Chapter 23: Visitor

After finishing training, it was early afternoon. Masa apparently had duties with the Pater faction again today and left. Maiha said she needed to prepare materials for the Make-Up Work Club, so she headed off as well, leaving me alone.

Since I didn’t have anything in particular to do, I figured I might as well go to the music room and play the piano. On my way to the music hall, I spotted a Sisterhood girl looking around restlessly, clearly searching for something.

"What’s the matter, Iochi-san?"

"Ah, Aika-san. Um… I’m looking for someone named Shirasu Azusa, but… I just can’t seem to find her anywhere."

"I see… If you’re looking for Shirasu-senpai, I believe she’s with the Make-Up Work Club in the annex building."

"The annex…"

Like yesterday, it was a good ten-plus minutes away by car—definitely a hassle to walk. And since Marie seemed to have been searching for Azusa since this morning, it must have been even more exhausting for her.

"If you’d like, I can drive you there."

"Yes, please… I’m honestly a bit tired after walking this much."

So, just like yesterday, we returned to the dorm parking lot, took the car out, and headed to the building where the Make-Up Work Club was.

"This is the place. Ah, could you wait just a moment?"

"Y-Yes…?"

I took out my phone, opened MomoTalk, and contacted Sensei.

"Please wait until someone from inside comes to get you. I came yesterday as well, and back then there were traps set up for intruders."

"Intruders…? T-Traps? I heard the Make-Up Work Club was simply a place where students with poor grades studied on their own, but…"

"Regarding that, I’m afraid I don’t fully understand either."

Well, to be precise, those traps were almost entirely set up by Azusa herself.

"There you are. Aika… and who’s that with you?"

Before long, the person Marie was searching for appeared. Behind her were the other three and Sensei.

"That uniform… You’re from the Sisterhood?"

"Marie-chan? What brings you here?"

As expected, Hanako, who had some connection to the Sisterhood, also recognized Marie.

"Ah, Hanako-san. I came to see Shirasu Azusa-san. I heard she was here, and I have something I need to tell her."

"Me?"

Azusa tilted her head slightly in confusion. At Sensei’s suggestion that talking while standing wasn’t ideal, we all moved inside and continued the conversation in a classroom.

"Actually, I’m here to relay a message of gratitude from the student you helped the other day. For certain reasons, she wasn’t able to come herself, so I came on her behalf."

"Gratitude…? I don’t remember doing anything worth being thanked for."

"We were told that there was a girl who had been suffering from bullying by some of her classmates… On that day, she was suddenly called out behind one of the buildings."

Given that Marie had come to the Make-Up Work Club specifically to speak with Azusa, I already had a guess what this was about—so it really was that incident.

"W-What…!? Something like that happened…!?"

"Bullying…!? That’s not okay at all…!"

"…Well, it’s not unheard of. Since they do it in crafty, insidious ways, it rarely becomes visible."

Three different reactions to the word "bullying." Especially Hanako—having dealt with many organizations, she must have seen such things countless times. Those experiences were what made her start despising Trinity in the first place.

"We only learned about it after she finally came to consult us. On the day she was called out, Azusa-san happened to pass by and saved her."

"O-Oh, I… did?"

Koharu looked at Azusa with a gaze that held a mix of admiration and… perhaps expectation.

"Ahh… now that you mention it, something like that did happen. But it wasn’t anything special. I simply found it irritating to see a group using their numbers to torment someone weaker."

"And after that, the students you scolded contacted the Justice Task Force… We don’t know exactly what was exchanged, but apparently it escalated into a sizable battle between the Justice Task Force and Azusa-san…"

"Eh—wait, that was that incident!?"

Koharu stared back and forth between Marie and Azusa, clearly shocked.

"And then Azusa-san seized the tear-gas storage room and held out for over three hours, using traps against the Justice Task Force members…"

"Whatever the case, if someone picks a fight, I answer it. If I hadn’t run out of ammunition back then, I could’ve fought even longer—taken more of them down with me, too."

"A-ahh…"

"As the Tea Party, we would prefer things to be resolved peacefully… The paperwork afterward becomes troublesome, you see…"

Well, I wasn’t the one who handled the paperwork back then—Nagisa did. The office lights stayed on long past curfew that night.

"And so, that girl visited us to report everything and said she wished to thank Azusa-san. However, she couldn’t find you anywhere on campus… so when she happened to run into Aika-san, she was brought here."

"…I see. But I didn’t really do anything deserving of special gratitude. I was captured in the end anyway."

"I don’t think that part matters…"

"And besides, while what happened to her was unfortunate, you can’t remain someone who is only ever oppressed. Even if it’s a futile struggle, you shouldn’t stop resisting."

Azusa’s core belief. Even if everything is meaningless, that doesn’t give you a reason not to do your best.
You could sense that clearly in her words.

"…You may be right. Yes, I’ll make sure to tell her that."

After a short pause, Marie continued.

"…I heard a rumor. That Azusa-san is a witch of ice who worships violence. But as expected, a rumor is just a rumor."

"Hehe, that’s true, but Azusa-chan does have a few traits that suit the ‘ice witch’ nickname, you know? Like how her expressions can be a little hard for others to read."

Hearing that, Azusa puffed her cheeks in mock irritation.

"Hehe… I’m glad to see you doing well, Marie-chan. I haven’t been able to visit the Sisterhood lately."

"Yes, I’m doing fine… but Hanako-san is…"

"I’ll walk you to the entrance. Aika-san, please come along as well."

Huh? They’re already leaving? It hasn’t even been thirty minutes since they arrived…

"Are you sure you don’t need our help with studying today like yesterday?"

"Yes, we’re fine. Right, Hifumi-chan?"

"Y-Yes… Thanks to Aika-san and Maiha-san, the scores we got on the mock exam earlier were good enough that everyone passing the real test now feels realistic."

…Assuming the first exam doesn’t change, anyway. Not that I’m the one in charge of that.

With Hanako gently ushering us out, we left the old building and returned toward the academy’s central area. After dropping Marie off at the cathedral, I checked MomoTalk and saw a message from Maiha:

"I ended up doing a lot more than just preparing the materials, so it took way longer than I expected ><
Masa-chan seems tired from her work today, so she already went back to the dorm. Let’s meet again tomorrow ^^"

I replied with a "Got it," then headed back to my room.

The next day brought heavy rain from early morning, thunder included. With weather like this, training was impossible, so we were told to stay in our rooms. Teaching at the Make-Up Work Club would be difficult too.

"It’s been a while since we’ve sat down and played games this thoroughly."

Wondering if the Make-Up Work Club was holding some kind of swimsuit party right now, I ended up spending the whole day playing Minecraft on my laptop, even forgetting to eat. Before I knew it, the rain had stopped, and through the window I could see a fantastic scene—the sunset shining through a rainbow.

"I feel like there was some event today… hmm… Well, my shoulders are tired from gaming all day, so I’m going to sleep."

When I asked on MomoTalk what Maiha and Masa had been doing today, they said they’d spent the whole time reading. Maiha was probably reading reference books for the Make-Up Work Club, and Masa… likely some game-related book.

Explosions echoed repeatedly throughout Trinity in the middle of the night.

"Munya… shut uuuup… who… who’s making noise at this hour… mmph… zz…"

Aika, fast asleep, remained completely unaware of the chaos triggered by Gehenna’s infamous problem children—the Gourmet Research Society—who assaulted the aquarium and stole the Gold Tuna.
She only learned about the late-night incident the next morning, when she saw the news.