Editing Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 13 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 4===

After leaving Kili and Vritra's room, I knocked at the next door.

Immediately, I heard a soft reply and the door opened quietly. A face poked out from the dim cabin. It was Shinomiya Haruka, commander-in-chief of Midgard and homeroom teacher of my Class Brynhildr. Still dressed in her suit, she had untied her ponytail. Was it because she had relaxed part of her adult image? Under her black hair, her beautiful face seemed younger than usual.

"—So it's you, Mononobe Yuu, what is the matter?"

Rubbing her eyes, she exited her cabin and closed the door. She had asked in a lowered voice, probably to avoid waking those who were sleeping in their cabins.

"Shinomiya-sensei, I'm sorry for disturbing you this late. I wanted to report to you about the unknown territory in Northern Africa disappearing..."

I replied apologetically because Shinomiya-sensei still looked a little sleepy-eyed.

Perhaps I had woken her up. On further thought, ever since the battle against Bahamut began—no, ever since the night of the fireworks festival—Shinomiya-sensei must have been busy without a moment's rest. On board Marduk, she was the communications officer and point person for coordinating various parties. After we boarded the ''Naglfar'', she had to handle all kinds of procedures too

"Is that so...? Mononobe Mitsuki's doing, presumably."

"Yes, most probably. The ''Naglfar'' is currently heading straight for the unknown territory in the southern Atlantic. ETA is six hours at least. Well then—I'm very sorry for disturbing your rest."

Deciding I must not talk for too long, reducing Shinomiya-sensei's time for sleep, I was going to leave immediately.

"Wait, Mononobe Yuu. Are you... holding up alright?"

However, hearing her call me back from behind, I turned around

"Although I'm a bit tired, since I'll be taking a break next, you don't need to worry."

Despite my answer, Shinomiya-sensei shook her head.

"No, I was asking about your mental state, not your physical condition."

Her sharp gaze shot at me, despite her fatigue. I understood what she was truly inquiring about.

"......About Mitsuki flying off, I am definitely quite shocked.  Why hadn't I realized earlier—realized what was going through Mitsuki's mind—I feel very regretful about that. However, I don't feel lost. I've already decided what I must do."

Thanks to Iris, the words I must say to Mitsuki had surfaced in my mind. Hence, all I had to do now was focus my attention on hurrying over to Mitsuki's side.

When I voiced my current thoughts, Shinomiya-sensei smiled wryly.

"You... are very strong. Looks like I do not need to worry about you. You and I... are very different."

Saying this with self-deprecation, Shinomiya-sensei's face showed not only weariness but anguish. Seeing her expression, I noticed the pain that Shinomiya-sensei was suffering, different from mine.

"Is it about your sister—the fake Shinomiya Miyako?"

When I asked after some hesitation, she nodded weakly.

"Indeed... I gathered Marduk's external video and voice recordings. Although her complexion is darker, she is identical to Miyako in all other respects. Face, movements, voice, tone... Nothing about her seems fake to me."

"But—"

"I know. She is a being created by end matter, that I do know. However, even though my logical mind knows this, I cannot accept it emotionally. Furthermore, there is Shion. If Shion were to meet her face to face... I have been thinking plenty about matters of this sort, which is why I could not sleep at all."

Interrupting me, Shinomiya-sensei slumped her shoulders and rubbed her eyelids with her fingers.

"...Shion?"

Instead of talking about Shinomiya Miyako, I asked about Shion.

Shion could be considered Miyako's daughter. From Shion's standpoint, her position might be even more difficult than either Mitsuki's or Shinomiya-sensei's.

Hearing my question, Shinomiya-sensei glanced at the door.

"Though Jeanne Hortensia has been accompanying her the whole time, Shion has not waken up once, possibly due to extreme exhaustion from the battle. I am worried... but I also hope she could remain asleep the whole time until the current situation is resolved. Shion and that Miyako... I do not want them to meet."

"That's something I understand."

Nodding deeply, I tried to imagine.

If Shion treated that Shinomiya Miyako as her real mother, it would probably turn into quite a difficult battle. How to avoid such a situation? While I was thinking about this, Shinomiya-sensei apparently regained composure and spoke.

"...My apologies. I accidentally offloaded my worries onto you. My intention was to encourage you but this has reversed our positions. I am so useless as a teacher."

Sighing, Shinomiya-sensei smiled stiffly.

Seeing her put on a brave face, I acted reflexively.

—Pat.

"Mononobe... Yuu?"

Shinomiya-sensei stared at me with a puzzled look then her gaze shifted up. My hand was on top of her head.

"Oh, I-I wasn't thinking—"

Since I had been patting Shion and Tia on the head a lot lately, I almost did it unconsciously. The fact that Shinomiya-sensei looked younger than usual with her hair untied probably contributed too.
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"A child doing this to an adult... That is not allowed."

Blushing slightly, Shinomiya-sensei reminded me. Flustered, I explained without changing posture.

"S-Sorry, but, how should I say this? Shinomiya-sensei, our ages are similar... In fact, it feels more like you're an upperclassman, so—"

"Even against upperclassman, the rudeness of this act remains unchanged. Now hurry and get your hand off."

"O-Okay."

I finally took my hand off Shinomiya-sensei's head. She coughed.

"However, I am grateful to you for worrying about me. Your hand... It is bigger than I thought."

Shinomiya-sensei gazed at my hand with interest.

"Well, I guess it's a bit bigger than a girl's..."

Thinking that my hand was not actually big, I nodded ambiguously. However, she smiled profoundly with acceptance for some reason.

"Really? I suppose that is only natural for a boy's hand. Although you surprised me, it did help to provide a change of pace. I should be able to sleep now, thank you."

