“Excuse me, I’m coming in. This is Kamiya.”

“Yeah, come in.”

After the second semester’s opening ceremony ended, I lazily opened the door to the principal’s office with a half-hearted greeting.

Principal Takami, the head of the academy and the master of this room, did not particularly reprimand my attitude.

It was clear that he was exhausted from the earlier ceremony.

“Oh, Kamiya-senpai and Principal Takami. You both look tired. Could it be that you’re still not over the summer break?”

“You’re as energetic as ever, Marin-chan. Truly youthful.”

“Self-care is a lady’s duty.”

My sarcastic comment was deflected by Marin-chan, a middle school girl with nerves of steel, who sat elegantly sipping tea in the principal’s office.

Well, she had been confident in her military uniform during the special forces meetings, so this academy uniform was nothing for her.

“And now, to top it off, she’s the first middle schooler to skip grades and enter the Special Task Soul Armor Academy.”

“It’s a measure to fill the spots left by the students who were expelled during the civilian faction purge last semester. We can’t waste the limited resources of the soul armor education field.”

Marin-chan, dressed in the academy uniform, was unfazed.

She had always been like this, even in military uniform at the special forces meetings.

“So, the person who created that framework is the first to skip grades and enroll. Still as formidable as ever.”

I was both surprised and convinced that the accelerated entrant introduced during the opening ceremony was someone I knew well.

“We owe Principal Takami our thanks. For designing the system and curriculum for the accelerated entrants in such a short time.”

“No, it’s nothing… this much is a small task.”

Principal Takami’s eyes had dark circles under them.

“Hey, Principal Takami. Our opponent here is just a kid who graduated middle school and was just commissioned last month. She’s only a major, so you should act more confidently.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Yuusuke! You never know what secrets she holds against us.”

I whispered to Principal Takami, but the man had clearly lost his edge.

“You act much more casually with me, who outranks Marin-chan.”

“That’s because I hold the secrets of your mistakes when you were under my command, so I have the upper hand mentally.”

What?! Seriously?!

“What mistakes did I make back then?!”

“You cried to Officer Kobako about swelling in your male symbol due to poor hygiene in the field.”

“How does Takami-san know about that?! I only told Toshi-nii about it!”

“As your superior at the time, Kobako reported it to me.”

My lower body issues were known to the higher-ups?!

I did fix it with an all-purpose ointment back then.

O***nine is seriously a godsend.

“Don’t you dare tell anyone about this, Brigadier General Takami! This is an order from a Major General!”

“Yes, yes, understood, Major General Kamiya. So, please take charge here, Your Excellency.”

“Both of you, you know my and Espio’s abilities, right? What are you doing discussing such things in front of a girl?”

“Oh…”

Marin-chan scolded us, making me and Principal Takami feel like we were being lectured by a 15-year-old girl.

It was the first time I’d been scolded by someone younger.

As I half-listened to her scolding, I thought of my former subordinates who might have felt the same when I scolded them.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

“How’s the seasoning on the tamagoyaki, Onii-chan? Is it too sweet?”

Marin-chan looked worriedly at Suo-senpai’s face.

“No, it’s just right. I like it this sweet.”

“Great.”

“But it’s not great.”

I interrupted the world of the Suo siblings, who were lost in their own world.

There were no afternoon classes after the opening ceremony, so the Soul Armor Research Society members decided to have a lunch meeting in the club room.

“Oh, club president. I submitted my application to join the Soul Gear Research Society, so I have the right to use this room, right?”

“No, such blatant favoritism is banned. That’s an order from the club president.”

“What’s wrong with siblings enjoying their lunch together?”

Well, if I allow that…

“Here, Yuu-kun. Today’s kinpira gobo is seasoned perfectly.”

The tingling from the pineapple I’d eaten earlier had finally faded, and Mina sidled up to me.

“Yuu. Try my octopus-shaped sausages too.”

Kotomi leaned in from the other side.

