"This is…"
After clearly seeing the words engraved on the nameplate above the doorframe, I could not help but fall into a state of confusion and hesitation.
Although just a few days ago, while carrying out a commission from the General Student Council within Trinity's grounds, I had already dealt with members of the Justice Task Force, this was still my first time visiting their activity room. I never expected it to be under circumstances like these.
I asked Hifumi beside me, "The person we are looking for is in here?"
Hifumi nodded hesitantly. "Mm… I heard she is being detained here…"
…My bad feeling came true.
At first, I comforted myself by thinking that perhaps it was some elite member of the Justice Task Force who, for reasons similar to Hifumi's, had missed an important exam.
Even though I had prepared myself mentally from the beginning, how did there really end up being such a troublesome character in the Make-Up Work Club, someone actually locked up by the Justice Task Force?
I also had no idea what she had done. Could it be one of those delinquent students who are hard to get along with?
This was only the first one, yet already a heavyweight, making me feel the heavy responsibility on my shoulders.
Still, it was better to meet her properly first.
Even if she truly was beyond saving, our interests were aligned for now. As long as she did not interfere with my teaching or the other students' studies, that would be enough.
"Ah, ahh… even I do not really want to come here…"
Hifumi sighed. Under my encouraging gaze, she knocked on the activity room door and raised her voice. "Um, excuse us… is anyone here?"
After quite a while, there was still no response.
"Th-that is strange. Is no one here?" Hifumi muttered as she pushed open the unlocked door.
What was revealed was a girl standing right behind the door, startled by Hifumi suddenly opening it, and who in turn successfully startled both Hifumi and me.
I focused my gaze and saw a petite girl with pink hair and pink eyes, wearing a beret and twin ponytails. She was dressed in a Justice Task Force uniform that looked slightly oversized and loose on her, causing one side of the collar to slip down naturally, exposing half of her shoulder.
On her fair skin were also two thick black lines of unknown origin. One encircled her neck like a choker, while the other ran perpendicular to it, aligning exactly with the center of her body and extending downward into the mysterious area covered by her clothes.
Most eye-catching of all was that not only behind her, but even on her head, there grew a pair of small, agile black wings. Startled, they instinctively covered the upper half of her face, revealing only her slightly parted lips and small, refined nose.
…It should have been a cute sight, but unfortunately, I inexplicably thought of Beatrice.
Even setting that aside, wings growing from a student's head, and ones that could move at that, was still a bit too strange when you thought about it carefully.
I felt that, for the moment, it was a little hard for me to accept…
Until one of the wings slowly spread to the side, revealing most of the girl's shy, somewhat childish, and adorable face. At that moment, I changed my mind.
Kivotos is like this to begin with, is it not? How could I again let my past common sense bias my view of students' appearances?
After confirming there was no danger, the small wings atop her head folded back to either side, revealing her slightly flushed face.
She looked at me, then at Hifumi, pressing her lips together and saying nothing.
"Ah, h, hello…"
Hifumi raised her hand and tentatively greeted her.
However, this Justice Task Force member, whose name we did not yet know, remained silent.
From the small trembling movements of her wings, I could tell that her heart was likely filled with nervousness.
It seemed she was a shy child, afraid of strangers.
Seeing that she did not respond, Hifumi spoke again. "Th-then…"
"…What?"
The girl finally spoke, but her words were extremely brief and her tone extremely cold, all while staring intently at Hifumi.
"Ah, ahh… um, th-then…" The honest Hifumi, unable to gauge the other party's attitude, asked uneasily, "Ahh… d, did I do something rude?"
At times like this, it was my turn to step in and ease the awkward atmosphere.
I cleared my throat lightly, patted Hifumi on the shoulder, and gave her a reassuring look.
Then I took half a step forward and spoke gently. "Hello, we are here to look for someone."
"Look for someone…?"
The girl's eyes lit up, and she immediately switched to an aggressive, interrogative tone.
"Hah!? You mean you want to commission the Justice Task Force to find someone? What do you think we are!? A volunteer group? We are not that free, you know?"
This rapid-fire string of questions, which could easily make one think she was hard to deal with, instead confirmed my earlier guess.
As expected, she was the type who was not good at dealing with strangers.
"No, um… I heard that the person is being held here…" Hifumi explained.
"…Hah?" The pink-haired girl blinked, making a sound of confusion.
"So, um, we are looking for someone who did something bad and was locked up here…"
The girl froze for a moment. Then, as if she had thought of something, her body trembled slightly, her cheeks growing even redder as she muttered.
"Eh, if that is the case, could it be…?"
Just then, a gentle female voice suddenly sounded from the side, cutting into our conversation.
"Hello. Could it be that you are looking for me?"
I followed the sound of the voice, and my gaze was immediately captured by gravity itself.
Such a familiar burden… no, such a heavy person…
And why was she wearing a swimsuit? In a place like this, no less?
That was right. Appearing silently beside us was a girl with cherry-colored hair and green eyes, a gentle atmosphere about her, wearing a swimsuit that felt incredibly familiar to me.
Right after that, I recalled the source of my sense of déjà vu. First were the rumors I had heard from other Trinity students, and then the time I had unexpectedly witnessed it with my own eyes. The excitement of that moment and the pain in my neck were still vivid in my memory.
The girl with pupils shrunk like a cat's, after a brief shock, shouted at the newly appeared swimsuit-clad girl.
"Eh, hah, why!? H-how did you get out of the cell!? It was properly locked!"
The swimsuit girl, however, looked puzzled.
"No, the door was open, you know? I heard voices that seemed to be talking about me, so I came out to take a look. Is something the matter?"
After speaking, she turned her gaze to me and said in surprise, "Eh? You are… ah, I see now. So you are that sensei from Schale, right? Hehe~ then let me greet you again properly. Hello."
Clearly recalling that she had met me before, the girl looked straight at me with gentle eyes.
"I am a second-year student, Urawa Hanako. Please take care of me."
And that's how I met Hanako.