Aguri shifts nervously in place. She's currently hiding across the street from the bar she agreed to meet her student at. Said student is already inside, talking animatedly to a red-headed adult. She's been watching through the large window in the front of the bar for the past few minutes, simply trying to gather her nerve to enter. It is certainly interesting to see just how different Hanako acts with these people than with her classmates. The Hanako she's watching now has a smile on her face, is laughing, and interacts physically with the people in the bar. She watches as Hanako playfully pushes the redhead who is laughing at something. The Hanako at school is rather cool to most of her classmates, avoids physical contact as much as possible except for a select few (who also help her avoid contact with people at times), and seems to try cutting off interacting with her other classmates as much as possible. For the past couple of days, Aguri has been watching her closely trying to see why the principal is so invested in her. And to see how the girl is dealing with being back in the real world. She's watched Nakamura try and befriend Hanako, and failing miserably. Every question Nakamura asks is answered with short and abrupt answers before practically being dismissed. It seems like the energetic blonde has only taken it as a challenge however as she still hasn't given up. There are times Hanako almost reminds her of the principal with her cold demeanor. But she must keep reminding herself who the girl's parents are and the life she was probably raised in. She's probably had people try and take advantage of her all of her life. Plus, at the moment poor Hanako has reporters after her blood.

Somehow, news got out that Hanako Ishii is attending Kunugigaoka. Tuesday morning reporters were practically blocking the front entrance, disrupting the students. The principal laid into them, threatening to sue them if they didn't leave the premises. Students aren't even allowed to give comments without their parent's permission. Oh... maybe that's why Hanako closed herself off. She had seemed somewhat open to making friends that first day and then completely closed herself off the next. She doesn't know who tipped off the reporters. So, she's keeping her distance from possible traitors. Well; traitors may be a bit harsh, but along those lines. Aguri highly doubts that it was one of her students that snitched though. They had all seemed genuinely confused and irritated about the reporter ambush. Especially Hanako's small friend group, Terasaka in particular had been extra grumbly. If Aguri was a betting woman she'd place her money on one of the main campus kids who saw Hanako trailing after the principal or herself that first day.

Dread fills her as she once again glances into the bar. Oh, gods, why did she ever agree to this? This is beyond unprofessional. If the principal ever finds out that she agreed to meet her student (the one student of hers that he even seems to care about) at a bar of all places she is so going to lose her job. So, why did she agree to this very risky meeting place? Oh, who is she kidding? She's doing this for her student. Her very nervous and wary student. If this is the place that makes her student the most comfortable, then who is she to argue the fact?

Hanako hadn't been lying either, the bar she's been staring at for the past ten minutes is the most welcoming bar she's ever seen. It's clean and open, with a large front window. It seems very rustic. Not something she's ever seen in the city like this. Most bars she's been to are either very modern or on the verge of sketchy. This bar kind of reminds her of a tavern you'd visit in the type of fantasy games she used to play as a kid.

Well, you've delayed long enough Aguri Yukimura and you have a student to teach. Stop procrastinating and get your act together. She steels whatever nerves she has before stepping out from her hiding spot and walking across the street. The moment she opens the door she's hit with a sense of homeyness. There is a tiny bell on the door that rings her presence. However, that is the last thing she notices. The inside of the bar is warm and welcoming. There is fantasy tavern music playing in the background. An absolutely heavenly scent fills the air that makes her mouth water. Laughter echoes throughout the bar. In that single moment Aguri gets it. She gets why her student would want to meet here. This entire place is like a warm, welcoming, safe zone. The laughter dies out slowly as heads turn to see who entered.

There are more people in here than she had noticed from the outside. A black-haired teen sits in a corner, seemingly working on his own homework based on the textbooks he has spread out on his table. There is also an extremely tall black man that comes out from what she's assuming is the kitchen. The only thing keeping her from becoming too nervous at the sight of the intimidating man is Hanako's words from Monday. He may look intimidating with his size and everything, but he's a huge teddy bear. This must be the man that Hanako was talking about. Right, teddy bear Aguri. The giant muscley man is a teddy bear. No reason to feel uneasy about the towering man. You work around the deadliest assassin in the world, nearly daily. You got this!

Hanako turns to the door as she hears the bell chime, her laughter from Klien's stupidity dying down. She sees her teacher standing there with an odd look on her face. Hana turns back to Klien who has a very familiar look on his face. She scowls and kicks his shin under the table. He promptly lets out a yelp.

"What was that for?" he whines at her.

Hana leans over the table and glares at the redhead, "If you hit on my teacher I will make your life miserable. She's engaged." She whispers harshly to him quiet enough that her teacher won't hear. Then she hops off her stool and approaches her teacher, who still hasn't moved. Honestly, she looks a bit lost at the moment.

"Yukimura-sensei, did you have any trouble finding the place?" Hana asks. Her teacher is a bit later than she had been expecting.

"Oh, um no, not at all Hanako-chan. I got held up at the school for a while. Sorry, I'm late." Aguri says. Not a total lie, a few of the students had questions for her and she couldn't exactly say no to helping them. Her ten-minute delay outside of the bar is entirely on her though and has already cut into their studying time. Something that won't be an issue during future sessions.

