Kayama Esumi: Gehenna

Kayama Esumi stepping into Gehenna Academy is indeed for the first time in two years.

 

If we are to talk about nostalgic things, ever since that day when Esumi joined forces with Kayoko to crush a criminal group involved in the wrongdoings of the Sanctus branch and defeat the attackers, she hasn't visited Gehenna.

 

Kayoko, who willingly cooperated with Esumi's goals, has since accompanied her for fun a few times under the pretext of going to live concerts or art gallery viewings, but the regions they visited were all other autonomous districts, neither Gehenna nor Trinity.

 

Besides, the Tea Party and those around her would never allow Esumi, a Trinity student, to visit Gehenna, a place with which they have a long-standing feud. Back then, thanks to having a formidable ally named Tsukusu who fully cooperated with her, she somehow managed to fool those surroundings and never let that particular matter come to light. However, after that person graduated, Esumi's actions drew even more attention from those around her, and combined with her position as the art club president, she stopped setting foot in Gehenna on her own.

 

Truth be told, her reunion with Kayoko, whom she is about to meet now, is also about two years in the making.

 

The reason is simple: midway through her second year, Esumi became the president of the Trinity General School's art club, making her busier than ever and leaving practically no opportunities to see Kayoko.

 

That being said, there was also a bit of Esumi's personal feelings involved—she had tried not to deepen her friendship with Kayoko, who is after all one of the original characters, so as not to affect the original story... but it was also a fact that she simply didn't have the luxury to casually go play in other autonomous districts.

 

Of course, though not as much as Nagisa or Mika, she had exchanged messages with Kayoko a few times on MomoTalk and chatted over the phone a couple of times.

 

Even so, meeting Kayoko in person hadn't happened at all over these past two years.

 

Because of that, Esumi felt no small amount of gratitude toward Kayoko, who had sent her a catalyst for reunion in the form of an invitation letter.

 

No matter how deeply intertwined the other person was with the main Blue Archive cast, to Esumi, she was a precious peer of the same age. If she dare say so, living in a unique environment where people around her were always walking on eggshells because Esumi was somewhat of a celebrity, Esumi deeply missed Kayoko's comfortable sense of distance, unbothered by status just because she belonged to a different academy.

 

(An invitation letter, though... I wonder what I'm being invited to?)

 

Now, inside a train bound for the Gehenna autonomous district, Esumi gradually pulled the invitation letter from her bosom while gazing out the window.

 

The envelope was written in a skillful hand simply with Gehenna Academy, Year 3, Onikata Kayoko.

 

She had already checked the contents before departure, but there was not a single thing that gave away the details regarding why Esumi was invited. There was a handwritten letter from Kayoko enclosed with the invitation card asking her to participate in a certain party in the Gehenna autonomous district, but that was it. In the end, she had no inkling of what she was actually invited to.

 

"Knowing her, there must be some reason."

 

Tapping the envelope gently with her fingers, Esumi let out those words with a wry smile.

 

Compared to Nagisa and others, the number of times she had interacted with her could be counted on the fingers of both hands, but Esumi still felt she understood the person named Kayoko to a reasonable degree. Originally, she wasn't the type of person to muddle her words and forcefully invite people.

 

Whether she had some reason implicitly wanting to avoid involving Esumi too deeply, or simply because it was a party that couldn't be made public, which was why she omitted the details... for now, worrying about it at this moment wouldn't help. After all, Esumi herself was the one who came all the way to Gehenna without even asking Kayoko for details, despite having the right to refuse.

 

Leaving the mystery as a mystery, telling herself it would be fine to learn the whole truth after meeting Kayoko, Esumi gently closed her eyelids while fixing her gaze outside the window.

 

And to rest her fatigued body, and to look away from the anxiety and apprehension that were gradually beginning to rear their heads, she sank into the somewhat hard train seat, took a deep breath, and drifted off to sleep.

 

It would still take quite a while before arriving in Gehenna.

 

1-2

 

"Sleeping on a train to Gehenna... just as Kayoko said, she has zero sense of danger. Ha......... I can't believe someone who so calmly displays her defensiveness is a person long marked by Gehenna's Prefect Team."

