Chapter 91: A Girl Who Learns Love

“…So you came to me…?”

“Yeah… I thought Sensei might know.”

Doubt.

Just one question fills my mind.

Their relationship and our relationship are definitely different.

Lovers.

A word commonly used to refer to those who love each other, also called sweethearts… it’s that kind of word.

But… what’s different?

My relationship with the squad… the Special Guard Department’s… Hiyori… Misaki, and Sacchan?

Even though we’ve drifted apart a bit, my relationship with Azusa-chan?

Certainly, even though the relationship with them began merely from supporting each other through past pain… now, it’s undoubtedly a relationship bound by the word ‘love’.

“[Conventionally… yes, it could be defined as the one person you’ll spend your life with, the person you love most in the world. But… the fact you came to ask me this means you didn’t come because you don’t know this, right?]”

If you ask many people what a lover is, the answers usually vary slightly.

For example, someone for whom you feel you could even throw away your life… someone you’ll spend your life with… the person you love most in this world.

But the answers those people give have at least one thing in common.

‘One person more precious than yourself’, ‘Just the two of you together for life’… the single most precious thing.

Then what are those I saw?

Their relationship isn’t connected as just two.

Even though it’s connected with one person in the middle, it’s definitely connected to multiple people.

“Yeah…”

“[And that’s probably… no, definitely because of the Tea Party kids?]”

“Yeah…”

That’s right.

In a word, it’s confusing.

Because I also thought, after coming here, to this blue world, maybe I could have such an encounter?

But when I first came here… the form of lovers I first encountered was very different from the form I knew, at least.

That’s why it’s confusing.

It shows a difference from the relationship everyone told me about, yet it was projected into my eyes in a form similar to what everyone told me.

“[Hmm… well, yes, if you saw such an exception, it’s understandable to be confused… This seems difficult even for me…?]”

My relationship with Sensei isn’t long, but considering the Sensei I’ve seen so far, he rarely failed to provide a clear answer.

“[Things like that are meaningless even if I tell you through knowledge, especially since you’ve seen an exception.]”

“I see… yeah, that’s right… This wasn’t something to ask someone… Sorry, Sensei.”

“[No, things like this are tricky, but if there’s anything you don’t know, feel free to ask anytime. And… if it’s Atsuko, you’ll probably be able to resolve this doubt soon enough.]”

Sensei… told me I’d be able to solve this doubt soon.

…Sensei probably knows what it is too… It’s just something that can’t be understood even if explained…

Trudging along.

I walk aimlessly through a park located on the outskirts of D.U.

Normally, I would spend the holiday created by a lack of duty with other people from the Special Guard Department or the people from the Supplementary Lessons Department introduced by Azusa,

but today I chose the option of visiting Sensei, so even if I went back to Trinity, the time would be awkward, so I was spending the remaining time with a moderate walk.

That doesn’t mean I’m lonely or bored.

This park has numerous flowers planted along the path… so today, I was just filled with the feeling that it wouldn’t be a waste to spend the time calmly strolling.

At this distance, I could have chosen the option of calling someone else… but since I have a lot to think about right now, I just wanted to spend some time alone.

“Hrmmm~? How lewd~”

“Haha… Ugh?! It hurts!”

Whether they know my heart or not… far away, two women who look like a couple come into view.

Looking roughly… the woman with short red hair is hugging the woman with long black hair, her hand resting on the latter’s buttocks… hmm… let’s just watch up to here…

Because of the lip-reading skills I learned during my Arius days, I can roughly tell what kind of conversation is going on just by looking, and thanks to that, my thoughts seem to become even more complicated.

Anyway… what should I do… For some reason, if I can’t resolve this doubt, it feels like it will come up every time I fall asleep and torment me, and besides that, it continuously leaves a scar in my mind, making me worry.

Perhaps that’s a normal lover relationship… no, it wouldn’t be normal.

Because Kivotos has a desperate student gender ratio, same-s*x relationships like that are seen relatively often, but it’s true that more students still pursue normal relationships.

Actually, even saying relatively is meaningless since I’ve never seen outside Kivotos… but I heard it’s like that… Anyway, the important thing is that more students still pursue normal relationships between men and women.

