Standing before the mirror, Natsume-san hit the switch and aimed the hairdryer at her head.
A relentless stream of hot air burst forth, sending her damp hair flying up at once. Her already short locks whirled around her head, forming a strange, dancing halo.
A trace of weariness crossed her face. Natsume Sonoko gently rubbed her eyes. She'd been forcing her spirits high all day. While she wasn't at her absolute limit, she was truly feeling tired now.
Putting the hairdryer down, Natsume-san trudged over to the sofa and slumped onto it.
Then, as if sinking into quicksand, she was swallowed by the cushions. Reaching out, she hugged a teddy bear and sank into a deep sleep, as if it could offer her that little bit more sense of security.
Dinner time had passed nearly an hour ago. The sky outside was now dotted with starlight, and the usually bustling school dormitory cafeteria was almost empty.
"Natsume-san, you're here late again tonight. I suppose becoming a celebrity does keep one much busier."
Tsuchimikado Maika stood beside her, holding a pot of warm milk, and proceeded to refill Natsume-san's cup.
"Thank you. The milk tastes especially good today."
Taking a sip, a satisfied smile spread across Natsume Sonoko's face.
Compared to any bitter coffee, Natsume-san far preferred juice or milk.
"It's just been a bit busy lately, that's all. It has nothing to do with being a celebrity or anything."
"After all, I do have the duty of maintaining Academy City's public safety and discipline now."
As she spoke, Natsume-san pulled a neatly folded Judgment armband from her pocket.
The pockets on Tokiwadai's uniform weren't very large; putting just a little something extra in them made them bulge, so the armband always came out wrinkled.
"As expected of Natsume-san. I heard passing the Judgment exam is terribly difficult."
Tsuchimikado Maika clasped her hands together, unable to hold back an admiring sigh, a glint of reverence sparkling in her eyes.
"It's not that amazing. Ah, that's right, Tsuchimikado-san. Actually, I discovered something incredibly, incredibly awesome today."
Natsume-san blushed slightly, unconsciously rubbing the back of her head as she suddenly remembered what she'd learned earlier at Uiharu's.
Ever since Tsuchimikado-san had taught her the proper way to use the cleaning robots, Natsume-san had even stopped riding the bicycle she'd bought with a whole month's scholarship money.
That bicycle was still sitting in the dormitory garden. During the preparations for the Midsummer Festival last time, the Dorm Mistress had ordered her to move it further away so it wouldn't block the path.
Also, due to her extreme laziness and gluttony, the morning exercises she'd persistently kept up for a good while—believing she'd reached a normal middle schooler's physical fitness—had recently started to slide again.
Strangely enough, no matter how much of a lazy glutton Natsume-san was, she just never seemed to gain weight. It was true what they said, the brain really did burn the most calories.
"Something incredibly awesome?"
Tsuchimikado-san, seeing the mysterious look on the bun-headed girl's face, asked curiously.
Her eyes were particularly bright and lively, her spirit far exceeding that of some good-for-nothing middle schoolers.
"It's those cleaning robots, let me tell you..."
The cafeteria lights began to flicker off. Taking advantage of the dimming night, two white cylinders whirred past, speeding through Tokiwadai Dormitory's security zone.
"Look, Tsuchimikado-san. You don't need to specially pull up the control panel on the robot itself. Now you can just control them remotely with your phone. I wouldn't tell this to just anyone, you know."
With a hint of pride in her voice, the shadowy bun-head began to sway more noticeably. It seemed Natsume-san was in a rather self-satisfied state.
"Really? And this spot here is the stop button? What a convenient program."
Only the light from the phone faintly illuminated their faces. The white cap on Tsuchimikado Maika's head reflected a dim glow, and her slightly parted lips betrayed her inner astonishment.
If one looked closely, they could also see she was holding a large bento box.
"Mhm. No matter where Tsuchimikado-san wants to go, you just mark it on the phone's map. And you can change the direction anytime you want."
"It's just that the remote summoning function isn't great. I heard from Uiharu that you'd need to hack into the signal towers, but I don't know any hacking techniques."
At this point, the sinister silhouette in the shadows shook her head dejectedly.
"But it's still wonderful, isn't it? Thank you so much, Natsume-san!"
