Sorasaki Hina was on her way back to Gehenna after a meeting with Tea Party's Kirifuji Nagisa in Trinity regarding the contents of the Eden Treaty.
Hina sighed as she read the anonymous mail she had been sent by someone, likely one of her subordinates in the Prefect team who did not wish to incur the ire of Ako that she had been ordered to assist with the capture of the Sensei of SCHALE.
She had a clue as to who it was, but she would respect their wishes to remain unnamed.
"Looks like I'll have to put a stop to this before it escalates into a bigger issue…"
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The next day, Hina showed up in SCHALE's office a little past noon to apologize to Sensei for the behavior of her subordinates. She cleared her schedule for the next three hours to make sure that nothing could go wrong with her official visit to Sensei.
While walking down the hallway that led to Sensei's office, she decided to review the information she knew about him to make sure she didn't mess anything up.
The most important, in her opinion, was that he was also able to use a kind of Mystic with far greater control than most students in Kivotos even without a halo. If rumors were to be believed, the newly discovered oasis in Abydos district was actually his doing. She had also heard that the Acting President of Abydos was hard at work at maintaining the oasis' security.
I wonder why Takanashi Hoshino is still there after all that has happened to her. If it were me I would have long since left… Hina shook her head. This was not the time to compare herself to someone else as she had arrived in front of his office door. She took a deep breath to recompose herself, then knocked on the door.
"Sensei, may I come in?" Hina asked.
After a short pause, she heard Sensei say, "Please enter."
Hina was greeted by Sensei, who had come to meet her at the entrance. She was greeted by a red haired man in a uniform reminiscent of the GSC's uniform. She looked up to meet his eyes for the first time.
He really is handsome, Hina thought as she saw his face up close for the first time. She had seen pictures of his face, but she was still caught off-guard. She forcibly stifled the heat she felt on her face as she focused on the task at hand.
"I am Sorasaki Hina from the Gehenna's Prefect Team. I've come to apologize on behalf of my subordinates' actions yesterday." Hina introduced herself to Sensei with as much professionalism as possible while also stating her intentions for her visit.
Sensei also returned her introductions with one of his own, though he sheepishly added as he scratched his nape, "Though I guess I don't really need to introduce myself. You didn't really have to go all the way here to apologize though."
Sensei invited her to join him for lunch. As her schedule was free for the next few hours, Hina decided to accept the offer. Though upon reaching the sofa area, she was greeted by an unexpected face who was currently lying on the couch.
"Sensei, who was it—Ah." In front of her was Pandemonium Society's Natsume Iroha, who was busy reading a book. "Well this is awkward," she said.
"Indeed," Hina replied. "What sort of foolishness did Makoto order you to do this time?"
"I don't really need to answer that, do I? But I'll tell you anyway," Iroha said. "I'm here to 'seduce' Sensei under the orders of Makoto."
"...You have my condolences," Hina said as she took a seat across Iroha, with a table between them. "But you don't seem to be doing anything about that."
"Me being here means I already tried," Iroha said as she finally sat down to face Hina. "What I do while trying to 'seduce' Sensei is my own prerogative."
"Even if she just ends up slacking off the entire time," Sensei said as he showed up carrying two trays filled with plates filled with different dishes. "Or mooch off from my cooking."
"Hey, I take offense to that," Iroha said as she grabbed a plate and a fork. "I was the one who brought these ingredients!"
Sensei chuckled. "And I thank you for that, Iroha. You must've spent some time looking for the best ingredients you could find."
Iroha looked away. "You're just imagining things, Sensei."
"Are you not going to file a formal complaint regarding the Prefect Team's actions yesterday, Iroha? You were also there," Hina said.
"Sounds like a hassle so I'll pass," Iroha said before she added. "Though there's nothing I can do if Makoto decides to use yesterday's events as a pretext to hassle you."
"I'll keep that in mind."
In any case," Sensei said as he turned his attention to Hina, "Please do help yourself, Hina. The food's best while it's still warm."
"Very well then," Hina said as she picked up a dish at random and used a fork to take a small bite.
Hina became a lot more talkative after that first bite.
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This is a blunder… Hina thought as she came back to her senses.
Hina and Iroha ended up bonding over their shared dislike of having to deal with the fallout of Makoto's shenanigans one way or another.
Hina also let it slip of her desire to eventually step down from her position as Head Prefect once the Eden Treaty was signed. She hadn't even told Ako about that one and yet she foolishly let it slip to two people she barely knew.
