Haru had thought that Tou-man would be less than enthusiastic about going back to school. However, the overall attitude he gave off was comparable to someone who didn't know much about the school they were going to, like some sort of transfer student. Something was off if one thought about it, but Haru had a bigger fish to fry.
He was currently headed back toward the Judgment offices; with the tools he prepared over the night, he would be able to extract the adequate information necessary in order to confirm his theory—if nothing went wrong, of course. During the execution of carefully prearranged plans, if something could go wrong, it would go wrong. It was a fundamental rule. The only way to circumvent it was to have preset alternative plans and hope for the best.
Ommph.
Right around the corner, a gigantic Gekota suit suddenly appeared in his way. Unable to react fast enough, both of them stumbled as they collided with each other.
"Ah, my apologies." Straightening up, Haru scratched his head, embarrassed. "Whoa, a Gekota?"
The green suit took his headwear off, revealing someone with a face not unlike that of an RPG game protagonist with blue hair. Perspiration was clearly visible on his face as the direct result of wearing the heavy suit.
"Ah, the suit is too hot... oh, sorry about bumping into ya."
Hold on just a minute here... blue hair, ear piercing, lines for eyes... he looked too suspiciously alike to the main mascot of "Otaku' genre"... perhaps...
Haru abruptly interrupted the conversation, placing his right hand forward with a solemn face. After a moment of surprise, that man's face also became solemn in response.
It was time for...
The test.
Placing his own right hand forward, he grasped Haru's hand.
And then they shook it.
Then they bopped it.
Then they twisted it.
Then they pulled it.
Then they slapped it.
Then they tapped it.
Then they simultaneously began to wiggle their fingers. All this took place in a matter of seconds. At that moment, they knew.
They both belonged to the—
"SUPER SECRET SUPER AWESOME GALGE FANCLUB!" they both yelled at the top of their lungs in unison, staring at each other in excitement. Bystanders gave them weird glances. Birds stopped chirping. Brave men wept where they stood. All in the name of awesomeness.
"Chiba City Chapter from '06, Captain Haru reporting for duty!" Haru saluted.
"Academy City Chapter from '05, Major Pierce reporting for duty!" Aogami saluted likewise. "Quickly, captain, recite the club oath!"
Taking a deep breath, Haru began:
"In blackest day or brightest night, no bishōjo game shall escape my sight, whether shall it include fallen girls, but also sisters-in-law, foster sisters, mothers-in-law, foster mothers, daughters-in-law, foster daughters, twins, widows, blondes, brunettes, brown-haired, black-haired, silver-haired, long-haired, medium-haired, short-haired, straight-haired, frizzy-haired, wavy-haired, curly-haired, peek-a-bangs, blinding bangs, bob-cut, girls with bobby pins, ringlets, twintails, ponytails, one-sided ponytails, untied ponytails, twin braids, ahoges, animal-ears, girls in sailor clothes, gym clothes, blazers, bloomers, judogi, kyuudougi, cheongsam, swimsuits, one-piece swimsuits, bikinis, V-shaped bikinis, girls who wear thigh socks, garterbelts, glasses, bandages, girls who're senpais, kouhais, ojousamas, classmates, childhood friends, lolicons, shotacons, tsunderes, yanderes, sadists, schizophrenics, perverts, fantasists, cheerleaders, frail, albino, women who're nurses, maids, officers, witches, shrine maidens, nuns, troopers, high-school teachers, kindergarten teachers, secretaries, stewardesses, waitresses, queens, princesses, tomboys, goths in black, goths in white, non-humans, youkai, ghosts, and beyond!
"One galge to rule them all, one galge to find them,
"One galge to bring them all and in the darkness bind them."
"You forgot girls who wear eyepatches in the list." Aogami shook his head in disappointment.
"Agh... knew I forgot something..." Haru mumbled. "Ah well, we're only required to recite 90% of the full oath, due to its length."
"Anyway, what brings you here, Captain Haru?" Aogami asked.
"I have unearthed a devious plot by the group composed by outsiders in order to undermine the entire galge industry. It was labeled as of utmost priority by the club chairman. This group I speak of call themselves... 'HashtagGamerGate'. Naturally I came as quickly as possible to alert the Academy City faction of the situation by word of mouth as the information I will diverge will be too sensitive for online communication. All other club chapters have sent envoys to alert others of the situation."
"Good work, Captain." Aogami nodded. "I shall receive this information when we are within a more private place. In the meanwhile..." Aogami pulled up the signpost he was carrying. "Any interest in Frog Warp Experiment?"
Haru furrowed his eyebrows. "Frog Warp Experiment? The heck is this?"
"It's an experiment where we are trying to warp Gekota merchandise into outer space!" Aogami spoke in an excited way. "If there is an alien life out there, they will be fascinated by the merchandise, and wonder what other stuff will be present on the Earth!"
"Sounds... interesting..." Haru mused. "I'll try to attend the... um," Haru took a glance at the sign post. "Academy City Research Exhibition Assembly."
"Well, that's a part of my job done!" Aogami beamed. "And yet I have more people to go talk to. I hate this suit..." mumbling, he placed the Gekota head back on his head.
