In the end, Hakuto went to check on Rikka's magic circle again. With a simple trade involving a dessert, he used his privilege to get her a string of colorful lights.
"Hero! Amazing! With this, we'll definitely succeed next time!"
"Master! Let's get started!"
Ignoring the excited outbursts of Rikka and Sanae, Hakuto went off to take care of his own matters.
Meanwhile, over at the Nakano quintuplets' stall—
"Ahhh! Itsuki! Stop sneaking bites! We're running out!"
Nino looked in despair at the dwindling supply of cookies, feeling that participating in this stall event was a huge mistake.
"Sorry, Nino, I was just craving some..."
"You're treating the cookies I made as a meal? Didn't you just have a few meat buns this morning?"
Ichika tugged at the bit of pudge near Itsuki's stomach and teased,
"Itsuki's tummy is so soft and squishy."
"Ah! Ichika, what are you doing?!"
"The cookies are gone. If you can't come up with a solution, Itsuki, I'll put you up for sale instead."
Saying that, Nino grabbed Itsuki's hand and pretended to place her on the stall.
Miku, who had been quietly listening with her headphones on, took them off, looked at the scene, then glanced at the ingredients on the stall.
"Nino, didn't you bring ingredients and an oven?"
"Huh? An oven needs electricity too."
"Can't we use firewood?"
Nino stared at her sister in disbelief, momentarily at a loss for words.
It was then that Ichika finally noticed something was off—someone was missing. She looked around and asked,
"Speaking of which... where's Yotsuba?"
"Don't tell me she got dragged off to be free labor again?"
"Did she forget to write down Hakuto's name?"
The four of them exchanged glances. Not only was the cookie issue still unresolved, but now their five-person team was short one member—it was a disaster.
Meanwhile, on Hakuto's end, he was biting into the cream cake he had just traded for.
With a hairband in his hand, he was about to tie up his long hair when he spotted a familiar figure at a nearby stall.
"Yotsuba? What's she doing here?"
He paused mid-motion, took the cake out of his mouth, and walked toward the stall with his hair still down, intending to check out the situation.
The stall owner seemed busy with something and hadn't noticed Hakuto's approach.
Looking at the stall number, Hakuto saw the bright and clear digits "43." He recalled that the quintuplets' stall should have been number 16.
Seeing Yotsuba moving items nearby, he shook his head helplessly.
He could already guess what had happened.
"Hey! Yotsuba!"
Hearing his call, Yotsuba froze, then turned toward the voice.
"Huh? Who's calling me?"
The moment she saw Hakuto, a big smile spread across her face.
"Shiratori-sensei! Long time no see!"
She put down what she was carrying and waved at him.
Even though they had just seen each other yesterday, Hakuto didn't bother correcting her. He simply waved back, signaling her to come over.
"What's up?"
"What are you doing here? Where are the others?"
"Oh, they're still at the stall. I'm just helping out at the sports club."
"For free?"
Yotsuba, clearly unfamiliar with such transactions, looked puzzled.
"Huh? People charge for this kind of thing?"
"Tsk..."
Hakuto almost rolled his eyes. Still, there wasn't much he could say—it was a matter of personal choice, after all.
If she couldn't say no to others, this was the inevitable result—being used as free labor.
Just then, a girl dressed in sportswear walked up behind Yotsuba and asked,
"Yotsuba, what are you doing here? There's still a lot left to move."
"Oh, coming!" Yotsuba nodded, then turned back to Hakuto. "Shiratori-sensei, I need to get back to work."
"Alright." Hakuto nodded indifferently, uninterested in interfering.
After all, he didn't see any reluctance on Yotsuba's face, and it wasn't part of his job to get involved.
"Ah, youth... so full of energy." Hakuto shook his head, then put the cream cake back into his mouth.
However, just as he was about to leave, Yotsuba suddenly rushed back to him.
She hesitated for a moment before looking at him.
"Shiratori-sensei..."
"What is it?"
"Um..." Yotsuba glanced at the sports club girl behind her, then turned back to Hakuto.
"Can I take a day off this weekend?"
(;一_一)?
Hearing this, Hakuto stopped mid-bite and pulled the cake back out of his mouth.
"Yotsuba..."
"Here!"
"You're telling me... that after I went out of my way to sacrifice my weekend for your tutoring, put effort into preparing prizes for you, and with an exam coming up in just a few weeks…"
"you want to take a day off?"
Hearing this, Yotsuba immediately lowered her head, unable to meet his gaze.
"I knew Shiratori-sensei wouldn't agree..."
"Forget whether I agree or not..." Hakuto leaned in close and whispered in her ear,
"Do you really want to take this day off?"
Yotsuba turned and glanced at the sportswear-clad girl behind her, then looked back at Hakuto, whose face was only a fist's distance away.
Just as she was about to say something, the girl behind her suddenly stepped in.
"Yotsuba, what are you doing? Who's this guy? Your boyfriend? You need to check with him before making weekend plans?"
Because Hakuto hadn't tied his hair up and had been away as an exchange student for half a month, the girl didn't recognize him.
Even with his good temper, being interrupted like this was frustrating—especially since if Yotsuba failed her exams, he might get fired.
Hakuto took a deep breath, ignoring the sports club girl.
He only cared about Yotsuba's decision.
"Yotsuba, if you—"
"What's the holdup? There's still a ton to move!"
Interrupted again.
Hakuto was so annoyed he almost laughed.
Honestly, he didn't like losing his temper in front of his students, but some people really needed to be put in their place.
"S-Shiratori-sensei..." Yotsuba looked at the smile on his face and suddenly felt a bad premonition.
"Catch!" Hakuto tossed the cream cake to Yotsuba, then, with a small hop, leaped into the stall.
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