After stepping onto land, the Millennium girls and I said our goodbyes at the station.
I said regretfully, "I was planning to invite you all to a high-end restaurant overlooking the night view for a celebration dinner."
"Hehe, thank you for your kindness, Master," Asuna smiled gently. "But we still have to hurry back to Millennium to escort Koyuki. So, please leave this invitation for next time."
Karin nodded and added, "We've all received so much care from you this time, especially in helping suppress the captain when she went out of control. You've really helped us a lot. So if anything, it should be us treating you to dinner."
"What? Who are you calling 'suppressed'?" Neru objected unhappily.
But the tanned-skinned girl ignored her and continued to me, "Also, you may be confused why I still address you like this. Please don't worry, it's not a slip of the tongue. I'm doing this to remind myself not to make such a low-level mistake again in future operations."
…But I never even asked.
And honestly, she probably just wanted a legitimate reason to keep calling me "Master" from now on.
Seeing this, Asuna laughed, "Hahaha, if that's the case, then among C&C, only the captain doesn't call Sensei 'Master' normally."
At that, Neru flared up, feeling an invisible pressure.
"Hey! We're just wearing maid outfits, we're not actually maids! If you want to play that weird game, do it yourselves, don't drag me into it!"
Asuna smiled helplessly and apologized to me, "Sensei, please forgive her. The captain still needs more time to face her own feelings."
Karin shook her head. "In simple terms, she's a tsundere."
Asuna burst out laughing. "Hahaha, Captain, at this rate you'll end up as a loser heroine∼"
Being teased by everyone, Neru gritted her teeth in frustration.
"Hey! Mast… Sensei! Aren't you going to say anything?!"
Realizing she almost called me the wrong thing again, Asuna laughed even harder, and the others could not hold back their amusement either. Neru's expression darkened further.
And then, finally, a voice broke through the chaos.
"Sensei, senpais, I think we can go ahead with the celebration dinner now!" Koyuki, who had been starving after being chased all afternoon, said with sparkling eyes. "Just take me along, okay?"
What kind of "celebration" includes the very thing that was caught?
Neru finally found a target for her frustration. She slapped Koyuki on the back of the head.
"Shut up! You don't get a say here!"
Koyuki froze, then pouted and burst into tears.
"Waaah! I'm already captured and starving, why are you hitting me? Waaah! Sensei, please stop Neru-senpai!"
"You've got some nerve!"
But speaking without reading the room always comes with consequences.
Still, with me nearby, she probably felt subconsciously safe and let her guard down.
That said, I could not always protect Koyuki like this. That would only harm her in the long run.
So I said calmly, "Koyuki, learn to stand on your own."
"…Okay."
She reluctantly agreed, and soon calmed down. Neru's anger also faded a little.
I could not help but wonder what exactly I had done to make her listen to me so obediently.
Was it just because of my utterly perfect appearance and personality? Or the video...
After a bit more chatting, my train back to D.U. arrived.
We parted ways, and I returned alone to Schale.
After eating a boxed meal warmed for me at Angel 24 by Sora ofc, I returned to the living quarters. A white-haired girl, who had already confirmed my arrival time, greeted me with a gentle smile.
"Oh my, Sensei, you're back? Please change into slippers∼"
She gestured to a pair of clean slippers she had prepared.
"Thank you."
Finally free from my wet shoes and socks, and after drinking a cup of hot coffee Noa had brewed, I felt my whole body come back to life.
She sat beside me and smiled.
"Sensei, you came back quite late. There must have been many complications during the mission? That Koyuki really caused you trouble, didn't she?"
Koyuki had caused trouble even after being captured, provoking even Neru in her anger.
I tried to excuse her a little.
"Haha, actually, it was mainly the students from Odyssey being overly enthusiastic."
"Oh?" Noa's gaze sharpened slightly, her smile becoming even more gentle. "Hehe, could you tell me more about that?"
Sensing danger, I quickly pulled out a notebook.
"Rather than those unpleasant details, Noa, please look at my thoughts on your poetry collection first!"
Noa's attention was immediately caught.