"It's no problem, we've just been killing time. We can use this table here, Klien was just leaving anyway." Hana tells her, giving Klien a hard look.

Klien lets out a playful pout, "I was?" How adorable, Hana's trying to get rid of him.

Hana rolls her eyes, "It's not like you had any plans on staying. Agil's giving me a ride home. Honestly, your loud mouth will just be a distraction."

Aguri watches with wide eyes as her student verbally digs into an adult. Something she would have never assumed this particular student would do, not with how she usually acts around others. The black-haired teen in the corner lets out a snort of laughter that he tries unsuccessfully to disguise as a cough. The redhead, Klien apparently (what an odd name, as is Agil), gives both teens playfully hurt looks.

"Fine, I know when I'm not wanted." He playfully whines out before gathering his things. Then a large grin takes over his face and he ruffles Hanako's hair, "I'll see you tomorrow after school Bezerker. Good luck with your study session. Learn things!" he snickers out before heading towards the door, whistling a jaunty tune.

"Klien!" Hanako whines as she tries to fix her messed-up hair.

Aguri can't help the small burst of laughter that escapes her. Oh, it's really good to see her closed-off student act to carefree.

"Let's get started, shall we?" she asks with a smile.

They'd been going for about an hour when Agil approaches their table with some drinks and a plate of fries, "You need to eat something, Hana. How're you doing?"

Hana smiles up at him before popping a fry into her mouth, "Thanks Agil. I'm doing okay, but my brain is starting to feel like mush."

"How much longer do you plan on going tonight?" Agil asks, glancing at the clock. It isn't too late yet, but he remembers Hana saying that her teacher has other things she has to get to.

Aguri looks at the clock as well and purses her lips in thought, "I can probably go for another half an hour before I need to head out." The only part that she really needs to be at the lab for is at the end, to take notes and go through the normal checklist and questionnaire.

"Cool. Um, I'm going to run to the restroom quickly then. I'll be right back." Hana says quickly before jumping off her stool and walking down a hall.

Aguri watches her student walk away before glancing back down at the papers she had gotten out. Hanako is very far behind, understandably, but she is also exceptionally smart. She catches onto things quickly, especially when somebody takes some time to explain things to her. Honestly, the girl is understanding concepts faster than Aguri expected her to. She had thought the principal's expectations of her catching up by the end of the school year to be in A class in high school was impossible for the young girl. An impossible task to be given. Now, she's not so sure. Looking at Hanako's past grades brought some light on the situation, straight A's. If there was an option for higher grades, she would've gotten that. There had been nothing but glowing reviews from her previous teachers about how studious she had been. The only negative comments in her file had been that she had trouble connecting with the other students, though those were practically afterthoughts. Which Aguri can see happening in class now. She is thankful that Hanako is seemingly close with Hazama, Yoshida, Muramatsu, and Terasaka. She does keep everyone else at a distance though, something that she's hoping to help her student get past. Life is no fun without friends. Those four aren't exactly whom Aguri would have expected a girl like Hanako to befriend, but seeing the people she hangs out with here at the bar she's not so surprised anymore.

The big man, Agil, clears his throat to get her attention. Aguri looks up at him, "I know it's only been a couple of days so far but... how is she doing at school? She doesn't really like to talk about it much. The most we get out of her is, 'oh it was fine.' Which I think we all know is teenager code for it's not fine."

Now, normally Aguri isn't supposed to talk about her students to anyone this isn't faculty or the student's parents. Well, she isn't exactly supposed to be meeting her students at bars either is she? Aguri feels like this is a special circumstance. She doesn't notice how the other teen perks up and starts listening in, "She's doing pretty well, considering everything. I can tell she's not really following much in class, but she's always taking dedicated notes. It looks like she has a couple of friends in the class that she knew before the school year started. I am a little worried that she's going to isolate herself from the rest of the class though. There is one girl in the class that is trying really hard to be her friend, but Hanako barely gives her the time of day. Though with the press incident on Tuesday I can't really blame her for being wary. Hopefully, that will pass and she'll start giving her fellow classmates a chance.

"Another thing I'm hoping to avoid is burnout. If she's studying with me, Asano-kun, her own personal studying, plus the normal school week I'm a bit worried she's going to work herself too hard. The principal really put a lot of pressure on her shoulders expecting her to be fully caught up by graduation. She already has a lot of catching up to do, the last thing I want is for her to burn herself out. I've seen it happen to too many students." Aguri explains. It's not a lie at all, she's seen too many students burn themselves out trying to desperately stay out of E-Class. It's a sad thing to watch and she desperately doesn't want Hanako to be one of those students, just go get out of E-Class. It doesn't seem like Hanako has any problems with being in E-Class, but with the principal looking over her shoulder who knows what is going to happen.

"We'll do our best to keep her from going too hard on herself," Agil tells her seriously.

"I'd appreciate that, she's a very good student. Oh, um... how much for the drinks and food?" Aguri asks cautiously. She hadn't asked for them, but she had told Hanako that she'd cover any expenses.

