Chapter 8: You Just Touched Me

“Smooth, smooth… Smooth, smooth….”

…I’m being touched right now… Don’t get me wrong, it’s not anything weird. To explain how this situation came about…

This morning, when I officially started working as an attendant and bodyguard for the Tea Party,

I went to bed early and woke up early because Seia-sama’s house is far away, waited in front of Seia-sama’s house, greeted the driver, and walked with Seia-sama, who came out on time, from the front of her house to the Tea Party’s office by car.

-Smooth, smooth… Smooth, smooth….

And now… for some reason, I’m forced to sit in Mika-sama’s seat and Mika-sama is touching my wings…

“Um… Mika-sama… The reason you’re doing this…”

“Ahaha Well… because it feels good?”

My wings are on the tough side. That doesn’t mean that even the outer feathers are tough, and I’m spending a lot of money on the maintenance of my feathers.

This is important. If you neglect the management of the feathers even a little, they quickly become dry and unsightly.

Because of that, even though my wings are already large, I’m spending a lot of money on wing management, so it’s a bit much for me to say, but it’s objectively true that it feels good. But after being in this state for a long time, I feel strange…

-Smooth, smooth…-

Seia-sama… is ignoring me… Why…? Nagisa-sama hasn’t entered the office yet. Currently, Nagisa-sama is the host of the Tea Party, and as the host, she has separate tasks to handle, so she says she is often late like this.

-Smooth, smooth…-

“W… Wait, Mika-sama…? Something about your touch…”

“Ahaha…. Sorry, a mistake….”

It touched now… I’m sure it touched… Wings, it must have been an accident, but my hand… touched the base of my wings… The base of my wings… Yes, the wings themselves are, if I had to say, like arms.

Then what about the base of the wings… My face flushes… Um… a little… no, quite embarrassed… A subtle atmosphere flows and… it became awkward…

-Drip-

The black tea that Seia-sama was drinking drips down… She was looking this way with her eyes wide open… The atmosphere became even more awkward… I get up from my seat, switch places with Mika-sama, and return to my original seat.

The other attendants are also blushing and looking this way. I wish they wouldn’t look. I’m also very ashamed right now….

Thanks to that, the tension may have been relieved, but the awkwardness was a moment that became even heavier.

How much time passed in this space of silence and awkwardness? Nagisa-sama opened the door of the office and came in.

“…? What’s wrong? Usually, I thought it would be noisy with Mika-san’s chatter…?”

Perhaps she read the awkward atmosphere, Nagisa-sama looked around and asked a question with doubt… I wanted to die…

“Ahaha Nagi-chan, what’s wrong~ You’re talking as if I’m always just chatting~ That’s mean~”

Mika-sama said as if making an excuse. Her gaze was avoiding Nagisa-sama, so she looked suspicious. Nagisa-sama is… staring at Mika-sama with suspicious eyes.

“I see… Seia-san? Did something happen?”

“I didn’t see anything…”

Nagisa-sama shifts her gaze from Mika-sama to Seia-sama and asks. Seia-sama also avoids answering and pretends not to have seen anything, avoiding eye contact and drinking tea… she was only pretending to drink.

I… lowered my head and gaze in advance to avoid the great disaster of making eye contact. However… it seems that the other attendant senior next to me did not.

The other attendant next to me blushed deeply and made eye contact with Nagisa-sama. I didn’t see that scene because I lowered my gaze, but….

“Mika-san…?”

“Uh… Huh…? Nagi-chan… What…”

Nagisa-sama with a smiling expression… No, that’s a smile full of killing intent. It’s a smile, but it’s not a smile. Nagisa-sama stabs something long into Mika-sama’s head, her face.

“Ugh… Ugh….!”

“Mika-san…!!! I told you!! To stop joking around!!!”

That long, thick thing is stuck in Mika-sama’s mouth, in her throat. That’s… a roll cake full of whipped cream. Wow… that goes in…

After Nagisa-sama’s roll cake incident…? It’s not an incident, is it? Anyway, after that, the awkwardness and silence subsided a little, and tea time was in progress before the full-fledged work began.

