Sensei was waiting for Hoshino by the aquarium's entrance while carrying a bag with a lunch box. He hadn't arrived too long ago and used this time to familiarize himself with this part of Trinity's district.
It was quite surprising when he received a text from Hoshino last night inviting him to visit the aquarium located in Trinity. Apparently, she won them as a prize from a raffle.
If I didn't know any better, I would have thought she was inviting me on a date. The notion was silly in his mind, as he's her teacher after all. Then again, it was the weekend, and Hoshino probably just wanted someone to hang out with, even if said someone happened to be her teacher.
Though as he saw Hoshino approach him with a wave, he had to wonder whether this was a date or not after all considering she was wearing a white sundress he had never seen her in before. He quickly shrugged it off, reasoning that Hoshino was still a young girl at heart, even if she usually acts otherwise.
"H-Hey Sensei! You're here early!" Hoshino exclaimed.
"I couldn't keep a lady like you waiting for too long now, could I?"
"Lady? This old timer?"
"Who else?" Sensei said with a smile. "By the way, your outfit looks great on you."
"R-Really? I'm glad then…" Hoshino muttered. "It's not yet the agreed time, but let's go in."
Sensei nodded as they entered the aquarium.
…
…
"Whoa…" Hoshino said in awe as she saw the different fishes on the other side of the glass. Fishes of various shapes and colors were swimming here and there, with the occasional fish stopping close to the glass as if to look at the aquarium's visitors in curiosity.
Sensei wondered what they might taste like if cooked, but he wisely kept that to himself and instead enjoyed the aquatic scenery with Hoshino.
"I wonder if they taste good if you cook them…" Hoshino absentmindedly blurted out before she realized what she just said. She looked at Sensei with narrowed eyes. "I blame your cooking for this, Sensei."
"How is it my fault…?" Sensei said with a chuckle.
The two of them continued to walk deeper into the aquarium, they talked about various things, like the different sea creatures they saw, how the rest of the Foreclosure Task Force were, and whether Miyako and the rest of RABBIT Squad were getting along with them.
Hoshino nodded at the last one before going into detail.
"There's a few disagreements here and there, but for the most part we're all getting along just fine," Hoshino said. "I'm a little worried about the contents of the conversation between Shiroko and Moe sometimes though…"
"...Does it involve vaults and explosives?" Sensei asked.
"Yup."
"...Let's just hope they don't go overboard."
"Ahaha…"
Hoshino and Sensei continued to talk about various things, mostly about the aquatic creatures they came across, as well as the current situation in Abydos.
"Sensei, about the oasis…" Hoshino said after seeing that they were alone. "When you created it, did you know the matter regarding Abydos' property ownership?"
"Yes. I came across it while investigating Kaiser's activities," Sensei admitted, "I was planning on bringing it up to you that night. Failing that, during the last group meeting, but Ayane beat me to the punch."
"I see…" Hoshino said. "When you made the oasis, did you know it would lead to this?"
"Honestly, while I knew it would attract some attention, the reception ended up being better than expected," Sensei admitted while scratching the back of his head. "I was going to do it in secret, but during our conversation I noticed you were feeling down. To cheer you up I decided to show you when I made the oasis."
"Uhehe…You're making this old timer blush, Sensei," Hoshino said. "Speaking of which, why didn't you want other people to know you did it? There are already rumors on social media that you can summon swords after all."
"Regular swords," Sensei said. "That sword in the middle of the oasis was special and wasn't something that I was previously capable of projecting."
"You mean you weren't even sure if you could make that sword? Isn't that reckless, Sensei?" Hoshino said with a giggle. "Then again, even this old timer is already aware just what kind of person you are."
"Ugh…" Sensei groaned.
For a while after that, there were no words exchanged between the two until they reached a fork in the path. There was a signpost that labeled where each path led to.
To the left was the souvenir shop and restaurant.
To the right was where the whales were.
Sensei turned to Hoshino. "You mentioned wanting to see the whales the most, so we should go right."
"Yeah…" Hoshino stood still as she stared at the signpost.
"Hoshino? Is something wrong?" Sensei asked as he noticed Hoshino rooted in place.
