General 4

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Chapter 4. Unexpectedness

"I'm back."

"Welcome back, Major Kamiya. I just made some tea, so I'll brew it for you."

Hayami-san greeted me with a beaming smile as if eagerly awaiting my return.

In her hands, she held a teapot filled with black tea.

"Oh, Hayami-san. It's sudden, but I'm leaving here."

Crash!

The teapot slipped from Hayami-san's hands and hit the ground. It was an unusual mistake for her.

"Whoa! Are you okay? Did you get hurt or burned?"

I hurriedly asked Hayami-san, but she just looked bewildered.

"What?! What's going on?"

Hayami-san trembled as she questioned me with a shaky voice.

While it might not be wise to disclose the recent orders within the military, I felt it was okay to inform Hayami-san, who would likely be my partner again, about my situation.

"My identity is almost exposed to the media. So, I'm going to attend the Special Duty Soul Armor Academy as a cover. I've been ordered to leave here immediately to prepare for that."

I relayed the gist of the conversation in the Marshal's office to Hayami-san.

"T-That's... but what about me?"

"Ah, Hayami-san, your handling wasn't particularly mentioned in the orders."

This time, it's an emergency measure to physically distance me, a minor, from the heart of the military. 

So, it's probably necessary to keep my distance from Hayami-san to avoid drawing attention to our relationship.

"I think there will be further instructions regarding you later. Well then, even though it wasn't for long, thank you for supporting me as my aide and partner during missions."

Well, we'll probably team up again during remote operations. And we'll see each other again soon.

"I refuse."

"Huh?"

From the elite female officer, Hayami-san, who usually maintains composure, came an unexpected refusal, leaving me stunned.

Looking at Hayami-san's face, she was scrunching it up.

"Despite my efforts to serve Major Kamiya..."

"Um, Hayami-san?"

"Nooh! Noooh! Nooooh way!"

Suddenly, Hayami-san raised her voice like a toddler, banging the back of the sofa and puffing out her cheeks in anger.

Ah, I've seen this scene several times on the battlefield.

It's a case where excessive stress from repeated battles leads to regressing to childhood to protect one's own mind. 

It's a phenomenon that often occurs in newly commissioned officers who are heavily burdened with responsibility from above and below.

"Hayami-san... Lieutenant Hayami-san! It's okay! I'm here!"

At times like this, yelling, "Pull yourself together!" or slapping her cheeks won't help her.

The priority is to calm and reassure.

However, seeing Hayami-san, who usually wears crisply ironed military uniform and neatly tied hair, throwing a tantrum like an undisciplined girl, was frankly quite bizarre.

I quickly moved behind Hayami-san and tried to comfort her by embracing her from behind.

"I... did my best..."

"Yeah, you did your best, Hayami-san."

"Ugh... I struggled so much for Major Yuu..."

"Yeah, I know. It must have been tough."

Being the guardian of a 15-year-old kid was tough.

I'm really sorry, Hayami-san.

But still...

Considering the flow of conversation about aides, "Yuu-sama" must be referring to me...

Because my name is Yuusuke, so Yuu-sama?

She usually calls me Major Kamiya, but behind the scenes, does she call me that?

Well, let's just ignore that for now.

Anyway, I listened to Hayami-san while affirming everything she said, trying to calm her down.

"Even though I finally earned the position as Yuu-sama's aide..."

"Yeah, yeah..."

"Being ridiculed for having a soul armor ability that can only carry one other person besides myself, I thought it would finally be useful..."

"Thanks to Hayami-san's power, our previous missions were successful. Have more confidence."

"Partnering with the hero of the battlefield, Yuu-sama, made me truly happy."

"I'm honored that you think that way."

"Planning to teach Yuu-sama, who only knows military life, everything like a big sister..."

"Yeah, yeah... Huh?"

"To eventually make Yuu-sama completely dependent on me, a plan to make him solely mine..."

"............"

"With no words of affirmation... Waaaaaaah!"

"Ah, sorry, sorry! I got too engrossed in the conversation. Th-There, there. Everything's fine."

With a strained expression, I gently stroked Hayami-san's head.

"Really...? Yuu-sama, will you become my baby?"

While sniffing and sniffling, Hayami-san, who was being embraced from behind by me, looked up at me.

Her eyes weren't just filled with tears; they seemed to sparkle with anticipation.

"N-No... That's a bit... too sudden..."

"Whyyyyyyyy!"

What's with this person?

She's revealing her inner desires too much.

Maybe it was right to keep some distance for a while, I thought, while soothing Hayami-san.