“Please apologize to Sora-san later, Mika-san…”

“Ahaha… Sorry, Sora-chan…”

“Ah… Um… It’s okay…”

Maybe she was aiming for it? The high-ranking people of the Tea Party are also excellent at changing the situation? The atmosphere has become lighter as the work and meeting begin.

“Phew… Then let’s get started.”

“Are we starting with the previous agenda item, Nagisa?”

“Yes, it’s an important agenda item and it was at the last stage, so let’s deal with that first.”

“Ahaha Nagi-chan, as expected, I should go…”

“Mika-san, didn’t I tell you yesterday that it was rejected… You’re planning to go and run wild, aren’t you?”

“That said, it’s Gehenna, right? It would definitely be dangerous for Seia-chan, who is physically weak, or Nagi-chan, who is the host, to go?”

Gehenna? The name of the academy that is at odds with Trinity was mentioned. Is it about the Eden Treaty?

“Yes, that said, it would be noticeable to bring the Justice Realization Committee. It’s not a treaty that has been released to the public yet.”

It was the correct answer. It was about the Eden Treaty, the peace treaty between Gehenna and Trinity.

Maybe they meet directly at each other’s academies or the General Student Council, or if they look around each other’s academies, they will look at the atmosphere and adjust the contents or schedule of the treaty a little.

“It’s still better for me to go…”

“Seia-san will go. If you bring Sora-san, a certain degree of safety will be guaranteed.”

“That’s reasonable. She’s not particularly well-known, so if she wears plain clothes, she won’t stand out.”

Huh? Did I hear wrong? My name was mentioned just now. Gehenna…? In that chaos? Me?

It’s true that I was recruited to the Tea Party as an escort, but it’s not easy to protect one physically weak person in the middle of chaos that is Gehenna.

“Hmm… Okay, I’ll accept it In that case, Sora-chan… Please take good care of Seia-chan?”

“Am I a child, Mika… Apart from that, please take care of me, Sora.”

My gaze is focused on me. From now on, I have to escort one person who is particularly physically weak in Gehenna, which is said to be one of those chaotic schools.

Judging from the content of the conversation, it seems that we will be moving on a small scale, so the escort force will be me alone, or at best, one or two Justice Realization Committee or Trinity attendants will be added.

And the person I’m going to escort is one of the three student council presidents of Trinity… Why does my stomach already hurt… More than that, what about my wings…? It’s very obvious that I’m a Trinity student?!

“Um… Excuse me, but my wings are noticeable, so I think they will attract attention…”

“It’s okay, Sora-san. We will be traveling by car to the Gehenna main building. It’s an armored vehicle, and although it can’t stop an anti-tank gun, it can stop a grenade.

And our Trinity vehicles are somewhat high-end models, and everyone knows that it’s not good to mess with them.”

“…I understand… In addition, may I ask about the schedule?”

It would be good to prepare thoroughly on the day of the schedule. I should borrow a gun from the Justice Realization Committee or someone I know. The gun I use has a small number of rounds or cannot be fired in full auto, so it lacks firepower.

“It will be this Thursday. Friday is Gehenna’s anniversary, a school holiday, so it’s difficult to expect support from the Gehenna Prefect Team.”

Prefect Team…? Not the Pandemonium Society? I have a question. Isn’t this treaty completely confidential?

“Does the Prefect Team know about the contents of the treaty?”

“Yes, it is a matter that has been communicated only to the leadership and executives of the Prefect Team, but it is spread among the general Prefect Team members that diplomacy is underway between Gehenna and Trinity.”

It’s a relief if it is. I was so anxious thinking that I had to escort such an important person on the second day of joining the Tea Party without any support.

Gehenna is a school with many radical students. Although the Prefect Team is working hard, it is close to impossible to handle all the Sukeban that are increasing like mold growing in a basement during the rainy season,

so if the Prefect Team knows that a VIP like Seia-sama is visiting, wouldn’t they try to maintain security a little more carefully?