"Oh? Does that mean you've already finished it?"
"I only wrote part of it on the way back," I explained.
"Then I shall gratefully accept it," she said softly.
As she opened the notebook, I cleared my throat and began reading aloud, imitating what she had once done to me.
Though my literary skill is insufficient to fully grasp every line of Noa's poetry, and even the references and metaphors she explained still slip from my memory,
At least, from this girl's words, from her poems, I can understand what kind of person she is.
Sensitive, delicate, and gentle, someone who even allows herself to be sacrificed for a friend's happiness...
"Mmph!"
Noa closed the notebook with one hand and covered my mouth with the other, smiling warmly, though there was an oddly chilling undertone to it.
"Sensei, is this really what you wrote as your impression of my poetry?"
I felt wronged.
What was wrong with it?
Noa read through it quickly while blushing slightly, then finally let go of my mouth.
After returning the notebook, she sighed.
"I really miscalculated… I did not expect that having Sensei write down his impressions and then reading them would feel this embarrassing and… frightening."
"Frightening?"
I did not understand.
She looked at me for a long moment, then asked seriously,
"Sensei… do you really want to know why? I can tell you, but if you do…"
She took a deep breath.
"There will be no turning back. Are you prepared for that?"
I did not know what exactly she was afraid of, but I knew the correct answer.
I took her hand.
"If you have already prepared yourself, how could I possibly run away and leave you waiting alone?"
Noa froze slightly, then smiled gently.
"That is a very cunning answer. I suppose I will accept it."
I smiled back.
"Even if there is no turning back, I do not think I will ever regret it."
If I did not choose this here, I would only regret it later in the future.
Noa then said softly,
"In truth, everything I did, telling you my feelings, and asking you to record your impressions of my poetry, was to observe your feelings toward me."
I nodded.
"I figured as much."
"But what I did not expect," she said quietly, "was that you would also record my feelings."
"That is true," I replied.
She continued,
"When my feelings are written down like that, it feels as if they are being fixed into something permanent, like they have become my true intentions."
Her voice grew complicated.
"That is what scares me."
Noa spoke of curiosity, how it drives science forward, yet also tortures people.
No matter how much she tries to escape, it only accumulates inside her heart.
Eventually, it becomes so heavy that it feels like her chest is being tightly squeezed.
Tears welled in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Sensei… I'm not the calm and composed person everyone sees… I'm actually just a coward who cannot face my own feelings…"
She looked at me through blurred eyes.
"I even thought about taking a step forward… but I kept worrying… if I got too close to you… it would be cruel to Yuuka who came before me…"
"Absolutely not!"
I interrupted her forcefully.
"Why are you apologizing? I'm the one who should be sorry for knowing Yuuka's feelings and still getting involved with you both!"
"I am not someone who can stay faithful to one person. Once I realized your feelings, I decided I would never let go of any of you!"
"So if anyone should apologize, it is me, not you. I cannot hope to give you the same amount of love you give me, or will give me."
"And it is not just you two. Anyone in Kivotos who I come to like, I will claim them all, and give everyone happiness!"
Silence filled the room.
After a while, Noa murmured,
"This is a lie… you must be saying this to comfort me…"
But she continued,
"I see… so that is true after all."
Then she smiled mischievously.
"Sensei, you really confessed everything yourself∼"
I froze.
Wait. Was all of that a trap?
Noa admitted it was partly true and partly teasing, just to push me into speaking honestly.
"Sorry… did I mess this up?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah. If you already have my weakness, I have to silence you."
It was only a joke, a small retaliation.
Then I cupped her face.
"If you have any objections, now is your last chance."
Noa touched my face as well.
Our foreheads pressed together.
She whispered,
"Sensei… I already told you… there is no turning back for either of us…"
So she closed her eyes.
"Please… be gentle."
At that point, I could no longer hold back.
I embraced the literary girl tightly.
But halfway through, I suddenly remembered something important.
I excused myself to take a shower, and quickly charged the Shittim Chest.
After that, Noa and I did many things that we owed Yuuka an apology for.
Until the dawn light began to appear.