It has been two days since Kosaka Wakamo’s insane plan surfaced.
I had given the Odyssey Marine Academy a heads-up about Wakamo’s plan, but these brilliant folks still let her hijack the academy ship, the Nereus.
…Are you kidding me, seriously?
To be honest, if we retaliated with naval missiles, we could end this situation with minimal damage, even if Wakamo went all out with her terrorism. But Odyssey actually came to us with a plea: “Please don’t blow up our precious academy ship…”
It wasn’t a totally unreasonable request considering they offered something in return, but it was incredibly infuriating that they got themselves into this mess and then came begging us to fix it.
Besides, their hijacked academy ship is a cargo vessel, yet it has naval missiles on it. Are they completely out of their minds?
Since Odyssey earnestly begged us, instead of preparing our naval missiles, we decided to shift the missile interception responsibility onto them and plan to infiltrate the academy ship to subdue Wakamo directly.
The infiltration team consists of me and the FOX Squad. A neat total of five people.
Most of the crew on the academy ship has already been subdued, except for a few key members, and Wakamo and her henchmen are tightly holding the reins, so as long as we succeed in infiltrating with a small team, it seems like there won’t be much difficulty in resolving the situation.
Originally, we would have deployed the tactical weapon Tsurugi, but I decided to leave Tsurugi to shine in team battles, while I would handle this situation myself.
Having gathered information beforehand, if Odyssey guarantees the interception of naval missiles, we can wrap this up without making a huge fuss and even have the chance to capture Wakamo and detain her.
Honestly, she’ll likely escape once we lose control of Sanctum Tower, but by then the Teacher will be around, so that’s not my concern. As long as she can stay detained until then, I couldn’t ask for more.
“Mika, there’s a saying that too much of a good thing is not a good thing.”
“…Seiya-chan, my head hurts too much. Can’t we just get to the point today? I really feel like I’m going to die from stress.”
The source of this stress is entirely due to the score difference widening to 39 to 51 before entering the team battle. I had accepted defeat and thought about how I needed to find a way to live, but my stubborn desire to not lose remained unchanged. It has left my mind in quite a pain from being restless over the outcome.
Fortunately, my personal relationships have improved significantly compared to before, which has greatly reduced the stress from that part… but I don’t know.
The most depressing part is that just because the festival is ending doesn’t mean I can immediately take a break.
Even if I win, all it means is that I’ll have to bring Makoto to Trinity for a week and play nanny disguised as a slave. And if I lose, who knows what kind of punishment I’ll get from Makoto; looking back, that bet was one I should have never accepted.
But, wait. That’s not something I wanted to accept in the first place.
“Wow——oh.”
“…Mika, I’ll make sure to pass on your recent remark to Nagisa.”
“Seiya-chan, aren’t you scared of my nearby fist?”
“…!”
I hugged the perked-up Seiya tightly and closed my eyes. I don’t know, there’s something comforting about Seiya when she stays still and quiet.
Today’s team battle is split into a teaser and the main match. The event is a penalty relay that feels extremely “Kivotos”-like and a mock battle on the beach.
In the team battle, it’s a straight 10 points per win, and since we’re holding four events over two days, given the current score difference, it’s okay if we lose once.
The problem arises when we lose twice in the team battle. In that case, I’d lose my bet, and Trinity would face humiliation too.
…Honestly, I don’t care about the latter, but I’d rather die than lose the former. I’d much prefer to play nanny for Makoto than become a slave at any cost.
“So what were you trying to say earlier?”
“…I understand that you’re worried, but everything that’s troubling you right now will surely work out, so don’t overthink it.”
“Uh-huh… really? But Seiya-chan, why are you telling me something so important only now?”
“Hmm, well, it’s natural that everything has a suitable time for it, isn’t it?”
Normally, I would have slapped her lightly for that, but right now I didn’t have the energy. I simply sat there, hugging Seiya and closing my eyes.
“Hey, Seiya-chan. Can you wake me up in exactly one hour?”
“…Listen, Mika. If you’re going to sleep, let go of me and sleep. Ugh… My arm…”
Hold on, just let me nap until lunchtime.
*
Familiar scenery welcomed me.
The T-party’s office. It’s not my usual spot, but rather the office located on a high floor of the T-party building.
Stars filled the cloudless night sky, twinkling cheerfully as they greeted me.
“Mika, do you know there’s no way to swim against the tide of fate in this world?”
“…Ah.”
“Another word for fate is inevitability. It means a conclusion that must occur, a destination that cannot be avoided, no matter the causal relationship…”
“Seiya-chan. Can you come here for a sec?”
“…?”
Leaning against the railing, our fox girl from the future, who was energetically spilling her tea, blinked at me before coming closer. For some reason, she seemed hesitant, maybe because she sensed what was about to happen.
