Slide!
The classroom door opened once again. This time, it was Inori and Ayase who returned, with Inori pushing Ayase's wheelchair inside.
"Inori... I already told you I don't need anyone to push me."
Ayase complained.
"No. You nearly fell over just now."
Inori firmly refused to let go.
"Welcome back, Inori, Miss Ayase."
Hare greeted them once again.
"Mm-hmm~ Finished your heart-to-heart?"
Ayase winked at Hare.
"Umm... Mm///"
Hare blushed again. How does everyone know about it?
Only after pushing Ayase to the center of the classroom did Inori release the wheelchair, whereupon Tsugumi immediately took over.
"Ayase, I'll take you to wash up in a little while."
Tsugumi pushed Ayase over beside her own bedding. Sitting down, she casually spoke while rummaging through her toiletries.
"I already told you, I can manage by myself—"
"No~! You can act tough when you're piloting Endlave, but don't push yourself now. Just accept everyone's kindness."
Tsugumi pouted as she retorted.
Meanwhile, Inori approached the Shogun and Hare before sitting down on a chair beside them. She began removing the performance outfit she had worn during rehearsal. It was a somewhat revealing, formfitting dress whose sweeping cut left the center of her figure completely uncovered, running in an uninterrupted line beneath her collar all the way toward her lower abdomen. The skirt had a rather futuristic design, and her legs were encased in thigh-high rubber boots. Her original school uniform had been placed on the desk.
"You're wearing such revealing clothing again..."
The Shogun sat back down, propped up her cheek, and muttered in displeasure.
"...Does it look bad?"
Inori glanced down at her clothes, tilted her head, and asked.
"It doesn't suit you... I already told you before not to wear this sort of thing again. You never listen."
She complained.
"But... it's a performance costume."
Inori answered.
"That makes it even worse. Since it's for a performance, won't a great many people be watching you? How embarrassing."
"Then—I'll change into something else tomorrow."
Inori obediently removed it and changed into her pajamas.
"Um... Inori, who chose this outfit?"
Looking at the strangely avant-garde and excessively revealing costume, Hare could not help asking out of curiosity.
"Souta."
Inori answered simply.
"Uh... S-So that's why. It certainly is Souta's style, hehe."
Hare tactfully teased him.
"Why must you listen to him?"
The Shogun asked.
"Because... Souta is the director. He came up with this performance."
"Souta seems to have feelings for you—"
Hare understood that much...
"I know, but... all I can give him is the affection one feels for a fan... I'm grateful that he likes EGOIST."
Inori was not foolish. She understood his feelings as well.
Kanon and Arisa were the last to return. Kanon entered the classroom with a notebook in her arms and exhaustion written all over her face. When she saw that everyone was present, she visibly relaxed. President Arisa could have slept in the private room attached to her office, but out of a sense of equality, she had chosen to sleep alongside them instead.
"Ah~ You're all back? I'm exhausted to death."
Kanon smiled bitterly, dropped onto the bedding spread across the floor, and caught her breath.
"Kanon, Arisa, welcome back."
Seeing her best friend return, Hare took the initiative to get up and sit beside her.
"Mm, we're back."
Arisa smiled gracefully.
Indeed, only these few girls slept in this classroom. The bedding was arranged in two rows. Hare, Inori, and Kanon occupied one row, while the other three slept opposite them. The Shogun herself had no need to sleep, since she had disabled her simulated sleep function. After all, she needed to monitor the surroundings of the school during the night.
The atmosphere here was comparatively warm and comfortable. They were all girls, after all, so there was nothing to worry about.
After everyone finished washing up in turn, it was time for their nightly rest... Of course, there was no chance the girls would actually fall asleep on schedule. Although they normally went to bed early, tonight was different.
Since the cultural festival was tomorrow, they were all too excited to sleep. Although the classroom was dim, a small lamp had been placed beside each person. Only two of them had switched theirs on. One was Kanon, who still had resource management work to complete, while the other was Arisa, who was reading. Everyone else simply took advantage of the light from their lamps.
"...It's so quiet."
Watching Ayase scroll through her terminal beside her, Tsugumi could not help murmuring. Her words reached everyone else's ears as well.
"Mm... It is. Very quiet."
Arisa looked up from her book and smiled at her with her usual gentleness before turning the page.
"It was so noisy during the day, but everyone's gone limp at night."
Lying on her stomach atop the bedding, Tsugumi puffed out her cheeks and muttered casually.
"Everyone is excited, after all. It's rare for us to have a cultural festival."
Kanon, who was also lying on her stomach and occasionally writing something in her notebook by the light of the lamp, casually replied.
"Mmm—"
Tsugumi drew out the sound.
"Tsugumi, go to sleep."
Ayase glanced at the girl beside her, who was behaving like a child, and deliberately admonished her.
"No~ Ayase isn't sleeping either. Ah—what are you looking at?"
Tsugumi leaned closer with a mischievous grin.
"Don't look~!///"
Blushing, Ayase hurriedly moved the terminal away.
