Chise's fans turned out to be far more determined than I expected. After a desperate ten-minute cardio, we finally managed to shake them off completely.
"Phew…" I leaned back against a park bench and gulped down a few sips of an ice-cold ramune I'd bought from a nearby vending machine. Feeling revived, I sighed, "That was really close."
Sitting beside me, Chise held her bottle with both hands, still a little dazed, as if she hadn't fully processed what just happened: "Sensei, did we… run into a disaster?"
I nodded: "Something like that, yes."
After all, it was hard to say how much of their persistence came from genuine affection for Chise, and how much was simply to take advantage of the situation to do something mischievous to me.
But in the end, the root of the incident was simple that Chise had been recognized by her fans.
Curious, I asked her as she once again tilted her head to stare at the sky: "Does this kind of thing happen often?"
"Sometimes, when walking around. Is it because I'm in the Yin-Yang Club?"
"That's one way to put it. The Yin-Yang Club often holds events around the area to promote tourism. You also went to a performance yesterday, right?"
"Mm," Chise recalled. "Those people from earlier seemed like the audience at the performance, cheering for me. It made me feel like I had to do my best."
I pondered: "I see…"
Chise tilted her head, noticing my thoughts: "Sensei, what's wrong?"
"Nothing," I shook my head. "I was just wondering… boldly claiming to be your manager and dragging you away, was that a little meddlesome?"
At least from Chise's attitude, she didn't seem to mind that degree of interaction with her fans.
The blue-haired girl thought for a moment, then said seriously: "Being liked by people is something to be happy about."
But in the next moment, her gaze on me shifted, her tone now airy and her rhythm peculiarly lyrical:
"Even so, I'm looking for clouds with sensei."
That sounded like another newly created haiku.
I chuckled softly, slightly stunned: "You're right. We still haven't found any clouds."
"Let's continue, chase them!"
Chise said this while standing up, ready to resume our interrupted cloud-hunting journey.
But I seized the moment to call her back, sincerely asking: "Chise, what kind of cloud are you looking for? If you don't tell me its characteristics, can we really say we're looking together?"
"…That's true. Mm, you're right."
She nodded thoughtfully, considering her answer: "Characteristics… first… it's very soft."
I couldn't help but look up as there isn't a cloud that doesn't feel soft, and she had just said that.
"And?" I prompted.
"And…" Chise smiled gently. "It has a very pleasant scent~"
"…A pleasant scent?"
"Yes. When you smell it, you feel like you're floating up to the sky, soft, light~."
Hmm… I had an idea. Maybe we could detour to the Inner Discipline Club or nearby River, Tsubaki should know how to find this kind of cloud.
To be sure, I asked one last time: "Anything more specific?"
"Specific…" Chewing over the word, Chise's eyes suddenly lit up: "Ah. Like this… fluffy, like the sun's scent."
For her, "specific" clearly wasn't very precise.
"And… anything else… ah."
She seemed to have another realization, murmuring: "That cloud… feels a little like sensei."
A little like me? I blinked, confused.
"Yes," she nodded with satisfaction. "It really does feel like sensei."
Recalling Chise's earlier descriptions, my expression twisted strangely...
Could it be… I have a natural scent?
My heart sank. My world-shaking charm to pure-hearted girls apparently extended beyond sight and into the sense of smell.
That explained why, whenever they hugged me, they would always take a deep breath, I thought it was just excitement…
"Like the sun, even on a cloudy day, but still smelling wonderful, being near it makes you happy…"
Cloudy day? Then the sun wouldn't even be visible.
Even if it were, it'd be a cold sun hidden behind clouds.
As I pondered this, Chise continued: "I love it the most. That's probably what it feels like."
Ah, so she was subtly confessing to me. I almost didn't notice.
I said straightforwardly: "Mm, I like you too, Chise."
"Eh?"
"Mm?"
"Ah, thank you… I like sensei too," she paused, then hesitated: "But… weren't we talking about clouds just now?"
Her shyness had surfaced because of my bluntness. Still, Chise, being a quirky, unpredictable type, might have just been thinking about clouds the whole time.
Either way, I smoothly corrected myself: "Right, we're talking about clouds."
Chise resumed the topic: "I wanted to say… the weather's so nice today, maybe we'll find one. If we do, that'd be great."
I thought that, for her, the process mattered more than the result.
"Then let's keep looking together."
"Mm."
And so, the quirky Yin-Yang Club girl and I set off once more.
After walking a while, she suddenly asked: "…Sensei, the 'like' you said earlier... is it the same as the one you feel for the people cheering for me?"
"No, it's different."
"How is it then?"
"Well… it's like the cloud you're looking for."
"I see…"
For a moment, her face flushed slightly, as if affected by my words, but we tacitly didn't pursue the topic further.
The rest of our cloud-hunting journey whether smooth or not, I couldn't say. In terms of results, we didn't find a cloud matching Chise's description by sunset. Naturally.
Unconsciously, it was time to keep my promise with Niya to return Chise to the Yin-Yang Club.
"So… today we'll… Chise, what is it?"
Chise, staring at a nearby vendor stall, murmured: "Cotton candy…"
I understood immediately.
Moments later, the girl happily munched on cotton candy, sugar sticking to her hands and lips, and said:
"It's okay that we didn't find it. This cloud sensei bought me, I like it very much too."
Honestly… she had already found it, hadn't she?
I smiled wryly and helped wipe her hands and face clean.