Chapter 55: Scent Of Dreams

-Bang, bang bang!-

-Ratatatatat-

“Uwaaagh!”

“Wait! Calm do—Agh!”

Without a word, Kazusa and I unleashed a barrage of bullets towards the Sukeban who were initially extorting the young girl, followed by the numerous Sukeban who came rushing in, suppressing them.

The Helmet Gang, a simple group of disorganized thugs, started to run away with their tails between their legs after I wiped out the first group.

Normally, the disorganized Helmet Gang wouldn’t be able to operate in this Trinity autonomous region, even on the outskirts, but because a large number of the Justice Realization Committee members were out for training, there was a slight gap in security.

Normally, I would track them all down and hand them over to the Justice Realization Committee…but today, I have someone to take care of, and it’s getting late, so I thought it wouldn’t be beneficial to track them down,

so I only handed over the guys I had already caught to the Justice Realization Committee and came out of the alley.

“Well…then…”

The person I need to take care of, the young girl who was the victim of that extortion just now, I have many questions for this girl.

Among them, there are many personal ones.

But…right now, this child wouldn’t be in a state to answer that, right? Because this child’s face was lifeless from before I ran.

So…first, I’ll ask only what’s necessary.

Maybe I can meet again someday and solve my personal questions.

“Ahem…where did you come from…?”

“…”

“…No response?”

“Trinity…outskirts…Saint Grall Street…number 17…”

…I’m frustrated.

When I asked, there was no response, but she answered Kazusa’s question in a heartbeat.

Did I do something to her? I don’t think I’m a person who would be called scary anywhere, right?

Rather, Kazusa is…no, it feels a bit sorry to think like this.

“Did you just think something rude?”

“No…”

You’re also quick-witted…I subtly deny it and focus on the girl in front of me again.

Still, she’s looking at me now, so she recognizes me.

“Sister…who are…you sisters…?”

A very beautiful voice, not the voice unique to children, was heard.

It’s not like I misunderstood a person who is just short, because even though the clothes are plain clothes, the hat on her head was a hat provided by Trinity Elementary School, so she was definitely an elementary school student.

That hat is an item given only to students of Trinity Elementary School’s main school, so there’s no way I wouldn’t recognize it.

Similar to how I explained that the middle school was also a prestigious school before, the elementary school also puts a lot of effort into gifted education and talent discovery,

so this child must also be in Trinity Elementary School because she has something special.

Anyway, that’s why this child would also know about the existence of the Tea Party.

“Hmm…this sister belongs to the Tea Party? This is my friend.”

“…”

As if the previous answer was colorless, whether she heard what I said, ignored it, or didn’t hear it, the child in front of me was silently staring into space…no, she was fixing her gaze on Kazusa.

I don’t know why, but this girl seems to be a little more interested in Kazusa, so I had no choice but to pass the baton to Kazusa.

“Hmmm…what’s your name…?”

“Yumeka…”

“Are you related to those people just now?”

“…”

“…Strangers…”

Well, of course, the content of the conversation that I heard was openly like extorting money.

It’s ambiguous to have this child attend the Justice Realization Committee, so let’s find out if she has a guardian or not.

Since she didn’t answer me when I asked directly, I whisper to Kazusa to suggest that we take her home.

“Um…Yumeka? Would it be okay if we took you home? There might be more Sukeban like that just now?”

“…Um…yeah…”

The child who introduced herself as Yumeka seemed to worry (고민 means troubled) for a moment, and then accepted the offer.

She seems to have a little bit of a liking for Kazusa…

Fortunately, after that, I was able to move to the house of the girl who introduced herself as Yumeka naturally without any special events.

“Hah…I’m dumbfounded…”

“…? Huh? Sora? What do you mean?”

However, Yumeka’s house, to put it bluntly…a feeling of sadness slowly rose from the depths of my heart.

It wasn’t the concept that the house itself was about to collapse or was like a 폐가(abandoned house).

The house itself was neat, so they were things that were difficult to notice easily.

That’s why Kazusa couldn’t properly confirm the reality of this house, right?

Anyway, to explain again, this house allowed me to guess how Yumeka’s daily life was.

The trash can was full of empty packages of instant food, and the cleaning was neatly done, but that caused a sense of incongruity.

If you ask why neat cleaning is a source of incongruity…the traces of life, there were no traces of anyone else living with this child.

The shoes in the shoe rack were not only small in number, but also only close to Yumeka’s size.

In short…so the person who did this cleaning is this young girl herself.

“That…did you say Yumeka? Do you live here alone…?”

“…Yeah…”

Numerous pieces of evidence were telling me the situation this child was in, but it would be better to avoid speculation, so I ask first.

Fortunately, this time, she looked at me properly and answered…but unfortunately, it ended up proving again that the numerous pieces of evidence I found were true and properly found evidence.

It’s not like the reason why I felt sorry for this child was because she lived alone.

Dryness, this child’s emotions are dry.

Thanks to that, one of my questions was resolved.

I didn’t want it to be resolved in this way, though.

Why did she have that expression of giving up on everything…it’s the expression of someone who has lost something precious to them.

Unfortunately, it’s something I’ve experienced once, but I can’t solve this.

When I went through that, I had to wander for a long time.

The one who solved it was…that child of my previous life.

That child who slowly approached me so deeply at some point that I don’t even know when it started, long time no see. The memories of my previous life came to mind….

Anyway, what should I do in this case…if I just leave this child alone, I feel like I’m pushing a knife into my conscience myself.

In the first place, I didn’t even think about just leaving her alone, but it became even more impossible to just leave her alone.

