"Same as me then—guess I'll be in your care~"
Izayoi Miku ignored Origami's hostility and smiled as she held out her hand.
"Interesting. I hope you can still smile that brightly later," Origami said, not hesitating as she took it.
"Hm? What's that supposed to mean?"
"I do get jealous, but I don't really mind how many girls stay around Shichen. Can you really say the same?" Origami let go and followed up calmly.
"Sounds like darling's already got a lot of girls, huh? Figures~ he is pretty special," Miku said, glancing playfully at Shichen.
"..." The corner of Shichen's mouth twitched. He had a feeling there was more behind her words.
"Are they all like me? All spirits?" Miku asked again.
"Yeah," Shichen nodded.
"All spirits, huh~ So what, darling's some kind of savior of spirits?"
"What savior…"
"I do know spirits don't really have a place in this world. I've been paying attention these last two years… You're trying to give them a way to live here properly, aren't you, darling?"
"I won't deny that… But you said you were keeping tabs? You never went to see them?"
"Nope, didn't dare. They always trigger a spacequake when they show up. I never had the guts to get close," Miku said with a wry smile.
"I see."
Right now, Izayoi Miku was just the star student of Rindouji Girls' Academy—not an idol, just an ordinary girl. She really couldn't get anywhere near a spacequake zone.
And if she had gone closer, someone might've mistaken her for a spirit too.
Spirits were all stupidly beautiful, not quite human—if AST noticed her, they'd definitely start getting suspicious.
And they had the tech to scan spirit mana; if she got flagged, she'd probably end up taking Nia's place as a lab rat.
Not that Shichen would ever let that happen.
"It's good you stayed away. You probably don't really know AST, right? Their top priority is killing spirits," Shichen said.
"No, I know about those people. They're scary. I've seen them once from afar."
"Seen them?" Shichen looked at her, puzzled.
"I'm a spirit too, of course I know who causes spacequakes~ When someone like me shows up, I always wonder if darling's there as well. But that time I didn't see you at all…" Miku puffed out her cheeks in mock complaint.
"So that's how it was… Guess you really were lucky."
"Aren't you the one who told me 'put your own safety first'?"
"True. In that case, good job." Shichen reached out and ruffled her hair, praising her.
"Mmm~" That familiar, reassuring head-pat made Miku narrow her eyes in contentment.
"Waaah—he's patting Miku-sama's head!"
"What's his relationship with Miku-sama?"
"Don't tell me they're dating?"
"Onee-sama actually has a boyfriend… But they do look really good together!"
"Hey, who's that girl next to him?"
"She's just as pretty as Onee-sama…"
"She looks like his girlfriend, doesn't she?"
"Is he two-timing?"
"…Should we maybe go somewhere else? There are kind of a lot of people," Shichen suggested to Miku, having heard the whispers around them.
Miku's popularity was near the very top among all ten high schools in Tenguu City. Him being seen with her would definitely spread to every campus.
He didn't care personally, but he didn't feel like dealing with other schools' students causing trouble.
There were always those self-appointed "heroes of justice" who'd try to win Miku's favor by picking a fight with him.
He wasn't afraid of any of that—just found it annoying.
And he was a teacher now; his daily routine was obvious. If people wanted to hassle him, it'd be easy.
Being hassled wasn't the issue—it just left a bad impression.
Worst of all would be if it came in wave after wave, never ending.
"Oh~ so darling does worry about that kind of thing," Miku teased.
"I'm not worried for myself. I just don't want it to cause trouble for you. You probably don't want to be gossiped about too much, right?" Shichen replied with righteous seriousness.
"I don't really mind~ Just rumors—no big deal."
"True, not after what you went through."
Even if it had only been for a few minutes, those slanders and insults and filthy comments had given her some immunity.
"And honestly, I'd rather people misunderstand~" Miku said, suddenly throwing herself into Shichen's arms.
"Waaah—!" The crowd exploded.
"What are you doing?" Shichen grabbed her shoulders helplessly.
"Heehee~ the more they misunderstand, the better. Otherwise I'll be way too far behind," Miku said, tilting her head up, smiling brightly at him.
"Behind… what, exactly…"
"This is my declaration of war~"
"Declaration of war, huh? Then I'll accept it," Origami said calmly, reacting at last. She stepped in close, pressing in on the other side and lying against Shichen's chest as well.
"...What are you two doing?"
"Making darling famous~" Miku answered impishly.
"I really don't want to be famous."
"Too late for that~"
"Well, you brought this on yourselves."
As he said that, Shichen looped an arm around each girl's waist, picked them both up, and ran.
He ran fast—before anyone around had time to react, the three of them had vanished from sight.
The students left behind just stared blankly for a moment. After a beat of silence, someone finally snapped out of it.
"Ahhh—! Onee-sama got carried off by that guy!"
"What's he going to do to Miku-sama?"
"It's gotta be something not safe for kids! Huff—huff—"
"Why are you so excited? Hurry up and chase them! We can't let Onee-sama really stop being a maiden!"
"After them!"
"Everyone, follow me!"
Thump-thump-thump!
Footsteps pounded across the campus like a marching unit. If an outsider saw it, they'd think some kind of special drill was underway.
…
While chaos reigned outside, the classroom building was eerily quiet; not a single student remained inside.
In the infirmary, Shichen set the two girls down on the bed, then erected a barrier before relaxing.
There was no way ordinary people could catch up to him, but just in case Miku decided to stir things up, a barrier was the safer bet.
"My, darling, you're really bold—bringing us to the infirmary like this. Don't tell me you're planning to…" Miku said in a mock-frightened voice, though her face clearly showed excitement.
"When did you get so mischievous?" Shichen couldn't help rapping her lightly on the head.
"Ow~" Miku feigned hurt.
"Come on, I didn't even hit you hard."
"Heehee~ I knew darling couldn't bear to," she giggled.
"You've really changed a lot," Shichen muttered.
Two years ago she'd been a completely clueless girl, all soft and shy, nothing like this sharp-tongued little gremlin.
Though, admittedly, this was the Miku he remembered.
"It's because I got to see darling again. I'm still buzzing~" Miku said honestly, pressing a hand to her chest.
Shichen's gaze flicked down involuntarily. Compared to two years ago, she'd filled out quite a bit under that sailor uniform, nicely rounded.
Bigger than any spirit at his side, actually.
"Hey—w-what do you think you're doing?" Miku squeaked, cheeks flushing red.
"Just helping Shichen relax a bit," Origami said calmly.
"You…"
"Don't worry. This is just our everyday life," Origami added matter-of-factly.
"E-everyday life… You two… What exactly is going on between you?" Miku stared at them, unable to believe it.
"I already told you, didn't I?" Origami replied.
"Eh?" Miku froze. She hadn't gotten it at the time.
"So she's a total innocent…" Origami lost interest.
"I'll just spell it out then. Do you know why we only showed up this afternoon?" Origami asked.
"Why?" Miku asked without thinking.
"Because Shichen and I spent the whole morning at my place. In my room…" Origami trailed off, but her hand resting lightly against her stomach made the meaning crystal clear.
"Eek—!"
Miku finally caught up, her face going bright red as she stared in shock.
"Y-you're saying… you and darling were doing that this morning?"
"Not that much of an innocent after all," Origami nodded.
"I-is that true, darling?" Miku stammered, turning to Shichen, eyes wide in disbelief.