This actually wasn't my first meeting with the other members of FOX Squad.
Several months ago, during one of my dates with Yukino, I had "coincidentally encountered" the three of them disguised as a roadside inarizushi stand.
Clearly, they still remembered me, to the point that as soon as my greeting left my mouth, the expressions of two of them became somewhat strange.
The remaining one smiled and bowed politely toward me.
"Hello, Sensei. Nice to meet you for the first time. I'm FOX Squad's vice-captain and strategist, Yoshino Niko. You can just call me Niko. Thank you for taking care of our Yukino."
Niko had gentle features and a slender figure. Her blue eyes were clear and bright, while her large fox ears were especially eye-catching, making me instinctively want to touch them.
However, her standard pink short hair somehow gave me an inexplicable sense of intimidation.
The subtle feeling of distance hidden in her words was secondary.
"W-Wait... Niko..."
Yukino called out quietly, seeming somewhat embarrassed by Niko's motherly tone.
As expected of FOX Squad, just as Yukino herself had once said, they had already become close friends with matching personalities even before forming the squad.
After noticing Yukino's reaction, the remaining two exchanged glances and simultaneously revealed teasing smiles.
"Ah~ Sensei, hello there. I'm codename FOX4, sniper Otogi."
The gray-haired girl with a braided ponytail cheerfully said:
"Thanks for taking care of our awkward captain."
"Otogi, you...!"
Before Yukino could get flustered, the final girl, a blonde with folded arms, hmphed arrogantly and introduced herself:
"I'm Kurumi. So you're the person the captain acknowledges that much, huh? Then I guess I'll reluctantly listen to a few of your orders. But I personally still haven't acknowledged you."
Yukino, whose face had reddened slightly, looked like she wanted to say something but found herself troubled.
During missions, she was a meticulous elite.
But during moments of leisure outside missions, she was simply an earnest, quiet, and slightly awkward ordinary girl.
Faced with the teasing from her close friends, all Yukino could do was sigh helplessly and mutter weakly:
"Please don't say such strange things..."
"Hehe, everyone sure is lively."
I smiled as I commented.
Their unruly attitudes, secretly pushing back against me while relying on Yukino not noticing, really carried a nostalgic kind of cuteness.
Then I added somewhat regretfully:
"Though personally, I'd really like to get to know everyone more deeply as soon as possible, unfortunately our current situation doesn't seem to allow that."
Yukino nodded.
"Sensei, please rest assured and go rest. We will protect your safety."
Wakamo immediately perked up and declared passionately:
"My lord, Wakamo swears on her life that before I fall, I will never allow any insects to harm you!"
"I'll leave it to all of you, then."
There were several reasons for having FOX Squad and Wakamo secretly guard my safety.
First, they were all extremely strong.
Second, their identities couldn't be exposed, making them unsuitable for appearing openly on the front lines.
And lastly, I wanted to comfort the self-blaming Wakamo by giving her something to do, let FOX Squad familiarize themselves with Schale, and see if these former enemies might resolve some of their grievances.
Truly a plan that accomplished multiple things at once.
However, while Yukino was fine with it, the others all had varying degrees of dissatisfaction.
"Never thought we'd end up cooperating with a criminal we personally arrested before..."
Otogi sighed emotionally.
"Life really is unpredictable."
Kurumi raised her chin.
"Whatever. As long as she doesn't drag us down."
Yukino frowned and stopped them.
"Otogi, Kurumi."
Still, once the words had been spoken, the atmosphere inevitably became somewhat stiff.
A dangerous glint flashed within the eyes behind Wakamo's fox mask as she looked toward me.
"May I ask..."
"No."
Having already predicted what she was about to say, I immediately interrupted her.
"Calm down."
"...Understood. Wakamo will restrain herself."
She instantly quieted down, obedient to an almost unbelievable degree in front of me.
The other three fox-eared girls, who had dealt with Wakamo more than once before and had never witnessed such docile behavior from her, all looked somewhat surprised. Still, for Yukino's sake, none of them said anything further.
Just as I was about to head back to my room to rest, Niko suddenly spoke up, seemingly trying to ease the atmosphere.
"Um, anyway, before coming here I prepared some simple food. Sensei, Wakamo-san, would you like some?"
As she spoke, she took out a simple-looking bento box.
"N-"
"Then I'll gladly accept."
Hearing my response, Wakamo, who had been about to refuse, immediately changed her answer.
"That would be fine."
Niko smiled gently and opened the bento box, revealing numerous pieces of inarizushi inside.
I vaguely remembered that the food they sold during their previous disguise had also been this dish. After tasting one, the flavor was familiarly delicious, so it was highly likely that it was Niko's own cooking.
Combined with Niko's gentle and virtuous personality...
Could it be...
Did she also have some kind of psychic ability like mind reading?
I couldn't help sighing emotionally.
If that were true, then Niko surely already harbored feelings for me too, merely pretending to keep her distance...
Though judging from her completely normal reaction after I thought that, I could probably rule out the possibility of her being the same type of pink-haired girl as Mimori.
And compared to investigating what exactly her hair color implied, what drew my attention more for the moment was Wakamo's expression. Her initially casual look rapidly changed after taking a bite of the sushi and chewing it.
Though she didn't say anything aloud, it wasn't difficult to tell that Wakamo really liked it.
Perhaps this tiny inarizushi could become the opportunity for their relationship to shift from enemies into friends?
Holding onto that hope, after lightly filling my stomach, I arranged guest rooms for FOX Squad to stay in for the night before returning to my own room.
After plugging in the Shittim Chest to charge, I lay down on the bed, closed my eyes, and connected to the Shittim Chest with my consciousness.
The next moment, a sea breeze brushed across my body, while the sound of rain near my ears became even clearer.
When I opened my eyes again, I had already arrived inside the Shittim Chest, within that ruined seaside classroom.
Fortunately, half the classroom ceiling was still intact, so even on a rainy day, Arona could continue sleeping soundly on top of her desk, drool nearly reaching the tabletop.
I didn't wake her. Instead, I simply pulled out the chair beside hers and sat down, quietly gazing at her stu... adorable sleeping face while silently thinking about how to break through this deadlock.
Suddenly, as though sensing something, I turned my head and realized that the rain had stopped at some point.
Looking up at the sky, the dark clouds were gradually dispersing, revealing a bright moon hanging high above.
"Fuwaah~"
The blue-haired girl who had just woken up stretched lazily before rubbing her sleepy eyes.
Only then did she notice me beside her. Looking surprised, she immediately revealed a bright smile.
"Sensei, you're here."
"Yeah."
I nodded.
"I'm here."