 

Now then, sitting a little away from Esumi, who had fallen sound asleep from daily fatigue—sitting in a seat where she could clearly see Esumi, who had transformed into a sleeping beauty, a certain girl was muttering complaints to her in a small voice.

 

By the way, this girl has light blue hair, a sharp gaze, and stands out with a slightly quirky outfit wearing a uniform where her sideboob is fully visible, but she was scattering harsh glares around her at a level that completely disregarded that fact. One could even feel a demonic intensity.

 

"I boarded the train all the way from Trinity Station at Kayoko's request, but why on earth am I acting as a bodyguard for a Trinity student like that..."

 

Apparently, the girl was serving as a bodyguard at the request of Kayoko, whom Esumi was scheduled to meet. The reason she had been throwing unsparingly harsh glares around since earlier was probably her own way of driving away anyone attempting to get close to Esumi.

 

Well, she probably could have chosen a slightly more peaceful method... but it was certain that it made for a good bug repellent.

 

"Good grief, Kayoko is something else too. Just where did she fall for that completely defenseless Trinity student... Well, she certainly doesn't look bad... In fact, she's a beauty gorgeous enough to almost make me stare in fascination."

 

Whether she meant to play the tsundere or not, before she knew it, the girl's gaze was fixed on Esumi. However, just as the girl said, since she was visiting Gehenna in secret as a Trinity student, Esumi was in a sense in disguise right now.

 

That said, it wasn't much. She had simply taken off her Trinity uniform and gone out of her way to wear civilian clothes.

 

However, the clothes she wore as civilian clothes were outfits meticulously curated by Nagisa and Mika to display her blessed figure and beauty without reservation, giving Esumi a look so clean and charming that anyone might mistake her for a well-bred young lady. In other words, it wouldn't be strange if street scouts or entertainment talent scouts jumped right at her.

 

If not for the presence of the girl acting as Esumi's bodyguard, who knows what would have happened.

 

Though Esumi had a fair amount of recognition throughout Kivotos, the environment was somewhat different compared to the Trinity autonomous district.

 

Especially the place they were heading to now: the infamous Gehenna autonomous district.

 

The further one left Trinity and approached Gehenna, the more free, violent, and ruleless ruffians gathered.

 

It could be said to be a natural decision, in a sense, for Kayoko, who had lived in a chaotic world for a long time, to worry about the safety of Esumi, who was born and raised in the relatively peaceful Trinity, and dispatch a bodyguard.

 

"Still... dozing off like that is out of the question. It just adds to my burden..."

 

Yet the girl acting as the bodyguard seemed extremely displeased.

 

It couldn't be helped. There was still plenty of time left until they arrived in Gehenna, yet Esumi, the core object of protection, was still sleeping soundly. The more defenseless a posture she displayed, the more the mental strain on her bodyguard increased, alongside the degree of vigilance.

 

"Ha..."

 

Letting out a sigh, the girl reluctantly stood up from her seat and quietly sat right next to Esumi, intentionally resting her hand on the holster housing her gun to threaten her surroundings.

 

Then, a pleasant scent wafted over.

 

The source was undoubtedly Esumi dozing off right beside her; was she wearing some kind of perfume? Or perhaps she used a shampoo with a nice fragrance—at any rate, it was a comforting scent that was hard to forget.

 

Even so, to the girl, it only felt like a scent of temptation luring the beasts roaming Gehenna, and she twisted her face in disgust and annoyance.

 

"Ha... please hurry and get to Gehenna... to be frank, I can't stand this atmosphere..."

 

Amau Ako—a second-year student belonging to Gehenna Academy's Prefect Team, who was guarding the drop-dead gorgeous girl from Trinity so she could safely reach Gehenna, sighed deeply, feeling a sense of utter despair at such an excruciatingly boring situation.

 

1-3

 

Trinity General School - Nagisa's private room.

 

"So boooored... isn't there anything interesting...?"

 

Stretching out her arms, stretching out her legs, sprawled lazily across the sofa was Seizono Mika, belonging to the Tea Party's Pater branch.

 

Seemingly displeased by how bored she was, she even started thrashing around, kicking her legs up and down out of restlessness. Her behavior was just like a toddler.

