Gekko Hayate stared at the smile across the table for a full two seconds.
Then, bowl in hand, he discreetly leaned back, putting a little more distance between them.
"Are you sure you're really all right... Hayashi...?"
"That smile of yours is scaring your teacher a little..."
Hayashi hurriedly reined in the slightly sinister curve of his lips, put both hands on his knees, and sat up perfectly straight.
"Of course I am. You must be seeing things, Hayate-sensei."
"Oh..."
Gekko Hayate nodded dubiously, lowered his head, and took a sip of miso soup, letting the matter drop.
"We can take you along on patrol. But why did you suddenly decide you wanted to work with us?"
"Well, obviously-"
"He's probably just worried about you."
Uzuki Yugao glanced helplessly between the adult and the child and answered for him.
"Besides, Hayashi could never sit still."
With his cover blown on the spot, Hayashi swallowed the words "I want to keep an eye on Hayate-sensei every day" and buried his head in his food.
Gekko Hayate's chopsticks paused briefly. Then he lowered his head and gave a quiet cough without replying.
Only the tips of his ears felt faintly warm.
Yugao turned, gave it some serious thought, then looked at Hayate.
"I think keeping Hayashi where we can see her is better than letting her wander around alone. If she wants to come along, just take her with you, Hayate."
Gekko Hayate set down his bowl and considered it carefully.
That makes sense.
Better to have this headstrong kid follow behind me than run off somewhere strange and get hurt.
The patrol route is fixed. If anything happens, I'll notice right away.
I'll report it to the Third afterward. There shouldn't be any problems.
He raised his head, looked across