The moment our preparations were done and we'd seen Date Meowru off as she headed to her next urgent errand, Shizuko turned to me with renewed energy.
"Enough talking. Let's go, Sensei."
I closed the Shittim Chest I'd been using to squeeze in some remote work while waiting, then stood up. "Alright. Where to next?"
"When you run into trouble in Hyakkiyako and need help, there are two places that naturally come to mind."
She raised two slender white fingers as she spoke. "One is the Yin-Yang Club, which practically fills the role of Hyakkiyako Alliance Academy's student council."
I nodded. I'd heard of them.
"The other is the Hyakkaryouran Conflict Resolution Council, but…"
Pina cut in cheerfully. "But word is the entire Hyakkaryouran club is out of town right now!"
"Exactly, just like Pina said," Shizuko continued. "So we can't rely on them this time. The only ones left are the Yin-Yang Club, but…"
I knew there would be a catch. Otherwise, Shizuko wouldn't have needed my help to begin with.
Looking troubled, Shizuko faltered. "Well… um… how do I even say this…"
After pondering for a moment and failing to find the right words, she gave up. "Ugh, forget it. It's faster if we just go and see for ourselves. Come on, Sensei."
"Alright." My curiosity about the Yin-Yang Club only grew.
From my perspective, even if the Yin-Yang Club turned us down, we still had options within Hyakkiyako alone. For example, the Inner Discipline Club I met this morning, who had taken it upon themselves to protect the town and drive off delinquents disrupting the festival.
But since Shizuko had a plan in mind, I decided to follow her lead for now and bring up my own suggestions later.
Just as we were about to leave, Shizuko turned to Pina with a sudden thought. "Ah, right. Pina, I'm counting on you to watch over the place while I'm gone."
"Of course! I'll guard this place with the spirit of a true noble gangster!"
With unshakable confidence, Pina thumped her chest.
My eyes naturally followed the bounce that followed, and I felt a powerful urge to have an in-depth, all-night discussion with Pina about what exactly constitutes a noble gangster.
Fixing Pina with a look, Shizuko asked out of nowhere, "Pop quiz."
Pina straightened up. "Yes, ma'am!"
"If someone from Street Mouryo shows up while Sensei and I are gone…" Shizuko paused, narrowed her eyes and smiled sweetly. "Let's say they come in saying something like 'We're a little thirsty, could we have some water?' and try to walk inside. What should you do?"
Without hesitation, Pina declared, "You help anyone in trouble! That's what being a noble gangster is all about!"
Wonderful. I, too, have many troubles.
Please, Pina, lend me a helping hand.
Shizuko, however, let out a long-suffering sigh. "No. Still wrong! You chase them away! Sigh… honestly…"
I almost laughed at her frustration, but a sudden image flashed through my mind: a certain self-proclaimed super-AI who helps me with work, naps on sweets, and once fell asleep so deeply during Problem Solver 68 schale duty that she failed to wake me as requested.
My mood dipped in instant sympathy.
Having sighed her fill, Shizuko looked at Pina with worry clouding her eyes. "Are you really going to be okay alone?"
"Yes, President! Leave it to Pina!"
Pina looked as confident as ever, which somehow only made me more uneasy.
Shizuko hesitated, then reluctantly nodded. "Alright. I'm counting on you. And remember, absolutely do not let anyone from Street Mouryo inside."
"Yes, ma'am! You can trust me!"
"…Sensei, sorry for the wait." After finishing her instructions, Shizuko turned to me with a smile so cute it almost sparkled. "Let's go."
I simply nodded and followed behind her. At this point, I fully understood just how much hidden exhaustion lay behind the bright smile of Hyakkiyako Night Market's poster girl.
Filled with sympathy for her and exasperation toward her adorable yet unreliable subordinate, we hurried on. Eventually, we arrived at a refined-looking building.
"This is one of the most important places in Hyakkiyako Alliance Academy. The Yin-Yang Club's clubroom is inside." After her introduction, Shizuko frowned and muttered under her breath, "Ugh… no matter how many times I come here, it always gives me a stomachache…"
With our meeting with the Yin-Yang Club moments away, I finally asked what had been weighing on my mind.
"Why is that? You sound like you really don't want to deal with them."
"Well… yes. The thing is, the Yin-Yang Club is famous for being unbelievably lazy. Even if you ask for help, you can barely get them to move. So the ones who actually deal with problems are basically the Hyakka Ryouran girls."
Hearing that, I finally understood the situation.