 

Meanwhile, Kirifuji Nagisa, who was quietly sipping tea while watching that sight, shrugged her shoulders with a wry smile.

 

"Mika-san. That's unladylike, you know? Since this is my room, there's no need to worry about anyone seeing, but please at least mind your surroundings. And... your underwear is showing."

 

"Because I've finished all the work on my plate, and the academy is pretty peaceful so my workload isn't increasing, which means I have tons of free time right now, you know? Isn't it like that for Nagi-chan? Wait, don't look at my underwear, you pervert Nagi-chan."

 

Secretly turning red in the face, Mika hurriedly lowered her legs and closed them tightly so they wouldn't enter Nagisa's field of vision... but her childhood friend Nagisa continued speaking with total calmness, acting as though she didn't care at all.

 

"Even outside of official duties, I have plenty of things to do as a prospective next leader of the Filius branch, so I don't have time to spare like Mika-san does right now. Rather, why don't you put yourself forward as a candidate for the next leader of the Pater branch, Mika-san? All flattery aside, I believe you could win the seat of leadership..."

 

"Eeeh. Becoming the leader means becoming the next student council president of the Tea Party, right? Nagi-chan has all sorts of high goals and is competent so you don't mind, but I don't want a status like that at all. It's too much trouble."

 

While the Sanctus branch still remained in a state where the next leader had not been decided, the Pater branch where Mika enrolled was facing the same situation.

 

After all, within the Tea Party, it was a branch where many Gehenna-hating students gathered, so choosing candidates frequently hit rough patches over whether to adopt pro-Gehenna policies or anti-Gehenna policies.

 

By the way, both the previous and predecessor leaders of the Pater branch had been actively anti-Gehenna, but the student currently serving as the leader of the Pater branch was pro-Gehenna.

 

There was a clear reason for this: last year, when Kivotos was plunged into chaos, the top figure of Gehenna Academy at the time, the Thunder Emperor, fell from power, and in tandem with that, Gehenna rapidly weakened. To deal with such a Gehenna, they had deliberately brought forward a pro-Gehenna student as leader, but because of that, fierce arguments were breaking out over whether the next leader should also be pro-Gehenna.

 

This couldn't be helped. If the Pater branch, which had heightened its anti-Gehenna color representing the Tea Party—and by extension the entire Trinity General School—were to tilt toward pro-Gehenna at this juncture, it would naturally lead to a drop in centripetal power and even risk internal division.

 

That said, if an anti-Gehenna leader were to rise to prominence, the hardships of the current leader would undoubtedly go down the drain. It would also interfere with the Tea Party's activities, so it was only natural that the candidate for leader still hadn't been decided.

 

"Besides, if I became the leader of the Pater branch, I wouldn't be able to hang out with Esumi-chan easily anymore, right? Esumi-chan surprisingly tends to avoid getting involved with people in that kind of position."

 

"That is... true, perhaps..."

 

"What about you, Nagi-chan? Things over at Filius look sort of fixed on the Nagi-chan route, but if you really become the leader, you might not be able to meet Esumi-chan at all until she graduates, you know?"

 

Currently, the leaders of each branch, including Esumi, are third-years, but around the same time as the handover of clubs and committees at the end of the first year, the branches of the Tea Party similarly undergo leader handovers.

 

Of course, the successor can officially take that position only after the current third-years graduate and the new school year begins, but they still acquire the title of next-generation leader a bit early.

 

When that happens, naturally, the perception of Nagisa as a single student belonging to the Tea Party will instantly evolve into the heavy title of representative of the Filius branch and next student council president, and the gaze of those around Nagisa will instantly multiply.

 

Would that be curiosity, respect, or hostility? Given that she was already a noble's daughter drawing attention from the start, those stares would surely double once she acquired a title.

 

Sadly, Esumi was the sort of person who minded such gazes and atmospheres, so there was a possibility she might nail down a warning: "Do not meet me at all during the few months leading up to graduation."

 

Wishing with all her heart that such a future wouldn't come, yet knowing full well it was a distinct possibility, Nagisa let out a heavy sigh... and as if pushing the anxiety and fear back down into her body, she gulped down her tea.

