Out of breath... - 35

The day after Black Suit visited my house,

I'm currently visiting someone in the hospital.

Yesterday was the day the Shiba Seki Ramen shop was blown up and attacked by the Ghenna's Prefect Team.

I'm glad I stayed home.

Although Black Suit is a problem...

"Hello... How are you feeling?"

"Ah, it's nothing serious. I'm not really hurt, and I'll be discharged soon. As for the shop... well, I'll figure something out."

A cool answer that doesn't suit his fluffy appearance.

"So you don't have to worry."

"I see..."

I'm glad he seems okay.

I should wait outside the hospital room for other people to visit.

-I was thinking of closing the shop soon anyway. It's just that the plan got moved up a bit.

I could faintly hear a conversation coming from inside.

-What? You're quitting? But Nito...

-It's not something a kid needs to know. And about the shop... well, the landlord has been asking me to move out for a while now.

-The landlord? What are you talking about? The owner of the Abydos district building is Abydos High School, right? So your shop should be...

-...

The conversation coming from inside is hard to hear even with my ear close to the door.

After waiting for a bit, everyone came out of the room.

"Nito, let's go to Abydos High School."

"...? Yes."

Sensei took me straight to the school as soon as he came out of the hospital room.

"Oh, Sensei? You're here early~☆ There's still a lot of time left before the meeting."

"Nonomi, you're here early too."

When we arrived at Abydos, Nonomi greeted us.

"Yes! Welcome, Nito-chan~♧"

"Yes... Eek!"

Don't try to pet me as soon as we meet!

And don't look at me like that with such regret!

"Hmm... Is Master-san doing okay?"

"...Yeah, luckily he seemed to be in good health."

"...Yeah, that's good☆"

It is a relief.

How could a person without a halo come back from an explosion without any injuries?!

"It's a good thing Nito-chan didn't come that day either."

"Uh... W-well, that's..."

Nonomi suddenly hugged me.

I-it's embarrassing when you hug me so suddenly...

"I should visit Master at the hospital later with Shiroko-chan and Hoshino-senpai."

Standing back up, Nonomi noticed that Sensei's mood was strange, so she suggested that they talk when everyone was gathered and entered the school.

"Helmet Gang... Problem Solver 68... Prefect Team... Kaiser Corporation, what other incidents await us..."

As I listened to Nonomi's complaints and entered the club room, Shiroko was also there early in the morning.

Nonomi greeted Shiroko, but Shiroko reacted indifferently and then left, saying she had something to do.

"Let's go together."

"Huh? Yes!"

Feeling that Shiroko's condition was strange, Sensei, Nonomi, and I followed Shiroko.

As we were moving, we heard a loud crashing sound.

Crash!

Thud-!

"Ow~ That hurts~ Shiroko-chan."

"...Stop playing dumb, Senpai.

"?!! This voice... Could it be...!"

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, we immediately entered the classroom where the sound came from.

"Playing dumb? This old man doesn't know what you're talking about..."

"...Liar."

Shiroko was unusually angry and was confronting Hoshino.

"It's not a lie... Huh?"

"Hoshino-senpai! Shiroko-chan! What's going on!"

"Calm down. Everyone."

Nonomi and Sensei tried to mediate the situation.

The atmosphere is extremely tense.

...Why am I here?

"U-uhm..."

"What's going on? Huh?"

"I have something to discuss with Hoshino-senpai."

"..."

Just like in the main story, Shiroko must have found out that Hoshino was trying to drop out of school.

"...Sorry, but can you leave us alone?"

"Yeah, no can do~☆"

"..."

"There's no such thing as secrets♡ between the two of us in the Countermeasures Committee. You know that, right? We're a community bound by fate."

"...U-uhm."

"So, if you don't properly explain this situation..."

Nonomi raised her minigun.

"You're going to be in trouble☆"

"U-uhm..."

"That's right. A child is watching, so fighting in the open is not good for the child's education."

"I-I'm not a child!"

Thump-

I kicked Sensei.

"Uh... So..."

Hoshino seems to be looking for an excuse.

"...Uhe~ This old man got caught taking a secretly."

She started making ridiculous excuses.

"But it's too much. My laziness is a common thing. It's like the air around us."

I guess she must have learned that mindset from Yume?

Come to think of it, I can clearly see a picture of Yume and Hoshino together here.

I'll have to look at it later.

"Ah, uh, um..."

Shiroko seems to be trying to go along with this ridiculous excuse to escape the current situation.

"You don't have to be so angry. Shiroko-chan is a bit too strict sometimes."

Hoshino seemed to try to lighten the mood, but nothing changed.

"Well, it's almost time for the meeting, so let's go to the club room."

"..."

Regardless, Hoshino disappeared.

Shiroko also followed Hoshino outside.

"....."

"...Are you okay, Nonomi?"

"Yes. It seems there's something they don't want to talk about."

Nonomi became depressed when the situation didn't go as planned.

But she quickly put on her usual smile.

"It can't be helped. Sometimes everyone has a secret or two... Well, let's go. Sensei. Everyone will be waiting."

The awkward atmosphere in the Countermeasures Committee's room where we arrived was overwhelming.

It's really awkward and suffocating, it feels like I'm going to die.

Save me...