Chapter 42: The School Trip Draws Near!
Hiratsuka Shizuka, of course, knew absolutely nothing about Saku's inner commentary.
Watching him immediately bury himself in work, she only needed a few seconds of looking at his screen before she started feeling dizzy.
Then she glanced at Yukino, who was seriously working through the bookkeeping.
For some reason, Hiratsuka suddenly felt that this clubroom was oppressively serious.
Even more so than the faculty office.
She scratched her head and awkwardly forced out a sentence.
"Well... if there aren't any problems, I'll head out."
Then she pointed at the equipment.
"Saku, this stuff wasn't cheap. Take good care of it, understand?"
"Sensei, it's my money too. Of course I'll take care of it."
"Yours?"
Hiratsuka's eyes widened.
The school had painstakingly squeezed out part of that budget.
Since when had it become his money?
Was this brat already planning to commit financial misconduct?
"Someone invested the money in me, so that makes it mine."
Saku spoke with complete confidence.
"Perfectly logical."
"..."
Hiratsuka was speechless.
Almost instinctively, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.
She suddenly felt the need for one just to calm herself down.
"Sensei, smoking is bad for your lungs."
Saku glanced over and spoke without hesitation.
"Mind your own business."
Hiratsuka frowned.
"Adults are talking. Kids shouldn't interfere."
"You misunderstood me."
Saku remained completely serious.
"I meant smoking is bad for my lungs."
"You know how harmful secondhand smoke is, don't you, Sensei?"
"Pfft!"
Yukino failed to hold back a laugh.
When she thought about it, he really did have a point.
"I agree with him, Hiratsuka-sensei."
"...Fine."
Hiratsuka shoved the cigarettes back down.
"I won't smoke in front of you two. Happy?"
Saku didn't answer her.
Instead, he turned toward Yukino with the solemn expression of a student asking an important academic question.
"Yukino, I remember hearing that smoking can yellow your teeth and cause bad breath."
"Is that actually true?"
"It is."
Saku nodded thoughtfully.
"Then could there possibly be another explanation for why people keep rejecting Sensei?"
He glanced at Hiratsuka.
"Maybe it's because she has bad breath."
"..."
This time, even Yukino went silent.
Hiratsuka stared at him too.
Yukino had met plenty of bold people.
She had never met anyone this fearless.
Did Saku genuinely not know about Hiratsuka-sensei's infamous iron fist?
"Jinnai Saku!"
"Sensei, I'm only saying this for your own good."
Saku looked completely sincere.
"You should quit smoking. You don't want bad breath, do you?"
Hiratsuka finally reached her limit and lightly punched him on top of the head.
"You're not wrong, but don't think that means I won't hit you!"
She withdrew her fist.
"I'll let it go this time. Don't talk back to your teacher like that again."
「Talk back? If not with my mouth, what else could I use? Hiss—I get it now!」
Mai: ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄ Oh no, I get it too! Ah—it's all Saku-kun's fault!
Yukino: ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄ I really want to punch someone. Stop thinking about it, you pervert!
Yui: ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄ So bold! Wait, I don't understand!
"Understood!"
Seeing Saku finally behave, Hiratsuka withdrew her fist completely.
Her gaze then fell on the cigarette pack in her hand.
She stared at it for several seconds before reluctantly tossing it into the trash.
Whatever else happened, she certainly didn't want bad breath.
She'd never seriously considered the possibility before, and no one had ever dared point it out, so she'd simply ignored it.
"I'm leaving."
If she stayed much longer, Hiratsuka genuinely felt that Saku might irritate her to death.
Without another backward glance, she left the clubroom.
For a short while, silence returned.
Then Yukino's voice suddenly broke it.
"Do you like Hiratsuka-sensei?"
She didn't even know why she'd asked.
The question had simply escaped before she could stop herself.
"I do."
Saku didn't turn around.
His eyes remained fixed on the computer screen, fingers still moving across the keyboard.