Perhaps if it was just Sensei alone it would have been fine, but the other person was Iroha, a member of Pandemonium Society.
"I feel that I shouldn't have heard that one," Iroha said.
"The ingredients weren't somehow laced with a truth serum, is it?" Hina asked.
"Maybe if I knew you were coming." Hina narrowed her eyes at that comment. "Uwaah, your glare is scary. Help me, Sensei~"
"She didn't," Sensei said. "Don't take Iroha too seriously. She's just teasing you."
"I know," Hina said. But your cooking is far too good, Sensei. It was enough to get me to lower my guard.
"Would you even be able to tell if I somehow did that, Sensei?" Iroha asked, genuinely curious
Hina was of the same mind. Much of Sensei's abilities remain shrouded in mystery, and while his answer here likely wouldn't reveal much, it was still vital information for the former intelligence officer and current Head Prefect.
"Yes, and I would like it if you never tried spiking the food I make," Sensei replied with a serious tone. "Or I won't cook for you ever again."
"Wha—Sensei, that's just too much!" Iroha panicked before she saw Sensei's smirk. "You're just teasing me, aren't you?"
"A bit. But seriously, don't you ever try to spike food. Especially what I cook, or I still won't cook for you for a while."
"And how long is 'a while'?!"
Hina was watching the back and forth banter for a while before she eventually let out a small giggle, which caught the attention of the other two. She quickly cleared her throat.
"I never knew that President Hina could make such a lighthearted laugh," Iroha said. "And here I thought you were all about work like Sensei here."
"Contrary to what you might think, I want nothing more but to relax without worrying about work," Hina said.
"So why won't you?"
Hina gave her a look. "Why don't you ask your boss?"
"Fair point."
The two girls giggled together.
The three continued talking about various things, such as Sensei's food, battle strategy, some books they've read in the past, and Sensei's hobby to collect weapons like bladed weapons or guns.
Eventually, Hina glanced at the time and realized that it was almost 3pm.
"Looks like I'll have to go, Sensei," Hina said. "It was nice getting to know you, Sensei, Iroha."
"Same here," Sensei said. "Feel free to visit any time."
"Please don't tell Makoto that I was slacking off on the task she gave me," Iroha said lazily.
"As long as you don't tell anyone about what I said earlier either," Hina replied.
"Deal."
It surprised Hina at first, but she thoroughly enjoyed Sensei's food and bantering with Iroha. It was quite unfortunate that she probably wouldn't have any more chances of doing so in the future.
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"Heh…" Hina giggled as she was in the middle of helping Sensei with SCHALE's paperwork along with Iroha, though the latter was currently slacking off as usual on the couch. Currently she had taken off her overcoat and the top of her uniform and was only wearing a white undershirt and her uniform skirt.
"Is there a problem, Hina?" Sensei looked at her.
"No, I just remembered that day when I first met you along with Iroha in this office," Hina said as she looked at Pandemonium Society's tank commander, who was currently lounging on the sofa without her coat either.
"I didn't think it was possible for me and Iroha," Hina glanced at a certain direction in the office, "as well as her, to become as close as we are now without you, Sensei."
Sensei smiled as he put a hand on the white haired girl's head to pat her. "It wasn't just me, Hina. You also put in the effort to befriend everyone. So good job."
Iroha noticed what was going on and approached them. "Hina, you're not trying to get a one-up over me, are you?"
"Whatever could you mean?" Hina smiled. "It was Sensei who patted me on his own."
"Uwaaah…You are spending so much time with Sensei that some of his mannerisms are rubbing off on you, Hina…Well, the same goes for me," Iroha said as she tugged Sensei's sleeve. "Come on, do me too!"
"Phrasing, Iroha," Sensei said as he also patted Iroha's head.
"Hehe…" Iroha giggled.
While basking in joy, Hina's gaze turned where the fourth occupant of the room was located. She observed the pink-haired girl who was currently sleeping on a hammock with her shades on. Her halo was noticeably missing, meaning the girl really was asleep.
Hina giggled at the girl's choice of wear.
"Uhe~ I feel like someone's talking about me…" Hina heard her mutter in her sleep.
There were a few twists and turns, but who could have imagined that her days would become this fun in less than a year thanks to Sensei?
At the very least, Hina knew that Sensei's cooking had something to do with it.