Hoshino didn't reply immediately, so Sensei waited until she was ready. Eventually, Hoshino spoke once more.
"Sensei, did you know that up until recently, the school's debt was a problem that never left my mind?" Hoshino began. "Even when I was having fun with my juniors, it was always in the back of my mind. Many nights I have trouble sleeping because I couldn't keep my mind off it. And it only got worse over time."
Hoshino admitted that taking up Nonomi's offer to pay the school's debt had crossed her mind many times, but she rejected taking the easy way out. "Even if things didn't turn out well, her family has done so much for Abydos that I couldn't possibly burden them with the school's problem. And…"
Hoshino turned to Sensei.
"This wasn't a problem of the school itself. Me and everyone else in the Task Force didn't want to burden a single student for it," Hoshino said with a heavy smile. "But in hindsight, what I was about to do was just that, wasn't it?"
"You lost me there, Hoshino," Sensei said in confusion. "Is there something I should know?"
"Uhehe…" Hoshino made an awkward laugh. "It's no longer important now that the school has enough revenue to eventually pay off its debts, but…"
Hoshino showed her phone's screen, showing a picture copy of the contract that she had received from someone affiliated with Kaiser that stated that the school's debts would be wiped clean if she were to sign it. At first, Hoshino ignored it, but over time it became increasingly tempting to seek that person, as they also left an address in the accompanying message.
"I see. Thank you for telling me about this," Sensei said as he made it a priority to find the person—Black Suit as indicated by the message's signature—who sent this message. "In any case, we're here to have fun, so let's do just that."
"Hehe…That's right~! Now is not the time for such serious talk! I wanna see the whales!"
They decided to check the souvenir shop later and headed to where the whales were.
Upon arriving, Hoshino and Sensei were greeted to the majestic sight of a giant aquatic mammal swimming around. There were smaller whales following the bigger whale around.
Hoshino started saying a couple of whale facts as she watched on with a shine in her eyes.
"You really like whales, don't you?" Sensei said as he noted the fact that he once saw Hoshino hugging a whale pillow while sleeping.
"Yeah…" Hoshino said with a smile. "Thank you for humoring me today, Sensei."
"Anytime," Sensei said. "Feel free to visit me in SCHALE from time to time."
"Even if I just end up sleeping?"
"You're not the only student who's using my office as a place to slack off."
"Is that so? Then I guess this old timer won't hold back!" Hoshino said with a cheeky smile.
…
…
…
The next Monday, Hoshino was in high spirits when she entered the FTF club room.
"Good morning, everyone~!" Hoshino exclaimed.
The moment she entered the room, however, she felt everyone else's eyes fall on her. Even RABBIT Squad was somehow present.
Hoshino had a feeling that she should probably turn back and run as far away as possible, but she shrugged it off.
Yeah, what's the worst that could happen? Hoshino thought as she sat on her usual seat. She thanked Nonomi after she offered her a cup of tea.
"How was the date with Sensei?" Shiroko's words nearly made Hoshino spit out her tea as she coughed a few times.
"W-W-What are you talking about?" Hoshino pretended to not know what she was talking about.
"Shiroko, that was too direct!" Ayane said, but didn't really stop her otherwise.
"It's all over social media," Shiroko said as she showed her phone's screen, showing a post that had a picture of Sensei and her taken from a distance.
"Wha-When was this taken?!" Hoshino was shocked. Did she let her guard down?
"I wasn't entirely sure if it was you because of the dress, but it really is you after all."
"Nononono, I just invited Sensei because I had two tickets to the aquarium, you see?"
"That is totally a date~!" Nonomi said excitedly.
"W-Well…"
"Ah, she's not denying it!" Serika pointed out.
"What were the other things that you did after that?" Miyako asked as she had a pen and notepad ready. "Just for reference."
"You're not even trying to hide it anymore, are you…?" Saki rolled her eyes.
"Uhehe…" Hoshino was barraged with all sorts of questions for a while, which left her exhausted.
I wonder if Sensei is faring any better, Hoshino thought as her juniors kept asking her questions.
…
…
…
"Sensei, Sensei! Tell us all about your date last weekend! I need it as a reference for our game!" Momoi exclaimed.
He was not.
