It had been a rather normal day of school for the St. Freya trio.

Kiana as usual was either goofing around or dozing off out of boredom, Mei was trying her best to pay attention to the lesson while also trying to keep Kiana awake and at attention, and Bronya more or less just kept to herself, paying full attention to the class.

This pattern kept on for a bit as right before Kiana was just about to fully fall asleep, the school's P.A. system buzzed to life immediately startling the girl.

"U-Um, could Kiana Kaslana, Mei Raiden, a-and Bronya Zaychik please report immediately to the principal's office? T-Thank you." Said Theresa's voice over the intercom.

The trio all excused themselves as they left the classroom and made their way over to her office.

As they walked through the halls, naturally they questioned the sudden announcement.

"Wonder why Aunt Teri suddenly wants to see us? Oh! Maybe she's assigned us to a kick ass mission now that we're all A-Rank Valkyries!" Excitedly said Kiana.

"The Bronya recommends that Kiana Idiotka lower her expectations. We all just recently got promoted to A-Rank so the chances of us receiving a mission so soon are low." Stated Bronya.

"Bronya is right Kiana. Principal Theresa wouldn't wanna rush us too soon. Besides, did you not hear her tone of voice? It was shaky and she stuttered a bit. Maybe something serious has happened." Said Mei.

"Hmm. Well whatever it is, I can't wait to find out! Let's go!" Said Kiana as she immediately ran on ahead.

"W-Wait Kiana please don't run!" Said Mei as she chased after her.

Bronya could merely sigh as she also followed suit.

Eventually the three had made it to Theresa's office as before Mei could knock, Kiana instead just nonchalantly entered the room.

"Alright Aunt Teri what's our mission!? I'm ready to go!" Said Kiana, though once she saw at Theresa, Himeko, and Fu Hua all there, she immediately retracted her statement.

"Well, manners certainly weren't ever your thing." Said Himeko. "Anyways, you three, take a seat."

The girls proceeded to do so as everyone's attention was turned towards Theresa.

"W-Well, you see girls, u-um..................."

Clearly whatever Theresa was trying to say, she was really struggling to get the words out.

This continued on for a bit until Theresa just groaned in defeat.

"Please, you tell them Himeko." Said the principal with tears in her eyes.

The redhead merely sighed as she cleared her throat.

"Girls, Alex is currently in a critical, comatose condition at St. Freya hospital." She said.

It took a moment for the three to give a response, but once they did, all they could say was just one word.

"WHAT!?"

Hours later once school had ended, the sounds of frantic footsteps rushed through the halls as the trio had made it and quickly entered the room the boy was at.

When they were in, there they saw the boy, unconscious and hooked up to the usual hospital monitors, as he was currently under the covers.

What was noticeable was that he had a bruised left cheek, and bandages over his forehead which had dried up blood on it.

Kiana was shocked and Bronya was speechless as Mei was the only one able to form words at the moment.

"W-What happened to him?" She asked.

As she did, Himeko walked into the room as she has accompanied the three.

"From what we gathered, this morning Alex was out on his own in Soukai City. Suddenly, he noticed a random Honkai Beast appear and about to attack a vulnerable civilian. As you can see, Alex jumped into protect the civilian and unfortunately, nearly got bludgeoned to death. Thankfully a patrol Valkyrie was out in that area and was able to take down the beast and bring Alex here as quickly as possible." Explained Himeko.

"I-I see." Said Mei.

Bronya had a couple of holograms pop up as she checked on his vital signs and when she did, she noticed something that didn't add up.

"Subject Alex's vitals appear to be extremely bad. How is Subject Alex not completely passed away yet?" Asked Bronya.

"Well, Theresa had an idea to place Alex's consciousness within a Stigamta Dataspace. That why, his body will be able to recover smoothly while his consciousness remains active, keeping him alive." Said Himeko.

"Are you sure that's gonna keep him safe?" Asked Mei.

"I questioned that as well, though Theresa seemed to trust Alex's judgment in staying out of trouble so all we can do is also put trust in him to stay safe." Said the redhead.

Eventually the time for visitors ended as the three girls bid Himeko goodbye and walked to the dorms.

As this left Himeko on her own, she decided to go and find Theresa so she could give her an update on the situation.

It took her a bit but in due time she found the short girl barely exiting the girl as she approached her.

"Hey. Finally done?" Asked Himeko.

"Yeah. Today was rough." Said Theresa.

"Yikes. Today's been a rough one hasn't it?" Asked Himeko with a small chuckle.

"Anyways, how's Alex's condition right now?" Asked the principal.

"Well, I just left with the girls not too long ago. Bronya took a look at his vitals, and though they aren't good, they're definitely better than what they were when he was initially admitted. We just have to wait until he fully recovers." Said Himeko.

"I see." Said Theresa as she had a heavy sigh at the end, knowing that it'd be a waiting game to see what befalls Alex in the coming days, though Himeko gave her a pat on the back to reassure her.

"Hey don't sweat it. If that kid can get through a Honkai infested airship raid and take on out of all Honkai Beaste out there, a Ganesha, then I'm positive he'll get through this with flying colors." She said.

Theresa simply smiled at Himeko's optimism on the whole situation before the two agreed to head back to the dormitory.

Once there, they greeted the trio as after eating the dinner prepared by Mei, everyone went to bed, calling it a night.

[The Next Day]

It was after school as currently, Mei and Bronya were at Alex's room checking up on him due to Theresa and Himeko being busy, while Kiana was forced to stay after school with Fu Hua due to causing trouble as per usual.

Currently, Mei just sat still, unsure of what to say while Bronya had a screen up, keeping an eye on Alex's condition.

Suddenly, things began to change as all of a sudden, the monitor turned red as an alarm sound rang throughout the room.

The Alarm Sound:

"H-Huh!? Bronya what's happening!?" Asked a concerned Mei.

Bronya's gaze never left the screen as all she could let out was an audible gasp before finally speaking.

"A-Alex's heart just stopped beating! A massive Honkai Energy spike has been detected within his body!"

Chapter 4: Complete