In Schale, I stood by the office window, looking down on the night streets below.
On the empty road, four figures stood out. After using my Authority, even the expressions on the girls' faces as they passed under the streetlights were perfectly clear.
There was the joy of relief, a strange sense of humiliation, but more than anything, probably confusion about what lay ahead.
Watching the RABBIT Squad gradually walk away, I took a sip of coffee and murmured,
"They've already fallen this far, yet they still cling so tightly to their principles that they won't even accept a deal with conditions this generous."
Even though they had eaten every last piece of the Inarizushi I brought, Miyako, representing the RABBIT Squad, still refused my almost unconditional support.
At the time, the white-haired girl had said with the utmost seriousness, "We will continue protesting to the General Student Council, but only according to our own beliefs. That conviction must never change. SRT may be abolished, but it will never be corrupted. Therefore, we have decided to reject the deal you proposed."
Well said. Then why did they accept the food I gave them?
Faced with that question, Miyako's pretty face flushed red. She turned her eyes away and muttered,
"You said we needed the leeway to think carefully, so we had no choice but to take it. This time doesn't count."
Saki and Moe immediately chimed in, accusing me of going back on my word and having ulterior motives all along, leaving me somewhere between laughter and tears.
Anyone who believed that was only deceiving themselves, weren't they?
In any case, with their resolute attitude and their survival skills that didn't match their ambitions, left to themselves they would probably go hungry again in the next few days.
I was no soft-hearted saint, of course. Still, to keep Kaya from seizing the chance to snatch the peach and leave me frustrated, I at least had to find a way to prevent that from happening.
So, taking the opportunity while they came to Schale to submit their self-reflections, I introduced them to Sora, who was troubled over how to handle the near-expired bento boxes.
The Angel 24 convenience store on the first floor of Schale rarely had customers other than me, yet stock was always ordered according to normal chain-store standards. As a result, quite a few bento boxes naturally passed their best-before date.
If it had been Kaiser 26, they might have simply changed the production dates and kept selling them. Angel 24, however, chose to dispose of every last one as garbage.
To Sora, it was even a troublesome chore.
Handing that "disposal" work over to the RABBIT Squad, who were worried about food, was a perfect win-win job that required no change of principles, only a slight lowering of pride.
With that, the food problem was temporarily solved. Truly something to celebrate.
"Still..."
I smiled and shook my head, "how long can it last?"
Among all the problems the RABBIT Squad faced now and would face later, this was only the simplest one.
Just then, a cool female voice came from behind me. "Not very long. Without your protection, with the disgraceful performance they've shown, they would probably have already woken from that impossible dream and faced the cruel reality."
I turned around and spoke gently to the black-haired girl with fox ears. "Perhaps that's true. But letting children keep chasing unreachable dreams is the very reason this Sensei exists. Of course, that includes you as well, Yukino."
Though setting aside the identity of Sensei, becoming the girls' new dream might be more accurate.
"That is precisely where your greatness lies,"
Yukino said sincerely. "One day they will understand that nothing can be accomplished with that childish make-believe stubbornness. Only by following behind you, Sensei, can SRT be revived. That is the truth."
"Mm."
I nodded and asked with a smile, "For example, Niko?"
The other three members of FOX Squad besides Yukino had been skeptical of me from the very beginning. I had understood that long ago and could accept it.
Looking back now, though, the one who held the strongest objections toward me turned out to be the seemingly gentlest of them...
Yoshino Niko.
Leaving aside whether having me bring Inarizushi to the RABBIT Squad had been meant as a reminder to the juniors, once that suspicion arose and I reconsidered the small conflict between her and Yukino at the time, the faint sense of unease that had already been there grew stronger.
The "caution" Niko had urged—exactly whose vigilance toward whom had it been hinting at, to make Yukino angry at her teammate?
Yukino remained silent for a moment before answering in a low voice, "Everyone simply doesn't understand you well enough yet, so they think you're the type who's good at charming people… Please give me a little more time. I'll make them understand as soon as possible the true reason I offered you my loyalty."
"It wasn't love at first sight?"
"…Eh?"
Yukino looked blank, then hesitant. "I-Is that so?"
I chuckled. "Heh, just kidding."
She had merely placed her obsession with restoring the school onto me, and because of my charm it had gradually fermented and twisted into a mixture of admiration and affection.
Compared to our first meeting, Yukino had indeed changed. And for those who cared about her to be wary of the me who had made her this way was only natural.
Yet everything in the world is constantly changing. Wanting to keep one's original intentions forever is the truly unrealistic thing.
Unable to grasp even such a simple truth, FOX Squad was not much better than RABBIT Squad.
"Relax. I don't care about these minor details."
I stepped closer, slipped my arms around the slender waist of the slightly startled girl, and gazed deeply into her crimson eyes that reflected my face. "Some people may not acknowledge me for the time being, but as long as you, Yukino, are willing to believe in me, that's enough, isn't it?"
Her gaze gradually grew hazy. "Y-Yes… I'm the leader, so the members will listen to me… Um, Sensei, it's… it's too close…"
I teased her on purpose. "I remember you once said that adults like me are the ones you hate the most?"
"Th-That was just said in anger…"
The girl hastily explained, but that only made the fire of desire in me burn hotter.
"And now?"
I pressed.
The answer was already obvious.
After a long while, from the cherry-red lips of the flushed Yukino came a voice as soft as a mosquito's hum:
"…I like you the most."
With the atmosphere having reached this point, there was no more reason to hesitate.
I swept Yukino up into my arms by the waist.
Just as I had said before, letting her sink into a beautiful dream was my duty.
And so, that night, amid the worries of her squad members, their captain failed to return to the base on time.