"Hey, Arisa."
"Mm?"
Hearing Tsugumi call her, Arisa looked up from her book toward Tsugumi on the other side of Ayase.
"What does it feel like to be a rich young lady?"
Tsugumi asked curiously.
"Huh? To be a rich young lady...? That's... difficult to answer. If I had to describe the feeling, I suppose it would be... exhausting?"
Arisa answered with mixed emotions.
"Exhausting? Shouldn't it mean being rich and living in luxury?"
Tsugumi did not understand.
"Ah... I suppose that is true for ordinary people, but not for me. I was born into the Kuhouin family, so this so-called 'wealth' has always been perfectly ordinary to me. All that remains is the exhaustion."
"The pressure of my responsibilities, the pressure from my family, and the political marriage I'll inevitably have to face in the future... They're all burdens. Sometimes I truly wish I could do nothing at all and simply become an ordinary person. Perhaps life would be more interesting that way."
Recalling her experiences, Arisa sighed softly.
"Arisa..."
Hare looked at the older girl sympathetically.
"Hehe, there's no need to look at me like that. I'm already used to it. Besides, sleeping here alongside all of you is one of the few pleasures I've experienced in my life."
She's very strong.
Hare sighed inwardly.
"By the way, Mio?"
"...? What is it?"
Hearing Arisa call her, the Shogun looked up from her terminal toward the blonde woman in the upper-left corner.
"About what happened earlier today..."
"I'm fine. I know you were all considering the students' mental condition. I understand... There's no need to feel guilty."
She exhaled and reassured Arisa once again. She should not have left so abruptly at the time. Now everyone thought she had been throwing a tantrum.
"That's good... As long as you aren't angry with us..."
Arisa breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed.
"None of you need to be so anxious. Since you've already decided to hold the cultural festival, then make it a success and enjoy the process wholeheartedly. There is no need to concern yourselves with anything outside the school."
Her implication was clear. Her presence alone was enough.
"!" ×N
The girls froze upon hearing this, then exchanged reassured smiles. They could already foresee that this young woman would one day become the pillar supporting all their hearts.
I haven't felt this sense of security since Gai.
Ayase sighed inwardly.
"Speaking of which... I've always wanted to ask. Mio, you aren't actually from this world, are you?"
Tsugumi asked with interest.
"...You only just realized that?"
Ayase retorted.
"Huh?"
Tsugumi froze.
"Pfft~"
Hare could not help laughing.
"With that absurd power of hers, do you honestly think she could be an ordinary person?"
Ayase complained speechlessly.
"Y-Yeah, I suppose... I knew that much already~!"
"Mio comes from somewhere very far away... Right, Mio?"
Hare winked at her adorably.
"Mm..."
Seeing this, the Shogun played along and answered.
"I thought she was someone mutated by the virus."
The corner of Tsugumi's mouth twitched.
"How could that be? If anyone had mutated, wouldn't it be someone like Inori?"
Ayase retorted.
"I haven't mutated."
Already tucked beneath her blankets with her eyes closed, Inori deliberately objected.
"Hehe~ It truly is strange. Still... the fact that we can remain safe at a time like this is all thanks to you, Mio. Thank you."
Arisa smiled at her, gazing at her with gentle eyes.
"You're flattering me... This is everyone's accomplishment."
She shook her head and responded modestly, imitating something a certain person used to say and borrowing it for herself.
"Haa... I'm finally finished—!"
Kanon closed her notebook, switched off her lamp, rolled over, and burrowed beneath the blankets with a muffled sigh.
"Good work, Kanon."
Hare said it out of habit.
"Hey, since we're all gathered together, why don't we tell ghost stories?"
Tsugumi suggested.
"No. Go to sleep."
Ayase frowned, immediately switched off her terminal, and pulled the blanket over herself.
"Huh? How boring~"
Tsugumi complained. This is supposed to be the perfect bedtime atmosphere for girls.
"Hurry up and sleep... Aren't you planning to have fun tomorrow? Don't leave yourselves too tired to enjoy it."
The Shogun admonished the girls.
"She's right. Don't stay up too late."
Arisa agreed.
And so, as the clock hands slowly circled onward, their occasional laughter and conversation gradually faded into silence. One by one, they fell asleep. Hare and Inori were the last to drift off. Both had said they wanted to stay awake with her, but in the end, neither could withstand the encroaching drowsiness.
Once everyone was asleep, she quietly rose and left the classroom. She went up to the roof of the school building and sat alone at the edge of the eaves, gazing at the ruined city of Tokyo in the distance and the star-filled sky above, which seemed to have returned to a more primal state, as she waited for the first light of the following morning to appear.
"..."
However, after remaining on the rooftop for a while, she decided there was something else she wanted to do. After a moment of thought, her eyes lit up and a gentle smile curved her lips. Rising once more, she transformed into a streak of violet light and entered her Plane of Euthymia, intending to use this opportunity to spend some time with "that person"—her other mother, Raiden Makoto.