bits of ribbon, pink erasers, little crayon and pencil stubs, and a number of other potentially useful things. But MBZP-1 was focused only on the shiny new box of crayons. He propped the desk open using the various detritus in the desk and carefully dragged the box further into the desk, and then opened it.
He carefully pulled out crayon after crayon, until one matched the data from his databanks. And when he found it, he just stared. It was long, and still ‘sharp’ as sharp as data indicated a crayon could be. It was shiny. It was beautiful. It was breathtaking.
MBZP-1 was filled with excitement, buzzing through his circuits. He wanted to try it out! He picked up his new black crayon and drew a smile on himself, just like his onii-chan.
It was wonderful. MBZP-1 was filled with a fondness for his new acquisition, and he carefully tied it to himself with a scrap of pink ribbon long enough to work. He readied himself to leave when a thought struck him. He should probably thank the person who originally owned this.

The little girl had really liked the new story Sensei had chosen. The idea that little people who lived in a smaller world, just behind the walls of everyone’s house, borrowing things from the bigger people was very exciting. She bounced toward her desk, so she could get her crayons and draw a picture of the borrowers. She opened it and froze.
“SENSEI!” she yelled, excited. “Come and look, come and look!” Sensei came over calmly, “Yes, Nagisa-chan what is it?” Nagisa turned to her teacher triumphantly and held up a little slip of paper. “Look, they really exist! The Borrowers came and borrowed my black crayon and left me a message!”
Sensei raised her eyebrows in surprise, but she was used to children. This was a bit unusual, but certainly within her experience. She thought little incidents like this is what made children this age so cute. “Please let me see, Nagisa-chan.” Nagisa held out the slip of paper as if it were as precious as solid gold. Sensei gently took it from her small hand, and smiled gently at her. She looked at the slip of paper, expecting a sloppily written children’s note.
Her mouth fell open in astonishment at the very small, neat letters spelling out ‘Thank you’ and a happy face underneath. She looked at Nagisa, astonishment written large on her face, and Nagisa’s face brightened. “It was them, wasn’t it! I knew it! This is the best day of my life!”

MBZP-1 silently made his way across the roof, trying to make his way back to Skuld-sama. Although it had been risky getting up here, it was the safest route back to her classroom. MBZP-1 was aware that soon ‘school’ would be ending, and he needed to be back quickly so he could safely return with Skuld-sama. He made his way to the end of the roof, and shinned down the drainpipe.
MBZP-1 analyzed the distance, small for others but large for him, between the building he had just left and the building he needs to be at. The first time, he had been traveling through the ventilation system, which was interconnected between the two buildings. But now he had a problem. “Nya?”
MBZP-1 turned and saw a lithe black form, only a bit bigger than him, accompanied by an arresting pair of yellow eyes. A strange feeling, one that made him want to stay close to this being forever, filled his circuits. Was this ‘emotion’ the one called ‘love’? He felt as if he was floating. However, MBZP-1’s programming ignored it, and he reached for the pink ribbon he had taken earlier. If he handled this correctly, his problem was already solved. A few moments later and the ribbon was a wonderful makeshift harness. But before MBZP-1 rode off toward Skuld, he though he would make one last cosmetic change…

The end of the day was approaching, and Skuld was becoming gradually more and more agitated. She worried incessantly about min-Banpei, and she was glad she wasn’t called on that whole afternoon, since she wouldn’t have performed well. And that would only make everyone else worried. She didn’t want that.
It was now the last hour of the day, and the clock clicked closer and closer to the bell. Skuld began to twitch nervously, and she became so nervous that she almost missed a rustling sound coming from where her bag was. Before she could discreetly take a peek, the bell rang and she grabbed her bag. She thunked it heavily onto her desk.
Mini-Banpei bounced gently off the side of her bag, a slightly sloppy smile drawn onto his face, and a black crayon stuck into one of the specially made pockets for pencils. A piece of string hung out of the main pocket, the zipper only mostly closed.
“Where were you?” she hissed softly, anger, relief, and irritation flashing in her eyes. “You are getting a talking to when we get home young man!” “Oh, Skuld, that smile is cute. Did you add it during class?” Chika asked innocently, coming closer. Skuld smiled a bit stiffly. “Yeah, isn’t it cute? I think that maybe I will change it every once in a while” I can’t believe I have to cover for you. Chika is really good at noticing these things. She fumed. Skuld grabbed her bag and started towards the door. “Come on Chika, let’s go. I want to get home. For some reason, I feel really tired today.”

On the way out of campus, Daichi stopped in the middle of conversation and pointed. “Hey, isn’t that the really shy kitten living on campus? It’s supposed to be really shy, and it doesn’t like people. Who put a ribbon on it?” As a group, they turned and looked, as were many others who noticed the change. In the days afterward, a rumor about a ‘student’ who put the pink ribbon that read ‘NOIR’ in black crayon on the black kitten became an overnight school myth.
As MBZP-1 bounced off Skuld’s bag as they left, he saw Noir again and his ‘eyes’ caught the light and gleamed. It really had been a rather interesting and tiring day.


* For those of you unfamiliar with the anime, or couldn’t bear watching the whole thing, there is a penguin in it. Which is why Chika watched it at all.
**Oh, Sentaro, how much you are mistaken. Lol.