Isn’t that why Sensei’s relationships with women are so tangled?

Even though it was a suddenly assigned duty, I visited Schale because of Sensei’s kindness and for counseling, but the damp and humid atmosphere of the love quarrel, like a humidifier running in midsummer…

Was something I never wanted to experience again.

My thoughts seem to have strayed significantly… how should I resolve this doubt…

“Hic?! Manaka… that girl over there…”

“Hee~ Trinity? Let’s run away~”

Oh, amusingly, it didn’t take long to realize that someone to ask was right in front of me again.

It’s not a past I particularly want to return to, but some knowledge gained back then is still useful now.

For example, footwork to reduce presence and eliminate footsteps, or methods to move quickly while maintaining such footwork.

“Um… instead of running away for a moment, there’s something I want to ask…?”

“Hic?! Wh… when did you get here!?”

“Eeeh~ Is Trinity only full of special forces or monsters~”

I grab them.

Yes, things like this are definitely helpful.

I definitely don’t want to say it’s ‘thanks to that day’, so I’ll just call it a result obtained by overcoming those times.

Anyway, if even Sensei finds it hard to answer… I just need to ask for help from those who have already found the answer and produced a result through it.

It doesn’t require any special technique, just sneak up, grab both their wrists, and open my mouth.

“Ugh… really… okay… I get it, so can you let go? My right wrist especially hurts a lot…”

“Karma~”

“…I will.”

Fortunately, they showed no sign of trying to run away and quietly twisted their wrists free from my grasp, starting to gaze at me.

Maybe not before, but now I understand how peculiar and strange my actions were.

“So, what did you want to ask?”

“Um… could I borrow your ear for a moment?”

“Huh…? What a pain…”

“Stare…”

However… talking about such things openly is a bit strange, so I decide to borrow her ear slightly and ask in a whisper.

…The black-haired woman next to her started staring intently at me and the short red-haired woman in front.

Perhaps she doesn’t like her lover lending an ear to someone else and not letting her hear the story.

I feel a little sorry, but I’m grateful she’s staying still, and I start telling the story I wanted to ask about.

“…This might sound strange… but love, tell me about love.”

“Huh… ah…?”

The red-haired woman in front froze.

Well, I expected it.

Because honestly, it must sound like nonsense.

I’ll probably have to continue explaining for quite a long time…

“Hee~ Sayaka, first time seeing this reaction~”

“Uuuugh…”

Certainly, I thought it wasn’t something to say openly in a crowded place, so I found a moderately quiet nearby cafe and started to continue the story.

…Hmm… is this what they call acclimatizing?

I’ve only spent a few months in Trinity, but several types of tea are imprinted in my mind, and I’ve even decided on one type of tea I mainly drink.

And it was just disappointing that the tea I mainly drink is unlikely to be found in a cafe in the middle of D.U.

Anyway… the red-haired woman in front… the woman called Sayaka, after listening to my explanation, finally reached her limit and lowered her head, her face flushed.

Well… as expected, their relationship seemed better than I thought, as the woman called Manaka started teasing Sayaka with all her might.

“No… why are you asking about that… I don’t get it?”

“Mhm~ Certainly, that feels like something everyone naturally knows~”

“…I thought so too… but there’s a peculiar relationship around…”

Certainly, I thought so too… until I saw them….

“Hee~ That sounds interesting~ Tell me~”

“Wait? Manaka? How much time are you wasting on someone you just met…?!”

“Shhh?”

When I brought up the story about Sora, Manaka started showing interest.

Certainly, that relationship could be seen as unique if unique, and at the same time, it is quite an interesting relationship.

Seeing Manaka like that, she made a sign to silence Sayaka, who was trying to stop her, covering her mouth with her hand.

Well… they seem to get along well… but I’m not sure… Anyway… I had to spend quite some time telling the story of that unique relationship, Sora’s story.

While talking, I had to exclude parts mentioning the three from the Tea Party or the Special Guard Department and replace them with appropriate words or affiliations.

“Hee~ It is an interesting relationship~”

“What’s that… it’s not even cheating… no, they allowed that?”

“Yeah…”

Thanks to that, they could probably understand to some extent why I had this doubt.

