Compared to standing at a high vantage point and overlooking the bustling city nightscape, I prefer gazing up at the sky of Kivotos.
Those halos of light that locals had long grown accustomed to were, to me, still a wondrous sight worth marveling at.
"Sensei, sensei, are you listening?"
I drew my gaze back from the glass window behind the girl's side profile to her delicate, beautiful face, her brows tightly knit.
"Of course I'm listening."
"…You were definitely spacing out just now, weren't you!?"
"Nothing of the sort." I closed my eyes as if recalling something, confidence overflowing. "Weren't you just talking about strawberry milk? I listened to every word very carefully."
The moment the words left my mouth, I felt the air around us suddenly turn heavy.
When I opened my eyes, Yuuka was staring at me with a gaze as cold and sharp as a blade. "Oh? Is that so? And when exactly did I mention that?"
…Arona! You set me up!
Didn't we agree that when Yuuka starts nagging and I get distracted, you'd help me record what she said and replay it for me when needed!?
Just making things up now, huh? Fine, dessert rations are getting cut in half!
After thoroughly condemning the unreliability of that super artificial idiot in my heart and silently noting this grudge down, I quickly offered Yuuka an apologetic, restrained smile.
"I was just joking. Sorry, I got a little carried away watching."
Yuuka's momentum instantly dissipated. "Eh? W what…?"
"There's nothing I can do. It was just too beautiful."
"…Guh," Yuuka's face flushed red. She turned her gaze aside, twirling the hair near her ear with her index finger, and asked weakly, "You mean… the night view outside the window, right?"
How did you know? And yes, exactly that.
"Well, about that…" I looked at Yuuka with tender affection. "Is it, really?"
Yuuka no longer dared to pursue the topic, and I successfully made it through the crisis.
After taking a moment to compose herself, the Seminar's accountant stiffly changed the subject.
"In any case, as an adult, you should consume more rationally. Today isn't any special occasion. To go and reserve such a high end restaurant without even telling me in advance…"
Yuuka pouted, clearly displeased. "Honestly! If I'd had something important to deal with, sensei probably wouldn't have been able to find anyone else willing to accompany you. Wouldn't that money have gone to waste then!"
That would not necessarily be the case. It's not like there are no alternatives.
If push came to shove, given Director Shiranui's work ethic, I'm sure she could squeeze some time out of her schedule and let me make use of her.
Thinking this while keeping a gentle expression, I said, "Hehe. Then let's make today a special day."
"…Eh? S-Sensei?"
Yuuka let out a very cute gasp, her fair face once again tinged with pink. She looked utterly flustered, clearly misunderstanding something.
I raised the glass in my hand and smiled. "To celebrate the Game Development Department successfully passing the qualification review, let's have a toast."
Yes, although there were a few twists and turns, the review for Aris passed rather smoothly.
Just as I had initially expected, Yuuka simply confirmed that the Game Development Department had not coerced or tempted Aris, and that Aris genuinely loved games. With that, she approved the club's qualifications.
That said, Aris's on the spot performance could not help but remind me of a certain acquaintance who lived inside a tablet.
Perhaps this was a common trait among AIs.
Along the way, Yuuka also brought another piece of news.
At today's meeting, President Rio had delivered an important speech regarding club activities, cracking down hard on inactivity in certain clubs and fully implementing new standards for club operation requirements.
In other words, the unlucky ones were not just the Game Development Department anymore.
But seen from another angle, this also meant that the Game Development Department's potential competitors had greatly increased, placing even more pressure on them than before.
At this point, all that could be done was to hope they would rise to the challenge themselves.
Yuuka stared at the glass I was holding up in midair, momentarily stunned.
"So this counts as a celebration dinner!? Then why didn't you bring them along!?"
"Because they're reviewing for exams," I replied matter of factly.
"They're really working that hard…?"
Barely accepting this explanation, Yuuka clinked her glass lightly against mine with an expression that looked like she was questioning life itself.
Unconsciously rubbing the rim of her glass with her thumb, she still could not help muttering, "Even so, there was no need to book such a high end restaurant."
Despite her words, her expression clearly showed she was in a good mood.
"I know, don't worry. Given my financial situation, coming here occasionally is no problem at all."
I was even considering whether to sign up for this restaurant's membership to save on some expenses.
The place I brought Yuuka to today was the same restaurant I had visited before with other students, one that perfectly matched Aru's ideal vision of a first date location. As it turned out, while Aru's ideas were somewhat old fashioned, they were also quite effective. The other students had all been very satisfied.
Aru! I will not forget this favor until I've treated every student in Kivotos to a meal at a high end restaurant with a night view!
In short, after my repeated assurances, the penny pincher finally stopped nagging and began talking about other things.
"Sigh, work has really been overwhelming lately," Yuuka complained to me.
I nodded sympathetically.
Honestly, if I hadn't used the excuse of having already made a reservation, I probably wouldn't have been able to get Yuuka out today at all.
"All the clubs that don't meet the requirements need to be reviewed and notified one by one, the robots the Engineering Club made a while back caused another disturbance on campus, and I have to clean up the extra losses from C and C's mission the other day…"
Just listening to Yuuka's account made it easy to imagine just how busy she had been lately.
That was precisely why it was necessary to invite her out, to let her escape, even briefly, from the heavy workload.
I looked at the faint dark circles under the girl's eyes and listened quietly.
Yuuka grew more animated as she spoke, pressing her temple and gritting her teeth. "And then there's that Koyuki—"
"Koyuki?"
I suddenly realized I hadn't seen Koyuki in a while and asked curiously, "What happened to her?"
"Sensei, you know Koyuki's personality. If I'd known, I never would have brought her into the Seminar."
Yuuka shook her head. "It's just this and that… anyway, sensei, if you happen to see her anywhere, please be sure to inform me immediately."
Seeing that she did not want to go into detail, I did not press further and patted my chest in assurance. "Leave it to me."
Yuuka pressed her lips together in a smile. "Mm. Alright, let's stop talking about such downer topics…"
After that, I spent a pleasant dinner with the arithmetic angel.
My good mood lasted all the way until I returned to Schale, where it was finally broken by a familiar burst of noisy laughter.
"Nihahaha∼"
Inside the Schale office, Kurosaki Koyuki waved enthusiastically at me. "Sensei∼ long time no see∼"