"Are you truly alright with this?" Rias asked.
"Yes, right here is fine," Gendul-san replied.
Gendul-san was currently setting up a magic circle for teleportation in a corner of the school grounds. Due to the immense exhaustion from the recent events, she was going to the hospital in the Underworld for a check-up. It would have been better to have a medical staff member handle the transfer or accompany her, but she had refused, insisting she could go alone.
Witnessing her departure were I, Rias, and Rossweisse-san.
"..."
"..."
There was a noticeable silence between Gendul-san and Rossweisse-san. Rias and I could only manage wry smiles in the face of the awkward atmosphere, but then, we sensed multiple presences rushing towards us.
Looking over, we saw children running our way, waving their hands. Rilinx was among them.
"Rossweisse-sensei!"
"Grandma-sensei!"
The children gathered around the two, speaking with evident sadness.
"Sensei, is it true you're leaving?"
"You won't come to this school anymore?"
"We want you to teach us more magic!"
Gendul-san stroked the children's heads as she spoke. "I will come again. And Rossweisse-sensei will surely come back someday too."
At her words, the children's faces lit up with the brightest smiles, genuinely overjoyed.
Gendul-san looked at Rossweisse-san with direct eyes.
"Rose, the path you've walked has indeed been different from our family's. But it wasn't wrong. The answer is right here, isn't it?"
Gendul-san's gaze fell upon the children's smiles.
"These children's smiles exist because of the path you've taken. It's something only the 'you' of now could have achieved. Be more proud of yourself. You are my proud granddaughter."
"...Yes. Thank you."
Rossweisse-san covered her mouth with her hand, desperately trying to suppress the emotions welling up inside her. Yet, tears streamed down at Gendul-san's words.
Seeing this, Gendul-san prepared to amplify the magic circle's power. However, she paused, seemingly reconsidering, and then stood before me.
She stared intently into my eyes, but... what was it?
As I wondered, Gendul-san took my hand.
"Boyfriend-kun, please take care of Rose. I feel most at ease leaving her in your hands."
"Ah, yes..."
When I nodded, Gendul-san smiled brightly and continued, "If possible, great-grandchildren too, please? I don't mind if it's a boy or a girl."
"Pfffffbt!?"
Rossweisse-san and I both choked at the unexpected words!
Great-grandchildren!?
Does that mean... a relationship like that with Rossweisse-san...? No, no, no! This person is just too direct!
"G-Grandma!? Wh-What are you!? I-Issei-kun and I aren't that close yet..." Rossweisse-san protested, her face bright red and her words tinged with dialect, but Gendul-san ignored her, intensifying the magic circle's glow!
"Well then, I'll be off. I look forward to our next meeting."
Gendul-san smiled and vanished into the light of the teleportation!
Why are all the adults around me expecting grandchildren and great-grandchildren!? Aren't they rushing things!? Was Gendul-san like that too!? I thought she was a stricter person!
More to the point, looking forward to our next meeting... does she mean, "have great-grandchildren by then!?"
"U-Um... Rossweisse-san?"
"S-Sorry, sorry! I never imagined she'd say something like that!"
Ah... Rossweisse-san's ears were also bright red...
Yeah... that would happen... It's just too sudden, after all.
Then, Rossweisse-san shyly twirled a strand of her silver hair with her finger and said, "W-Well... you were... cool. A-And... I was happy. For you chasing after me..."
"Of course. Rossweisse-san is a precious comrade of mine. And I promised, didn't I? I'll continue to protect you, no matter what happens from now on."
"~~~~~~~~~!"
Huh...? Her face just... became really something. Did I say something strange?
Rossweisse-san lowered her face, but mumbled, "...P-Please call me Rose... when we're in private..."
"Eh...?"
"W-Well... um... you see... Issei-kun is older... so... I thought calling you '-san' might be a bit odd... And Issei-kun seems like he can distinguish between public and private... A-And... please drop the honorifics..."
Rossweisse-san mumbled her request.
Rose, huh...
Well, calling her by a nickname might be friendlier and better, I guess?
I nodded with a smile. "Alright. Then I'll call you Rose normally."
"Th-Thank you... very much."
Her voice was small, but Rose sounded somewhat happy.
After seeing off Gendul-san, Rias and I were planning to start helping with the town's reconstruction, but we were still on the school grounds. This was because a certain sight had caught our eyes.
That sight was—
"P-President! I-I-I-I-I'm...!"
At the edge of the school. A pair of a man and a woman stood in an unpopulated area. Saji, stumbling over his words horribly, and Sona, standing before him, her expression hidden as she looked down.
Yes, Rias and I had stumbled upon Saji's confession scene.
Naturally, we couldn't just walk out, so Rias and I hid in a nearby patch of grass. The last time, when I first met Kuroka, I'd forgotten to hide Rias's aura and we'd been discovered, so this time I made sure to completely erase both of our presences! Well, neither Sona nor Saji has the ability to sense auras, but... just in case, right?
"To think we'd encounter my childhood friend's confession... I wonder if this is the biggest event of the day?" Rias said with a serious face.
The biggest event of the day, huh... Well, I guess for Rias, it would be. You don't often see someone confessing, especially someone close to you.
Saji, overly nervous, spoke to Sona with a trembling voice.
"I-I-I-I-I-I've been... in love with you, P-President, ever since we first met...! I-I know I said it impulsively earlier, but I... I really, really, really, really like you, President! I've been in love with you all this time!"
Oh! He said it! Saji actually said "I like you" head-on!
It's completely different from this morning!
I guess it's that! By reaching his Balance Breaker, he's also ascended a stage as a man!
"...How will Sona respond? Sona isn't very interested in romance... I haven't heard any stories like that about her... And she always saw Saji-kun like a little brother..."
Ahahahaha... Rias is really worried.
I remember asking Sona about it casually once, and she said Saji was like a little brother. Perhaps that was true right up until this public confession today. But he showed such masculinity there. I think Sona's perception must have changed...
So, how will Sona respond to Saji's confession?
...Ah, damn... I'm getting nervous too.
Rias is clearly nervous as well, isn't she? She's been clutching my hand. And she hasn't blinked.
Sona has been silent since Saji's confession... This silence is agonizing! Please, just answer something! It's making me anxious just watching! Rias and I are both sweating bullets!
Oh, Sona looked up!
Now, Sona's answer will be—
Sona slowly opened her mouth. "...Honestly, I'm flustered by how sudden this is... I never realized Saji saw me that way... I thought I was diligently watching over my Peerage, but perhaps I still have a long way to go."
Sona exhaled deeply. Then, her cheeks flushed, she continued, "...T-Thank you for today, Saji. You saved me. Without you, where would I and my dream be now...?"
"N-No! Protecting the President is my duty, or rather... I just did what was natural!" Saji shook his head vigorously.
Sona smiled at him. "You were very cool today, Saji. Thank you, truly. However... no, that won't do."
"Eh...!?"
N-No!?
D-Did Saji's confession fail!? Is it possible for it to fail after all that!? Is Sona really that strict!?
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