Dinner didn't take long, and after cleaning up, Rinji was getting ready to leave.
Before he left, Kei asked if she could visit his place again before sumr break ended. Rinji agreed imdiately.
Since Miyuki had work at the bank the next day, he went to bed shortly after reading for a bit.
As for Kei, she sat alone in her room, resting her cheek in her palm, deep in thought.
…
Rinji returned to the front of his apartnt and fished the key out of his pocket.
On his way back, he had video-called Karura and chatted for a while, which was why he was only arriving ho in the middle of the night.
This was his first proper romantic relationship, and naturally, he wanted to be close to his girlfriend as much as possible. Even when they were far apart, phone calls kept them connected.
After spending several hours on the phone outside, he finally opened the door, feeling satisfied.
But the mont he opened the door, his brow furrowed.
Soone's been here.
The feeling was imdiate.
He pushed the door wide open and turned on the light.
The pitch-black living room lit up—but there was no one inside. The only thing different from when he left was the massive waterlon sitting on the dining table.
Rinji walked over and looked at the waterlon, which was about twice the size of any you'd see in a store. A note was stuck to the top.
[Kid, I originally planned to visit you during sumr break, but you weren't in Tokyo, so your mother and I went off traveling again.
This waterlon is a new product from the family farm—give it a try with your friends.
P.S. I heard you got a girlfriend. I saw her photo—she's very pretty (though still can't compare to your mother, of course).
Bring her back to et us soti.
– From your beloved old man."]
"…Dad ca here?"
Rinji put the note down and looked at the waterlon.
Now that he thought about it, his dad had ntioned during New Year's that he was working on so "space station cultivation" thing. Looks like this was the result.
He chuckled, then picked up the waterlon and stuffed it into the fridge.
At that mont, he happened to notice the back of the note.
[By the way, I suddenly rembered—you never wished a happy Father's Day before sumr break,
so I took the liberty of treating one of your limited-edition K**a Rider SHF figures as your gift to .
Thanks, kid~]
"!!!?"
Rinji froze. He imdiately rushed to his room, flicked on the lights, and checked his shelves.
Sure enough, one of his figures was gone.
"…Forget it. At least I grabbed a few spares from Gandai. No big deal."
---
The Next Day
While working at the bank, Shirogane Miyuki scheduled a 4 PM eting with the student council mbers for a thorough cleanup of the student council office before sumr break ended.
Originally, the student council had planned to do a full cleanup on the tenth day of break. But because the new sester would bring heavy responsibilities, only one person could be spared to handle it in advance.
It was now morning, and both Takamine Rinji and Ishigami Yu had received the sa ssage.
"So, cleanup is at 4 p.m.?"
"Yeah, that's the current plan..."
Rinji and Ishigami were in the sa room, staring at a desk covered in worksheets.
"Let's just finish as much of the sumr howork as we can."
"Yeah, I guess."
"Rinji, which subjects did you finish?"
"Math and classical literature. You?"
"Math and classical literature."
"..."
"..."
The two stared blankly at the mountain of howork, speechless.
Rinji's plan had been to get Ishigami over and copy each other's work—he'd give Ishigami his math and literature, and Ishigami would give him the other subjects. Then they'd split up the rest and copy from each other.
But now that both of them had only done the sa subjects, the plan imdiately fell apart.
"There are still four subjects left…"
"Yeah." Ishigami nodded. "I'll do one. You do the other three."
"Why am I doing three?"
"Because you have a girlfriend." Ishigami turned to him with a blank expression. "Congrats and all, but this is betrayal."
"No... I never said I wouldn't get a girlfriend..."
"Shut up! Where's the Takamine Rinji who once scorned every couple on campus, even using electric fans as an excuse to break them up?!"
"No matter how tearfully you say it, this is just personal growth for ."
Rinji spoke smugly, tossing his hair.
"When you're lucky, there's no stopping it. A girl confessing to isn't sothing that happens often, you know? It's a sign of my charm."
"Fine, then you're doing all four subjects."
"Hey, doesn't that make your being here completely pointless?"
"How is it pointless? You write, I copy. Clear division of labor. Perfectly logical."
"In what world is this logical? I'm doing both my howork and yours."
"Isn't it normal for people with girlfriends to do more work? It's a happiness tax." Ishigami looked completely serious.
"..."
"Try to understand. Maybe you don't know yet, since you're new to Japan, but in Japanese culture, when a friend gets a girlfriend first, it's considered betrayal. So it's tradition for them to do the other's howork."
Rinji looked suspicious. "Huh? Why have I never heard of that?"
"I told you, it's a tradition. An unspoken rule." Ishigami continued to make things up. "Of course, if you don't want to do howork, dressing up in a bunny suit and dancing is also acceptable."
"Okay, I'll do the howork."
Rinji completely bought Ishigami's nonsense.
...
While Rinji was working on the assignnts, Ishigami wasn't idle either. He was browsing forums on his phone, looking up recomnded date spots and similar advice.
Of course, it wasn't for himself—it was for Rinji.
"Rinji, when your girlfriend cos to Tokyo, you can take her to places like Tokyo Tower, Roppongi, or Mount Takao... but if she already studies in Japan, those won't be that special. On holidays, take her to Harajuku or Shinjuku or sothing."
Though he called Rinji a traitor, Ishigami was honestly happy for him.
"Yeah, now that I've got a girlfriend, I should think about how to maintain the relationship."
Rinji set down his pen, thoughtful.
"Because... I don't really have any experience in this."
"Neither do I. Actually, I don't think anyone in the student council does. We'll just have to rely on whatever nonsense we find online."
"..."
Rinji suddenly realized—he might be the first person in the student council to be in a relationship.
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