Once we were done with eating, I opened up my wallet.

"Hey-" Raphtalia interjected as she saw that I was taking out enough money to pay for the both of us. "Shouldn't we be uh- splitting it?"

My last girlfriend would've never ever offered to do so, and it took me aback a little.

THen again, I wasn't sure where Raphtalia was from exactly. It was entirely possible that 'going Dutch' was expected where she came from. Either that, or perhaps she simply did not want to think of herself as taking a favor from anybody?

I was pretty sure that I was supposed to be the one paying. Not just because I was the man in the relationship, but also because Raphtalia was the high school student here and I was in college. I was supposed to be taking care of myself, while Raphtalia was at least nominally dependent on her parents. "It's fine," I said, waving my hand to let her know that she shouldn't have to worry about it.

"Don't we split the profits of my streaming fairly?" she asked. "So why not now?"

"Well, this isn't exactly a business venture, now then is it?" I said. "Tell you what, I'll pay this time, you can pay the next if you're so adamant."

"If you say so..." she said, shaking her head, likely at my stubbornness. "I'll get it next time."

Come to think of it, this wasn't the only way that Raphtalia was different from... well, that woman.

When I had been with her, it was like I was stepping on eggshells nearly all the time. She didn't blow up all the time, but it felt like I was one millimeter away from a catastrophe occurring whenever I was with her.

And while she had been affectionate, I realized now, looking back that was mostly whenever she needed or wanted anything.

Come to think of it, I was getting angry already just thinking about how she had basically tried to squeeze anything she could get out of me like I was some kind of sponge - before she ended up discarding me, much like I was aforementioned sponge.

The contrast between her and Raphtalia couldn't be more apparent. The chasm was the same as that between that of heaven and earth.

The only reason I couldn't feel as comfortable with her as I used to be able to do with that woman because I was still harboring multiple grudges from that time.

We left, and as I walked her back to my house, I suddenly stopped. "Oh no..." I muttered.

"Eh? What happened?"

"I just remembered..." I said, feeling like face-palming. "I need to get a suit for tomorrow."

"What? You don't have one?" Raphthalia asked incredulously.

"I did, but I noticed it was ripped a few days ago, and I need to get a replacement," I said, frantically checking my watch. Would I be able to find a store in time?

"You really need the suit?"

"Yes, there's no way that I could appear before a real deposition without one," I said.

It was such a sorry state, to be a law school student without a proper suit.

Raphthalia accompanied me as we scrambled to find a place, only just barely being able to find something before all shops were closed.

"I think this looks great," Raphthalia said, seeing me walk out in what was the second thing that I thought looked decent enough, and if she thought this was better than the first, I would go ahead and trust her judgement on that.

"Good luck!" she said, as I waved her off as she got on the bus. Man, I really wished I could afford a car right at that moment, but that wasn't going to be happening anytime soon.

That night, I had trouble sleeping.

I had never actually sat in an actual courtroom before, at least, not as a lawyer. This wasn't a courtroom mind you, not a proper one - but a deposition instead. And though I knew that Erhard would have my back so to speak, I couldn't but help feel that I needed to be on my toes for any trickery that might arise.

I was going up against a big law firm here - how was I going to do?

Not to mention, Fohl and Atla had put their trust in me.

I wanted to go to sleep, because I knew if I didn't, I would end up being grumpy and drowsy in the morning.

The more that thought crossed my mind, the more that I couldn't fall asleep because of the stress!

Finally, I was tired of tossing and turning in bed. I took a look at the clock - it was around eleven in the middle of the night.

I really should have been asleep by now, but I found myself taking a round around the apartment complex just to calm my nerves somewhat.

I kept going through what I would say, what are arguments were, etc.

No doubt, the work of being a lawyer was quite stressful.

I guess I should've known that already, but I hadn't actually lived that experience.

I had just joined as it was the best thing that I could have gotten.

Thinking of the two people's whose fates lay in my hands though... ah, no wonder many attorneys had drinking issues.

The work hours were long and the work was tedious, or so I was told by many of my seniors.

Lately though I'd been so wrapped up in other things, mostly because of that woman, that I hadn't had the time to actually question what the future would hold for me.

That said, all I could really do was continue to keep stepping forward.

Erhard was the actual lawyer with a license here, I was going to be there as Fohl's... well, it felt strange to say 'father' so more of a 'guardian' than anything.

My head felt like it was going to explode from overactivity, and at the same time, like it was strangely empty.