"Well, good luck with that." Haru gave a parting wave.
Now, with that out of the way...
Taking the necessary precaution beforehand, he completely changed his overall look in order to avoid attention. He changed the shape of his hair, borrowed a cap from Touma, bought some eye contacts that changed color, bought a simple pair of glasses, and attempted to replicate the general outfit the Judgment members wore within the office, which seemed to be a Casual Formal wear. Nothing too eye popping as he tried to be low-key as much as possible.
He had done many freelance spy operations against the magic cabals before, but he lacked experience against normal offices. While this was not a new experience for him, he had his private doubts about the outcome of the operation.
However, the very building he was infiltrating had very low security, as it constituted of school-attending youths attempting to do public service. This was an easy job, or so he hoped.
As usual, wearing the armband allowed him an easy entrance. He made his way toward one of the rooms, pretty much unaware of his surroundings. That's how it was. Slowly poking through stuff and hoping not to be found out.
It appeared that he was wise in his choice of attire as it did not contrast greatly with what other members were wearing. He attempted to explicitly avoid the floors he had visited yesterday as someone recognizing him was the last thing he needed. Making an eye contact with any surveillance cameras was practically suicide.
Alright—he was just a regular worker, minding his business... Thankfully everyone appeared to be too busy to pay him any particular attention. He was looking for something; a chance.
While passing through one of the open door offices, he spotted a young fellow rising from his seat and presumably heading toward the restroom. The bathrooms themselves had a room reserved for them on each floor. It was risky, but the longer he stayed in here, the chances of him being caught went higher.
Quickly approaching the empty desk he took out a pair of gloves, strapping them onto his hand. Sitting down on a chair was out of question as it would leave behind heat. He took a glance at the monitor to find—
A login screen.
Well, it appeared that this person was intelligent enough to log out before heading anywhere else. A good protocol to follow. Disappointed, Haru quickly left the scene, stowing away the gloves within his pockets.
Half an hour passed while Haru attempted to take any chances he came across. The longer he roamed around the place the suspicion on him would grow bigger. Currently he was walking along the hallway, attempting to be aware of his surroundings.
"That case seems to be of no importance, I think."
Haru swore silently. He could recognize that voice anywhere, and she was the last person he needed to meet.
Shirai Kuroko.
Not only did she know him, but she knew him well enough to see through his disguise. Walking quickly, he opened the nearest door available and shuffled inside.
Thankfully, no one was within the room. It appeared that he discovered the janitor's closet, as the place itself was clogged with cleaning equipment... and, at the desk, there was a laptop.
By the comparison of the model to the rest of the computers within the building, it appeared to be a Judgment issued computer. And by another stroke of luck, it was not logged out, still stuck on the screen of some sort of galge game; considering what happened some hours back that was quite fitting.
Step 1 was complete. Now, onto finding the Judgment record location; Step 2 now commenced.
Haru took a brief sweep of the room; it seemed that there were no security cameras within this closet. Strapping his gloves on, he began to carefully explore through the network data.
Logically, all the computers within the Judgment HQ would have shared data among them, and those datas could possibly contain the past records and files. Haru was depending on the lax security to gain his information. Expertly heading toward the main Judgment member index, he typed in the name of the person he was looking for.
Uiharu Kazari
And, within the records, her name popped up. Haru clicked on the name.
ACCESS DENIED
—Well, that was interesting. Several short tests afterward confirmed that the member files were not denied access to, and yet her profile data was. This required further examination.
What should he do now? What would be the concrete evidence that she was, indeed, the Goalkeeper? He was rather hoping to glean some data from her profile information. Stuff like past significant activities, significant arrests—wait...
Clicking rapidly, Haru ventured into the past arrest records. It appeared that no one considered them as sensitive data as its security level was low. And rightfully so, as such information often appeared on the news and media and such. However, these records had significantly more details than what the press revealed, including the actual name of the Judgment members involved within the arrests.
… And, boy oh boy, did he strike gold, and a lot of it. The list themselves contained all the past arrests and activities, with the ones concerning computer security being dominated by none other than Uiharu Kazari.
She defeated Kuyama Kihan. She apprehended Hayashida Tsuyoshi. She caused the arrest of Kakinomoto Iwao. He knew all those people; he talked to them, he interacted with them, and he discussed strategies with them.
The true monster shaking the very foundation of the hacking society. And she was nothing more than a 13 year old girl. He wanted to laugh until his guts bled. Truly, life was filled with cruel ironies.
Pulling out his USB drive, he plugged it within the laptop. He systematically began to take screenshot of the record pages—while he would have liked to directly copy the files themselves, he feared leaving too much evidence. Besides, his aim was not to prove Goalkeeper's true identity; she gave him shelter, and he had nothing against her. He merely needed the data for further scrutiny in order to properly analyze her achievements. It was up to the other hackers to personally find her identity themselves. Now that he proved his hypothesis, he needed to leave quickly. He ejected the USB, and began to erase the evidence of his presence.
And then, the door to the janitor's closet opened.