It was close to eighteen o'clock in the evening when the roller operation was completed to cover the entire Tokyo area.
Shisae and I returned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and immediately went to pick up the people with abilities from various locations.
Finally, after teleporting all the metal pyramids from the cargo ship to the warehouse, I brought Uchimine back to the MIC.
“Welcome back, both of you.”
Shisae was still in the auditorium. She was doing a banzai pose with a bottle on his head. What a dexterous girl.
“What happened? Did you report your results to Director Sayuri?”
“I'm done. So I thought I'd eat this with you two.”
Shisae lowered from the top of her head a jar of fine honey.
Uchimine then asked,
“Are? What's that?”
“I got this at work today. It was Ikuo-chan's idea to get rid of the natural enemies of the bees-chan in the beekeeping area and encourage the bees-chan to do their best. The owner of the beekeeping place gave it to me as a thank-you. It was a 100% pure and high-quality product without any syrup. Now, let's go to Shisae's house and eat it with honey toast and ice cream.”
She was spinning around with a bottle in her hand. Her appearance was so young that it was hard to believe that she was a high school freshman, yet when she did it, it didn't feel fake or smell like an act.
It was truly a spontaneous and natural thing she did.
“The three of us? Me too?”
I was skeptical and wary because I had never been invited to a stranger's house, much less a girl's house before.
“Hmm? What's wrong, Ikuo-chan? Are you thinking of doing something bad? Sexually.”
“Girls don't say things like that.”
“Oops, that was a problematic comment, sexual harassment, and gender discrimination, so as a consolation payment, Ikuo-chan will teleport Shisae to and from her home.”
“Ah, you. That's what you're after, isn't it?”
She said she was going to have me send her home from the MIC joint office building because it was too much of a hassle to get back to her house.
“Hey Shisae-san, can I come too?”
“Yes, Ikuo-chan's friend is Shisae's friend.”
“Eh?”
I was puzzled.
I and Uchimine weren't friends.
But we were on the same team now, and since we shared a secret, I was hesitant to declare that we were not friends.
Before I could answer, Uchimine smiled.
“Then I and Shisae-san are friends, too.”
--A very communicative person.
As usual, I didn't like it when people treated me as a friend without my permission because it was too casual.
I didn't like the logic that we were friends only because we were assigned to the same class by the school, or because we knew each other's contact information.
But I was feeling rather relieved because of this situation.
“Then Ikuo-chan, I'll tell you my address, and let's go to Shisae's house.”
A map appeared on the MR screen that Shisae deployed, and she pointed to a certain place.
“Okui-kun, may I take your word for it?”
“Hmm, ah yes.”
I held out my hand, and Uchimine also took my hand.
With flowers physically in both hands, I tried to teleport to Shisae's house.
I was pretending to be a single person, but I wonder how it would look like from an outsider's point of view.
“Oh, and my parents aren't home right now, so don't worry about it.”
“What?”
Immediately after she dropped that line, which had no deep meaning but had to make me nervous, we disappeared from the scene.
* * *
Three days later, on Monday evening, April 16.
I and Shisae were continuing our high-speed flight over the Pacific Ocean in a small government airplane.
“But is it okay? This is outside the exclusive economic zone, right?”
I said bluntly, resting my back against the surprisingly soft seat.
I did a little research and found that since 1958, fishing on the high seas had been regulated more and more strictly each year and was now prohibited in principle.
“It’s fine it’s fine♪. Fishing outside the exclusive economic zone is prohibited, but what Shisae and her friends are doing is just guiding fish-chan and they friend Pacific Ocean fish to Japanese fishing ports, as Sayuri-chan said.”
“Listen, Shisae, a gray zone means it's not a black zone!”
“You're the type of person who shouldn't be allowed to have the most power.......”
Yareyare, I sighed heavily.
Since I started this job, I somehow sighed more than I used to.
But, strangely enough, I find myself enjoying it more than before.
The reason for this, no matter what I thought, was probably thanks to the girls.
“So, Ikuo-chan, it is your job to entertain Shisae, who continues to work to increase Japan's fish catch and solve our food problems.”
“Don't look at me with a twinkle in your eye, and don't breathe heavily, you're too close. So, what are we going to do?”
When I turned my mouth into a heap with all the caution I could muster, Shisae raised her fist.
“I'm so glad you asked! In a nutshell, I want your thoughts on the Shisae Equation for Youth! Let's start with the first chapter, "Can Friendship Between Men and Women Be Formed? Part 1 preface”.”
“Wait, you're going to give me a bathroom break, right?”
“You'll get your snack break.”
I let out a giggle, and Shisae pulled out a piece of honey toast from a basket in her hand.
“It was handmade by a beautiful E-cup high school girl.”
“Girls don't reveal their bust sizes.”
I took the honey toast in her hand, chiding Shisae for her grinning face.