After thinking for a moment, I entered the building, which appeared abandoned and didn't even have a lock on it.
Passing through an empty, dilapidated hallway covered in dust, I discovered a door that wasn't fully closed. The strange sound was coming from inside.
Peering through the gap, I saw a purple-haired girl with her back facing me, standing in front of a row of stainless steel shelves while tending to something.
It was Haruka, the person I had come to find.
Perhaps because the sound of rain outside interfered, or perhaps because she was too focused, Haruka still didn't notice me even after I pushed open the door.
And only then did I realize what she was tending to.
A pot of weeds.
At the same time, many other weeds were neatly arranged on the shelves. Every single one was growing vigorously, clearly cared for with great attention.
As I walked closer, Haruka finally heard the noise and turned around. Her puzzled expression instantly transformed into panic, followed by a startled cry:
"Eek!? Ah, ehhh!? W-why, eh!? W-why...!? Why is sensei here...!? D-did I do something horribly stupid again!?"
Seeing how intensely she reacted, I hurriedly reassured her.
"Haruka, calm down a little. We were supposed to meet around here anyway, right? Sorry, I heard some noises, so I came in on my own."
But Haruka only became even more shaken.
"Eh!? T-that means I actually made sensei wait for me... and even caused sensei to come all the way into a dark, damp, disgusting place like this...!"
The environment here was admittedly dirty and run-down, but it wasn't that terrible, was it?
"Alright, alright, let's not worry about that first."
I patted her head gently and looked around curiously.
"So this is your private garden where you cultivate weeds?"
"Ah, yes... n-no, it's not anything that impressive..." Haruka stammered for a while. "S-sorry, sensei..."
"What are you apologizing for?" I said with a smile and a shake of my head. "I've wanted the chance to come see it someday. Today really is a lucky day."
Hearing that, Haruka finally relaxed a little.
I continued praising her.
"They're really beautifully grown. The pot of grass you gave me before, was that grown here too?"
"Yes."
After nodding, the purple-haired girl suddenly spiraled into negativity again.
"Eh? W-when I think about it carefully... does that mean I actually offered sensei weeds grown in a place like this!?"
"Don't say that. No matter where it was grown, I still carefully keep the heartfelt gift Haruka gave me on the desk in my bedroom."
That pot of weeds had surely been carefully selected by Haruka. Although I didn't know the exact species, it was genuinely quite decorative.
And more importantly, it was especially hardy.
Back during the Remedial Knights' training camp, I hadn't returned to Schale for over half a month. When I finally saw it again, I discovered it had still stubbornly survived despite being left unattended for so long.
Hearing that, Haruka said shyly:
"I-is that so... ehehe, thank you very much..."
"No, I'm the one who should be thanking you."
Then I asked with interest:
"By the way, Kayoko told me you went out so early because you wanted to give me new weeds, right?"
"Mm... I wanted to repay sensei, but there's nobody sensei wants me to eliminate... no, it's because I'm useless and can't help sensei at all, so I can only do something this insignificant..."
"Sigh, did you forget?"
I gestured seriously.
"Didn't I tell you before? As long as Haruka can become just a tiny bit more confident, that alone is already the best repayment you could give me."
That had been several months ago. She probably had tried to do it, but honestly, the results felt minimal.
Or rather, it was only natural that her efforts alone wouldn't produce much change.
That was why she needed my help and guidance.
But Haruka said:
"T-that was before. Things are different now... sensei has shown me a new kindness, so..."
Even though I already knew the reason, I still fell silent for a moment.
"...Just to be sure, when you say 'new kindness,' you don't mean what we did last night and the time before that, right?"
The purple-haired girl timidly nodded.
"Y-yes. The fact that sensei was willing to do that kind of thing with someone as worthless as me... it felt just like a dream... I'm truly grateful to sensei for treating even me so gently..."
Hearing her say that directly made my feelings become complicated.
Seriously, why did this make it sound like I was the one getting taken advantage of!?
Even though I was fully aware of how popular I was among Kivotos's students, thinking about it carefully still felt way too embarrassing.
But from another perspective, if this was how Haruka viewed things, then it wasn't hard to understand why she hadn't fulfilled the capture condition.
"Sorry."
I sighed.
"Even though saying this now might be a little late. I'm serious about you too, Haruka."
"Eh?" Haruka seemed unable to process it, or perhaps simply afraid to believe it. "Sensei?"
"I mean it. I like you."
"...Eh?"
Haruka stood frozen in place, dumbfounded.
Unable to help myself, I reached out and gently stroked her smooth cheek as I continued naturally with the flow of the moment.
"I've always thought Haruka was very cute. Even though I'm sorry I can't devote myself to only one person, to me, Haruka isn't just some extra. You're someone important to me too."
"Ah, I'm important...?"
She stammered.
"Uu, t-that's just too..."
"Believe me, I'm not flattering you. I like Haruka. That's simply an unchangeable fact."
Haruka stared blankly at me, faint tears shimmering in her eyes as she murmured:
"Y-your kindness is really... what do I do? If you treasure someone as insignificant as me this much, then how am I ever supposed to repay you...?"
It was obvious that under the overwhelming impact of such enormous happiness, her already not-so-bright little head had become nearly incapable of functioning.
But at this point, even if it looked like taking advantage of the situation, I still had no choice but to push forward.
"Everything."
I took her hands into mine and gazed deeply into her eyes as I repeated:
"Your everything. But not as repayment. As an exchange."
"An exchange...?"
"Yeah. An equal exchange."
I took a deep breath and spoke calmly.
"Haruka, I'll do everything I can to make you happy. So entrust your future to me."
But the answer I received was a choked sob, followed by an even more direct response.
The rain outside continued endlessly, covering the sound of crying within the room, crying that felt as though it were pouring out every emotion she had suppressed all this time.
I still didn't know what exactly she had gone through to become a girl so introverted and timid, yet inwardly as resilient as weeds.
Haruka clung tightly to me while I gently stroked her head and quietly waited.
Even if she was confused at first, even if she struggled endlessly inside herself, in the end she could only arrive at the answer that had already long been decided.
"...Okay."
Long after the crying finally subsided, Haruka eventually loosened her grip and sniffled softly.
"I-if this is truly how sensei feels, then I-I'm honored... no, just hearing those words from you already makes me... ah, I'm already happier than I could ever imagine..."
"Then let's pick out a pot of weeds together."
I smiled.
"Not as tribute, but as a token of love?"
"O-okay! I'll do my best...!"
Haruka returned a reserved smile tinged with a trace of instability, yet still beautiful and moving.
"For you... ehehe~ I have to choose the very, very prettiest one."
I said:
"Even if it's not the prettiest one, that's okay too."
At some point, the rain outside had already stopped.
The dark clouds slowly dispersed, and sunlight streamed through the window onto the girl's face.
Squinting her eyes, she nodded firmly.
"Mm!"
After that, Haruka and I spent a pleasant stretch of time together inside this secret base.