After making a promise with Ibuki, Sensei drove her back to Gehenna's main campus with his car with some assistance with the navigation from Arona.
"Sensei, Ibuki is wearing the Pandemonium Society's insignia, so she might be affiliated with them," Arona said.
"Yeah, I noticed that too," Sensei replied as Ibuki fell asleep in the car during the admittedly short ride. Perhaps she had tired herself out from crying earlier. "Still, for an 11 year old to be in the high school division…Yeah, I can see why Gehenna's student council would want her."
Sensei was surprised when he found out that Ibuki was actually a high schooler. It seemed that there were still child geniuses out there even in a place like Kivotos. Though the fact that Ibuki was acting like any kid her age shows how well-cared she was.
Not wanting to disturb Ibuki's sleep, he decided to bring her to Gehenna's student council office after asking a passing duo consisting of pink long hair and short white hair by cradling her.
As they were leaving, he overheard the pink haired girl mentioning how she thought that Ibuki was currently the one leading Pandemonium Society, which confused Sensei. Still, as he got the directions, he proceeded to the office.
"—do you mean that Ibuki's missing?!"
"She disappeared after I lost track of her for a moment. Now I can't find her anywhere on the campus."
"Did she get kidnapped by the Prefect team?!"
"Makoto, please don't jump to conclusions."
"No, if those bastards kidnapped her then we will go to war to get Ibuki back!
Uh-oh. This might lead to something troublesome if I stall any longer.
Sensei knocked on the door with his shoe, as his hands were currently preoccupied with carrying Ibuki. "Sorry, but can I ask you to open the door for me? My hands are tied at the moment. Please do be quiet though as Ibuki's still sleeping."
"Did the voice say Ibuki?"
"I'll go check." Footsteps were heard from inside, and he was greeted by a short girl with wavy, purplish-red hair.
After setting Ibuki down on one of the sofas in the room, Sensei properly introduced himself while being mindful of the volume of his voice.
"Thanks Sensei," the shorter girl, who introduced herself as Iroha, said. "We were just about to go look for her."
"So Sensei, to what do we owe the pleasure?" The taller girl was Hanuma Makoto, the Student Council President of Gehenna Academy. "Have you come to join—"
"Makoto, not now." Iroha stopped Makoto from raising her voice. "Ibuki's still sleeping. You can save your rhetoric for next time."
"Right…My bad. Next time then, " Makoto said as she looked at the sleeping Ibuki's figure. After moving the conversation a bit further away from Ibuki, she asked, "So, what brings you to Gehenna, Sensei?"
"I was just planning to look around since I was planning to familiarize myself with the different schools in Kivotos. Or at least the major ones," Sensei noted that Kivotos was home to thousands of different schools, so it was probably impossible to visit every single one of them. "If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving for now."
"Wait, Sensei," Makoto said. "Iroha, show Sensei around the campus. I'll keep an eye on Ibuki."
"It's a bit of a pain, but alright," Iroha said as she gestured for Sensei to follow her.
…
…
…
"I'm really sorry for inconveniencing you, Iroha," Sensei said as he followed Iroha.
"It's fine," Iroha said. "Makoto was probably going to send me to meet you one of these days with an absurd condition, so being given free reign on how to show you around the school is a welcome change. I'll have to thank Ibuki later for keeping my senior in check."
"It seems you have your hands full."
"I really just want to slack off somewhere," Iroha admitted.
"Do you have some recommendations on where to take a break then? I am a little parched."
"Well, there's this cafe on the campus I sometimes go to with Ibuki," Iroha said. "Pretty chill place and serves good food."
"Lead the way, then."
On the way there, they talked about various things, such as the history of Gehenna, and how it's known for its hot springs. They also touched upon the relationship between Pandemonium Society and the Prefect Team.
"There's a rivalry going on between Makoto and the President of the Prefect Team, Sorasaki Hina," Iroha explained. "Or at least, that's what Makoto views it. I don't think the Head Prefect has time for such things."
"Sounds like an interesting state of affairs," Sensei replied with a chuckle.
"More like a hassle," Iroha groaned. "While the Head Prefect herself doesn't seem to care, her subordinate Ako is more than willing to retaliate against Makoto's petty schemes as she sees it as a slight against the Head Prefect. She can get…a little too eager at times."
"Is that the reason why I'm sensing some gazes on our way?"
"This is why I thought it was going to be a hassle…" Iroha muttered as she kept walking. "But for you to have noticed them…It seems you have some sharp senses, Sensei."
"It's not the first time I've been followed."
"Sounds like you were living a stressful life," Iroha said.
"I have my ways to shake off pursuers."
"Oh?" That piqued Iroha's interest. "Care to show me, Sensei?"
Rather than replying, Sensei quickly scooped up Iroha, carrying her in a similar way he did to Ibuki earlier. "Hold on tight."
"Wait, why did you—-Whaaaa!" Iroha shrieked in surprise as Sensei leapt to the nearest roof. He made a quick glance and saw that there was another group of students waiting for him at the end of the road, along with a few more scattered around where he and Iroha were just a moment ago.