"Don't you?"
The Unity engine had already been purchased, but adapting it properly for mobile required extensive changes to the low-level code.
That wasn't the only issue.
Compatibility, device optimization, and various other technical problems still needed to be solved.
So Saku was making use of every spare minute he had.
The workload was enormous.
Fortunately, his Programming Proficiency gave him enough of a foundation to understand what he was looking at and where changes needed to be made.
The problem was that his programming ability was only at the Beginner level.
He could identify the right direction, but he couldn't always produce the perfect solution on the first attempt.
Which meant plenty of revisions would be waiting for him later.
"You know that's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
Hearing him deliberately play dumb, Yukino sighed helplessly.
He obviously understood.
He simply didn't want to answer.
And if he didn't want to answer, Yukino wasn't going to force the issue.
"Just don't start imagining strange possibilities."
She paused.
"You and Hiratsuka-sensei aren't suited for each other."
Saku gave no response.
The only sound that came back was the rapid clatter of his keyboard.
Yukino grew irritated.
"Did you not hear me, or are you pretending you didn't?"
"No, Yukino."
Saku finally answered.
"Can't you see I'm working?"
"And what exactly do you want me to say?"
"...I just think the way you interacted with Hiratsuka-sensei earlier crossed the line a little."
「Was it really that obvious?」
「But Shizuka-sensei is basically perfect for me.」
「Still, why does Yukino care so much about this? Shouldn't you be paying more attention to Hikigaya right now?」
[Valid roast detected. Roast Points +30. Current total: 2,355.]
Yukino's expression stiffened slightly.
Saku, meanwhile, simply continued working.
"Anyway, aren't you going back to the Service Club?"
He asked without looking away from the screen.
"Don't you have a request to deal with over there?"
"We don't."
Saku paused.
His eyes shifted once before returning to the code.
「Nothing? Who are you trying to fool?」
「Sure enough, if the relationship isn't close enough, people won't tell you anything important.」
「According to the original story, there should be a romance request around this point.」
「Come to think of it, the school trip isn't far away either. Was the destination Kyoto, or somewhere around there...?」
His thoughts wandered only briefly.
A moment later, Saku had already thrown himself back into his work.
Once Yukino finished the bookkeeping, she glanced at him and chose not to interrupt.
She did, however, quietly remember two pieces of information.
The school trip.
And Kyoto.
Just then, Saku's phone buzzed on the desk.
He picked it up and checked the message.
It was from Utaha.
She said that she and the others had already reached the school entrance, but the security guard wouldn't let them in.
"Are they here?"
Yukino leaned closer.
"Yeah."
She didn't get a clear look at the message, but Saku's confirmation was enough.
"I'll go bring them in."
As Yukino prepared to leave, Saku suddenly called after her.
"Yukino, do you think we could get them a few sets of Sobu High uniforms?"
"Then they wouldn't have to deal with this every time."
He thought for another moment.
"And what about credits for participating in club activities? Shouldn't we arrange those too?"
Before this, Saku had mostly been thinking about his own situation.
He hadn't properly considered Utaha and the others.
But now that they were coming here to work for him without pay, he couldn't exactly neglect their basic benefits.
How was he supposed to lead a team in the future if he couldn't even handle that much?
"You can just call me Yukino."
She paused to consider the rest of his question.
"As for what you mentioned, I doubt the school will care about providing a few sets of school uniforms."
"The credits are more complicated."
"We'll probably need to coordinate with the Student Councils at their respective schools."
Yukino rested a hand against her chin and thought it through.
Still, it didn't seem especially difficult.
She could handle it.
"If you trust me, I can take care of the arrangements."
"Of course I trust you."
Saku finally glanced away from the computer and smiled.
"My chief administrator."
"Then I'll leave it to you, Yukino."
Yukino nodded.
A gentle smile appeared on her face before she turned and headed toward the school entrance.
…