 

"...Speaking of which, regarding that Esumi-san... it appears she took a sudden leave today and went out somewhere."

 

"Somewhere... you mean outside the autonomous district?"

 

"Yes. She seems to have gone without providing details even to the host of the Tea Party. Though she is supposed to return by tomorrow, at least..."

 

Mika tilted her head and muttered, "Did she go somewhere she didn't want anyone to know about?" but Nagisa completely denied it.

 

"I don't think Esumi-san is the type to keep secrets like that."

 

"But Esumi-chan has been pushing herself pretty hard lately with club activities and work, so I think she's built up a ton of fatigue. Maybe she just got sick of everything and went to clear her head?"

 

"Or perhaps a sudden necessity to go out arose... Either way, I'm worried about the art club with its president absent."

 

"No, no, Esumi-chan is coming back tomorrow, right? You're making too big a deal out of the president being gone for just one day, Nagi-chan☆"

 

"........."

 

Mika didn't seem to realize, but ever since assuming the post of art club president, Esumi had never left the club for a full day.

 

At most, it was an hour or a few hours.

 

Just like before when she asked Nagisa to help take photos for a nude model session or held an art lecture targeting the Justice Task Force, even when leaving the club, half a day at most was the absolute limit.

 

Whether she was aware of it herself or not, Esumi was obsessed with protecting the art club from branch and political disputes, and kept lingering in the clubroom for any emergency.

 

Of course, as the driving force who successfully revived a once-declining art club, overprotectiveness was understandable, but for such an Esumi to leave the club for a whole day... whether one viewed this as growth or change depended on the person.

 

(Could it be... that Esumi-san has found a reliable successor to entrust the art club to? Or did something... or rather, someone... arise that required her to go out even if it meant leaving the club?)

 

Or perhaps both were the reasons.

 

Nagisa dropped a lonely gaze onto her already empty cup, glanced sideways at her childhood friend sprawled out on the sofa, and then shifted her gaze toward the room's window.

 

"...I do hope she isn't caught up in something..."

 

Her words worrying about Esumi's wellbeing were coincidentally drowned out by the chime ringing throughout the academy.

 

1-4

 

The Gehenna autonomous district. It was the place with the worst public security and the most chaos in Kivotos.

 

Unceasing gunfights and explosions. Crimes and terrorist activities rampant by the day.

 

For Esumi, it was a place she was visiting for the first time in two years, but she felt a slight surprise that the town hadn't changed all that much compared to her past memories.

 

To be honest, she had expected that the town would be completely destroyed by crimes and fights, with new buildings being constructed each time.

 

"That is because this district is thoroughly protected by the Prefect Team to prevent excessive destructive acts. In districts further away from here, the cityscape has already changed about four times."

 

Then, explaining the current state of Gehenna with a somewhat exasperated tone right beside Esumi was Amau Ako, belonging to Gehenna's Prefect Team, who had guarded her inside the vehicle until just moments before.

 

A girl who had faithfully fulfilled her duty as a bodyguard without waking Esumi, who had fallen sound asleep from daily fatigue. Well, while Esumi was grateful for the escort along the way, she felt somewhat uncomfortable having encountered one of the original Blue Archive characters of all people... but putting that aside, she replied to Ako.

 

"Has the crime rate dropped compared to when I last visited?"

 

"Not a chance. If anything, it's worse than before. With the top figure who wielded a reign of terror and tyranny gone, Gehenna today is literally a lawless zone with no king. New criminal organizations are being born one after another, and no matter how much we clean up, it's a mess of trash crawling out."

 

"...I see."

 

It felt like Ako's eyes were gradually narrowing and her tone growing rougher as she explained Gehenna's current state.

 

Realizing she had failed in her choice of topics, Esumi reflected internally when... she suddenly spotted someone waving in the distance.

 

"...Is that?"

 

"Huh? ...Ah, it looks like we've arrived safely."

 

When Ako turned her gaze following Esumi's lead, her expression from a moment before completely transformed into a relieved smile.

 

Was she eager to meet the person over there? Or was it out of relief that she could finally dump the troublesome job of guarding Esumi? Either way, it was the best expression she had shown yet.

