Chapter 59: One Trouble Gone

The multicolored army began appearing again. I figured being in combat would at least distract me from this sinking feeling, so the three of us rushed off once more to defend Trinity.

"We’ve been fighting nonstop for a while now, so we’ve pretty much figured out how to handle this."

"Yeah, totally~"

Once we found where enemies were clustered, I would hit them first with the pom-pom cannon. Then the other two would jump out of the truck, take down the survivors, and we’d move on to the next spot. After repeating that several times, the enemy appearances finally grew sparse… and the sky regained its blue color. Even though it should’ve been late at night by now…

"Oh my? It’s nearly midnight, yet it’s bright as day."

"Maybe the constant changes messed up the time axis?"

"That might be it… ah, the sky…"

Following Masa’s voice, I looked up. The heavens shifted rapidly from sky blue to crimson, then into the darkness of night.

"…Maybe this time, the teachers really did succeed."

"Yes, I’m sure they did."

And if the teachers had won… then that meant the version of Sensei from another timeline—Phrenapates, his final form—

"…"

…I quietly traced a cross over my chest. This time, I prayed that no being would ever disturb you again, and that you may finally rest in peace.

"…Aika-chan?"

Maiha’s voice pulled me back to myself. As I thought about what we should do next… something came to mind.

"…Let’s go welcome Sensei back. If we wait in front of Schale, we should be able to meet him."

"…You’re right. Out of everyone, he’s the one who worked himself the hardest during all of this. He deserves to be greeted properly."

We returned to Trinity’s main school building first. I reported the defense status to Nagisa in her office and told her we were heading for Schale.

"Yes, of course. That’s perfectly fine. You have all worked very hard."

"Thank you, Lady Nagisa."

Next was the home economics kitchen used for practical classes. Maiha used it often to make sweets, and as a result, it was stocked with an absurd amount of sugar, eggs, flour, butter, and more.

"Alright, then! Time to put my whole heart into baking something amazing for Sensei and the others when they get back~!"

"But of course."

"Yeah!"

Apparently, our parents had heard how rough things were for us, because earlier they’d shipped over a batch of dried fruits and jams via cargo plane… meaning we could make something pretty special.

Maiha wasn’t the only one cooking; Masa and I helped too. The three of us prepared a mountain of sweets. We packed them all into boxes, loaded them onto the truck bed, and slowly made our way toward Schale in the D.U. District. Or rather… we had no choice but to go slowly.

"Wow… the road’s totally wrecked~…"

"Pretty much."

We’d made sure not to choose delicate sweets that would collapse from the slightest bump, but with rubble everywhere and crater-like impacts from falling debris, the roads were in absolute ruins. We had no choice but to take it easy.

By the time we arrived in front of Schale, dawn was already peeking over the horizon. When I looked up at the sky…

"Wait… is that… a shooting star?"

"It's beautiful… it’s wrapped in crystal-like light—bluish and purplish."

"Hmm… but I’ve never seen a shooting star like that before…"

When I think “Ryūsei,” the first thing that comes to mind is the late-war Imperial Japanese Navy carrier-based attack aircraft*1… but now really isn’t the time for that.

After that shooting star slipped below the horizon, we waited for Sensei to return. About an hour passed before we finally spotted a group heading our way.

"Is that… maybe…"

"Yeah, I’m sure it is! Sensei~!"

"Sensei, welcome ba—eh!?"

Even though he’d risked his life to save Kivotos and succeeded, the operators walking ahead all had complicated expressions… and the sight of Sensei behind them—

"Kyahhhh!?"

"S-Sensei!?"

Maiha, unusually for her, let out a shriek and quickly clapped her hands over Masa’s eyes. As for me… I finally remembered. Sensei had entrusted Shiroko Terror to Phrenapates, used his own escape resource on her… and then fallen from 100,000 meters.

Arona and Phrenapates’s A.R.O.N.A. had poured every available resource into protecting him, so his body was unharmed… but his clothes, exposed to the heat generated by thermal-compression, had completely burned away. By the time he reached the surface… he was totally naked.

"Sensei!? Why are you naked!? Please put something on already~!!"

"M-Maiha-chan…"

Hanako, normally so composed, could only manage a strained smile. Everyone else looked just as lost on how to react.

"“It’s… a long story, but… can I at least come inside first?”"

We really had no choice, so we silently stepped aside, letting Sensei and the others pass so he could get changed. Sensei’s naked body… well… there was a lot to take in...(TL/N: A lot huh😏)

Once Maiha had calmed down and Sensei and the operators had finished changing, I headed into Schale. In the room where everyone had gathered, I opened the boxes and spread out the pile of sweets across the table.

"What is all this…?"

"Yes~! Sensei and the others have been working so hard, so we thought you must all be exhausted. These are sweets we officer cadets made for you~."

"Please, help yourselves. Don’t hold back."

Cookies, pound cakes, jam sandwiches, fruit tarts… financiers, candies, chocolate biscuits—the works. As a gesture of appreciation for people who must’ve strained their minds to their limits during the operation, I figured this was the best possible choice.

"“Thank you, everyone! In that case, I’ll dig in.”"

After replenishing their sugar levels with our sweets, Sensei and the others began organizing everything about the incident and handling the post-operation tasks.

Once they had progressed far enough with the cleanup, they decided to break for now… and we offered Hanako a seat so we could all ride back to Trinity together.

"Hehe, riding in Aika-chan’s truck again… this brings back memories of that time♡"

"Yes, it does."

“That time”… meaning during the Make-Up Work Club’s third exam, when everything had settled down and we were heading to the testing site. Hard to believe months have already passed since then.

After accompanying Hanako to report everything to Nagisa… we finally disbanded for real. Under normal circumstances, today would’ve been a school day, but according to Nagisa:

"Compared to the D.U. central district, the damage here is smaller… but even Trinity General Academy has suffered partial destruction to the school buildings and other facilities. Many students and staff members have sustained injuries to varying degrees. In this condition, classes simply cannot proceed. Until we can restore enough of the campus, lectures will be suspended."

Well, yeah… that made sense. So now I was resting in my dorm room, wondering what to do during the break, when—

"Yoo-hoo, Aika-chan~"

"How are you feeling?"

Maiha and Masa came into my room.

"O-oh, you two…!? Why are you…"

"Yesterday—well, I think it was ‘yesterday’? After seeing you so shaken in your sleep… I just couldn’t believe you’d be fine alone."

"Yes. We’re worried about you, Aika."

…Really. I have such good friends. Better than I deserve. And to protect these two… I must…

(Once the time comes… I need to disappear from here.)

That was the resolve I reaffirmed.