The taste of Trinity's air, which felt like I was breathing it in for the first time in months, was truly special.
It was like the refreshing feeling of downing a cool glass of water after not having a single sip for a whole day.
I was a little short on sleep, having spent the last night in Gehenna laughing and talking with Hina and Ako at a pajama party.
It was a small mercy that the Prefect Team member driving this time was relatively gentle, allowing me to catch a short nap in the car. If not for that, I might have just wanted to go straight home and sleep.
The moment I returned, I was caught by Nagisa, who had come out to meet me, and I had to stay by her side all day. Not that I had any intention of disliking it.
I liked Hina, and I liked Nagisa. I wanted to make them both happy. From the moment I admitted to these contradictory, selfish, and greedy feelings, even Nagisa's subtly clingy possessiveness felt nothing but lovely.
Besides, while she was relentlessly grilling me about my vacation—asking if I had fun during my week with Hina—she was also a consummate professional, showing not an ounce of compromise in her work as she reviewed the follow-up measures for the Kaiser operation.
She was so professional that, unlike Ako, she hadn't even touched the Kaiser stock, having weighed the pros and cons of being involved in stock price manipulation.
Well, it was an attitude one would naturally expect from Nagisa, who valued her public duties more than her personal connections.
It was only in her romantic relationship that she seemed to have some difficulty with this process, so her overcoming that was, considering the nature of the Tea Party, a very desirable attitude.
I reviewed for any parts I might have missed, and we discussed which of Kaiser's subsidiaries would be strategically advantageous to pressure further to suppress their long-term recovery.
In addition to having prepared data on these matters in advance, Seia also joined in, and through heated discussion, we organized the data based on the realistic sanctions the General Student Council could impose.
Using this as a base, we drafted the guidelines to be submitted to the General Student Council. That was the schedule for my first day back.
And so began my daily life back at Trinity.
After a short, week-long escapade, returning to my previous routine felt strangely disorienting.
First, the regular visits to the Cathedral. Second, the hell of paperwork that had started anew. And finally, the even more reverent treatment from the Pater faction.
Though I was back in the hell of paperwork, frankly, it was incomparably easier than before the festival.
The cleanup from the festival, I'm sorry to say, was shouldered by Seia and Nagisa, so I had no burden there.
During the attack on Kaiser, thanks to the excellent assistance of Veritas and the brilliant performance of the field agents, my own troubles were not that great.
The related work was now scheduled to be dumped on the General Student Council President, so all I had to do was prepare to enjoy the coming autumn.
The internal politics of the Pater faction had also been neatly sorted out. The combination of me showing my true colors during the festival and the situation of me being "sold off" to Gehenna had completely quieted them.
The fact that the voices of the dissatisfied, extremist hardliners were now buried underground was a green light for me.
With my hands and feet thus untied, there was virtually no urgent work left before me.
My first autumn in Kivotos seemed certain to be the most peaceful season of the year, a time when all my worries and cares would fall like leaves and wither at my feet.
A small change occurred in my relationship with Nagisa.
about two weeks after I returned from Gehenna.
"Mika, I have a proposal I would like you to seriously consider".
"Hmm, I'm listening. Oh, by the way, Nagisa! What do you think of this scent? The heat has finally broken, so I bought it for a change of pace".
"...Fruity? The cherry suits you quite well. I think it's a good choice.
I like it—wait, how can you distract me with such talk when I'm trying to make a serious proposal? I'd like you to listen with your full attention".
"Ahaha. So, what's this proposal?".
"...It's about, well. Mika… I mean, the previous Mika".
The story of the real Mika was, as ever, a difficult subject for Nagisa to even bring up. The mere mention of it was like a reverse scale that made her expression darken.
so I judged that it was still too early to tell her about the real Mika's whereabouts and my contract with Gematria.
At the right time, I would need to open up to not only Nagisa and Seia but to others as well… but to reveal such information now, I was deeply worried for Nagisa.
For that reason, I had to conclude that the cons outweighed the pros.
"You remember that the house you're currently using was a place you stayed while the safe house the previous Mika used was being renovated, correct?".
"Yeah, I remember…? There was talk of moving my residence back to the safe house, too. It just fizzled out because I couldn't be bothered☆".
"Mika, that's hardly something to be proud of, is it…? In any case, now that the identities of all Tea Party members are public, I'm sure you're well aware of how inefficient it is to spread our security personnel so thin".
"Well, I think not assigning me any security personnel would solve that problem, but I suppose it is more convenient for me to have attendants… I've gotten used to it, after all".
"If you had been assigned proper security during the last kidnapping incident, it wouldn't have escalated to that extent, Mika".
"But, that was because you and Hina—ouch, please don't look at me like that… Okay, I'm sorry".
Honestly, if I were to find fault with myself in that incident, I think the only one was that I kept postponing my promise to Haruna.
But putting the past aside and looking at the current situation, Nagisa's point was certainly valid.
And knowing, even vaguely, how worried she must have been at the time, I had no intention of arguing back.
It was true that Nagisa had all but surrendered to me, but outside of our romantic relationship, I felt that I was the one who gave in more.
...Let's just gloss over the fact that the problems arising from our romantic relationship made it impossible for me to even bring that up.
"The reason I'm bringing this up is because I would like you to move your residence back to one of the Tea Party's safe houses".
"Well, aside from it being a bit of a hassle, I don't really mind. I just feel bad about making the girls handle my moving… but honestly, I don't really care where I live".
"…Of course, if that were all, I would not have brought this up so cautiously. What I would like to ask is if you have any intention of living in the same place as me—".
"Whoa…?".
What, did I hear that right?.
A strange sound had just reached my ears as I was leisurely stirring my coffee.
If I hadn't misheard, Nagisa had just proposed that we live together.
Living in the same house as Nagisa, sharing every morning and evening, though perhaps in different rooms. My face grew hot just thinking about it.
It was similar to my week with Hina, but this was on the premise of living together for the foreseeable future, unless a major problem arose.
It was a story that was similar, yet different, and just as bad for my heart.
Some days we would brush our teeth standing side-by-side in the morning; some days we would cook for each other, or cook together in the kitchen; and it was inevitable that we would come to show each other our most natural selves.
Just imagining it filled me with anticipation and excitement. Our relationship was not one based simply on the premise of dating, so in a way, it felt like we were pulling forward a part of our lives from after graduation.
"…Hey, we're using separate rooms, right?".
"Separate rooms are the basic premise, of course, but… um, yes.
From time to time, I may visit the room you'll be using…".
"This is because I stayed at Hina's house, isn't it?".
"Yes…".
Seeing Nagisa's reaction, I got a strong feeling that this wouldn't be just "from time to time".
I could already picture her visiting every day until we were naturally sharing a bed.
"Well, moving itself is fine. And your proposal to live together… honestly, it makes me pretty happy. There's no reason for me to turn down a chance to get closer to you, Nagisa".
If you asked if I disliked the idea, the answer was no. And adapting to the inconveniences of sharing a living space with another person was a necessary process.
"Then…?".
"I'll start getting ready to move today. Maybe sometime next week…".
"Let's aim for this weekend. I'll help you with the packing".
"…Are you sure?".
"Yes, I'm sure".
Nagisa gave a somewhat bittersweet smile at my worried words, but her reply was firm.
The thought of her encountering traces of the original Mika while we were packing made me feel that perhaps I needed to tell her about the other Mika's whereabouts sooner rather than later.
…It was a truly difficult dilemma.