 

Thinking about how they used to get along well around this time, Esumi waved back lightly and welcomed the person who had called her here: Onikata Kayoko.

 

"Esumi, welcome to the Gehenna autonomous district. Was the journey along the way alright?"

 

"Long time no see, Onikata. Thanks to the bodyguard you sent, of course nothing happened."

 

"Is that so? I'm glad... Ako, thanks for taking on the escort even though it was your day off."

 

"Really, though. I was trying to fully enjoy the vacation I finally managed to get, only to have work dumped on me out of nowhere... Well, it's a request from Kayoko-san, and today you seemed to have some unavoidable circumstances, so it couldn't be helped."

 

Kayoko expressed her thanks with words of gratitude. In contrast, Ako shrugged her shoulders, though she didn't seem particularly bothered that her vacation had been ruined by the job of a bodyguard.

 

Esumi tilted her head as she compared the two of them.

 

"You two... are close, aren't you?"

 

In the original story, the two of them had acted somewhat like cats and dogs, but right now they gave off the atmosphere of partners who trusted and helped each other. It was only natural to think that way, given the relationship where Ako could throw away a precious vacation on a sudden request from Kayoko.

 

It was a complete mystery why they turned into such a prickly pair later on.

 

"Close, you say... To me, Kayoko-san is a senior I can respect, you know? Though our positions are completely different."

 

"Well, it's not like I hang out with Ako feeling like she's just a friend, but it is true that she's someone I can easily entrust with important work."

 

"Important work? You just had this person strictly guarded all the way from Trinity to Gehenna, didn't you?"

 

"Because that is important. I told you before asking, didn't I? If anything happened to Esumi, it could spark a conflict between Trinity and Gehenna."

 

"If that's the case, please tell that to someone in such a weighty position. I'd want her to stop dozing off while exposing a defenseless posture. It was quite tough because she lacked any sense of danger."

 

"...Wait a second, what do you mean? Esumi, were you sleeping on the train all the way here?"

 

Suddenly, looking as though she couldn't believe it, Kayoko grabbed Esumi's shoulder and brought her face close.

 

"Well, I've been busy lately... maybe fatigue built up where I couldn't see."

 

Esumi replied with a wry smile, showing no trace of guilt. Looking closely, she had slight dark circles under her eyes. She must have been spending days filled with intense busyness.

 

"...Why would you come to Gehenna in that condition..."

 

"Because you called me. Look, that invitation letter."

 

She pulled the invitation letter from her bosom and showed it to Kayoko.

 

"Only the sender's name written, details unknown. I don't know the full story, but you want me to help you with something, right?"

 

".........That is..."

 

Seemingly reluctant to speak out loud, Kayoko let go of Esumi's shoulder and stepped back a little.

 

Seeing that, Ako let out a sigh that things had become troublesome.

 

"Umm, your name is Esumi-san, right? That invitation letter is a special item granting entry to a certain celebration party being held tonight. Those attending are capitalists, corporate executives, or bankers residing in the Gehenna autonomous district. The host is a furniture manufacturer that recently opened a new store in Gehenna, and on the surface, it's apparently a party celebrating the success of new business in Gehenna. However..."

 

"...The hidden reason is different, right?"

 

When Esumi took over her words and asked with conviction, not just Ako, but Kayoko as well nodded deeply.

 

"As Esumi knows, Gehenna right now is practically a lawless zone where laws and public security don't reach, right? That's why many corrupt companies and criminal organizations are scrambling to expand their influence, seeing this as an opportunity. The furniture manufacturer holding the celebration party we just talked about is definitely crooked, based on what me and Ako investigated."

 

"Or perhaps they are being used, you're saying? Since they're a reasonably well-known manufacturer in the furniture industry, we can't flatly say the company itself is completely black... but for the record, they're a manufacturer that has also expanded into Trinity."

 

"...What's the company's name?"

 

Upon hearing the name of the furniture manufacturer hosting the celebration party from Ako, Esumi nodded quietly a few times and frowned.

 

"That company recently opened a new store in Trinity and is wildly popular. Ah, so it's that company."

