Bonus: A Student Named Gion Aika

Several days after being invited by the Tea Party—the student council of Trinity—one morning, I received a notification on MomoTalk, the messaging app I often use to communicate with students.

The sender was Aika, the first Tea Party-affiliated student I had ever met, who had suddenly come to Schale about a month ago. She was the girl who had guided me to the meeting with Trinity’s student council presidents.

We had exchanged contact information on the day we met, but we hadn’t really talked since then. Wondering what this might be about, I opened MomoTalk.

Aika:
"Good day, Sensei."
"Are you available right now?"

Yeah, I’m free. What’s up?

Aika:
"Since you haven’t been at Trinity for very long,"
"I thought I might show you around the main locations."
"What do you think?"

Sounds good. I’d appreciate it.

Aika:
"Very well, then."
"I’ll be waiting in front of the main gate."

Gion Aika
EP 01 I’ll Show You Around

Start Bond Story

While I was serving as the advisor for the Remedial Class Club, I left the guest accommodations provided by Trinity and headed straight for the main gate. Aika was already there, seemingly waiting for my arrival.

"Good morning, Aika."

"Yes, Sensei. Good morning to you as well. Then, let us begin the tour at once."

With that, I followed her as she started walking, stepping into a stroll through Trinity’s grounds.

As we headed from the main gate toward the central area of the academy, we passed many students. Quite a few of them returned my greetings, and as expected of one of the Big Three academies, the place was brimming with life.

However, unlike the other Big Three academies I had visited—Gehenna and Millennium—it was relatively quiet here, with hardly any gunfire or explosions to be heard. I had heard that Trinity was a prestigious school with a comparatively strong religious atmosphere, so perhaps that had something to do with it.

As I was thinking that while walking, Aika, who had been ahead of me, came to a stop. I halted as well, and a magnificent fountain towering before us came into view.

"Sensei, this is the central area of Trinity General School… Trinity Square."

"I’ve heard of it."

"Yes, it seems to be something of a famous spot. In fact, several of Trinity’s important facilities are gathered in this area."

Saying that, Aika turned to my right. In the direction of her gaze stood a gigantic church, tens of meters tall—possibly even over a hundred. She turned back toward me and began to explain.

"First, this is the Trinity Grand Cathedral. This cathedral, said to have taken a hundred years to complete, is one of the buildings that symbolizes Trinity."

"That’s quite a historic structure."

"Indeed. And it also serves as the headquarters of one of Trinity’s major factions—the Sisterhood."

The Sisterhood, huh. I had seen students wearing nun-like uniforms along the way here; this must be the organization they belonged to.

"Next, in the opposite direction… over there."

Following Aika’s guidance, I shifted my gaze, and beyond a massive gate I could see a large building—not quite as imposing as the cathedral, but still substantial.

"That is the Trinity Central Library, said to boast the largest collection of books in all of Kivotos. Separate from that, there is also the Rare Books Archive, a facility that preserves historical texts, located deeper to the left."

When I looked as she indicated, I could see a slightly smaller building peeking out beyond the roof of a colonnaded corridor.

"The interior is vast and its layout quite complex, and I’ve heard that people occasionally get lost inside. So if you ever plan to use it, I recommend making sure you can contact a library committee member at any time."

At the word “get lost,” I felt a slight chill despite the height of summer. That was because I remembered how, several weeks ago, I had gotten lost on my way to Abydos High School and wandered for days through a sand-buried residential area… If Shiroko hadn’t happened to pass by and rescue me, I would’ve turned into a mummy not long after taking up my post.

"...Sensei? You look a bit pale. Are you all right?"

"I’m fine. Don’t worry."

"Is that so? Then shall we move on to the next introduction? What you can see over there is a museum that boasts one of the largest collections in Kivotos—"

With that, Aika resumed her explanations and began walking once more, heading toward the museum.

◇

"Yes, this is the headquarters of the Justice Task Force. Though, it seems you’ve already visited here, Sensei…"

"Yeah, when I met with the members of the Make-Up Work Club."

◇

"That one over there? That’s Trinity’s prison. I’ve never been inside myself, so I don’t know the details…"

"You seem pretty serious, Aika."

"Do I? I suppose people do call me an honor student sometimes, but…"

◇

"As I explained the other day, this building here is the Tea Party’s headquarters. The training grounds where I conduct exercises as part of a subordinate organization’s guard unit are also not far from here… over in that direction."

"What exactly do you mean by a subordinate organization?"

"To put it bluntly, they’re private forces belonging to the three members of the Tea Party. However, since the Justice Task Force usually operates under the Tea Party’s directives, I believe their level of proficiency surpasses ours."

◇

"That building over there is…?"

"The student dormitories. There are several similar buildings, and the majority of students commute to school from the dorms. I do as well."

"I see."

"…The dormitories are strictly off-limits to men."

"What do you think I am, exactly…!?"

◇

And so, from morning until well past noon, we toured the academy grounds. By the time we had covered most of the major facilities, Aika spoke up.

"Well then, I believe I’ve shown you all the facilities you’re likely to use regularly. It’s a bit late, but shall we have lunch?"

"Sounds good. I was just starting to get hungry myself."

After eating together in the cafeteria—having the campus meal Aika recommended—we parted ways, and I returned to the guest room that had been assigned to me.

MomoTalk

Aika:
"Um… Sensei."
"I ended up dragging you around for quite a long time…"
"Was everything all right?"

No problem at all. Thanks for showing me around today.

Aika:
"If I was able to be of help to you, Sensei, then I’m very glad."