Agil lets out a booming laugh, "Nothing you need to worry about. You're helping out our friend, it's on the house. Anytime you hold your study sessions here everything is free. Promise."

Aguri's eyes grow wide and she waves her arms about, "No, no. I can't accept that. I can pay."

"Nonsense, my friends already get a discount. With you helping out one of my friends if I made you pay it would be against my morals." Agil argues, his tone indicating that he wouldn't take no as an option.

Aguri bites her lip but nods slowly. His wording catches her attention and she can't stop herself from asking, "How exactly did you become friends with Hanako-chan? Are you a family friend or something similar?"

Agil gives her a calculating look before shaking his head, "No, not anything like that. Do you know why Hana is two years behind on her schooling?" he asks carefully. For as much as Hana clearly hates her school, she hasn't said a single bad thing about her teacher. Which in the way Hana works means that she actually sort of likes her teacher. Agil really wants to give his young friend the best chance he can. So, maybe giving this teacher a few hints here and there would be for the best.

Aguri jolts slightly, "Oh, uh yes. I was read in on her circumstances on the first day. Why?"

Agil gives her a small smirk, "I don't think I've properly introduced myself. My name is Andrew Gilbert Mills, though for the past two years I've gone by Agil. You met Klien earlier, though his real name is Tsuboi Ryoutarou. We all met two years ago and became very close throughout those years."

Her eyes grow wide as realization dawns on her, "You are both SAO survivors." She whispers in almost a type of horror. It makes perfect sense now. They are all so close because they fought for their lives together, "You met her in the game."

Laughter booms out of Agil, "Yup, and that little brat saved my hide on multiple occasions. I owe that kid my life probably close to a dozen times over. The least I can do is help her out here in the real world."

Before Aguri can answer Hanako comes back from the bathroom and stops the conversation dead in its tracks, "Kay, I'm back." She notices the odd atmosphere and suspicion burns through her, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't you worry kid, everything is fine. What do you want for supper after you're done with your study session? I can make you something up before I take you back home." Agil asks.

"Oh, do you have any curry left?" Hana asks eagerly. Agil's curry is definitely one of her favorite meals.

"Sure, no problem, Hana. Why don't you get back to your studying them." He pats her on the head before heading back into the kitchen.

"Let's continue on then." Aguri gives her student a calm smile.

Aguri hurries into the lab and to the Reaper's containment room, she's running a bit later than she had planned. Thankfully Yanagisawa didn't seem to notice her absence. She sneaks into the room in time to hear Yanagisawa sneering down at the trapped assassin. Honestly, not the best move. If he is to somehow escape Yanagisawa is so very dead. She does her best to ignore the pain, both physical and mental, as Yanagisawa bullies her around.

She clutches her clipboard tightly to her chest as Yanagisawa leaves. She very lightly lets out a sigh of relief. She finds it very strange that she feels safer with the assassin known as the Reaper versus her own fiancé.

"You showed up later than usual." The Reaper comments out.

"Oh, um, yeah. I am giving one of my new students some extra lessons after class a few times a week. She's very far behind because of certain circumstances so I'm doing my best to help her catch up as quickly as possible. She's such a smart girl. She'd definitely be in A-Class if she wasn't so far behind." Aguri brags about her student. Gods, she just loves being a teacher.

"What made this student fall so far behind?" the Reaper asks. He doesn't truly care, but he always finds his talks with the clumsy and energetic brunette entertaining if nothing else. It's not like he has much else to do with his time nowadays. He's come to... enjoy his talks with her.

"Um... how to say this? She's been busy with something else more important for a while." Not a lie, staying alive in a death game is certainly more important than keeping up with her studies. Did they even have any schools in the game? Probably not. Anyway, "The reason she's so far behind isn't a problem, it was something out of her control. I can tell that she's a very hard worker and is doing her best to catch up. I know I'm not supposed to pick favorites, but well... she's definitely one of my favorites. She just has this hidden spark that I can't wait to see flourish."

The Reaper pushed down a smile, she's just so adamant about her students. His mind flashes to the student he had taken in who had ultimately betrayed him. If he had put a little more attention to his student, would he have still betrayed him? Well, he'll never know at this point. Simply something to keep in mind once he finally escapes here, if he would ever take in another student. Not something high on his list of things to do, but one never knows.

"So, do you think this student of yours will be able to catch up?" he asks, merely to keep up the conversation.

Aguri lets out a hum of thought before sighing fondly, "Yeah, I think she has a real chance. It'll be tough for her, but I really believe in her." She shakes her head to get herself back into work mode, "Anyway, let's get down to business, shall we? So, how are you feeling today? Are you any sorer today than yesterday?"

The Reaper hides a smirk, "Nothing I can't handle." He lies through his teeth. The pain he feels from all of the experiments is excruciating, but if nothing else he is proficient in hiding his pain. Now, to get the attention back away from him, "About this student of yours, how do you plan on getting her caught up."

Aguri sort of caught on to the redirect, but she let it go for now. Her eyes light up in excitement, "Oh, I have so many ideas." She exclaims before falling into a rant about her plans on helping Hanako, though she never says her student's name, on catching up on her schooling.