If the Yin-Yang Club is unreliable and Hyakkaryouran is out of town, then Hyakkiyako has no active, functioning disciplinary group like Trinity's Justice Task Force or Gehenna's Prefect Team. No wonder Street Mouryo has been causing trouble so boldly during such an important festival.
"As their name suggests, the Yin-Yang Club claims they exist to maintain balance in Hyakkiyako. But in practice? Whenever something happens, they just giggle and say 'We don't have jurisdiction' and refuse to clarify anything…"
Shizuko grew increasingly agitated. "Especially that club president! Every time we file a complaint, she just says 'Please submit important cases in writing.' In writing? It's already too late by then!"
Her voice rose. "Bureaucracy? This is bureaucracy! Why are they so slow!? By the time they approve anything, the situation's already resolved itself one way or another!"
To be fair, the General Student Council isn't much better, especially after the President vanished. Efficiency has never been their strong suit.
But that's why I go to Rin and Aoi for shortcuts.
After venting to her heart's content, Shizuko inhaled deeply and flashed a triumphant grin. "Well, that all ends today."
…Hmm?
Ends today… don't tell me…
A suspicion formed in my mind about her true reason for inviting me to Hyakkiyako.
"If they're going to act like that, then I have my countermeasure. Because now we have the representative of Schale with us."
Her lips curled upward in smug delight. "With Sensei here, even that lazy Yin-Yang Club president won't be able to refuse. We can finally talk down to them the way they always talk down to us… hehehe…"
Ah. So that's how it is.
I'm sure she genuinely wanted me to enjoy the Cherry Blossom Festival, but this had been her primary plan all along: using my position as Schale's Sensei to pressure the Yin-Yang Club into actually doing their job.
In plain terms: borrowing the authority of a tiger to act like a fox.
I didn't mind a little scheming like this. In fact, I found it rather charming.
And in that moment, Shizuko's image in my mind grew even more vivid and lovable.
Noticing my amused expression, Shizuko jolted upright, realizing what she'd said, and hurriedly adopted her usual poster-girl persona. "Um… well… Shizuko is just really worried they won't listen to little old me."
Unable to hold back a chuckle, I shook my head and spoke gently, sincerely, to the flustered girl.
"I think the real Shizuko just now was very cute."
"Huh? Cute…?"
Surprised at first, she quickly forced herself back to calm, exhaling lightly. "Ha… Sensei, please don't tease me. Anyway, let's head inside."
With that, she walked into the building without looking back.
So she does get shy after all.
Sigh. My charm truly is a burden. Simply speaking the truth is enough to make a girl blush.
…Though at the moment, all I could see was Shizuko's back. I had no chance to confirm her expression.
I shrugged and didn't comment further, instead picking up my pace to follow her.
Before long, Shizuko and I made our way down a long, quiet hallway floored with polished wood. At the far end, a sliding door stood open, revealing a traditional tatami room.
From a distance, I could make out a blue-and-white figure sitting behind the low table at its center, accented here and there with small hints of crimson.
As we approached, the girl's features came into focus.
Her long pale-blue hair was tied into two thick braids behind her. A blue-and-white floral hair ornament rested atop her head.
Beneath her neat bangs peeked two small red horns. Her eyes, the same vibrant red, were clear and luminous.
Her face was delicate, her presence as refined and enigmatic as the room she sat in. The faint dreaminess in her gaze made her feel like drifting clouds at the edge of the sky, impossible to fully grasp yet impossible not to like.
The moment Shizuko and I stepped over the threshold, the girl in the blue-and-white kimono spoke in a slow, airy tone.
"Welcome, Sensei. I've been waiting for you."
Despite this being our first meeting, she acted as though we were longtime acquaintances.
I blinked, mentally confirming that I had never met anyone with such a distinctive aura and voice. Unsure how to respond, I settled for the safest option.
"Hello. Nice to meet you."
And now that I thought about it… she seemed to have skipped greeting Shizuko entirely.
But Shizuko didn't appear bothered. She pulled me down to kneel opposite the girl, her attention apparently elsewhere.
"Chise… wait, did you just say you were waiting for us? You already knew we'd come?"
"Yes. The president told me."
This girl, Chise, replied in a strange, poem-like cadence. "Two visitors arriving. The lovely adult. And the tanuki classmate."
Lovely? Me?
I scratched my cheek, unsure how to feel. Being called names wasn't exactly a common experience for me. Did the girls I complimented feel like this too?
If so… then perhaps their reactions made a bit more sense.
For the record, "tanuki" can also imply someone sly.
Shizuko reacted instantly. "Wh… who are you calling a tanuki!?"
Chise tilted her head in slow confusion.
