Seraphim is a Bystander

An Outing with Father
 
The day finally arrived for Aoi and his father to head to the Anti-Virtual Division. Aoi was visibly excited from the moment he woke up. Restless and buzzing with anticipation, he followed his parents around, constantly asking when they were leaving and what he needed to prepare.

“Fufu, looks like Aoi just can’t wait, can he?”
“…Yeah.”
Seeing Aoi like this brought smiles to both his parents’ faces. Through all his eager questioning, Aoi learned that his mother would be staying home today. The moment he heard that, his mood visibly dipped—and the slight shadow on his father’s face when he noticed it was honestly a little funny.

“It’s about time we head out.”
After lunch, as Aoi and his mother double-checked their preparations, his father spoke up. Aoi, face lighting up, ran over happily.
“We’re going?!”

“Yeah. You’ve got everything in your bag?”
“Yup!”
His father patted Aoi’s head as he nodded proudly, his little backpack on. Then he picked up his own things. Aoi’s mother walked them to the front door to see them off.

“We’ll be back before dinner. Try to relax a bit while we’re gone.”
“I will. Thank you.”
While the parents were exchanging farewells, Sou slipped in beside them at his mother’s feet, trying to go unnoticed. Aoi giggled and gave him a big pat.

“Aoi, Sou, dear—take care, alright?”
“We will!”
“See you later.”
“Guuf!”
They left the house and got into the self-driving car that would take them to the Anti-Virtual Division. Even during the ride, Aoi couldn’t sit still. His father didn’t speak much, but his face held a pleased expression as he watched Aoi.

Unlike last time when they teleported there, Aoi now got to see the roads leading to their destination and eagerly pressed his face to the window to take in the view. Eventually, the familiar large building from before came into sight.
They parked in the employee lot and headed to reception, just like last time. They were directed to the second floor for the examination and took the elevator up.
“Once the checkup is done, we’ll get some exercise in the training room.”
“Okay!”

While they were chatting, the elevator arrived at the second floor and ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) the doors slid open.
“Oh?”
“Grrr…”

Standing before them, just like last time, was the disheveled Dr. Ichijou. Still looking like she hadn’t taken a bath, Sou grimaced instinctively.
“Dr. Ichijou! Thank you for having us today.”
“Ahh, hello there! I was just about to head to the front to wait for you, but I guess I was a bit late, huh?”

Dr. Ichijou scratched her head as she laughed, then crouched down to greet Aoi and Sou at eye level.
“Hello Aoi-kun, Sou-kun. Thanks for coming today!”
“Hello Dr. Ichijou, thank you for today.”
“Gruu.”

Despite how annoying she could be with me, she showed not a hint of that toward Aoi and acted perfectly pleasant. After the greetings, she led them into a consultation room just like last time and began explaining the procedure. Apparently, this “exam room” was actually her lab, and the room in the back, where the actual examination took place, was a shared facility used by all the researchers.
This time, unlike before, the tests would be done one at a time. According to Dr. Ichijou:
“We’ve got plenty of time today, so let’s take it slow and do it thoroughly, okay?”

…Yeah, no doubt she just wants to make sure I have time to appear.
Sou went in first for his checkup. While waiting, Aoi, who hadn’t slept much from the excitement, leaned against his father and dozed off.
“Aoi-kun, it’s your turn—oh, he fell asleep?”

“Sorry, I’ll wake him now.”
Dr. Ichijou returned with Sou just in time to see Aoi sleeping. As the father moved to wake him, she stopped him.
“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

She gently lifted Aoi into her arms instead.
“Whoa—he’s grown a lot in such a short time, hasn’t he?”
“Sorry for the trouble… please take care of him.”

“Sure thing! I’ll watch him until the checkup’s done.”
And with that, Dr. Ichijou carried the still-sleeping Aoi into the back room. As the door closed behind them, she casually spoke up—of course, directing her words at me.
“Sera-kun, you can come out now~”

…Here we go again.
Sighing, I switched places with Aoi. Better to avoid him overhearing anything weird if he woke up.
“I’m here now. You can put me down.”

“Aww, I kinda wanted to carry you a bit longer, though~”
Grumbling, Dr. Ichijou set me down. Then she grinned and stared at me like she was taking mental notes. Reflexively, I glanced down at myself… and groaned internally. I was definitely even more girlish than before. I felt like something precious inside me had just crumbled away.
“…So? What did you want to ask me?”

“Ah, right. Let’s go over it while I run the test, okay?”
As she carried out the checkup, Dr. Ichijou peppered me with questions. Honestly, they were all things I could’ve answered in my sleep—boring and predictable—but she got visibly more excited with each response. …It was a little unsettling, to be honest.
“Phew~ All done with the tests. I guess we’ll stop here for now.”

“Finally. I’ll switch back with Aoi now, so please take it from here.”
I turned to return to the mental space when—
“Wait, wait, wait!”

“…What now?”
“I told you before, didn’t I? The entrance gifts! I brought one for Aoi-kun, and a special one just for you too, Sera-kun!”
Oh yeah… she did say something about that. I didn’t expect her to go so far as to prepare a separate gift for me. She must’ve had way too much time on her hands.

“Thank you. That’s very thoughtful of you.”
“Don’t worry about it! I’ll go grab them now~”
With that, Dr. Ichijou disappeared for a bit. When she returned, she handed me a neatly wrapped box.

“Here you go~ What’s inside is a surprise!”
…She may be a slob who refuses to bathe, but she sure puts unnecessary effort into this stuff.