I’m Just an Ordinary Clown at the Academy

132 – Practical Training

I’m currently the happiest person at the academy… no, on the continent. The reason is the soft touch on the back of my head and the gentle fingers stroking my hair.

“…….Yes?”

Ah, along with the beautiful voice whispering in my ear.

If this isn’t heaven, then where can be called heaven?

It’s been over a month since I made Yohanna’s knee my personal pillow, and I’ve never gotten tired of it.

When I first saw Yohanna, I never thought we’d become so close.

Before coming here, Yohanna was just my one-sided favorite, and when I first met her, it was amazing to see her in person. Then, I suddenly found myself comfortably resting on her knee.

I don’t know how to describe my relationship with Yohanna right now.

In the two months I’ve been here, I’ve learned more about Yohanna than I did in 10 years of playing the game.

As I think about my relationship with Yohanna, she asks again.

“…….Yes?”

She speaks in a softer voice, as if she’s worried I might be sleeping.

That small consideration made me smile slightly.

“I’m not asleep yet.”

I thought it would be fun to pretend to be sleeping and not respond to Yohanna’s words.

“…. Yeah.”

I felt a sense of longing in Yohanna’s voice when she spoke, as if she knew I wasn’t asleep. Maybe that’s just my imagination.

I closed my eyes and entrusted my body to Yohanna, and we had a lot of conversations.

“Senior, how’s your life at the academy lately?”

“It’s normal. How about you?”

“I’m normal too.”

“It’s good to be normal.”

“Yeah, I think being normal and peaceful like this is the best.”

“Why don’t we buy some skewers and eat them while we’re on patrol later?”

“We can’t eat while we’re on patrol…”

“Aww, don’t say such stiff things. If it’s just us, no one will find out.”

“….. Then just one.”

“One on the way, one on the way back. How about that?”

“………….. Yeah.”

“………. So I was really regretful yesterday. We could have reached the professor, but we messed up our timing at the last minute.”

“We’ll succeed next time.”

“Wow! Are you cheering me on, senior?”

“Yeah.”

“I feel like I could beat Professor Elisia right now. Should I go to the staff room and challenge her?”

“No way. Now is the time for us to rest.”

“Okay~.”

“But doesn’t it look like I’m the only one lying down right now?”

“…. I’m stretching my legs too.”

“Is that so~?”

“That’s right.”

“Suddenly, I had a thought. We often call this position ‘knee pillow’, right?”

“Yeah.”

“But the part where my head is right now is closer to your thigh than your knee, so shouldn’t we call it ‘thigh pillow’ instead of ‘knee pillow’?”

“…….. Pervert”

“Why is that???”

As we chatted about various topics, the conversation theme became tangled in my hair.

Yohanna grasped my hair and opened her mouth.

“….. Your hair, it’s gotten really long.”

“I thought so too. I checked last night, and my bangs were trying to cover my eyes.”

When I’m training or attending classes, I wear a mask, so I don’t really pay attention to my bangs.

But when I wake up and try to wash my hair, or when I’m lying on Yohanna’s knee like this without a mask, my bangs bother me.

“I realized I haven’t cut my hair since I came to the academy.”

Suddenly, I felt curious.

How had Yohanna’s hair changed compared to when we first met?

The way to resolve my curiosity was simple.

I opened my eyes, which had been closed for comfort, and…

Our eyes met, as if Yohanna had been staring at me.

I opened my eyes to look at her hair, but my gaze was fixed on Yohanna’s eyes.

“”……………………””

Both Yohanna and I just looked at each other without saying a word.

Yohanna’s blue eyes were as clear as I had ever seen them.

We forgot the flow of time and just stared at each other’s eyes.

Yohanna was the first to turn her head and avert her gaze.

I finally turned my attention to Yohanna’s hair. It was the same as when we first met.

When we first met… no, when I first saw her in the game, her platinum blonde hair was still beautiful.

Even though I saw it every day, I couldn’t help but stare in awe.

“Where did you get your hair cut, senior?”

“I had someone come to my house.”

As expected, celebrities are different.

I had expected her to go to a famous salon, but I didn’t think someone would come to her house.

Or maybe it’s more natural for a celebrity to have someone come to their house?

I’ll ask Clara about it later.

She’ll definitely answer if I ask her persistently, even if she says it’s none of my business at first.

