Haruna's sudden surrender drew mixed reactions from everyone present, especially within the Gourmet Research Society.
Akari seemed to have anticipated it all along, she just gave a light laugh and, like her club president, put down her weapon.
Junko, after a brief moment of shock, snatched the golden tuna from Izumi (who hadn't fully recovered yet) and ran off into the distance without looking back, shouting angrily:
"You idiots wasting everyone's time! If you want to surrender, do it yourselves! I'll enjoy the food by myself once I escape! I'm not waiting for you!"
Izumi, staring blankly at her fleeing friend, then looking down at the empty gloves that only carried the lingering fishy smell, gently touched her slightly swollen cheek, tears welling up. Then, with a pitiful "uwaa," she began to cry on the spot.
Crying, Izumi chased after Junko, shouting desperately:
"Wait for me! I never said I wanted to surrender! Why are you leaving me behind!? Just you wait, I'll get my revenge one day! I promise!"
But she had barely taken a few steps before tripping on a stone, falling hard to the ground.
Immediately after, a series of bullets from Azusa's gun struck Izumi, causing her to cry out in pain and flee blindly in another direction.
As for Fuuka… pfft. Fuuka was just a hostage, not a member of the Gourmet Research Society at all.
I had almost been misled by Haruna's earlier accusation.
In short, wary of Haruna and Akari's inexplicable surrender, I stopped Azusa from pursuing and asked Hasumi to inform the other Justice Task Force members of the escape route Junko and Izumi had taken.
If we only needed to corner individual Gourmet Research Society members, the impact could be contained, and there'd be no need to worry about causing diplomatic issues with Gehenna, so we could continue operating under the name "Schale."
While Hasumi called Ichika and the members of the Make-Up Work Club worked in pairs, using the handcuffs Azusa had kindly provided (God knows why she always carries them) to completely restrain Haruna and Akari, I went to Fuuka's side and untied the ropes binding her.
Finally free, the gentle girl ripped off the tape covering her mouth and called out emotionally:
"Sensei…!"
"Fuuka, are you okay?"
I gently ruffled her soft black hair. That simple touch made her eyes redden again, her emotions spilling over uncontrollably.
But just as Fuuka was about to throw herself into my arms for comfort, a slightly sinister laugh rang out, making her flinch and abruptly freeze.
"Hehehe~ Akari, look," Haruna said with a meaningful smile, "just as I said, right?"
"Indeed," Akari smiled warmly, "right in front of us, she's already fawning over Sensei."
The two of them in unison naturally interrupted Fuuka's movement.
The gentle girl's face flushed deep red again, and she turned around, furious, to ask:
"So why did you take it upon yourselves to treat me as one of you!? I was kidnapped, you know!? And in that situation, I couldn't possibly call for help!?"
"Well… hehe, who knows?"
Haruna shrugged, smiling carelessly. "Fuuka, do you know the biggest difference between a great gourmet and a great chef?"
Fuuka sighed deeply, as if letting all her frustration out, and asked helplessly: "What does that have to do with the current situation?"
"It's just a metaphor," Haruna explained, returning to her point. "On the road to discovering ultimate deliciousness, one person's effort alone cannot achieve everything. If a gourmet's role is to judge what's good, a chef's role is to explore why."
Even as a victim, Fuuka was moved by those words:
"You mean… I'm an indispensable part of your group? Huh… if that's how you feel… why does it always have to be done so violently?"
Though her tone was still complaining, her anger had clearly dissipated. Beneath the words was almost an air of willingness to forgive the Gourmet Research Society's actions.
I suspected Fuuka's gentle nature was precisely why she joined Gehenna's School Lunch Club.
"Hmm? What are you talking about?"
Haruna, now puzzled, said: "What I mean is… digging into these details, does it really matter? Only Fuuka thinks it matters."
Fuuka was momentarily struck dumb by that remark. After a long pause, she rolled her eyes and muttered sarcastically:
"…Fine, I guess I'm just being full of myself.
Watching all this unfold, I realized one of my suspicions had been confirmed:
Haruna had been deliberately stalling to buy me time.
But… why?
As the thought surfaced, an earlier offhand remark of Haruna's, once seemingly trivial, suddenly returned to my memory.
Love and the bonds forged through cuisine… equally important, was it?
In other words, Haruna really did have plans on me!?
Studying the dangerously elegant silver-haired girl with flawless features, I thought to myself that to protect Fuuka from being kidnapped, perhaps it was time for me to step in, even at the cost of my reputation.
In any case, the rescued hostage and the other students who had caused a ruckus in the center of Trinity were, after greeting me, quickly escorted onto prisoner transport vehicles by the arriving Justice Task Force members and temporarily relocated elsewhere.
Once Hasumi received the news that the red-haired Gehenna student had also been captured by President Tsurugi, she finally relaxed and addressed us:
"Thank you. Sensei, and everyone in the Make-Up Work Club. Thanks to your help, this incident was resolved smoothly."
"Ah… ahaha," Hifumi said sheepishly, "though we were just standing there with guns…"
I thought it was precisely because of our numbers and, of course, my indispensable charm that we could subdue Haruna and Akari without fighting, breaking their will to resist.
Hanako, curious, asked: "By the way, what will happen to those girls afterward?"
"Normally, we would decide how to deal with them ourselves… but since this is a special period, they'll probably be handed over to Gehenna's Prefect Team."
Much like what had been done during the last seminar.
As I pondered this, Hasumi looked at me:
"Also, there's one more thing I'd like to ask of you, Sensei…"