Moving from the Trinity bonfire to the neutral camp's, I ran into several more familiar faces.
Though, most of them were faces that only I knew.
What was particularly surprising was the large number of Sisterhood students here. The most memorable sight was that of Sakurako, taking a picture with a Gehenna student she didn't seem to know.
Thanks to the Gehenna student's ignorance of Sakurako's status as the Sisterhood's leader, she wasn't intimidated, and Sakurako herself seemed to be enjoying the after-party with a relaxed heart.
I wanted to talk to the students from other academies whom I only knew one-sidedly, but….
my circumstances made it difficult to stay for long, so I contented myself with just observing.
Then, I came across Wakamo and FOX Platoon. I was surprised to see them getting along without any major fights.
For the record, "no major fights" means they at least weren't pointing guns at each other.
After all, the only one in FOX Platoon who could truly embrace Wakamo was the radiant Niko.
This made the idea of deploying Wakamo as a solo operative in the upcoming mission more appealing than grouping her with either FOX Platoon or Arius Squad.
I estimate that a comparison of their respective combat strengths would yield a relatively even result, and Wakamo herself is such an elusive character….
I have a feeling she'd do just fine on her own.
When I voiced this thought, FOX Platoon and Wakamo answered in unison.
"Mika-san, I can assure you that if you make us cooperate with that woman, our efficiency will actually decrease.".
"Oh my… you have such a sharp tongue, little fox. Though, I must admit I agree with you on that point.".
"Of course you do. Your justification is personal revenge, not justice. That is where we do not align.".
"Ahaha. I figured as much. You really don't get along, do you?".
Yukino's words were perfectly logical. Regardless of Wakamo's repentance for her actions, she was by no means a devotee of justice.
To put it bluntly, Wakamo wanted to be a part of this to "screw over Kaiser for screwing me over," while Yukino had concluded that condoning Kaiser's actions could not be considered justice.
"In that case, I'll consider deploying you as a solo operative, Wakamo-chan. Or maybe I could even entrust a part of the operation to you…".
"Ohoho… for you to trust me that much, Mika-san. It would be impossible for I, Wakamo, not to live up to those expectations.".
"…Mika-san, I really don't think that's a good idea. You don't want to see a news report the next day about the Fox of Calamity terrorizing Kaiser, do you?".
"Mmm, now that you mention it, you have a point.".
Niko's words are always right. Let's carve that into my brain, and then carve it in twice more.
"Oh, you're so mean… toying with a poor fox's heart like that.".
Trusting Wakamo, the owner of countless red marks on her record.
Trusting Niko, the inarizushi artisan.
Honestly, it didn't seem like a very difficult choice.
"Mika. You'll do fine wherever you go, but don't ever forget to be careful. Remember that there are more than a few people who cherish and care for you.".
Over the mountain, another mountain; past the fox, another fox.
After meeting five foxes, there was one more.
Beside her, Hina and Nagisa were sitting across from each other at a small tea table that someone must have brought over.
Nagisa, sipping her tea silently with her eyes closed, was clearly sulking.
…By the way, maybe because I don't have much time today, she's worrying about me normally instead of making some vague, roundabout statement.
As expected, there's no one who can pat Seia's head as nicely as I can.
"But I'm surprised to see you here, Seia-chan. I thought for sure you'd have gone back already.".
"I can't hide behind you forever, can I? Not when Nagisa has stepped out onto the front lines herself.".
"Hmm. But Seia-chan, you're just too frail. I'd be more at ease if you just stayed hidden.".
"It's fine. My escorts are not just for show. Besides, I don't think you have time to be doing this right now.".
As Seia said, my most urgent task was to comfort and reassure Nagisa before I left.
I have many people to take care of, but if I had to prioritize, no one deserves the top spot more than Nagisa.
And yet, because I was busy taking care of other kids, the time we had to spend together at the end was drastically reduced….
"Nagi-chan~!".
"…".
"Please open your eyes. Hmm?".
Honestly, she's so stubborn. The more she acts like this, the less time we have to talk.
"Nagisa, we're scheduled to leave in 20 minutes. You're not going to keep this up, are you?".
