"Touma isn't around, huh?"
At the arena, Kamijou Touya gave a suspicious remark under the dusk-lit sky.
The matches were over, and the students were heading back. The spectators were heading out of the stands, and the area was surrounded by noisy chaos. Several Anti-Skill members were frantically leading the crowd, as Touya and his wife, Shiina, were the only ones standing at their original position, like they were a twig in the midst of a river called the 'human wave'.
There was an Academy City teacher in front of them.
The unbelievable thing about this 135cm tall petite lady was that she was Kamijou Touma's homeroom teacher. As they had met in an interview during the first semester, the two guardians weren't too surprised. This teacher seemed to have changed her clothes, as her cheerleader clothes had an aroma of insect repellent.
But more importantly,
"Ara ara, why wasn't my son participating in the matches? Was he unable to participate due to some injury or serious illness?"
Shiina said in a rather uncomfortable manner.
The one who had first suspected that something was amiss was her. She mentioned that she did not see her son during the team matches, but both of them always felt that it was their fault that they could not spot their son. In the end, both of them were very depressed for being such irresponsible parents.
But both parents had only just confirmed that during the 'ladle match', a relaxed match that involved balancing a cooking ladle on a ball with a 2cm diameter and running 100m with it. In this match that required telekinesis to balance the plastic ball, or any fire ignition or wind to blow the ball away—there was still no sign of Kamijou Touma.
Clad in cheerleading attire, Tsukuyomi Komoe's face went green.
She frantically swung her hands that were holding pompons.
"This…er…is that…we have already requested for help from Anti-Skill as well…"
Hearing the teacher's words, Shiina frowned.
"Anti-Skill? Like…the police in this city. Maybe my son got involved in something that prevents him from participating in the matches?"
"No…it's not like this. Your son was running around quite energetically with a priest, so I guess that he's not in any dangerous situation…"
"??? In other words, you saw my son roaming around the city?"
Shiina, who was still wondering what was going on, tilted her head slightly. Though it was an unconscious movement, Komoe-sensei dejectedly dropped her shoulders when she saw that.
"…I'm really sorry. I'm the one who's looking after your son, yet I couldn't grasp his whereabouts."
"Please don't…"
Seeing Komoe-sensei lower her head like this, not moving at all, Touya and Shiina looked at each other, not knowing what to do. To this couple, as they understood their son's character and ability (though they still hadn't recognized it), they didn't blame the teacher, instead hoping that the other person would clearly explain this.
"…(Though he isn't here, he might be making trouble for some other girl. Hm, you're really good at this.)"
"Ara ara. Touya-san, what did you just say?"
"Nothing."
"However, I do feel that this aspect of Touma is genetically derived from you."
"If you're going to say that, why are you still making such a scary face, okaa-san!?"
Seeing the tip of the spear being pointed at him, Touya frantically backed away from Shiina. He then turned to Komoe-sensei, whose head was still down and was looking like she was going to cry any moment.
"Then…let me ask something. Ah, sensei, please look up."
"Eh…ah, okay. What's the problem?"
"Did Touma do this on his own? He wasn't forced to run around, right?"
"Hm, yeah. That's right."
Her reply was somewhat hesitant.
Sensei said that when she met the son, it seemed like he knew something. The reason why her reply was hesitant was likely because this could heavily involve the son and other students, so she couldn't tell Touya this.
Such a kind and gentle teacher, Touya thought as he nodded his head.
Thus, he decided not to pursue the matter further.
"If so,"
Kamijou Touya looked up at the sky.
Looking up at the dusk-lit sky with the first star beginning to shine, he said,
"That means, to Touma, it's something much more important than the matches."
It was a voice of someone recollecting some painful memories.
"If so, there's no reason for me to stop him, is there?"