“What about you?”

“I cut it myself.”

I was surprised to hear that Yohanna cut her own hair, and she looked at me with slightly widened eyes.

“Really?”

“It’s easier to cut than I thought.”

“Yeah.”

It’s usually more likely to mess up when you cut your own hair, but I have a fantasy about it.

I can simulate how it would turn out if I cut it a certain way.

“If it gets too long, it’s hard to cut, so I trim it once a week, but after coming to the academy, I got busy and forgot to cut it.”

“It still looks great now.”

Yohanna said, stroking my hair.

“Why don’t we grow it out for once?”

“That sounds good too.”

“How about cutting it really short?”

“That sounds good too.”

“A mohawk?”

“………That sounds good too.”

At this point, it’s like I’m just a macro, isn’t it?

I think Yohanna would agree to anything I say.

“Shaved head?”

“……………..”

It doesn’t seem like I’ll get a shaved head.

“Do you have a hairstyle in mind, senior?”

“Can I do whatever I want with my hair?”

“It doesn’t matter, does it? After all, you’re the only one who’s seen my face, and you’re also the only one who can ask me what hairstyle suits me.”

“…………..”

Yohanna turned her head away, avoiding my gaze,

As if lost in thought.

An awkward silence hung in the air, and Yohanna opened her tightly closed lips.

“I liked it best when we first met.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll just cut it like this, I suppose.”

“Can I watch you get your hair cut?”

“It doesn’t matter, but it’s not exactly an entertaining sight.”

“I still want to.”

I continued to chat with Yohanna, unable to stop.

Although I knew I needed to rest, I couldn’t help but keep talking to Yohanna.

.

.

‘Finally, tomorrow.’

Yesterday, I taught Sephia all the patterns, and I’m also prepared. I’ve made contact in advance, and I received the item I requested from Professor Idra a month ago.

‘Ah, right. I forgot to tell Yohanna.’

I was supposed to tell her as soon as we met today, but I got too caught up in our conversation and forgot.

“Senior.”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to train tomorrow.”

Tomorrow is the weekend, so I won’t be going to the academy, but even on weekends, I still have morning training.

“Why?”

Tomorrow is the day Sephia finally gets her revenge.

But I couldn’t tell Yohanna about it.

Even if it’s Yohanna, I couldn’t carelessly reveal Sephia’s revenge plan.

But I didn’t want to lie to Yohanna either.

In the end, all I could do was say something that wasn’t a lie, but was far from the truth.

“I might have to go somewhere early tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll go with you.”

Yohanna said firmly, without hesitation.

If tomorrow’s plan wasn’t about Sephia’s revenge, I would’ve gone with Yohanna.

“I’m sorry. It looks like I won’t be able to go with you this time, senior.”

With a firm tone, I said to Yohanna, who was making a cute face.

“If I still go, then what?”

If Yohanna doesn’t listen to me and follows me instead……

“What can I do about it?”

Can I stop Yohanna with brute force?

It’s not about winning or losing; it’s about whether I can wield my weapon against Yohanna.

When Yohanna doesn’t listen to me and follows me instead, what can I do……

“Then it’ll be a little sad, right?”

Even I think it’s a stupid response, but…

The effect was enormous.

“Then I won’t go.”

As I gazed at Yohanna with slightly surprised eyes, Yohanna gently stroked my head.

“……Don’t get hurt.”

How did Yohanna know I was going to say that, even though I never said it out loud?

“Heh heh heh.”

“Don’t try to laugh it off. If you think you might get hurt, I’ll follow you too.”

I feel bad for Yohanna, who’s worried about me, but it’s nice to have someone worry about me like this.

“Don’t worry. This time, my role is not an actor but a director and an audience, so…”

Yohanna looked at me with a puzzled expression, not understanding what I meant, and I avoided eye contact by checking my watch and closing my eyes.

“I really need to sleep now.”

Morning training with Yohanna is not really morning training; it’s more accurate to call it dawn training.

A little later, I’ll wake up, do some morning exercises with Yohanna, shower at the dorm, and head to the academy.

It’s very tough, but I don’t plan on skipping this morning training.

I’d rather skip academy classes.

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

With the red cloak as a blanket, Yohanna’s knees as a pillow, and the occasional sound of breathing as a lullaby, I fell asleep.