Blue Archive: Miracle's End

As long as I'm with you.

" Time for your lunch break, Aruji-dono! Come and eat the bento I brought from Angel 24; they're still hot and ready!"

In charge of that day's SCHALE duty was a member of the Ninjutsu Research Club of Hyakkiyako: Izuna. Despite dreaming of becoming the greatest ninja of Kivotos, another dream of Izuna was to always be on Sensei's side, doing her best for him to the utmost of her abilities.

Sensei, however, was not fond of the idea of a "break", given his tight schedule and looming deadlines. He responded to Izuna's thoughtful suggestion with a weary smile, gently patting her head to show his appreciation.

" Thank you as always, Izuna, " he said with a tired but genuine smile, " but I need to finish my quota first before I take a break. You can go and eat without me for now; you also deserve a break."

" Mou! But food doesn't taste great when I'm not eating them with you, Aruji-dono!" she flails her arms around in frustration, clearly in protest to Sensei's request.

" Now you know that's not true at all. It's not like we always eat together."

" Ah! Izuna got an idea to solve this predicament! Izuna's a genius!" with huge excitement looming her face, Izuna quickly dragged a chair and positioned it next to where Sensei was sitting before she sat on it with the box of bento placed on her lap.

Noting how excited and eager Izuna appeared, Sensei tilted his head in confusion, glancing between Izuna and the bento she was holding. His confusion quickly dissipated as Izuna opened the bento, picked up a piece of sushi with her chopsticks, and slowly brought it to Sensei's mouth.

" Now we can both eat together while you work! Hehe~!"

" A-A student...?! Spoon feeding me?! Am I in Eden?!" to Sensei's surprise, the joy from his face then followed.

Sensei and Izuna spent the entire hour happily eating, with Izuna spoonfeeding Sensei as he continued to work on his report. To ensure Izuna wouldn't get bored just spoonfeeding him, Sensei occasionally engaged her in brief, casual conversations. The fox girl clearly appreciated these moments, as evidenced by the happy sway of her tail.

Inevetably, their conversations lead to Izuna mentioning what Sensei was planning on doing after he was done with his reports, to when Sensei then said...

" Hmm... I'd probably just stroll around Kivotos while waiting for something to happen." Sensei pondered to himself, rubbing his chin while thinking for a better response.

" Does that mean Aruji-dono got nothing to do for the rest of the day?"

" If I'm done with these reports, then yes." he nodded.

Having seeked the oppurtunity, Izuna placed a fist on her chest before giving herself a confident nod. It turned out that she was waiting for a chance to spend the rest of her day with Sensei.

" If that's the case then, would Aruji-dono love to spend his freetime with Izuna?" she asked Sensei with a determined look. Seeing how serious but nervous Izuna suddenly felt surprised Sensei for the tiniest bit.

" Where do you want to spend our day together?"

Without hesitation, Izuna lunged her face an inch away from Sensei's face. The determined look in her eyes made it hard for Sensei to deny her request, not that he had any intention of declining her in the first place.

" Anywhere is fine! As long as Izuna is with Aruji-dono, our whereabouts does not matter one bit!"

With a warm smile, Sensei placed his hand on Izuna's head and began caressing it, causing her ears to twitch in surprise and a blush to spread across her cheeks. Her anticipation for Sensei's response kept her from bursting with embarrassment, so she stayed as still as possible despite the visible steam practically rising from her fox ears.

" A-Aruji-dono...!!"

" You've been a huge help to me today, so I'd be a fool to refuse your invitation."

" T-Then--!!"

" Yep! I, Sensei of SCHALE, will be Izuna's property for the entire day!" Sensei declared with a firm stance.

" Thank you so much, Aruji-dono! You're the best thing that could ever happen to Izuna!" not able to contain her joy, Izuna hugged Sensei as tightly as she could.

Hearing Izuna say such heartwarming words would always bring joy to Sensei's heart because, after all, no teacher would not feel the joy of being adored by their students. But this time around, Sensei can't seem to find himself smiling...

Instead, felt the guilt within his heart to grow stronger...

Stronger than it has before.

" Oh!" the surprised Izuna shrieked, immediately letting go of Sensei, " I think I felt your phone vibrate, Aruji-dono."

" Give me a second..."

Reaching out to his Shittim Chest hidden beneath his suit, Sensei took it out to view the content of the notification.

" You got a message from a student, Sensei!" answered Arona.

" From who?"

" From Okusora Ayane of Abydos High School! It looks like they require the service of SCHALE!"

" Ayane, huh... can you send me the details of her message, Arona?"

" Of course, Sensei!"

After conveying Ayane's message to Sensei, it became clear that he couldn't postpone his meeting with the Abydos student given the critical nature of the situation. Although it was unfortunate to leave his office with unfinished reports, securing the safety of his students was always Sensei's top priority.

So he got up from his table and prepared himself to depart.

" Sorry Izuna, but I got an urgent business to attend to."

" E-Eh, b-but--!! I mean--!!" shaking her head, Izuna responded to Sensei with a firm nod. "I-Izuna understands, Aruji-dono! Izuna will look after your office while you're gone!"

Izuna tried to play it cool, but she couldn't hide her ears drooping in disappointment. Sensei, however, was not surprised by her reaction, especially since they had both agreed to spend the day together once they were done.

Instead of leaving Izuna by herself, Sensei casually extended his hand to her with a heartfelt smile.

" You don't expect I had forgotten about our agreement, did you?"

" Aruji...dono...?"

" You said you'd be fine wherever as long as we're together right? Come on. Let's go."

Seeing Sensei's consideration left Izuna's heart in an endless limbo, driving her mind into insanity; all she could think about was Sensei and nothing else. The fluttering of her heart even brought tears to her eyes.

There was no doubt how happy she was to be living in the same world as Sensei.

Slowly, she reached out her hand to him...

' His warm and strong hand, his gentle and carefree smile... Izuna just loves everything about him...' Izuna thinks to herself, using her other hand to feel the pounding of her heart.

" Izuna really, really loves you, Aruji-dono! Thank you!"

Hand in hand, both left SCHALE, heading to Abydos High School.