Though A was responsible for Ati’s life education, the two didn’t stick together every day. In fact, there were days when they didn’t see each other at all.
When they did stick together, it wasn’t so much that A was taking Ati around, but rather Ati stubbornly followed A around, obsessively observing how A lived.
However, since A’s role was life education and not babysitting, A occasionally created opportunities for Ati to spend time with other teams.
One such day was today. A was on engineer duty in the hangar, while the pilot team was out scouting the ship’s movement route in their fighters.
A couldn’t keep Ati in the hangar every time, so A instructed Ati to join the pilot team for the scouting mission. Ati obediently boarded their robot and set out with the pilot team.
“Hmph—!”
As shift change time approached and the pilot team hadn’t returned yet, A stretched and wondered what to do.
“Siera’s with them, so they’ll contact us.”
Since Siera, who’d been with A much longer than Ati, was accompanying Ati, A wasn’t too worried and headed to the locker room to change into their uniform.
“Theo.”
After changing, A spotted Theo preparing for the evening engineer shift in the hangar and approached him. Theo, sitting in a maintenance robot and checking the system, noticed A and waved.
“What’s up?”
“I’m off duty now. The pilot team that went out for reconnaissance hasn’t returned yet. Let Siera and Ati know I left early.”
“You’re not waiting?”
“Wait for what? I’m off duty today, so I’m going back to my room to watch some dramas.”
“Got it. I’ll let your wife and daughter know.”
“I’ll kill you.”
Teo, who’d recently started teasing A by calling Ati his daughter and Siera his wife, was met with a brief curse from A, who had grown used to such jokes from the team. A then left the hangar.
On the way back to the dorm, A pondered what to eat while watching dramas and decided to head to the combat information center in the headquarters building to check with Klugger on when the scouting team would return.
A familiar route later, A arrived at the combat information center, saluted the officers on duty, and approached Klugger, who was at the watch desk.
“Off duty?”
“Yeah. Any idea when the pilot team’s returning?”
“Hold on.”
At A’s question, Klugger fiddled with the optical panel and brought up a map of the ship’s surroundings on the small monitor in front of him.
“Looks like it’ll be a while.”
Seeing the map, A confirmed that the pilot team still had some time before returning, patted Klugger on the shoulder, and said, “Hang in there,” before leaving the combat information center.
Now, A thought, I’ll just head to my room and watch dramas. But as A walked, a familiar face in the distance caught their attention, making their eyes widen.
Two women stood there, one with long platinum hair, an eyepatch over her right eye, and wearing a uniform—Esmeralda.
The woman who noticed A and looked surprised wasn’t Esmeralda but the woman standing next to her.
She had long silver hair and wore the same uniform as Esmeralda. She had also noticed A and smiled warmly.
“Captain Angelique!”
A is currently part of the 54th Air Squadron, but before joining, A had been in the infantry during their time on their home planet, and Angelique had been A’s direct superior then.
While A had seen her occasionally since joining the air squadron, it was rare, so A quickly ran over and saluted her.
“It’s been a while. What brings you here?”
“Esmeralda wanted to see me for a bit. A, are you doing well?”
Angelique, with her calm voice and gentle smile, looked at A, who was taller than her, and placed a hand on A’s head, giving them a pat.
“You’re not still getting angry at your team members, are you?”
“When have I ever done that? I’ve been doing well, both then and now.”
Esmeralda, who’d been watching, chuckled at A’s blatant lie.
“Well—. A’s been working hard, after all.”
To A, Angelique was like a benefactor, and Angelique had trusted A quite a bit when A was under her command. The two didn’t hide their joy at seeing each other after so long.
“Aren’t you getting a bit too hands-on with someone else’s subordinate?”
Esmeralda, A’s current superior, felt a slight twinge of jealousy but kept a smile on her face as she spoke.
“What’s the big deal? I only see them once in a while.”
Esmeralda and Angelique had known each other for a long time. Though Esmeralda was slightly older, their long-standing friendship as Spacystro peers of the same rank made age irrelevant.
“Well, this works out. A, you’re off duty, right?”
“Yes. I just got off duty, but…”
“Then let’s go together.”
“Huh?”
Inside Spacystro’s ship, numerous facilities were implemented. The massive ship that traveled through space was equipped with a national-scale system, so it wasn’t just a military organization.
Besides military personnel, civilians also lived on the ship, and various amenities were available to ensure everyone lived in a better environment.
In front of the 54th Air Squadron headquarters was a large urban area, naturally filled with all sorts of entertainment facilities.
Esmeralda, wanting to have a drink with Angelique after so long, led them to a pub, where they ordered drinks and snacks. A sat quietly, glancing between the two sitting across from them.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing. I was just wondering if it’s okay for me to be here.”
Though A was happy to see Angelique again, they weren’t sure if they should be intruding on a long-awaited reunion between friends.
“I don’t mind. Let’s catch up.”
“Alright, understood.”
Angelique smiled at A, and seeing that their superiors were fine with their presence, A relaxed.
“How have you been?”
Angelique, who remembered A’s often intense demeanor during missions as a soldier in the infantry, was curious about A’s recent life.
She knew A was currently working as an engineer, but given the dynamic nature of the job, which often involved situations akin to combat, she wondered if anything unusual had happened.