 

"Oh, Esumi-san already knew?"

 

"Sort of. I remember talking with an acquaintance about that sort of topic before."

 

She would never forget.

 

After all, on the day Nagisa presented her with an expensive knife as a celebration, they had been talking about the furniture manufacturer that had just opened in the Trinity autonomous district.

 

She had visited the shop itself later along with Nagisa and Mika, and had only felt that there was nothing particularly strange about it, leaving her with the impression of a store wildly popular among students... but they must have focused entirely on keeping their business clean in order to expand into Gehenna.

 

Of course, as Ako said, it could also be that not the entire company was tainted with crime, but only a faction of it.

 

Well, either way, holding a lavish celebration party in Gehenna, which was akin to a lawless zone, meant there was undoubtedly something fishy going on.

 

"So? Will the Prefect Team of Gehenna attend to monitor that party?"

 

"That was the plan... but the organizing side flatly turned us down. Because of that, me and Kayoko-san became even more suspicious. After all, for that celebration party, every attendee's name is withheld and kept secret, you know? To put it simply, a secret celebration party that never sees the light of day... isn't that way too suspicious?"

 

"Well, if it were a company already based in Gehenna holding one for safety, it would be one thing, but for newcomers who just arrived from the outside to take the initiative in doing something like that, it's only natural to be suspicious. However, since they issued a public statement turning down the Prefect Team's attendance, ignoring it and crashing the party would cause trouble down the line... and so, that's why... um, that..."

 

Stumbling over her words again, Kayoko stopped trying to finish the rest of the sentence.

 

Even Esumi, who didn't yet fully grasp the situation, couldn't help but figure it out when she saw Kayoko like this.

 

"I see... In other words, if someone like me, who is reasonably well-known in Kivotos, gets invited and attends that celebration party, Onikata and the other Prefect Team members can boldly infiltrate under the pretext of guarding Kayama Esumi, right? A glorious excuse born to protect a guest from Trinity on Gehenna's responsibility."

 

Anyone who knew the relationship between Gehenna and Trinity wouldn't be able to complain about that measure.

 

If they refused the attendance of the Prefect Team member handling the escort here, it would be as good as admitting that there was something shady about the celebration party, and the other side would have no choice but to accept. Besides, the invitation letter Esumi held was likely the real deal. Kayoko must have gone out of her way to obtain it.

 

"By the way, let me ask just in case: what would you have done if I hadn't come to Gehenna?"

 

"In that case, the plan was to take elite Prefect Team members, including Kayoko-san, monitor the celebration party venue from the outside, and immediately charge in if anything unusual happened."

 

"...The odds of success look pretty slim. Then me coming here like this was actually the right choice?"

 

Though she couldn't shake the feeling of being conveniently used by the Prefect Team—or more specifically, Kayoko—Esumi let out a chuckle while showing no signs of minding.

 

However, the one who reacted to her attitude first was none other than Kayoko.

 

With a remorseful expression, she snatched the invitation letter from Esumi's hand and shook her head slightly.

 

"No, Esumi, you can go back. You don't need to participate in this celebration party."

 

"Eh, hold on, Kayoko-san!?"

 

"...What's the reason?"

 

While Ako panicked immensely at the sudden turn of events, Esumi calmly folded her arms and asked for the reason.

 

"Reason? ...I had no idea Esumi was so exhausted she had dark circles and dozed off, and hearing how things played out, you realized you were just being used for Gehenna's politics and the Prefect Team's face, right? Two years ago, Esumi stepped in herself because she was pissed off that her beloved art was being used for evil deeds, but this time's affair has nothing to do with art or aesthetics. You were just called upon for our, for Gehenna's convenience... I originally intended to make you participate without even telling you the reason, but using Esumi by telling lies... honestly, I hate it."

 

"...Kayoko-san."

 

Ako sent a worried look toward Kayoko, who was showing a rare display of weakness, but Esumi shrugged her shoulders in exasperation.

 

"Well then, supposing I back down here... what will you do after that? If I'm around, you guys might be able to proudly attend the party and stop the wrongdoing, right? Yet even though you made me travel to Gehenna for hours, you're going to send me back to Trinity on a round trip now? Isn't that rather rude to Tianyu—ah, Amau, who guarded me while I was taking a carefree nap?"