"As far as ambushes go, I give them an 8/10," Sensei said. "If I were a normal person I would have had trouble escaping it."
"Wha—How did we…?" Iroha was still flabbergasted by what had just happened, but eventually composed herself as she made a smirk as she teased him. "So the rumors that you were a pervert were true, after all."
"You're just trying to get me embarrassed after I swept you off your feet, haven't you?" Sensei said as he noticed Iroha's cheeks were a little red as she looked away.
"I…I have no idea what you're referring to, Sensei," Iroha said. "More importantly, shouldn't you put me down already?"
"And how do you propose going down from the roof of a five storey building?" Sensei asked. "I know you have your halo, but I'm sure a drop from this height would still hurt a little."
"...I'm gonna get you back for this, Sensei."
"Haha, you're welcome to visit SCHALE any time."
…
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…
"You lost him?!" Ako was fuming as she heard the report from the other side of the line. "Didn't I specifically order you not to reveal yourselves until you've surrounded him?!"
"We did as you've instructed, ma'am!" One of the prefect members replied. "But for some reason, Sensei noticed us tailing him, quickly scooped up Natsume Iroha, then leapt to the roof of the nearest building! By the time we realized what was happening he was long gone!"
"What do you mean, 'he leapt to the roof of the nearest building'?!"
"That's exactly what happened ma'am! We don't know how Sensei did it, only that he did!"
"But that's impossible!" The Head Prefect was strong. She could quickly traverse terrain by using other structures nearby as leverage. But to leap to the roof of a building in one go wasn't something even Hina was capable of as far as Ako knows.
"I told you this was a bad idea," Chinatsu said.
"What should we do now, Senior Administrator?" Iori asked.
Ako gritted her teeth. "Recall everyone. This plan was a failure. I'll have to create a new plan from scratch."
"A plan for what, Ako?"
"Hmmm? I was just planning on how to capture SCHALE's Sensei so that he wouldn't be able to cause problems for you, President Hina," Ako replied, before she realized who she just replied to. "PRESIDENT HINA?!"
Standing in front of her was the Head Prefect Sorasaki Hina, glaring at her in contempt.
"Ako, you are to stand down from further actions. I expect you to reflect upon this for a while, " Hina said. "Same goes for the two of you."
"But Sensei is—" Ako tried to argue, but Hina shut her down.
"I understand that this was done because you deemed Sensei a risk, but this matter is best left to the raccoons of Pandemonium Society," Hina said as she sighed. "I'm expecting Makoto to react to this once she finds out. Also, I need to apologize to Sensei as soon as possible."
"Ah…" That seemed to have broken Ako. Rather than help lighten the Head Prefect's load, she just ended up adding more.
…
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…
"Sensei, I don't understand why you ended up agreeing to help when you didn't need to," Iroha said as she was watching Sensei cook while sipping on a drink that was given to them for free in exchange for their help. "We were here to take a break, not for you to take on more jobs."
Sensei was roped into helping with the cafe's kitchen when their chef suddenly quit, citing that they were going to go on a culinary pilgrimage after becoming aware of their shortcomings as a chef. Iroha herself wasn't really doing anything aside from watching Sensei showcase his skills, and maybe handing an ingredient or two from time to time.
"It might not look like it, but this is my way of taking a break," Sensei said. "Cooking has always been a hobby for me."
"I would understand if you were cooking in private, but you're serving customers here," Iroha said as she pointed to the customers happily eating what Sensei cooked for them.
"Well, I do love to see the smiles on other people's faces as they enjoy what I made."
"Sensei," Iroha said with a grave tone, "has anyone told you that you're a workaholic?"
Sensei nodded. "They have been forcing me to take a break, but apparently cooking, tinkering with appliances, and helping others don't count, so I'm at a loss on how to spend my free time."
After that, Sensei served Iroha a plate filled with what she said she planned to order. Iroha was all too happy to eat what Sensei gave to her.
Her reaction was something that Sensei had come to expect from people who tasted his food for the time. Her next words however threw him off for a loop.
"Sensei…Are you perhaps trying to ensnare me with your food?" Iroha had a glazed look after she tasted his food.
"No, and I still don't get why everyone seemed to have a similar reaction when first tasting my food."
"Sensei, it seems that you're still blind to your own gifts." Iroha shook her head. "You said you didn't know how to take a break. Perhaps a demonstration of how I slack off would help. You don't mind me doing so in your office from time to time, would you? Of course, I wouldn't mind you cooking for me while I'm there too."
"So that's your true aim…" Sensei said with a chuckle.
Iroha showed up in his office the very next day, apparently having been ordered by Makoto to 'seduce' Sensei before she proceeded to slack off on the couch. Though considering she had made her intentions to do so yesterday, Sensei shrugged it off.
It had led to a rather awkward scene where she was caught slacking off by the Head Prefect, who came to apologize on behalf of her subordinates.