Tsuchimikado Maika nodded vigorously, her eyes shining. Not only was spinning in place possible, but even hopping side-to-side was no longer just a dream.
Their eyes met in the air, a sense of mutual understanding passing between them.
"I've decided! First, let's go to my foolish older brother's place. I just happened to prepare a 'love bento' for him today."
Tsuchimikado Maika said with a serious tone, curiously tapping and swiping on the phone screen before holding up the bento box in her hand.
"A love bento… It must be nice to have a little sister like you, Tsuchimikado-san."
"I really wish I could hire Tsuchimikado-san as a private maid in the future."
Natsume Sonoko let out a small sigh, accidentally voicing her inner thoughts, though the last few words came out somewhat mumbled.
"Natsume-san, what was that?"
"Eh? It was nothing."
Seeing no unusual reaction on Tsuchimikado-san's face, the bun-headed girl secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Natsume-san, would you like to come along as a guest?" Tsuchimikado Maika asked with a smile.
The night drew its curtain, and the streetlights on either side flickered on one after another. The two of them rode the white cylinders, speeding forward together.
Natsume-san didn't have anything urgent right now. It sounded nice to accompany Tsuchimikado-san to her brother's place. She recalled that Kamijou-senpai and Index lived there too.
"During the Daihaseisai, I'm planning to make some snacks to sell, maybe earn a little pocket money. Natsume-san, have you thought about doing something like that?"
They chatted as they traveled.
"You can do that?"
"Absolutely. Every year, more than half the street stalls at the Daihaseisai are run by students themselves."
"I haven't really considered it. The school signed me up for so many events already. To be honest, I don't like the Daihaseisai one bit."
At this, Natsume-san's expression darkened, a hint of indescribable gloom settling over her. Counting the days, there was only a little over a week left until the Daihaseisai.
It wasn't just Natsume-san; all the other Tokiwadai students were in a similar situation. It wasn't only first-years like Natsume-san; even Shokuhou Misaki-senpai was in the same boat.
Getting into Tokiwadai was extremely difficult. Even royalty couldn't enroll if they didn't meet the requirements, resulting in a student body much smaller than other schools.
Tokiwadai Middle School had just over two hundred students across all three grades. This led to a severe shortage of participants for the Daihaseisai events.
Coupled with the large number of competitions, everyone's schedule was packed full, and that was without signing up for any individual events.
But since she had already entered, she had to do what needed to be done. Natsume-san was still prepared to participate properly in the Daihaseisai.
At the very least, Natsume-san had never skipped a single P.E. class without reason. She'd never even deliberately altered the weather to get P.E. class moved indoors, either.
The Daihaseisai… It was embarrassing enough coming in last place within her own school. Natsume-san couldn't help but lament inwardly.
Of course, if Shokuhou-senpai was also participating, that might be a different story…
"Relax, Natsume-san. You should have more confidence in yourself. As a student, you mustn't give up on yourself like this."
Tsuchimikado-san comforted her, reaching out to gently ruffle the bun on Natsume-san's head.
--+--
"Brother, are you home? Pardon the intrusion."
Tsuchimikado-san, seated on her white cylinder, kept circling in front of the entrance to a certain high school's dormitory room.
After a good while with no sound from inside, she finally took out her spare key and opened the door.
"He's not home? Natsume-san, please come in too."
"Pardon the intrusion."
Natsume Sonoko hesitated for a moment outside before speaking softly. It was her first time visiting a boys' dormitory like this.
"Then I'll be intruding too!"
An unexpected voice chimed in as Index's head suddenly popped out from seemingly nowhere.
"Sonoko, Maika, hello!"
The little nun in her pure white habit, Index, stood there charmingly behind them.
"Index, would you like to come in and sit for a while?" Tsuchimikado Maika tilted her head and asked.
They stayed in Tsuchimikado-san's brother's room for a while, but as he never showed up, the two of them were eventually pulled along by Index to Kamijou-senpai's dorm room.
Sitting beside the low kotatsu table, Natsume-san watched the TV, which was playing 'Magical Powered Kanamin', with a somewhat distracted air.
Beside her, Index seemed particularly engrossed in the anime, her eyes glued to the screen.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.