The woman tucked her velvet navy hair behind her ear with one smooth motion. Her blue eyes fixed on them over low-hanging glasses, as she looked up from the documents on her desk like a cat discovering its new favourite toy.
“And who might you two be?”
Yuuji straightened his back as he worked on forming his next words carefully. It was a simple question, but he felt like those piercing eyes were analysing his every move.
“We are new students here, my name is Ishitake Yuuji… and this is Utsunomiya Hibiki.”
Yuuji glanced back at Hibiki who had shrunk down behind him as he continued his introduction on behalf of the both of them.
“We were just getting shown around the grounds, I’m sorry we didn’t knock.”
“Hmm~, well some intrusions are indeed welcome.”
She uncrossed her slender legs and rose to her feet, lingering slightly on every act, her eyes never leaving the two of them.
“Utsonomiya-san, is it then? Don’t worry, I don’t bite.”
With an ‘Eep!’ Hibiki peeked her wide lilac eyes out from behind Yuuji’s shoulders.
“Umm… yes! But ah, you don’t have to use honorifics here…”
“We all share the same homeland here, so why not? It’ll be like a taste of home.”
Leaning forward slightly, her chest was emphasised, and the pale skin beneath her open top button drew Yuuji’s eyes before he quickly looked away with a dry cough.
“You knew we were born in Japan?”
“Oops~, I let slip.”
She gave him a wink as she chuckled softly, standing up straight once more. Her smile widened as she pushed her glasses up her nose and introduced herself properly.
“I was actually just looking over your records. I’m the resident doctor here, Dr Natsumi. But that sounds so distant, so you can call me Aoi-san.”
“Natsumi-sensei.”
She reeled back with dramatic flair, turning away with a feigned sob.
“So cold! You may not look the part, but you really are his grandson.”
Question marks appeared above Hibiki’s head as she struggled to follow along with the conversation. Her confusion was not missed by the two participants however, as Yuuji sighed while Aoi regained her mischievous smirk.
“You didn’t even tell your girlfriend?”
“-!?”
“-We’re not dating. There were just circumstances that led to us joining at the same time is all.”
“Yuuji-kun, you should learn to treat women a little more gently, and I’m sure you’ll go far.”
“I don’t see how that’s relevant here!”
Yuuji’s usually calm face had been tinted red, and he couldn’t bring himself to turn to look at Hibiki behind him, though he swore he could feel the heat from her embarrassment through his back.
“You two are as interesting as I hoped. I’ll look forward to chatting with you again… and Utsunomiya-san?”
“Y-yes!?”
Aoi lowered back into her seat behind her desk and crossed her legs again as if nothing had ever happened.
“I’ve been asked to perform regular checkups on you, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other going forward. Please keep an ear out for when you are called in.”
Despite her soul trying to escape out of her body, Hibiki forced out a small nod, to which Aoi let out a melodious chuckle, weaving her slim fingers around her pen once more.
“...Excuse us.”
Seeing their chance to escape, Yuuji pulled Hibiki back through into the hallway, nearly knocking over the sibling duo who had been leaning against the doors.
“Ah! Ahaha, sorry I just… stepped on my shoelace there.”
“...Likewise.”
As the infirmary closed shut behind them, Yuuji’s face darkened.
“I’ll remember this.”
“NO! Wait! You needed to meet her at some point right??”
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“Yeah, yeah! We were told to give you the tour, but there’s no need for us to go into the infirmary as well, right??”
Yuuji’s wrathful demeanour softened as he heard a faint laugh from beside him.
Turning with surprise, he found Hibiki giggling quietly, her cheeks slightly red as she quickly held a hand in front of her mouth.
“Oh! I-I didn’t mean to be rude. I was just thinking that you two are so similar…”
“Wha-!”
“Us!?”
Yuuji himself even stifled a laugh as he thought that even their shocked faces were the same, though they’d clearly never admit it.
While Mitra and Hema began bickering again, he glanced at Hibiki, who wore a gentle smile, and felt his heart soften.