At least the Prefect Team wouldn’t want any diplomatic problems to arise. Even if Gehenna is a mess of a school, if it’s the Prefect Team, which is made up of the most normal people.

Still… let’s prepare a light machine gun in advance. If I ask the Justice Realization Committee for cooperation, I can borrow one…

The meeting continues. As expected of the leaders of this large academy, the amount and importance of the agenda items seem to be high.

As we continued our discussions, lunchtime quickly arrived, and a break time came. I’m not the type to use the student cafeteria, and I usually just eat a lunch box.

Trinity also operates a school lunch, but if you can return before lunchtime is over, you can also use outside restaurants, and the separately operated school lunch also costs a certain amount of money.

To be precise, it’s in the form of ordering from a restaurant, so it’s more similar to a university cafeteria in my past life than a high school lunch. When I ate it once, it seemed to be superior to at least my university cafeteria.

Well… Trinity gives a feeling similar to England in my past life. English food… at least it’s not my taste.

Trinity doesn’t look exactly the same as England, but at least a lunch box suits my taste better than school lunch. At least I can eat the menu I want, right? I have to take care of my health, though…

Anyway, I was heading to a suitable place to eat my lunch box, Trinity Square. Trinity is also large, and students who prefer quiet often eat their lunch boxes separately on the benches in the square.

“Oh? Is that Sora-chan?”

“Ah, Senpai, are you going to lunch? To the cafeteria?”

“No, we’re just planning to eat lunch boxes together, but since there are many of us, we were looking for a suitable place. Ah, “

Ichika-senpai approaches with a large number of Justice Realization Committee members. It’s lunchtime, and it seems that we ran into each other while they were going to lunch together. It’s a coincidence. Ichika-senpai was also a lunch box person.

“Oh, it’s that junior from that time. It was amazing…”

“Hello, nice to see you again, Sora-san. I heard that you joined the Tea Party. It’s a shame… It’s a bit much to say in front of Sora-san, but you were a talent I wanted.”

Hanekawa-senpai and other Justice Realization Committee seniors who were at the scene that day when I lost my temper were also there.

Ugh… I want to forget the memories of that day. The reason I’m wearing this white uniform now is because of that big hit that day…

“Elite….”

From one side, a short, pink-haired child mutters as she looks at me. Perhaps it’s admiration in her eyes? Is it respect? I don’t know what it is, but it was quite a hot gaze.

“Um… Are you a first-year…?”

“Ah… Yes! Shimoe Koharu, an elite who will lead the Justice Realization Committee in the future, right?”

“Oh, have you already become friends? Koharu is a good kid… She’s a good kid.”

“S… Senpai…”

Oh… She’s the same age, a classmate. Just by joining the Justice Realization Committee, she doesn’t seem like a bad kid. With Hanekawa-senpai’s guarantee, I wanted to get a little closer.

It’s not that I’m picky about friends, but you should be picky about friends. If you make friends with bad friends, you won’t see good results later.

“Will Sora-san also join us? Fortunately, the members of the Justice Realization Committee also think well of Sora-san, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Ah, good. I was also looking for a place to eat my lunch box.”

It’s a good thing. I can make friends, appeal to my seniors, and eat together harmoniously? I feel like I’m getting a little closer to the school life I wanted.

“Then Sora-chan is a high scorer on the entrance exam? An elite~”

“Yes, I used to have nothing I was good at except studying, so I naturally became diligent.”

“Wow… Sora-chan, that’s bragging…”

“Fufu… You’re a true elite, Sora-san…”

“Wow… Amazing…”

“Didn’t you say that Koharu is also preparing for the second-year grade skip exam?”

“Ah… Y… Yes! Watch carefully! I’ll pass with flying colors and make you call me Senpai!”

“Ahaha, if Koharu skips a grade, I’ll have to skip a grade too.”

We naturally chat and eat together. Perhaps it seems that the school life I wanted is being resolved a little. How good would it be if it could continue like this?

If the Eden Treaty ends successfully, I will also be freed from the Tea Party, and the work of the Justice Realization Committee members will also decrease, so the time we can hang out together will increase.

So…. let’s try a little harder….