“Nothing special. A Biroid recently joined the air squadron, and I’m in charge of their life education.”
“A, handling that alone?”
“Yes. Esmeralda assigned it to me…”
Naturally, their gazes turned to Esmeralda, who had been sitting quietly. Feeling their eyes on her, Esmeralda looked away.
Angelique’s eyes seemed to ask, “Why A?” and A’s eyes also seemed to say, “Why me?”
“It’s life education. A’s the engineer team leader, so I thought they could show them various environments.”
“But considering my usual behavior, wouldn’t you normally avoid assigning me something like this?”
“Exactly.”
As Esmeralda mentioned, A handled important duties in the hangar, making them a suitable candidate for showing diverse environments.
However, A’s usual behavior wasn’t something they could proudly showcase. It wasn’t that they did anything bad, but their often blunt words could negatively impact education.
Knowing A’s personality well, Angelique agreed with A’s assessment. A was slightly shocked that even the ever-kind and gentle Angelique saw them as overly intense.
“I assigned it to you so you could fix that.”
“……”
As Esmeralda answered their curiosity, the server placed their drinks on the table, and A poured the drinks into glasses.
“I acknowledge A’s abilities. I know their record as a soldier, and I remember their time as a pilot. And since taking on the role of engineer, they’ve been doing well as team leader.”
A, who was a bit intimidated by Esmeralda, given her military family background, scratched their head awkwardly at the sudden praise.
“But I thought it’d be good if they toned down the behavior that’s easy to misunderstand. And assigning them life education would make them reflect on themselves.”
A sighed wryly at Esmeralda’s accurate prediction of the changes that would come with taking on life education.
“What’s wrong?”
Wondering if things hadn’t gone as she expected, Esmeralda, holding her glass, asked A, who clinked their glass with hers, smiled slightly, and said, “You saw right through me.”
“Right?”
Confirming that things had gone as she anticipated, Esmeralda smiled and took a sip of her drink.
“How do you feel about handling life education?”
“It was a bit overwhelming at first, but lately… no, even now, there’s still a lot that catches me off guard.”
“In what way?”
A then recalled the past few weeks spent with Ati. Ati, who was overly straightforward and heavily influenced by their environment, often stubbornly clung to their own ideas, making A want to punch them at times.
But after realizing the root of the behavior was A themselves, A started being more careful with their words and actions. Ati, in turn, stopped being so stubborn, and every time A reflected on themselves, they were surprised by Ati’s changes.
“……Now I get why my parents would send me to my room whenever they argued.”
This unexpected reflection made Esmeralda and Angelique burst into laughter.
It wasn’t just the sentiment, but A’s overly serious expression clearly conveyed the struggles of handling life education.
“Well, personal education has a bigger impact than team-based education.”
Esmeralda, who rarely laughed out loud, was laughing so hard it brought tears to her eyes. Just imagining the unexpected situations A had faced made her unable to stop laughing.
“I’ve done team-based life education before, but this is so different that I’m constantly surprised.”
“But since Esmeralda hasn’t received any complaints, it seems you’re doing well?”
“I’m doing my best.”
Angelique, who’d been clutching her stomach from laughing, finally calmed down, while A gave a wry smile every time they answered questions about life education.
Then, the pub’s door swung open loudly, and all three turned to see Siera and Ati standing there.
“Captain Angelique! It’s been a while!”
Siera, who’d also once been under Angelique’s command, immediately saluted her. Angelique responded with a gentle, “Hello,” and invited Siera to sit.
Ati, who’d taken the seat next to A, stared intently at Angelique, who smiled back.
“Hello.”
“……Senior, who is this?”
“She’s my former captain when I was in the infantry. She’s here to see Captain Esmeralda today.”
Ati nodded at A’s explanation and looked back at Angelique, who was still smiling, seemingly wanting to greet Ati.
“Angelique, this is the Biroid I’m in charge of for life education. Her name is Ati.”
“Is that so? Hello, Ati.”
Ati seemed a bit wary of the unfamiliar woman, but A pressed Ati’s head, prompting her to greet Angelique.
“What do you do when someone greets you first?”
“I return the greeting.”
“Then greet her.”
“……Hello.”
Accepting Ati’s greeting, Angelique found the awkward Ati adorable and looked between Siera, A, and Ati sitting side by side.
Feeling Angelique scrutinizing them, the three tilted their heads in unison, and Angelique couldn’t resist asking the question on her mind.
“……You two didn’t have a child, did you?”
“No!”
“No way!”
A and Siera’s faces turned red as they shouted simultaneously, while Esmeralda, aware of the rumors circulating in the hangar for fun, couldn’t hold back her laughter.
Meanwhile, at the launch bay of the 54th Air Squadron’s first hangar.
“As soon as they heard A was off duty…”
After confirming the pilot team’s return, Theo informed Siera and Ati via communication that A had left. The two didn’t even properly park their fighters and robots, just left them in the launch bay and quickly exited the hangar.
Though the launch bay was a part of the hangar, Theo was surprised that the two didn’t even do a basic check before leaving.
“Guess it’s up to me.”
Knowing the recent atmosphere around A, Theo decided to let A handle the mess and began checking the returned fighters with the on-duty team.
And in a corner of the launch bay, unnoticed, something squirmed within the gaps of Ati’s new robot.
