Right after we reach Haneda Airport,I follow Amesaki-senpai and the rest of the civil servants to board the plane that will take us to Ireland. They already know which gate we have to go, so they didn’t even stop to look at the electronic bulletin boards that show all the different flights available for the day.

   It’s sort of holiday seasons right now, so the airport is quite packed with people who are waiting to board a plane or just got down from one. Their curious stares make me quite conscious that I’m the only student among all the suit-wearing civil servant.

   ‘Um, Miu? Gate O is that way.’ Motome-senpai tells Amesaki-senpai while pointing at an opposite direction of where we are.

   ‘I, um, I know that.’ Amesaki-senpai says while looking a little bit embarrassed.

   She then turns around and leads us towards the real gate we’re supposed to enter.

   Motome-senpai lets out a sigh.

   ‘You really ought to concentrate, Miu.’ she chides. ‘Don’t you want to show your cool side to Kagenashi-kun?’

   ‘W-Why are you bringing up Kagenashi-kun all of a sudden?’ Amesaki-senpai demands.

   Motome-senpai grins mischievously. ‘You know and I know very well why.’

   ‘Enough chit-chat. The journey to Ireland is long, so we have to depart as soon as possible!’ Amesaki-senpai says in an attempt to end the conversation.

   Motome-senpai chuckles. ‘Sure sure, Squad Leader.’

   She then turns around to look at me.

   ‘Do you want to get something from the stores before we board the plane?’ she asks. ‘Some snacks perhaps? Or a drink?’

   ‘Will we be served food on the plane?’ I ask just to confirm.

   ‘We will.’ she assures me.

   ‘Then I don’t have anything that I want to get. Thank you for the offer, however.’

   ‘In that case, let’s go.’

   Unlike all the other gates I passed by, Gate O doesn’t have any metal detectors nor baggage scanner. They have two armed guards at the entrance and that’s about it.

   ‘He’s with us.’ Amesaki-senpai tells the guards while gesturing towards me.

   The two of them nod and didn’t voice any protest when I pass through them.

   I follow the civil servants to a walkway where a plane is parked right outside. I was expecting to see a huge plane that the military use. You know, those with multiple propellers? Instead, I’m looking at a regular plane you won’t find out of place at an airport.

   Amesaki-senpai looks at the plane with a surprised expression.

   ‘Where’s the usual plane that we use to travel?’ she asks Motome-senpai.

   ‘Oh, that one? We’re not using it today.’

   ‘And why not?’

   ‘That plane needs to be repaired.’

   ‘I’m sure it’s not the only military plane that we have.’

   ‘All of them are under repair or maintenance.’

   ‘Hmm, that can’t be helped then.’

   I can’t believe that Motome-senpai just made up such an obvious lie. Anyone minus Amesaki-senpai could see through it in an instant. Of course, Amesaki-senpai is a special kind of airhead, which is why she was fooled.

   Six air stewardesses greet us at the entrance to the plane.

   ‘Welcome. All of us here will do our best to make sure that each and everyone of you will be comfortable throughout the duration of the flight.’ one of them tells us.

   ‘Thank you very much.’ Amesaki-senpai tells them in return.

   ‘You’re Kagenashi Akira-sama, correct?’ another sir stewardess asks me.

   That question caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting them to know my name.

   ‘Yes. Yes I am.’

   ‘Allow me to bring you to your seat.’

   ‘Please wait. I’m getting a special seat or something?’

   ‘That’s right.’

   ‘Um, okay.’

   I wonder what’s with the special treatment. I’m just a student from the Academy, not some VIP who needs to be protected and pampered.

   The seat I got is at the first rows of seats. Those of you who have got on a plane would know these seats better as the First Class. I’ve never bought a plane ticket before, but I’m pretty sure that a ticket for a First Class seat is much more expensive than one from the Economy Class. And I actually get to enjoy my flight on one of these seats.