◇

Some time after that, the Make-Up Work Club’s training camp began. I moved my belongings into the same building as everyone else and acted alongside them. Several days into the camp, I received another MomoTalk message from Aika.

Aika:
"Good day, Sensei."

What’s up today?

Aika:
"Would it be all right to have a bit of your time right now?"
"There’s something I’d like your help with…"
"I apologize—if it’s not possible, then please feel free to refuse."

No, I’m happy you thought to rely on me.

Aika:
"Thank you very much."
"I’ll be waiting in front of the Tea Party headquarters."

Gion Aika
EP 02 Could You Help Me?

Start Bond Story

Just as she said in the message, I headed for the Tea Party headquarters. In the nearby parking lot, a truck equipped with an anti-aircraft machine gun was parked, and in front of the building, Aika stood holding a parasol.

"Oh my… you’re early, Sensei."

"When a student calls, a teacher comes running right away!"

"I-I see…"

She looked slightly flustered by my words, then folded her parasol and headed inside. Following after her, I asked about the reason she had called me today.

"You said you needed help—what is it?"

"Yes. I would like you to help transport some documents."

After that, Aika went on to explain today’s work in more concrete terms. As a member of the Tea Party, she was in charge of certain documents, and once their processing was complete, they needed to be transported to a storage vault located a short distance away.

"There’s quite a large volume of this work, and going back and forth between the office and the storage vault would be rather inefficient. So I thought I might ask you to handle the transporting for me, Sensei…"

I see—that’s what this is about. In that case, it’s a simple enough task. Rolling up my sleeves, I prepared to get started right away.

"Um… you don’t need to rush. You may take it easy for a while, you know?"

"I see…"

It felt like too much trouble to roll them back down, so I left my sleeves rolled up and sat down in a swivel chair in the air-conditioned office, deciding to wait until Aika had made some progress on the documents. …It was a little chilly.

◇

Over the next several dozen minutes, Aika worked her way through an overwhelming stack of documents, reviewing them carefully, marking checks, and placing them one after another into plastic boxes labeled “Processed.”

We exchanged a few words now and then, but perhaps because she was focused on her work, Aika didn’t talk much.

"...All right, this should be enough for now. Sensei."

"My turn?"

"Yes. Please take these documents to Storage Vault No. 2. Leave this room, go straight to the left, then turn right at the end of the corridor—you should find it shortly after that."

Following Aika’s instructions to place the documents on the desk in front of the room, I gathered the stack of papers and left the office.

◇

While carrying the documents, I only occasionally passed students affiliated with the Tea Party; otherwise, the building was quiet and sparsely populated. Even in Trinity, known for its relatively cool climate, the hallways were still hot in summer, so I quickened my pace and returned to the comfort of the air-conditioned room.

"By the way…"

"Is something the matter?"

"You’re only a first-year, Aika, but you’re handling work that seems pretty important."

From the brief glimpse I’d caught, the contents included budget proposals for weapons and equipment, as well as security plans—documents that made me hesitate over whether it was really all right for an outsider like me to have seen them. When I asked about it, Aika replied calmly.

"Yes. As I mentioned before, while the organizations under the Tea Party do possess a certain level of armed strength, the Justice Task Force is generally sufficient… For that reason, I usually handle administrative work like this."

"I see."

"And as I believe you’re already aware, Sensei—the Eden Treaty. That treaty is being led by Lady Nagisa, in other words, the Filius faction. Because of that, work is also assigned to me, as I belong to the Filius faction and hold the position of an officer candidate…"

It sounded like Aika had a lot on her plate. If that was the case, then I should do whatever I could to help.

"You’re doing great. You can rely on me anytime, you know."

"...Yes. I’ll take you up on that."

After waiting a bit, once another batch of documents had piled up, I carried them out of the room again.

◇

After several round trips, time gradually slipped from afternoon toward evening, and it seemed that the document checks were finally complete.

"Thank you very much, Sensei. That will be all for now."

"But you’ve only placed them in front of the storage vault so far."

Wouldn’t they still need to be organized and sorted? After all, I’d been sent back documents more than once by Rin for submitting paperwork to the Federal Student Council in a less-than-neat state.

"I’ve been processing them while sorting them to a certain extent, so it won’t take long at all."

"Then I’ll come with you."

From what I’d seen, the Make-Up Work Club seemed fine continuing their self-study on their own, so I figured I’d accompany Aika instead.

"It can’t be helped, then… In that case, I’ll accept your help."

We each took half of the documents and left the office together, heading for the storage vault.

◇

By the time the work was finished, the sky had been completely dyed in the soft orange hues of sunset.

"Sensei, thank you very much for today. And I’m sorry for asking you to help with something that was basically just busywork…"

"Don’t worry about it. If anything, I’d like you to rely on me more. People like you, Aika, tend to shoulder everything on their own."

"Sensei…"

Perhaps struck by something close to home, Aika stood there at a loss for words. I handed her an iced milk tea I’d bought from a vending machine.

"Eh…?"

"You’ve been working hard, Aika. This is just a small token of appreciation from me."

"Um, well… no, thank you very much."

After saying goodbye to Aika, I returned to the annex where the training camp was being held and got back to my own work—the tasks I’d brought with me from Schale.

Aika:
"Sensei, thank you very much for today."
"The milk tea was just the right level of sweetness."

I’m glad to hear that.

Aika:
"I think I may end up relying on you from time to time in the future as well,"
"and when that happens, I hope you’ll look after me again."