"Ahem…" Realizing she'd lost her composure, Shizuko tried to redirect the conversation. "Anyway, where is your president, acting like she 'knows everything' as always?"
"The president… um… hmm…" Chise closed her eyes and pondered deeply, only to give an answer that had nothing to do with anything. "I remember she said that if you're going to keep a pet, black cats are the best."
"That has nothing to do with what I asked!"
Shizuko couldn't hold back. Then something clicked, and she got even more flustered. "Don't tell me that 'tanuki' thing was also about pets!? I'm not Sensei's pet!"
Actually… she could be.
I thought about it for a moment and nodded silently to myself. Yes, that could work.
Chise remained adorably blank, blinking in confusion at the agitated Shizuko.
"Anyway… I didn't come here to chat today. I'm here for your president." Shizuko sighed. "I'll ask again. Where is she?"
"The president…"
After a pause, Chise recited softly, "She's gone home already. School's over. See you tomorrow."
Her way of speaking felt like some obscure literary form I couldn't name, but it suited her strangely well, giving her an air of cultured mystery.
But focusing solely on the content...
I turned toward the entrance, where bright midday sunlight spilled across the elegant courtyard.
Shizuko voiced my thoughts. "Wait. School's over? It's still daytime. What are you talking about?"
Chise fell silent for a moment. Then, puzzled, she asked, "…What do you think?"
"I don't know! And why are you asking me!? I don't understand any of this!"
I turned away, covering my mouth with one hand to hide my laughter.
Chise might have been putting on an act, or maybe she was naturally like this. Either way, she was a master at deflecting.
But by this point, it was clear we were being dismissed.
Chise had been stationed here by the unseen Yin-Yang Club president to greet us in her stead. The president's refusal to appear in person couldn't have been more obvious.
Still, there was something else to be gleaned from her words. The president already knew I was coming. My guess was that Shizuko had gotten my number through the Yin-Yang Club's connections.
At minimum, the Yin-Yang Club president wasn't ignorant of the situation. She was watching from the shadows.
Given what Shizuko said earlier about their supposed role of maintaining balance, and their refusal to intervene in the Cherry Blossom Festival…
It seemed likely the Yin-Yang Club president already knew plenty, including the identity of whoever was behind the sabotage.
Unless she truly lacked even a shred of responsibility, the only reason she wouldn't get involved was that she'd deemed the incident an internal matter still within controllable bounds.
Did this help narrow down the suspects?
Not really.
All it did was confirm that no outside academy was involved.
I felt a pang of frustration at the dead end.
Beside me, Shizuko let out a whine of despair. "Why did she have to be gone at a time like this…"
Seeing her like this, I abandoned my plan to watch a little longer for entertainment's sake and stepped in.
"Chise, you should know why we're here, right?"
Chise looked at me with her clear red eyes and nodded. "Yes, I know. Someone is trying to disrupt the Cherry Blossom Festival, right?"
…Huh?
Why did she answer straight away?
The sudden shift left me dazed. If she knew, then why had she dodged all of Shizuko's earlier questions?
I genuinely couldn't tell whether she was just scatterbrained or secretly brilliant and messing with Shizuko on purpose.
My personal guess leaned toward the former.
Shizuko hurried forward, ignoring everything else. "You knew!?"
Chise nodded again. "The president said she couldn't help you directly. But instead, she said if you went to the Inner discipline Club, you might find a solution."
This time I almost burst out laughing.
That… was my original fallback plan. How did we walk in a huge circle only to end up back at the starting point?
It was hard not to suspect this too was part of the president's design. After all, it wasn't exactly a secret that I'd worked with the Inner discipline Club earlier and established a good relationship with them.
In fact, I had already planned to meet Mimori and the others later today.
I silently admired the unseen president. Truly just as Shizuko had described.
"…The Inner discipline Club?" Shizuko murmured.
"They also complained that the streets were noisy. So the president said…" Chise thought for a moment. "If one side can't handle it alone, then two sides together can. That's what she said."
"Ugh… the Inner discipline Club, huh…" Shizuko looked troubled, then sighed. "Guess we don't have a choice."
I glanced sidelong at Shizuko, curious what impression the Inner discipline Club held among Hyakkiyako locals.
Or maybe there was simply more I didn't know yet.
"Chise, if your president comes back later, could you contact me?"
Chise nodded lightly.
With that, Shizuko grabbed my sleeve. "Sensei, let's go!"
Dragged along, I turned back to bow to Chise, just in time to see her raise a hand and wave to us slowly.
"Take care on your way~"
That was her parting message.
I nodded in return and quietly etched this peculiar, charming girl into my memory.