The smile Shinomiya-sensei showed this time did not felt forced to me.

With her face closer to mine than usual, along with a more intimate expression, I felt my heart speed up. At the same time, I took a step back.

"That's great. Then—I'll be on my way."

"Very well. You sweated a lot today too, it would be best if you got some proper rest. If you are looking for the bathroom, it is at the end of the hallway."

After saying that, Shinomiya-sensei returned to her cabin.

I was originally planning to head directly to my own cabin—designed to fit four, but allocated solely to me, of course, because of my gender—but after hearing what Shinomiya-sensei said, I decided to take a shower first.

There had been one cabin where no one answered me, but I suppose I could tell them tomorrow morning.

The previous room apparently contained Shion and Jeanne in addition to Shinomiya-sensei, which left the quartet of Lisa, Firill, Ren and Ariella. They must be the ones occupying the first cabin.

While advancing through the corridor, I set an alarm on my portable terminal.

Since ETA was at least six hours, I set the alarm for five hours from now. All I had to do was confirm the situation after getting up then talk to Lisa's group.

—However, diverting my attention to my terminal turned out to be a mistake.

Arriving at the bathroom, I opened the door without knocking—An unexpected scene appeared before my eyes.

Four girls were inside. They were the classmates I knew so well.

—Oh right. Instead of sleeping, they had gone to shower instead.

I realized the reason why the first cabin had no answer.

Lisa Highwalker, with her brilliant blonde hair and perfect bodily proportions, was frozen on the spot, still with her hands holding her bra's clasp.

Next to her, in the middle of putting on a skirt, Firill Crest had halted her movements with her pale thighs exposed.

Ariella Lu was using a towel to dry short little Ren Miyazawa's wet red hair. The two of them stared speechlessly at me. Since they were wrapped in towels, my guess was they were not wearing underwear.

—Crap.

Although I prepared myself for screams and punishment, the girls' reaction was not what I expected.

"M-Mononobe Yuu! Entering without knocking is such a lapse in common sense! Goodness gracious... We will be dressed in a second. Turn around now."

Recovering her composure, Lisa blushed and reminded me, but her tone was more surprised than harsh.

"Mononobe-kun... It's too embarrassing if you keep staring. I'm not wearing my victory underwear right now, so..."

Firill did not really scold me. Instead, she continued dressing awkwardly. Drying Ren's hair, Ariella stared at me with her face red, but I could not feel any anger from her.

"S-So careless, Mononobe-kun! E-Even if we've bathed together before, there is still a lot of mental preparation needed... Oh, Ren, what's wrong?"

Her slender body trembling shyly, Ren extended the towel in her hand for some reason, the one she had been using to dry her hair, presenting it to me.

"...Onii-chan, dry my hair."

Saying that, Ren handed my a towel. With a pair of endearing eyes staring intently at me, I nodded.

"O-Okay."

Although my mind had yet to catch up to the situation, I accepted the towel for now. With my back to Lisa and the others, I started to rub Ren's hair.

"Mm... Feels so good."

Ren commented with satisfaction.
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"Then—you girls aren't angry?"

I asked them with hesitation.

"Angry? Why?"

Ren looked up at me with confusion.

From amid the sound of fabric friction, I heard Firill's puzzled voice.

"Didn't Ariella say so just now? We've already bathed with you before. With our naked selves exposed to you, you selected us to become your mates... Our relationship with you is already unseverable. Although it's embarrassing when we're seen in the middle of changing... We won't get angry if it's you, Mononobe-kun. Don't you agree, Lisa?"

"D-Do not rope me into the conversation! It is true that we are not angry—But even so, that does not imply we permit you to watch us change any time you want! Moderation is essential even when our relationships have grown in intimacy."

After Lisa's flustered response, Ariella agreed.

"Me too. I'd have a heart attack if this happened all the time. Mononobe-kun, I hope you could pay proper attention to picking the time and place."

Although Ariella gave me a reminder, Firill laughed in amusement on the side.

"Wonderful, Mononobe-kun. It's okay as long as you pay attention to the time and place."

"Eh!? No, that's not what I meant—"

Ariella's panicked voice was accompanied by laughter from Firill and Lisa. Ren, whose hair I was drying, also shook her shoulders lightly.

However, silence immediately filled the entire space when their laughter ended.

The reason was obvious.

No one was laughing from the bottom of their heart. With one of our longtime companions missing, it felt like we had a hole in our heart even during times of joy.

Although Kili had been speaking calmly, this hole was not that easy to fill. It was probably impossible to fill unless we retrieved what was missing.

"Okay okay—No more joking around. We won't get angry at you this time, Mononobe-kun, okay?"

Finally, Ariella broke the silence, then Firill agreed.

"Yes... You've done everything you can for Mitsuki's sake. We know that."

Next, Lisa spoke with resolve.

"Our anger is all directed at Mitsuki-san currently, so we do not have any spare anger for you, Mononobe Yuu. A lesson must be taught to that child... who acted on her own again while keeping all kinds of thoughts to herself."

Ren also looked up at me and said:

"Me too... I have things to say to Mitsuki. I don't know if I can express myself well... But the message will never get across unless you speak the words."

Listening to everyone, I understood that they were being considerate for me and Mitsuki in their own ways.

The sound of clothing rustling had ended. I looked back to see that the girls were all dressed, staring at me seriously.

"Thank you, everyone—With all of you here, I'm sure Mitsuki and I will be fine. That's what I believe right now."

I spoke the words that had surfaced in my mind.

I was not the only one with words that must be conveyed to her. Noticing this, I felt my emotions relax somewhat.