“Did Rei pass out as well?”
My entire body froze.
Saeko stood in the doorway, looking past me toward the bed.
Shizuka-sensei remained beneath the blanket, still held together by a towel and what I could only assume was divine intervention.
Rei slept beside her, one arm resting across her stomach.
Neither showed any sign of waking.
I slowly turned toward Saeko.
“…Alcohol remains undefeated.”
Her gaze moved between the two women again.
“I see.”
That was all she said: no suspicion, no raised eyebrow, not even a threatening smile.
Somehow, that almost made the situation feel more suspicious.
Saeko stepped into the room and approached the bed.
She carefully pulled more of the blanket over Rei, then checked Shizuka-sensei’s towel without disturbing her.
I looked away, not because I hadn’t already seen enough to threaten my sanity, but because watching another woman adjust it somehow felt considerably more inappropriate.
“They should be fine,” Saeko said after a moment.
“They simply drank too much.”
“Yeah.” I rubbed the back of my neck.
“Both of them seem talented at that.”
A faint smile appeared on her face.
“Rei usually has better judgment.”
“Today probably wasn’t a normal day.”
“No.” The smile faded slightly.
“I suppose it was not.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
The room became quiet again.
Rei’s face looked peaceful now, with none of the fear or grief from earlier remaining on it.
At least for tonight, she could stop thinking; that was probably the best anyone could ask for.
Saeko turned toward the door.
“I brought food upstairs for Komuro and Hirano.
“Have you eaten?”
I thought about it.
Between preparing the equipment, waiting for something to happen, being assaulted by a towel-clad teacher, and becoming emotional support for a drunken girl, food had apparently slipped somewhere near the bottom of my priorities.
My stomach answered before I could, and Saeko’s eyes lowered slightly.
I cleared my throat.
“Apparently not.”
“Then come.”
She left the room.
I gave Shizuka-sensei and Rei one final glance before following.
The kitchen was quieter than it had been earlier.
Most of the lights downstairs had been turned off, leaving only the one above the counter and another near the dining area.
Several weapons rested close enough to reach: a sword beside the wall, a pistol on the counter, extra ammunition arranged neatly near one of the bags.
Nothing about it should have felt peaceful.
Yet somehow, it did.
Saeko placed a bowl in front of me before sitting across the table.
Steam still rose from the food.
I didn’t know exactly what she had made.
At that point, I didn’t care; it smelled good.
“Thanks, Busujima-san.” I picked up the chopsticks.
Saeko didn’t immediately respond.
When I looked up, she was watching me with a thoughtful expression.
“Saeko.”
I paused.
“Hm?”
“You may call me Saeko.” She lowered her eyes toward her own bowl.
“That is what my friends call me.”
Oh.
That sounded significant, not overwhelmingly significant, but significant enough to be carefully documented by the part of my mind responsible for measuring progress. This chapter was taken from NovelPing without permission.
I hadn’t even needed to hand her a gun.
Amazing.
I somehow kept my expression normal.
“All right.” I tried the name once, making sure I didn’t somehow ruin it.
“Saeko.”
She looked back at me.
A small smile appeared.
Then she resumed eating as if nothing important had happened.
I did the same.
For several minutes, the only sounds came from our utensils and the faint movement of air outside.
The food was warm, simple, exactly what I needed.
I had nearly finished half the bowl before realizing how quickly I was eating.
Saeko noticed too.
“You were hungry.”
“More than I thought.”
“You should have eaten earlier.”
“I was busy.”
“So I noticed.” Her eyes briefly moved toward my vest.
I was still wearing the entire outfit: the armor, the thick clothing, the holster, everything except the gloves, which I had removed before eating.
I glanced down at myself.
“In my defense, taking this off and putting it back on again would be annoying.”
“You intend to wear it again tonight?”
There was no suspicion in her voice, just curiosity.
I took another bite before answering.
“I wanted to get used to the weight.” That was true, mostly.
“It would be a problem if I discovered something was uncomfortable when I actually needed to move.”
Saeko considered that.
“You have given this quite a lot of