Saori Joumae/Synopsis

The story of Saori Joumae from Blue Archive.
== Past ==
Saori was raised in the dark parts of the Arius District which was under Beatrice's rule, having to scavenge for food and pickpocket from unsuspecting people in order to survive and feed Misaki and Hiyori. At that time, Atsuko was a princess of the district, receiving special treatment that no other student can ever hope to receive. While Saori and the other two were stealing, they saw Atsuko and were jealous, but Misaki knew that Atsuko was going to suffer an even worse fate than them.
As they grew up, Saori began training herself and the two others. Beatrice took notice of this and decided to make a deal with Saori where Atsuko could live a little longer if Saori trained her, which Saori accepted. A while after, Saori noticed a student being beaten up by a guard for disobeying Beatrice's orders, causing her to stop the guard and propose that she'll train the student, and Beatrice, who was aware of Saori's training capabilities, allowed it. The student goes by the name Azusa Shirasu. However, there were times where Saori didn't want to follow orders, which resulted in Saori being tortured and brainwashed to the point where she stated herself that she will never wish to be happy again, begging desperately for mercy. Losing basically all hope, she continued to train herself and her friends.
Seeing how much Saori and her friends had improved, Beatrice decided to form the Arius Squad and sent them to complete various missions, which the squad proved to be competent. A while after, a student from Trinity arrived, wanting Arius to reconcile with Trinity, who goes by the name of Mika Misono. Saori relayed her message to Beatrice, who replied with instructing Saori to reject the offer but still keep in touch. Although hesitant, Saori proceeded with the plan. Beatrice used this opportunity to use the unsuspecting Mika and to gain more power, and Saori could only follow orders, but Saori seemed to have a little bit of hope left hanging inside of her.
== Treaty of Eden Arc ==
Originally, the plan was to transfer Azusa to Trinity as an undercover spy to obtain intelligence, but Azusa, who truly felt like home in Trinity with her new and welcoming friends, decided to become a double agent to stop the Arius Squad. Saori was infuriated by this, and when Azusa confronted her, Saori fired at her mercilessly, attempting to teach her again the "truth" that everything is in vain, but Azusa refused. Later on, with the help of Azusa's friends, they were able to stop the Arius Squad. Although Saori couldn't accept the loss, Saori's friend Atsuko convince her that this hatred of theirs were not theirs and that it was instilled onto them. Atsuko also told them that they should run away instead of going back to Beatrice, who would definitely kill them the moment they arrived.
Unfortunately, their plan of escaping was short-lived as they eventually ran out of ammo and were exhausted. Beatrice ordered Atsuko to return and let the Arius soldiers kill the rest of the squad. Saori, Hiyori, and Misaki ran away but got separated, which lead to Saori looking for the Sensei of Schale, the main protagonist and the one who helped defeat the Squad, as a desperate measure to save her friends, even going so far as to be willing to do anything like sacrificing her own life if it meant her friends could be saved.
Sensei was willing to help, and together, they were able to reunite the squad and defeat Beatrice. Along the way, Saori met Mika and realized that all this time Saori was being selfish by forcing her friends to stay with her, that she's the cause of all this pain and suffering for both her squad and even Mika. When Beatrice's reign was ended, Saori wanted to fulfill her part of the deal and gave her life to Sensei, saying that Sensei could do anything they wanted or deemed right as a punishment, but Sensei instead insisted that Saori go live the life she wants to live. Saori was confused by this request, but Atsuko asked her about her hobbies or her favorite things, which Saori was clueless about. Saori wanted to be responsible for her actions, but Sensei said that her protecting the squad is proof she is responsible, that she will find the happy future she wanted someday, regardless of her past actions, and that Sensei is willing to give her the chances she never thought will ever be given to her.
Saori decided to leave the Arius Squad and gave Misaki the role of leader of the Arius Squad. Saori didn't want to feel like she's forcing the squad to stay with her again, so she decided to work in the Black Market as she tries to wrap her head around what had happened and think about her future. Eventually, the squad reunited again and Saori seemed to have found a reason to keep on living. Although she still has a lot to get used to with the real world, such as properly accepting contracts and some other trivial matters, she tries her best to someday achieve the happy ending she and her squad have always wanted.
== Where All Miracles Begin Arc ==
A while after the Treaty of Eden incident, a catastrophe landed upon Kivotos, the city where the story takes place. Skies were dyed in crimson and chaos ensued around Kivotos, requiring the Sensei of Schale to aid in keeping the situation under control. Since the situation wasn't your daily Tuesday morning, Sensei used Schale's extrajudicial authority to ask for the assistance of all contactable students, including the Arius Squad. When the Arius Squad members received Sensei's request, Saori came to check up on the Arius Squad, but Misaki wasn't that happy to see her. Although it was still a somewhat happy reunion, there was no time for reminiscing, so the Squad hurried to their designated location.
During this catastrophic phenomena, six red towers appeared throughout various areas in Kivotos, each with their own guardian. The first five were visible, but the six one was hidden until all five other towers were destroyed and their guardians defeated. Each guardian was an Iridescent version of already existing huge monsters that roam around Kivotos, all under the control of a god-like being named the Iridescence. One of the guardians was Hieronymus. Arius Squad, alongside other students, were tasked by Sensei to deal with Hieronymus. However, all the other students involved in this battle belonged to Trinity, the same school Arius Squad attempted to demolish.
