Blue Archive - Story of Joshua Sensei

Chapter 89 - Down Time XXIII

...

Right after lunch, I made it to the Tea Party's balcony. The guards let me right through without effort.

Walking to the long, food covered table, I found Nagisa sitting there alone, no other guards in sight. As soon as she saw me, the brunette stiffened before letting out a long sigh, likely to calm herself.

"Welcome, Sensei. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me." Nagisa politely says, clearly still a bit afraid of something. Is she afraid I won't accept her apology?

I nod. "You're welcome."

"Please, sit." She offers. I nod again and sit down on a free chair, opposite of her. "I just finished preparing a pot of tea. Would you like some?"

"Please." I say. Nagisa then carefully and elegantly pours me a cup, before handing it to me. "Earl Grey?" I ask, recognizing the taste.

"Indeed. It may not be expensive, but it's always been a favorite of mine, ever since I was little." She explains.

"I've always had a spot for it too." I admit.

A tense silence is encompasses us for a long while, both of us unable to speak a word. Eventually, though...

"Sensei... As for why I called you here... I..." Nagisa begins to struggle. I sit patiently, allowing her all the time she needs. Eventually, she bows her head to me. "I am terribly sorry. I-I did and said many horrible things during your stay here. Things I shouldn't have ever done- not just as a student, but as one of the leaders of Trinity Academy. For that and so much more, I'm sorry, Sensei."

"...Raise your head, Nagisa. I've already forgiven you." I say.

Her head snaps back up, eyes wide as can be. "Wh-What?! You...? How could you have forgiven me so easily?"

"There are things people back home have done to me that neither you nor any student in this city could ever hope to imagine." I say, serious as can be. "I was never mad at you for the stuff you did to me, only what you did to the other girls, which you've already apologized to them for. Thus, you have nothing to apologize for."

"Bu... But..." Nagisa tries, completely baffled.

"I don't blame you for what happened. You were under a terrible amount of stress. I've seen people stronger than you break under that kind of pressure." I say, before pausing to take a sip of tea to wet my drying mouth. "If anything, I should be apologizing. I acted quite immaturely a couple of times, what with the chess set and all. I've had... bad experiences with people in charge of things doing whatever they want. I shouldn'ta treated you like them- you're nothing like those monsters. I'm sorry for that, Nagisa." I say, bowing my head to her.

"Se-Sensei! You don't need to apologize for that." The brunette quickly says, clearly taken aback.

I raise my head. "Well... We've both apologized when not really needing to, so... How about we just drop this tall and let bygones be bygones?"

Nagisa blinks, before smiling an honest smile- not the fake and strained ones she showed me a few weeks ago. "I... would like that."

I smile at her. "This meeting was worryin' you, huh?"

"Very much." She admits. "My nerves have been on edge since I sent you that message."

"I noticed. You sent a couple of partial ones before that one." I say, smirking as I take another sip.

"Eh? I sent those?" Nagisa blinks, looking aghast.

"Hehehe." I laugh, sitting the cup back down. "It's fine."