Surprisingly, Hina was uncompromising when it came to the time. She had set the time for 9 o'clock sharp. She was unyielding in her will to sling me over her shoulder and carry me off to Gehenna when the time came.
It was hard for anyone to argue with Hina's reasoning that, unlike Nagisa who could see me whenever she wanted, she had to seize time for herself like this.
"Nagi-chan, it's not the worst-case scenario, you know? You've seen what kind of person Makoto-chan is.".
I naturally moved behind Nagisa and gently hugged her from behind. At that, Nagisa, as if finally willing to talk, put down her teacup.
"…Sigh.".
"Ahaha, sighing is bad for your health, Nagi-chan. And especially for that pretty face of yours.".
"In that case, I would appreciate it if you would cooperate so that I have no reason to sigh.".
With those words, Nagisa leaned back against me and placed her hands on my arms.
"It's not that I'm unhappy about you leaving for Gehenna for a while. As you said just now, if it were the Chairman of Pandemonium Society, it would be a different story, but Hina-san is a trustworthy person. And I did give my permission, so I have no intention of throwing a childish tantrum. However…".
"However?".
"I'm worried you'll go over there and, unable to break your bad habit, just add to the number of people who like you.".
"Huh? Ahahat! No way! I'm not that bad.".
"…Sigh.".
"Mika, I'm sorry… but you are.".
At Nagisa's sigh and Hina's rebuttal, my smiling face froze. Was I… really that bad?
"It's fine. It's not like that bad habit of yours can be fixed just by telling you to. I'll just have to try harder. So please, don't keep looking away like this, Mika-san.".
I silently tightened my arms around Nagisa. In the time we had left, I intended to not be apart from her for a single moment, so that neither of us would have any regrets.
In the past, it might have been different, but she was the one who had triggered the now-clingy person I had become. From now on, whatever happens is her own fault. That's what I decided.
Thankfully, when the time came, Nagisa let me go more easily than I had expected.
Perhaps clinging to her and chattering away for nearly 40 minutes, well over the scheduled 20, had been effective.
It was only natural that Nagisa would feel a sense of favor and gratitude toward Hina for waiting so patiently.
It reaffirmed my conviction that these two could definitely get along like friends in the future.
The journey to Gehenna didn't take long thanks to the helicopter, and we soon arrived at the main campus.
Recalling the reckless driving I had experienced on my first visit, the helicopter felt like a godsend.
During the roughly two-hour helicopter ride, Hina, as if to claim her reward for having to watch me be all lovey-dovey with Nagisa, sat beside me and shyly held my hand.
In every conceivable way, this situation was better than being Makoto's slave, so I was filled with nothing but gratitude for Hina. I held her hand back and we chatted amiably.
The most shocking part of our conversation was….
"Ahaha, to arrive at this late hour only to do paperwork. Hina-chan, you're a workaholic, aren't you…?".
"If I put off what I have to do, the trouble just comes back to me in the end, Mika. Still, it's a relief that the number of incidents has greatly decreased these past few days, thanks to dragging the troublemaking clubs to the festival. It should probably only take about two hours to finish.".
As if to prove her words, as soon as we landed on the main campus, Hina headed for her office in the Prefect Team headquarters.
She had offered to show me to my lodgings before she started working, but I insisted that I wanted to help her with her work, even just a little.
"Mika… regardless of our relationship, you're still a dignitary from another academy. I can't show you the contents of these documents.".
"Mmm, is there really nothing I can help with? It feels wrong for me to just relax when I know you're working so hard.".
Hina's reasoning was sound, so I couldn't push the matter any further.
If it had been me, I might have shamelessly said something like, "But I can trust you, right, Hina?" and entrusted her with some less important documents. But there probably weren't any documents that reached the desk of the Prefect Team leader that were unimportant enough to be shown to a dignitary from another academy.
"It's… it's enough for me if you just stay here with me, if you're really that uncomfortable. Though, I'd honestly be more at ease if you went ahead and rested…".
"Ahaha, but then I wouldn't be at ease.".
In the end, my first day in Gehenna with Hina was spent watching her work.
The good news, if you could call it that, was that the work was finished in an hour—half the time she had estimated.
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