Saori offered to help them by assisting their rear, but since Arius Squad wasn't in good terms with Trinity, she expected them to decline. Instead, the Trinity students accepted the Squad's assistance since it was an order from Sensei for Arius Squad to help. And besides, both sides have a cherished friend who they want to protect. However, the Trinity students asked for Saori and the Squad to also assist them with offense. Although Saori didn't expect to be helping on both the defensive and offensive, she was willing to do all it takes to make up for what she did.
Eventually, all first five guardians were defeated and their respective towers destroyed. However, as the sixth tower and its guardian made their appearance, the other five towers and the guardians reappeared although weakened, resulting in all the teams involved, including Saori and her team, having to defeat their respective guardians and towers again.
== Relationship Story ==
Episode 1: Independence
Saori contacted Sensei for the very first time to ask for help, and Sensei who was very elated to see Saori messaging them was more than ready to assist. Originally, Saori wanted to handle the situation herself, but some things are out of her control. Sensei then hurried towards Saori's location where she would explain the situation. Saori wanted to open an account in a black market bank, but she couldn't do so due to her conditions as a student and required Sensei to be her co-signer. Sensei originally thought they were going to be involved in some crimes, but they agreed after hearing Saori out. As they entered the bank, the two met with the banker who rejected Saori's account proposal. After the banker saw Sensei as the co-signer, he asked Saori several questions and a test to measure her experience level. Of course, the amount of things required to just open a bank account seemed suspicious to Saori and Sensei, especially the test part. After seeing Saori's impressive capabilities, the banker instead proposed for Saori to become the bank's bodyguard. Angered at the amount of time wasted, Saori threatened the banker, leading him to open the bank account for her. Afterwards, Saori thanked Sensei despite the stupid situation. She's heard a lot of things about the black market, and it seemed they're all true, so Sensei wished for her to be careful. Before Saori left, she promised she'll pay them back some day.
Episode 2: Oversight
Saori messaged Sensei another time, this time mentioning the nice weather. Sensei was surprised by Saori's message, but she talks about small things too once in a while. Saori thanked Sensei again for helping with opening the bank account as she's been receiving numerous requests and wanted to tell them about it. Sensei then headed towards Saori's location, only to find Saori complaining with who seems to be her employer. Sensei heard the noise and arrived to ask what's going on. The employer explained how Saori didn't write a contract, making her ineligible for payment. Apparently, Saori didn't know she needed to write a contract, so all her hard work amounted to nothing. The employer applauded her capabilities though, being able to handle the work of two people and reducing the workload and payment by a lot. However, the employer gave Saori the opportunity to sign a contract, but of course after the current job was done. Without hesitation, Saori agreed. Sensei also helped, but the employer wouldn't pay both of them. The moon arose, and their job was done. The employer was shocked, so he paid Saori as promised and left. Saori apologized to Sensei for having them work with her. She realized the importance of contracts and thanked Sensei for helping her. She left soon after, with Sensei feeling happy being thanked by her.
Episode 3: Remorse
Saori messaged Sensei once more, saying she made a properly written contract this time. Sensei was happy to hear that, so they asked what request Saori received. She said something about "ending the black market war." Terrified by the answer, Sensei went to look for Saori in the black market. According to the passersby, there seemed to be a war between the WanWan gang and the NyanNyan gang, with the WanWan gang having hired a powerful mercenary. Sensei, who thought that was Saori, he continued looking for her through the explosions and commotion. After some running, Sensei heard Saori's voice and headed towards it, finally finding Saori in an alleyway bruised and sorrowful. Saori was surprised to see Sensei, but when Sensei tried to help her, Saori told them she's used to pain. After staying with Saori for a bit, Sensei carried her somewhere much safer. After they were out of danger, Sensei asked about the request. 
Saori gave them the contract, and after a bit of reading, they noticed the contract said Saori was supposed to fight the NyanNyan gang alone. Judging by Saori's facial expressions, she didn't read the contract. Sensei told her she's supposed to read the contract first before signing it. However, looking at the contract a bit more, it's written in a pretty sneaky way. After thinking about it, coincidentally, it was actually better that Saori didn't read the contract, as it would've been way worse. All this time, she's been hired as a pawn for the WanWan gang, but Saori was used to it. Afterwards, Sensei decided to bring Saori somewhere to eat, and they arrived at a ramen place. Sensei told her that they'll eat first, then Saori will learn more about contracts. Saori still had so much to learn, but she was thankful she had Sensei to help.
== Valentine's Story ==
Gidiva Chocolate
Valentine's Day was almost over, and Sensei was able to visit Saori who appeared to be pretty injured. Saori said it's no big deal as what's more important is her objective. She then gave Sensei a box of quite expensive chocolate to express her gratitude for Sensei's help. Apparently, Saori's request was tougher than usual, but the best chocolate was required to be given on Valentine's Day, otherwise the feeling wouldn't be returned, she heard. She also heard that by giving cheap chocolate meant declaring war with the other. The rules of "society" were complicated, but she needed to follow them. However, Sensei was looking at her in a peculiar way. Sensei then yelled at her asking who told her those crap. Saori apologized for misunderstanding, but Sensei said the one at fault was whoever deceived her with such lies. Sensei also explained how she could also give handmade chocolate, and how it all boils down to her feelings when giving the chocolate. Saori was a bit confused, but she got the spirit. Then, Sensei asked her to eat the chocolate together. She was a bit hesitant, but she agreed. She knew that she'll cause more problems in the future, so she hoped that Sensei will bear with her. Afterwards, they enjoyed every bit of chocolate there was.
Category:Synopsis