“I have a feeling that our smart Seiya-chan knows what I’m about to do☆ Why don’t you say it out loud for me?”
“…You’ll be hitting me, right?”
“Ahaha, you got it☆ Are we in the same time frame as the last time I saw you? Or in the past? The future?”
“I’d say it’s closer to the same time frame. It was just a week ago for me.”
“A week… I see. For me, that was months ago.”
When I raised my hand slightly, Seiya in front of me squinted her eyes shut.
“Just this once… will you let it slide?”
“Eh.”
What’s this? Give our Seiya her usual phrases back!
“If I do it this way, you seem to refrain from hitting me, so I use it from time to time… Did it work?”
No, on second thought, I feel like she doesn’t need to be reverted back. I want back the Seiya from ten seconds ago who was so cute… please…!
“Uhmm, I think I understand why you’re hesitant to hit me.”
Thwap!
“…Huh?!”
“Yet, lately, I’ve been in a mentally weak state. This was the fault of Seiya-chan who used that roundabout way of speaking to annoy me! So, can’t you understand? Can you?”
“…What could I possibly do if I don’t understand? Of course, I understand. So then…”
“Wow, I don’t remember you being this negative last time.”
“I just played along with the way you enjoy doing things. I probably wouldn’t know how to act friendly with you in your time frame…”
“Since when did you start sticking your head out asking for head pats? You were just cuddled up in my arms a moment ago.”
“…?!”
Seiya, hearing what I said, looked up at me with wide-open eyes and a flustered expression. Hmm. Is this the Seiya from this side experiencing a change she hasn’t gone through before?
I don’t know what it is, but our Seiya can play the role of an excellent plushie, so it’s a good thing no matter how you look at it.
“Honestly, I did want to meet Seiya-chan again at least once. I had something I wanted to ask.”
“…What is it?”
“What you told me back then… the one where you said I should never hesitate at the moment of the most crucial choice. About how my choice for you should never be in doubt. Is that still applicable to me now?”
I secretly suspected that the words from back then implied a decision not to act on Seiya’s assassination attempt through Arius, but upon recalling my recent entanglement with Gematria, I reached the conclusion that it might not be the case.
Since this opportunity has come up, I can’t pass it by without confirming.
“…It still holds true.”
“Ahaha, I see.”
I just wanted to take a quick nap, and this is what’s happening?
This means that the road ahead remains clearly paved with challenges, right?
I wonder if it would have been better not to ask, but then again, knowing things is better than acting foolishly without any awareness, so I let out a sigh.
“So, what about those words about destiny and inevitability you were talking about earlier?”
“I can’t explain in detail. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I want to keep it from you. The act of telling you directly is something that could cause you harm, so I have no choice but to keep it hidden. This is what we call secret revelations…”
“So you’re saying you can’t go into detail. Well, I kind of expected that might happen. Anyway, it doesn’t seem like anything good is coming up, so it would be best for me to be mentally prepared, right? It sounds like that’s what you’re saying.”
“To summarize, that would be correct.”
“Ugh… Seiya-chan is being Seiya-chan again.”
I walked over to the railing and looked up at the night sky in silence. At that moment, a shooting star fell, a rather romantic sight.
While watching it, a sudden thought popped into my mind and spilled out of my mouth without going through my brain properly.
“By the way, Seiya-chan. Am I doing well?”
“…”
“Many things are going the way I want them to, but sometimes I can’t help but wonder. Was what I thought was the best truly the best choice…? I think about that sometimes.”
“Mika, if you doubt your choices, everything crumbles from within. So don’t be afraid and have faith. There are plenty of people around you who will correct any misguided beliefs.”
“…Ahaha, I see, I still have a long way to go to truly mature.”
“Well, think of it as a good thing. To put it precisely, you’re only getting younger, aren’t you? It’s hard to see it just as a bad thing.”
“That’s true.”
I pondered if there was anything else I wanted to ask, then wiped those random thoughts out of my head. I sought to give my brain a break by taking a catnap, but overthinking once again feels just a bit excessive, don’t you think?
This place’s night sky was too beautiful to spend agonizing over time. It looked as if it contained everyone’s ideal world within it.
“Seiya-chan, do you have that thing today?”
“If it’s the coffee you want, of course, it’s prepared.”
“Heh. Top-notch sense, our Seiya-chan. Should I give you a head pat?”
“…I won’t refuse.”
A meteor shower decorated the night sky, dizzying my eyes. The long, trailing comets seemed to wash away my worries one by one. The fox’s ears I felt at my fingertips perked up, providing me with a sense of comfort.
Although it was quite different from the form of relaxation I desired, it was certainly a time when I could find peace of mind.
