Blue Archive - Story of Joshua Sensei

Chapter 11 - Down Time III

...

After I spent the evening helping the Problem Solver girls decorate, I relaxed for the rest of the evening, before going to sleep.

Early the next morning, as I laze around, I receive a text from Hoshino.

Um, Sensei, can you come to the Foreclosure Task Force club room when you have the time? I need your help.

She needs help? Before I can respond, she texts again.

Oh, also, I heard that whales hold their breath underwater. Did you know that?

Sure, I'll swing by. And yeah, I did know that.

Chuckling at the girls' actions, I get dressed and head over to Abydos.

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A bit later, I arrived at the school, completely empty, save for Hoshino, who began telling me all about whales when I arrived.

"So that means whales are holding their breath when they sleep... Isn't that amazing?" She asks.

"Yeah, it is pretty neat when ya think about it." I agree. "So what did you need help with anyways?"

"Ugh. Loosen up a little, Sensei." She chastises me. "Actually, I need help with some manual labor. There's something I can't move by myself. I came to you because everyone else was busy." She then smiles. "And I'm glad you're here, I knew I could count on you."

"Alright then, lead the way." I say, standing up.
The pink haired girl leads me to an old storage room. Opening the door unleashes a plume of dust directly at Hoshino, who opened the door.
She coughs once or twice, while fanning the air in front of her face with her hand. "Here we are. This place could use a dusting, though..." As I enter behind her, she cautions me. "Be careful in here, Sensei. Watch your footing."

"When was the last time someone went in here...?" I ask, looking dumbly at the unbelievable amount of dust in the storage room.

"Dunno." She shrugs. "This is just one of the many often forgotten storage rooms on campus. We have quite a few of these." She explains. "Most old equipment that's still useful gets sold off, so everything that winds up here is just junk." She then looks around the room, until her eye catches something. She reaches into a pile of junk, and pulls on something.

"Careful." I warn.

"But, if you search in just the right places..." She then yanks something out, once again causing her to be hit with a cloud of dust. She coughs again. "Ta-da! You can find some really cool hidden gems like this." She says, pulling out a...

"A workout mat? Whaddya need that for?" I ask, looking at the large mat that's on the floor.

She clears her throat. "This is no ordinary workout mat. I carries the tradition of our academy's glorious, wealthy past too!"

"So, what, it's a fancy workout mat?" I ask, wondering where she's going with this.

"Close. This mat is made of genuine duck down!" Color me interested. "This luxurious mat is filled with real duck down, not that crap felt filler! I can understand if it were a blanket, but who puts duck down in a workout mat? It's so quirky." She chuckles. "I guess some people are just eccentric like that. The world is full of things like this that exist for the sake of being different." She then catches herself from rambling more. "Er, if that makes sense. I hope it wasn't too philosophical."

"Not at all." I say. Sometimes her intellect really shines through. "You seem to know a lot about this kinda thing." Then again, she does sleep a lot.

"Anyway, it'd be a shame to let it go to waste." She says happily. "Would you mind carrying it for me, Sensei?"