   The seat is made of leather, and it’s actually a massage chair. There’s a medium-sized screen right behind the divider between seats so that I could watch movies or something.

   Of course, Amesaki-senpai’s seat is right next to mine. The person herself is quite surprised, but I saw this coming a mile away.

   ‘I’m pretty sure your colleagues and even the PM arranged this.’ I say drily after she settled down on her seat.

   ‘I wish they would just mind their own business.’ she grumbles.

   Motome-senpai and the other civil servants didn’t even bother to hide their grin when they were passing by us and sit down somewhere further from us. Their squad leader straight up refused to look at them and pretended that she has fallen asleep.

   Before the plane takes off, there’s an announcement from the pilot. He tells us his name, that it’s a great honor for him to be our pilot today, the trip from Japan to Ireland will take twelve hours and a half, and wish us an enjoyable trip.

   ‘I know that he’s just being polite, but I sure can’t have an enjoyable trip if we’re heading to our destination for a potentially dangerous mission.’ I say to Amesaki-senpai after hearing the last part of the announcement.

   ‘I know how you feel, but he’s right. We’re stuck here anyway, so we might as well relax. We can be more serious when we’re about to reach our destination.’

   For the first few hours, all we did were watching movies quietly. I couldn’t help but notice that Amesaki-senpai is keep on watching the same movie as I am, but for all I know that was just a coincidence. Then again, maybe not.

   ‘The movie was good for the most part. I didn’t like the ending very much, though.’ she tells me her opinion of the movie. ‘What do you think, Kagenashi-kun?’

   ‘Like you said, the ending was terrible. Besides that, some of the characters were kind of poorly written.’

   I have some other opinions than just these, but I know better than to rant for hours about it. The last time I did it back in my old world... let’s just say it didn’t went well.

   ‘Shall we watch another one?’

   ‘Yes.’

   Oh. So this is like we’re in a theater where both of us are watching the same movie. How slow of me to catch on.

   Halfway through watching our second movie, an air-stewardess comes over and serves us lunch. We’re given three choices with different variations of main course.

   I asked for a lamb shoulder with roasted sweet potatoes and pumpkins and green salads for side dishes. As for Amesaki-senpai, she got baked salmon fillet with sides of roasted potatoes and butter-glazed asparagus. The two of us have the same appetizers and desserts, with the appetizer being cream of wild mushroom soup and a piece of bread roll to go with the soup. For the dessert, we’re served some cut fruits and a piece of Red Velvet cake.

   ‘Would you like to have some drinks? Fruit juice? Soft drinks?’ the air-stewardess asks us.

   ‘Black coffee, please.’ Amesaki-senpai tells her.

   ‘I would like some water.’ I request.

   Amesaki-senpai raises her eyebrow.

   ‘It’s really rare for someone to ask for mere water. Do you have some sort of sickness that prevents you from enjoying anything else?’ she asks me once the air-stewardess serves us our drink and leaves.

   ‘Not at all. I just don’t like them. Usually, I would only drink water or iced chocolate.’

   ‘That’s quite a, unique taste you got there.’

   ‘I get that a lot.’

   We eat in silence at the beginning. For some reason, Amesaki-senpai’s keep on stealing glances at me.

   ‘Is something wrong, senpai?’ I finally ask.

   She flinches at my sudden question.

   ‘I, um, I’m wondering whether you would like to try my salmon…’ she stutters.

   ‘Oh, is that it? Yes, I would love to.’

   She cuts a piece of salmon into smaller pieces with her knife, then she uses her fork to spear one. She then puts the fork near to my mouth.

   ‘Say ah~.’

   I open my mouth without a single hint of hesitation, then closes it once she puts the meat inside my mouth. I give it a few good chews before swallowing.

   Even though I’m being calm, Amesaki-senpai is anything but that. Her face is completely red, and she’s so embarrassed she’s covering her face with both her hands.

   ‘This is so embarrassing! How could couples do this all the time?’ I hear her muffled voice say.