When they had joined the academy together, he worried if he’d done the right thing. If he’d made the right choice, or just selfishly forced his will onto her.
Maybe, just maybe, this would work out.
“Hey hey Yuuji, what was that in there about your old pops? You royalty or something?”
Mitra’s infuriatingly handsome face popped up in between his thoughts, causing him to take a step back, only to realise that the other two were also listening intently.
He scratched the back of his head with a pensive expression.
“It’s not like I was trying to hide it, but I wasn’t sure how everyone would react.”
Deciding it was too late to back out now, he let out a sigh.
“My name’s Ishitake Yuuji. I’m the grandson of Ishitake Shinichiro.”
“...”
“...”
“...”
The group blinked in unison.
“Who?”
“...Are you two serious? Director Ishitake?”
“Director…”
“..?”
The siblings met eyes as their mouths swung wide open.
“THE Director!? The man said to be made of stone!?”
“The man who never smiles!? ‘He who cannot be broken’!?”
“What the hell kind of rumours do you have here…”
This was certainly not the kind of reaction he had expected. He doubted that his grandfather was a loved figure at the academy, but the reputation he had was simply bizarre.
“Umm…”
Hibiki was once again lost, as she stood on the sidelines.
“Ahh right. You remember the man who picked us up a few weeks ago? That was him.”
“That was your grandfather? You didn’t seem very close…”
Yuuji made a difficult expression and shrugged his shoulders.
“We aren’t.”
“Oh…”
“...”
“...I-I’m sorry.”
Yuuji gave a wry laugh to try and break the uncomfortable mood that settled on the group.
“No need to apologise. It’s just how we are, everyone has their circumstances, right?”
Hibiki’s eyes widened, and after a moment of thought, she tightened her fists.
“Right… you’re right!”
She returned a beaming smile that caused Yuuji’s heart to skip a beat, so he quickly addressed the two awkwardly standing beside them.
“The tour’s not done, is it? Where to next?”
“...Ah? Oh, right! Mitra, lead the way.”
“Aye aye!”
The situation in the infirmary along with the discussion they’d been having in the hallway had drawn out the time they were spending being shown around the academy, and Yuuji was slightly concerned about Conrad… Mr Pierce’s reaction when they arrived back.
Not that he thought he’d be particularly in trouble, but he would feel bad if his guides were chewed out after getting to know them a little better.
“Alright, that’s the last of the workshop rooms, the last room on our tour will be the library, your one-stop shop for books, knowledge, and private study!”
Mitra had once again become absorbed in his role, turning his hand into a makeshift megaphone… though Hema’s annoyed sighs had transformed into exaggerated gestures at every ‘stop’, so it was obvious they were both enjoying themselves.
“Are you actually coming in with us this time?”
“Might as well! Who knows, I might find a book that’s a good read I can check out.”
“...You do remember we’re supposed to be finishing up and heading back to class?”
“Ah.”
Hibiki giggled again at the sibling comedy routine. She had finally joined Yuuji in line, rather than walking a step or two behind as she had done when they first set off.
‘These two are really good at controlling the mood.’
Yuuji silently applauded Mr Pierce’s choice of guides, as he’d managed to pick a pair that was very easy to get along with, while also being diligent enough to guide them properly without totally slacking off.
Though, it was possible the choice was just to get the troublemakers out of the classroom before they disrupted too much.
“Here we are. Since we’re supposed to be in class, I doubt anyone but the librarian is around.”
Mitra stepped forward and opened the door, before scanning the room, and after finding his target gave a smile and a wave - with Hema shortly following.
Yuuji and Hibiki entered the huge room with grand sweeping bookshelves stretching over both the ground floor and up the stairs to a second-floor balcony. It was an impressive sight, and though there must have been thousands of books here, it was obvious at a glance they were extremely well-kept and organised.
“A-Ah, hello!”
Hibiki made a courteous bow to the librarian beside them as Yuuji caught himself and turned to make introductions.
But what he saw was surprising.
“...Ayumi?”
“...Yuuji-niisan!?”