After quite a bit of trouble, I finally saw daylight again.
"Sorry, sensei," Ayane said, her face slightly red after tripping once she climbed out the window and getting covered in dust. "I caused you trouble…"
Breathing in the air that somehow felt fresher now that the door was open, I shook my head. "Not at all. It was just an accident. But the facilities really do need repairs."
Ayane looked even more embarrassed. "Yes… I'll make time to handle it as soon as possible…"
She still planned to fix it herself?
"Actually, I have an idea about that," I said, holding back the details. "But let's discuss it with everyone later. For now, the priority is to get the wrench, open the valve, and see if the drinking fountain on the field works again."
"Okay! I think it should be here…"
After nodding obediently, Ayane began searching through the cluttered storage room and quickly found what she was looking for.
However, when she turned to tell me the good news, her excitement immediately turned into embarrassment.
"Ah, sorry."
It took me a moment to react before I calmly withdrew the hand I had unconsciously placed on my neck.
Ayane spoke softly, "N-no… I should be the one apologizing, sensei. I'm sorry, I couldn't control it earlier, so I accidentally used a bit too much force…"
"What!?" I exclaimed in shock. "So that wasn't a reward!?"
Perhaps because she usually handled clerical and support work, her thighs had a soft, plush feeling, yet still retained a proper firmness and elasticity.
As a cushion, I could only say the sensation was unforgettable, leaving endless room for imagination, and it even reminded me of a certain acquaintance far away in Millennium.
"A-a reward!?" Ayane cried out, then pressed her lips together. "Sensei, you're saying strange things again…"
I smiled and asked, "Do you dislike it?"
She hesitated. "It's not that I dislike it… it just feels a bit… um…"
A student like this is the classic type. If she does not dislike it, then it means she likes it.
Still, I knew better than to rush things. "Alright, since we've found the wrench, let's go."
"Okay."
So we returned to the underground pipeline area, reopened the valve that had been shut off, and hurried back to the field.
When the black-haired girl nervously twisted the faucet again, after a brief sound of water flowing, clear drinking water poured out smoothly.
"Phew…" Ayane finally relaxed. "The water is flowing properly now, sensei."
So it really was just that the valve had been turned off.
Still, being able to solve it so easily was not a bad thing.
"Thank you for your help, sensei," Ayane smiled. "I'm really glad we could fix the fountain."
"It's nothing. I just walked back and forth with you. You're the one who worked hard, Ayane."
Though, strictly speaking, most of the effort this time went into walking and opening the door.
"Ahaha…"
Ayane sighed. "Now that you mention it… yeah… I'm all dusty… and I'm really thirsty… I feel completely exhausted… Sorry, sensei, could you wait a moment? And could you hold these for me?"
As she spoke, she took off her glasses and removed her sailor uniform jacket.
Revealing a white shirt slightly damp with sweat underneath, Ayane handed me her jacket and glasses, then bent down without a care.
She cupped some cool drinking water in her hands and splashed it onto her face, washing away the dirt from when she fell earlier.
What appeared before me was a face I had not seen in a while, free from the cover of glasses, her pure beauty fully revealed.
SAUCE
"Phew…"
Letting out a refreshed breath, Ayane turned off the faucet and tilted her head, looking toward me with slightly unfocused golden eyes.
"Um… sensei? You're there, right?"
"Yeah, I'm here."
She smiled shyly. "Without my glasses… things are a bit blurry."
I sighed softly. "It's been a long time since I've seen you without your glasses."
"Huh? Ah, I do usually keep them on all the time. Now that I think about it, I've only taken them off in front of you once… no… wait… huh?"
Her face suddenly turned red again.
I clearly remembered there were actually two times.
One was when she came to Schale on duty, and we read the book I gave her together. Her eyes got tired, so she took off her glasses.
At the time, I had intended to do something, but seeing her pure smile, I held myself back.
And the other time…
It went back to when Ayane and the others from the Foreclosure Task Force stayed overnight at Schale.
Taking advantage of the atmosphere then, what I had planned to do, and what Ayane had prepared herself for, the same as before, was interrupted by Mutsuki. Since then, there had not been a proper chance to continue.
Perhaps it was the weather, but even my mood felt a little heated.
"…Ayane," I said in a low voice, "I've always thought you're very cute."
"Ah… sensei, saying that so suddenly makes me embarrassed…"
This might work.
Just as I was about to press further, I was interrupted.
"Sensei…" Ayane pressed her lips together. "Actually, I… ahaha, my face feels so hot, and my heart is beating so fast… please wait just a moment."
She washed her face again, took a few deep breaths, and gathered her courage.
"Sensei, I'm ready now. The thing we didn't finish last time when we were alone… huh?"
At that moment, Ayane suddenly narrowed her eyes.
"Sensei… your chest… why does it look a bit… pink…?"
In the next instant, her pupils shrank, her body stiffening as if she had seen something terrifying.
"Uhee~"
Standing in front of me, Hoshino let out a meaningful laugh.
"Of course, that's because of me! I always thought Ayane-chan was such a proper and capable girl. I didn't expect you to be so bold."
"Wah!? H-Hoshino-senpai!?"
But that was not all.
Another gentle voice followed. "Ayane-chan, you said you were alone with sensei just now?"
Then a calm voice added, "Ayane, what were you planning to do with sensei?"
"Nonomi-senpai? Shiroko-senpai? Why are you all here!?"
With her vision still blurry, Ayane was already so overwhelmed just from their voices that she looked ready to faint.
"And also," finally, even Serika spoke up with confusion, "I remember I specifically turned off the field's water valve two days ago. Why is there water now? Did one of you turn it back on? We don't use it much, and the showers are only ten minutes away. Leaving it on is such a waste of water!"
The culprit revealed herself just like that, and her reasoning was almost comical.
Meanwhile, Ayane, whose embarrassed state had been completely exposed, suffering the same fate as the others before her, trembled all over, her lips quivering.
In the end, she could not take it anymore.
"WAHHHHHH"
The black-haired girl crouched down, clutching her head, letting out a despairing cry.
"Huh? Ayane, are you okay?" The kind-hearted Serika hurried over to comfort her.
But at this point, it was too late.
"Uwaaah! It's all your fault! All your fault!"
"What did I do? It's not like I stopped you from being with sensei… ahem. I mean, doing that…"
"You're still saying it! You're still saying it! Uwaaah…"
Seeing this, the rest of us also stepped forward to comfort the crying Ayane.
But I noticed that while Hoshino was saying comforting words, her gaze was not on Ayane.
The president of the Foreclosure Task Force, who had once declared that they should advance and retreat together, turned her heterochromatic eyes meaningfully toward the one person who stood out the most in the current group.
Her gaze seemed to say:
"You're next, Nonomi."