   ‘Is it really that embarrassing?’

   She stops covering her face with her hands.

   ‘It is! If you think it’s not much of a big deal, why don’t you do it, then?’

   I shrug since it really is no big deal. ‘If you want me to.’

   I proceed to feed her with a piece of my lamb shoulder. With a still-red face, she chomps it down.

   ‘I guess you’re used to this since you have lots of girlfriends.’ she grumbles while munching.

   ‘It’s bad manners to talk while you’re still in the middle of chewing your food, senpai.’ I remind her.

   She makes sure to swallow the lamb before she talks.

   ‘Sakuya warned me that you’re a mean bully. I can see that she was telling the truth.’ she continues to say.

   ‘It’s not my fault. You were the one who initiated it.’

   A pause.

   ‘Wait, you actually talked to Sakuya-senpai about me?’ I ask her.

   ‘Well, I needed some advise in order to sedu-um, I mean, become close with you!’

   ‘I, I see…’

   I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear toe word she used right before she corrected herself.

   ‘So, should we watch some more movies?’

   ‘I-I agree!’

   After watching three movies in a row, my eyes are starting to get tired. I decide to stop watching so that I could rest my eyes. Amesaki-senpai stops watching as well the moment I turned off the screen. I look at the time. Around six more hours to go.

   ‘We could talk about random things while you rest your eyes.’ Amesaki-senpai suggests after she saw my look of despair.

   ‘That’s a wonderful idea.’ I agree.

   ‘What do you usually do in your free times?’

   ‘Well, I either try out new recipes, watch animes or play games.’

   She chuckles. ‘No offence, but you’re not really an outdoor person, are you?’

   ‘Not at all. I prefer to stay inside my room if possible. What about you, senpai?’

   ‘I love to go hiking and diving.’

   ‘Ah, a real outdoor person, I see.’

   She suddenly lets out a light gasp.

   ‘It doesn’t mean that I don’t like the indoors, okay? I still love to watch movies and stuff.’ she tells me a little nervously.

   ‘And I don’t mind going outside every once in a while, so you don’t have to be that worried.’

   ‘I see. Does that mean you would go mountain hiking or sea diving with me one day?’

   ‘Of course. I would love to.’

   ‘It’s a promise, then!’ she says happily.

   ‘Not to ruin the atmosphere right now, but I’m pretty sure that we get to go diving after we landed.’

   Her expression turns serious at once.

   ‘True. Even if we managed to stop those fishmen from attacking the villages, we might end up fighting them in their natural habitat.’

   ‘Have you ever fought underwater, senpai?’

   ‘Twice.’ she answers. ‘I could get a steady supply of oxygen by utilizing my wind magic, but my movements are much slower while I was diving. As such, I had some hard time. I was lucky that I was only fighting some mermaids, or I might have been in serious trouble.’

   Now that surprised me.

   ‘You, senpai? In trouble?’ I ask. ‘You can’t be serious.’

   She gives out a small laugh. ‘Is that so surprising? I’m not invincible, you know. Even I will end up fighting at a disadvantage at times. I’ve trained extra hard so that I could fight better while I was diving, but I doubt I can fight a strong opponent who excels underwater. When that time comes, I would have to rely on you.’

   ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea, senpai. I may be able to breath freely and fight normally while I’m submerged, I don’t think I’m strong enough to fight something or someone really strong.’

   It’s true. I’ve indeed taken on a few missions related to getting rid of some aquatic Destroyers that were being a threat to the wildlife that lives under the sea, but none of them were above A Rank. As such, I’m not exactly confident with my ability.

   ‘Well, this is a good time to improve. If you think you’re weak, do something about it. Most importantly, stop thinking that you’ll be a burden. No matter the results, no one is going to blame you for it. If there are, I’ll personally make sure that the person won’t bring it up ever again.’

   ‘Thank you for your advise, senpai. And thank you for being all prepared to stand up for me.’