Sandwiched between them, I had no escape and ended up touching both Mina and Kotomi, feeling their body heat and getting flustered.

“Um, um… here’s some dessert! Shine Muscat grapes!”

From across the tatami table in the club room, Hayami-san pushed Shine Muscat grapes toward my mouth.

“Hey, older woman, what’s with the ‘aah’ feeding gesture?!”

“Hayami-sensei, your selfish attitude breeds conflict.”

Yeah, exactly.

Kotomi’s right.

So, Mina and Kotomi, please stop trying to shove kinpira gobo and octopus-shaped sausages into my mouth.

The Shine Muscat in my mouth ruined everything.

The mix of flavors in my mouth perfectly illustrated how conflict benefits no one.

“Kamiya-senpai, you’re quite popular.”

“This is why I said no.”

Despite the disastrous mix of flavors in my mouth, it wasn’t as bad as the flavorless, clay-like combat rations.

“But, starting school again today…”

“Yuu-kun, do you miss summer vacation?”

“Not really. I feel more relaxed with the school since I spent the summer doing nothing but work and homework.”

Being a student means missions are somewhat reduced during school terms.

“Well, the midterms are coming up soon.”

“Ugh… exams again… Isn’t there something fun coming up? Oh! There’s a cultural festival, right? Or rather, a school festival since this is an academy!”

High school manga often features cultural festivals!

Elementary school cultural festivals were just boring presentations about local history or environmental issues, but high school festivals should be on a different scale.

“What is our class doing? I’d love to do a food stall.”

Since I’m a loner in my class, I don’t know anything.

They probably decided everything while I was away on missions.

“Hey, Kamiya.”

“But dancing on stage would be cool too. These days, do people practice by watching online videos?”

“Hate to burst your bubble, but there’s no cultural festival at this academy.”

“…What? Why?!”

My vision of a sparkling youth scene was shattered by harsh reality.

“This academy is full of spies trying to steal soul gear knowledge or harm soul armor students. We can’t have a cultural festival that invites outsiders.”

“Seriously?! Then, how about an internal festival just for us? What do you think, Hayami-sensei?”

Desperate not to give up on the festival, I looked to Hayami-san for a solution.

“Well… It’s tough. There’s no budget allocated for it…”

She seemed to want to help but was constrained by the bureaucratic nature of the academy.

“We have a winter event to present our soul gear research in a conference format. As the Soul Armor Research Society, we must participate.”

“That’s just like the boring presentations I did in elementary school!”

Why do we have to do that even in high school?!

I mean, I respect those who are diligent in cultural activities, but I can’t help but long for the classic high school experience!

“But…”

“I want to bond with my class through booths and stage performances and hopefully become friends with them!”

“You’re still hoping to befriend your classmates, Yuu… Honestly, it’s impossible…”

“I’ll crush any female in your class who gets close to you.”

“Don’t worry, Yuu-sama. I’m your teacher, so if you don’t have a partner, I’ll be your partner.”

Damn it! I’m cornered!

“Fufu, by the way, it’s my first day transferring in, but I’m not a loner since I have Hinoura-senpai in my class.”

“Marin, don’t compete over that. We’ll both end up hurt.”

Ah… Another blank page in my youthful memories.

Maybe I’ll just use my Major General authority to push this through.

Or I’ll ask Marin-chan to help blackmail someone in the finance department for the budget…

“Hey, Yuu-kun. How about attending a cultural festival at another school? For future reference.”

While I was scheming, Mina suggested.

“But wouldn’t normal high school festivals be useless for reference?”

True, seeing regular high school couples getting closer during festival prep would only deepen my despair.

“Then attend a festival at a similar special school.”

“A special school… Oh! A military preparatory school!”

That’s right. The military prep school, where students train for the military, is similar to our academy.

And Toshi-nii is there.

Just the thought of seeing Toshi-nii again was enough to cheer me up from the disappointment of not having our own festival.