“So… sigh… it’s really cringey…”

“Oh? What you said yesterday…”

“Waaah! Stop! Don’t say it!”

I don’t know what happened yesterday, but it’s clear something happened between them…

While I was curious and about to ask, they started telling their story without giving me a chance.

“Umm… actually, we’re former Helmet Gang members?”

“…? You don’t look like it?”

They introduced themselves as having been in the Helmet Gang.

However, to see them that way, their attire was quite neat, and you couldn’t often see the tendency of Helmet Gang or Sukeban types to consciously or unconsciously maintain fierce expressions to create intimidation.

In short, they looked like gentle and good people for former Sukeban.

“Haha! Still, we were a reasonably sized Helmet Gang?”

“…Bragging…?”

“It’s the past now~”

“Anyway… back then, we received a request to kidnap some important person… I don’t know if she was someone noble or a friend, but some Trinity girl completely wiped us out…

At the front gate of the hideout was the Prefect Team leader… behind was some unknown monster girl… sigh…”

“So we tried not to get involved with Trinity~”

Well, thanks to that, I roughly understand why they tried to run away seeing me… Certainly, if you run a reasonably sized Helmet Gang and get crushed by two people…

and one of them is a complete unknown with no reputation, it’s understandable to be wary of that side.

Anyway, now it’s time to hear their answer.

Aren’t they cleverly avoiding the story by avoiding the answer to my question again and telling their own story?

“…Sorry, but… the answer to my question…”

“Ahem! We’re almost there, so could you wait just a little longer?”

…This person is annoying.

One moment she seemed reluctant to even talk to me, and now she’s engrossed in her own story and started talking haphazardly.

Hmm… it feels like dealing with Hiyori in a different sense…

“Anyway… actually, there’s no real reason why we became something like the Helmet Gang. In Gehenna, for various reasons, there are many students who become vagrants or fall into such unfortunate circumstances.

Me and this one were just part of that group… and then… tada! The Helmet Gang collapsed, and long-term imprisonment in the detention center!”

“…Something to be proud of…?”

“Just listen a little longer~ even if it’s boring~”

“Boring… ahem… anyway, it was back then… no, more accurately, maybe I started feeling it even before getting wiped out by that Trinity b*tch, whether this path was truly leading us in the right direction…

And spending months locked up in the detention center made me think a lot… well… I thought I wouldn’t get out of the Prefect Team’s detention center until graduation…

It’s strange how things turned out so well that I can walk around like this, but… when I reached the conclusion that, in the end, that’s all we know how to do, it didn’t feel too bad.

Maybe if I were alone, I would have formed another Helmet Gang or something.

But you know… that’s for ‘me’… not for ‘us’, right?

I… Agh!”

“Eeeeh~ Sayaka got annoying again~”

A long and verbose explanation continued, but she cut off her words, grabbed Manaka’s opposite shoulder, and pulled her close, creating a tight embrace.

Manaka showed a reaction as if she was used to this situation, and Sayaka also acted without hesitation, showing how long the two had spent together.

“The story got complicated and went off track, but the point is this: can you, for that person, change your way of life? That’s what I think.”

Although she dragged out what seemed like a long-winded and unnecessary story, the answer she gave me resonated quite deeply.

Because of that person, or for that person, can you abandon the way of life you’ve lived so far and live for that person…

I think I understand.

Saori… Misaki… Hiyori… Azusa… they are all precious people to me, my beloved ‘family’.

But because of them, changing my way of life…?

Rather than changing my way of life, they just try to understand each other and finally understand.

That is certainly a good relationship and a wonderful relationship, but a sweetheart… lover… partner… the person you’ll spend your life with is someone who makes you able to let go of your way of life…

“…Yeah… I understand… Thank you, even though we just met…”

“Hmph, if you understand, then you pay for the coffee! We’re… huh? Manaka? Why…”

“…The movie starts in 15 minutes~”

“Waaah!? For real?! Hey! Take care of the bill! Bye!”

“Ah… they left…”

I wanted to repay them somehow and was about to bring it up… but perhaps because of a previous engagement, they quickly left.

…Right… I’ll cover the coffee cost.

After all, I received a quite refreshing answer from them…