   ‘Think nothing of it.’

   We stop talking for a while since it’s time for dinner. This time, both of us got steak with mashed potatoes, a prawn bisque with a piece of garlic bread, and a fruit pudding.

   ‘I know I’m not supposed to say this, but I sure could get used to this.’ I say while digging in.

   Amesaki-senpai chuckles. ‘True. It’s nice to have a luxurious meal like you have all the money in the world every once in a while.’

   ‘Don’t you get to have that privilege since all of you work directly for the PM himself.’ I ask curiously.

   ‘It’s true that our pay is much higher than a regular civil servant. However, spending hard-earned money on luxury items like this should not be encouraged at all costs.’

   She suddenly gets all flustered.

   ‘There’s also the issue of my weight…’ she mumbles while twirling her index fingers.

   I guess Amesaki-senpai is still a maiden who cares about her weight.

   ‘Say, Kagenashi-kun? Are you the type who prefer thin girls?’ she asks me nervously.

   ‘Not at all. Thin or fat, same race or no, I only care about a girl’s inner side.’ I answer.

   This was the answer I prepared if a girl ever asked me the same question back in my old world. I never had the chance to use it back then, but I can’t believe that I have the chance do do so now.

   My answer made her brighten up at once.

   ‘I-I see…’

   She then gasps.

   ‘Even so, a lavish lifestyle is out of the question.’ she tells me firmly.

   ‘You’re right, senpai. I apologize for my worthless question.’ I tell her.

   She shakes her head.

   ‘There’s no such thing as a worthless question. We humans are destined to learn something until we die. Asking questions and getting answers is one of the methods. If you don’t know something, ask. That’s all there is to it.’

   ‘Wow, senpai. You kind of sound like a teacher.’

   I start to think that I said something wrong as she has a melancholy look on her face.

   ‘Did I say something wrong?’ I ask.

   She shakes her head again. ‘Not at all. It’s just that, my dream job used to be a teacher.’

   ‘If that’s true, why are you working as a civil servant?’

   She lets out a regretful sigh.

   ‘As someone with the strength to protect, that choice was never an option for me. Don’t get me wrong. I love this job of mine too. Still, I would have chosen to be a teacher if I was given a second choice.’

   ‘But, you could be a teacher at the Academy so that you can teach the students about everything you know!’ I argue.

   ‘I know that. The thing is, there were so much peer pressure I became a civil servant without a second thought.’

   I decide to drop the subject. If she’s putting her duty over her personal desire, there’s nothing I can do to persuade her.

   ‘Please don’t tell any of my colleagues about this. Especially Nao.’ she pleads.

   ‘Don’t worry, senpai. Your secret is safe with me.’ I promise.

   ‘Thank you.’

   We continue to chat normally like the previous conversation wasn’t real. We talked about almost anything that comes to our mind. The Academy, missions we took on, Destroyers, Lost Children. A few hours later, we’ve finally reached Ireland.

   Under normal circumstances, if we depart from Japan during the morning, we should arrive at Ireland during the nighttime of that day after twelve and a half hours. However, Japan’s time is 8 hours ahead of Ireland. In other words, it’s still afternoon when we step outside the plane.

   ‘Did you two had fun on the plane?’ Motome-senpai asks Amesaki-senpai and I while grinning as we’re walking towards the exit.

   Amesaki-senpai didn’t bother to answer her. All she did was pout and averts her gaze.

   ‘Oh, come on. Are you still mad that we didn’t tell you anything about our transport?’

   ‘Hmph!’

   Motome-senpai looks at me.

   ‘Well, there you go. She can be a bit difficult, but please take care of her.’ she tells me.

   ‘Um, sure?’

   ‘Don’t say anything unnecessary, Nao!’

   ‘Oh, now you feel like talking to me?’

   More armored vehicles are waiting outside, and more people in suits. I assume that they’re sent by the Irish government. After a quick greeting, we go inside the vehicles so that they could transport us to our destination.