 

"T-That's right!! What happens to my effort after throwing away my vacation?! Don't tell me you're going to make me escort her all the way back to Trinity too?!"

 

"........."

 

Kayoko looked back and forth between Ako and Esumi with a stern expression, then dropped her gaze once more to the invitation letter in her hand.

 

She must have had various lingering doubts about this matter. In truth, she probably hated even sending that invitation letter to Esumi in the first place.

 

However, if Esumi's cooperation increased the likelihood of crushing a single evil deed, there was nothing better than that.

 

She handed the invitation letter straight back to Esumi. And then she opened her mouth.

 

"...Then, in exchange for taking on this affair, make me one promise. During the party, never leave my field of vision."

 

"Are you treating me like a princess again?"

 

"No. Two years have passed already, and I think we've both grown in ways invisible to each other... but as a Gehenna student, I have an obligation to protect my guests. If anything happens to Esumi, I probably... would regret inviting you for the rest of my life... So promise me. Absolutely."

 

"I'd like to say you're exaggerating, but since we're in the Gehenna autonomous district right now, I can't really say that. Alright, as responsibility for dragging me here, I'll let you protect me properly."

 

Receiving the invitation letter with a firm grip, Esumi directed a smile toward Kayoko.

 

In response, Kayoko returned an awkward yet genuine smile. Case closed for now. The need to make a round trip back to Trinity was averted.

 

"Well then, we still have a few hours before this celebration party starts. Shall we finish our preparations in the meantime?"

 

"Preparations? What else do you intend to prepare? The Prefect Team is already strictly selected and waiting near the venue, there's nothing else to—"

 

Kayoko tilted her head in confusion. And Ako beside her had question marks floating over her head.

 

Esumi laughed inwardly at the sight of the two of them and said,

 

"Since it's a party, we need to wear clothes suited for it. I don't know about Onikata, but I've attended parties many times before, so I have a bit of fashion sense. Shall we go buy outfits at a clothing store in the autonomous district right now?"

 

"Wait, you're going to buy clothes for me and you from now on? In the Gehenna district?"

 

"For the Prefect Team members too, as a bonus. Since it's ostensibly a celebration party, we need to wear attire that doesn't look out of place as a dress code... Now then, shall we go?"

 

Stashing the invitation letter into her bosom, Esumi started walking ahead.

 

Seeing that, Kayoko followed along, looking exasperated as she thought, No, Esumi, you don't really know much about this district, do you?

 

And so the two of them walked side by side, continuing various conversations as they headed deep into the district. Their heights were already somewhat apart, with the slightly taller Esumi casting her gaze slightly downward as she spoke, and Kayoko, who was shorter than her, looking up to catch her words and reply. From an outsider's perspective, they would surely look like close childhood friends of a long-standing bond.

 

"Those two actually look surprisingly well-matched."

 

Meanwhile, left behind all alone, Ako wore a thoroughly satisfied expression—filled with the joy of witnessing something interesting.

 

"It's pretty rare to see Kayoko-san make an expression like that... Esumi-san might actually be a nice person after all."

 

One would want to ask Ako what kind of emotions she had been holding toward Esumi until now, but unfortunately, no one capable of asking such a question was present.

 

Still, just as Trinity students harbor prejudices and dislike Gehenna students, she too had unknowingly harbored a deep-seated dislike for Esumi, a Trinity student.

 

But that ends as of today. Drawing out various expressions from Kayoko, who always wore a stern face, and showing a magnanimous heart by realizing her true intent and showing closeness, Ako already viewed Esumi favorably.

 

Eventually, figuring she had no further plans since her vacation was ruined by Kayoko, Ako also chased after their backs.

 

"By the way, Onikata. I was quite curious about something from earlier... are you by any chance a member of the Prefect Team?"

 

"...Well, who knows... Let's keep it a secret for now. I plan to tell Esumi properly when the time comes."

 

"I see. Well, let me know when you feel like it. I'll always wait."

 

"Yeah... of course. Once we both successfully graduate, that is."