However, I’m not very comfortable taking this child with me, and most importantly, this child doesn’t seem to like me that much.

Sigh…I don’t want to bother that person any more, but…right now, that person is the only one I can rely on.

“That…Kazusa? Wait a minute…”

“Huh? Yeah? Ah, yeah…that…Yumeka? Can you wait a moment?”

“…”

“..Yeah…”

I can’t help it since I’m not going to be active anyway, and I can’t pay much attention due to personal and positional reasons.

“I’m…sorry…Kazusa…can you…watch Yumeka for a moment…?”

“What…? No…well…it’s possible…but until when? I can’t do it for long…”

“A moment is enough.”

“Sigh…really just a moment?”

“Yeah…that’s right…it won’t take long.”

There’s no other way…Sensei, I’m calling Sensei. I’ve been indebted to him a lot before, but in this situation, I can’t think of anyone else…

I can’t provide a fundamental solution…most importantly, I don’t have the talent to open people’s hearts….

[Hmm…it’s unusual. For Sora to ask me for help directly.]

“Ugh…I’m sorry, Sensei. I couldn’t think of anyone but Sensei…”

“What? Is it Sora-chan?!”

I left Yumeka to Kazusa and explained the situation to Sensei over the phone.

As soon as the explanation was over, Onee-chan’s voice was heard through the smartphone.

It’s a natural story because Onee-chan was dragged to Schale on duty today.

Seeing that the thought that it was nice to hear her voice dominated my head, I’m also serious….

Maybe it’s because of Onee-chan’s pressure? How long has it been since I called, Sensei appeared riding in a vehicle.

No, Sensei would come to Trinity even if there was no pressure from Onee-chan, even if he quit his job.

No, but it’s not a distance that can be covered in this amount of time by car, what did he do? While I was thinking…

“Wow! So~ra-chan!”

Onee-chan comes out of the passenger seat of the vehicle.

Well…yeah…it was a foreseen future that she would rush to me as soon as she came out.

Sensei, who got off after her, was completely exhausted.

[Sigh…I’m tired…]

“Haha…you must have stepped on it a lot…?”

I thought it was a physically impossible distance…but it seems like he just drove at the fastest speed.

It’s okay to come a little slower…thanks to that, I was able to help Yumeka a little faster…and I’m grateful that I can spend the rest of the day with Onee-chan.

[Yeah…I stepped on it at full speed because my students, who are not supposed to care about you, cared for a child…]

“…You didn’t exceed the speed limit, did you?”

[No, so don’t worry…]

That’s a relief. I didn’t make Sensei a criminal…I’ll have to repay him separately later.

I already know what to give as a gift that contains the meaning of respect for a teacher, so I’ve already decided what to give in my head.

“Bue…Sora-chan…other thoughts when I’m here?”

“Pfft, no, Onee-chan. Was the duty okay?”

“Yeah! But you know…Sensei is quite capable?”

“Hoo…is that…someone’s love story?”

Yeah, Sensei is honestly a handsome person when I look at him, so I was thinking that there would be a few people aiming for him.

So, while I was waiting for Sensei, I spent time listening to what happened at Schale from Onee-chan.

The worry about Yumeka’s case was in one corner of my heart, but…Sensei…will it be okay?

[Good job, Kazusa.]

“Ah, Sensei, so it was Sensei that Sora called.”

“…That person…Sensei…?”

As soon as I arrived, Kazusa moved behind me.

Maybe she’s relying on me a little? I’m a little proud.

When I looked around, I started to understand what Sora said.

It’s a house that’s big to live alone, but not very big, as Sora said, this house created various incongruities.

And….I definitely know why Sora called me, she said it was a bit of a personal story and had an apologetic face, but she definitely looked troubled.

It’s not a big problem for this child to live alone.

Certainly, I can’t get rid of the worries, but more than that, this child’s expression, her face, is not a face that I can just pass by.

It’s not a face that a girl of that age would make.

It’s definitely the face of a person who lived hard with one pillar of support, lost the pillar, collapsed, somehow struggled to live, and…worked hard and worked hard, and gave up everything at the end of the end.

That’s why I can’t just leave this child alone. I’m not expecting anything because I heard some explanations from Sora, but it would be better to ask.

Let’s start with a light self-introduction.

[I’m Schale’s Sensei. Can you tell me your name?]

“…Yumeka…”

[Yumeka…it’s a beautiful name. Do you have any troubles…?]

It might be sudden for this child, but I have to ask.

The naturally flowing adult’s way of speaking doesn’t work on a child in this state, so I ask directly.

“…That…no…”

I don’t know if she has a little bit of a liking for me, or if Kazusa, who took care of this child for a while, did something, but she didn’t try not to talk at all, and she tried to say something and then stopped.

Or there could be a reason that I don’t know, such as not particularly liking Sora, but I can’t know that.

Anyway, even so, this child doesn’t try to tell me everything.

I want to ask everything, but it’s impossible…I continued to try to learn about this child named Yumeka, but to my efforts’ dismay, there was nothing I could learn about this child.

But that doesn’t mean there was no harvest.

“Hmmm…”

[Kazusa?]

Kazusa, who was quietly watching the conversation behind me, slowly walks forward and finally stands in front of Yumeka.

She bends her knees a little to match her eye level.

Hah, I’m proud, but I’m also a little bitter. To grow up so quickly like this.

“Ahem…it might be a little too informal…little one, do you want to go with me?”

“…?”

I won’t put the result in my mouth.

Because that would be a good sight.