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No, it’s nowhere near being finished business, though. Anyhow, let me relax and watch the fireworks. Rather, if I don’t do this, I’m going to snap.

「We’re out of edamame~」

I want to just blast this unknowing Teacher Saeki here about the principal. But the aftermath scares me, so I can’t. I’ll give them mostly cold edamame as revenge. They won’t notice it anyway.

And so the fireworks ended. I’ve prepared so many snacks yet I couldn’t even watch in peace. With these people around, I’m the only one doing work. It’s not any different from the past.

「Nothing, huh.」

Even after some time since the fireworks ended, the principal hasn’t contacted me. Just when I hoped that he’s not going to contact me anymore, my phone mercilessly rang.

「I knew it.」

Kishita had already gone home and the adults were nearly at the end of their drinking. Timewise, it’s late at night. Just when I’m putting effort in cleaning up too.

「Hello.」
『So you finally picked up.』

What “finally”, this is the first time you called. Even checking the call history, there shouldn’t be any missed calls. So judging from that, he’s definitely drunk right now.

「Please go home.」
『Don’t be such a wet blanket. The night has just started, you know.』

I want to sleep already. Since I’m mentally exhausted for various reasons. I was planning to shut the adults up a few moments from now. As long as I take their alcohol away by force, they’ll naturally leave.

「It would be wrong of you to complain to me, alright?」
『No, you aren’t to blame on what happened this time. After our earlier exchange, I thought about it calmly and realized that.』

Then why did you even call right now?

『So, I want to ask for advice. What can I do to gain her attention?』

Haven’t I told you that I won’t have any love consultation!? Why should we have love talk this late at night? Moreover, it’s absolutely wrong that I’m the one giving advice.

「Give her stuff.」

I ended up using my casual tone due to exhaustion, but I’m not at fault here. I don’t care with who, I really want to drink right now.

『Gifts, huh. Then I guess flowers would be the standard choice?』
「Once again, please don’t decide based on your personal likes and preferences. Consider the other party before choosing a gift.」

Will Teacher Saeki be happy with a gift of flowers? Maybe she’ll smile upon receiving it, but it’s obvious that she’ll be troubled about how to make use of it later. With alcohol, she’ll be overjoyed to receive it and likely open it up on the same day.

「To begin with, did you invite her out later on that night?」

It’s awkward to ask, so I didn’t ask either the principal or Teacher Saeki about it. But I don’t care anymore. It might be like salt in his wounds, but I’ll scrub it thoroughly.

『You’re asking that? So you’re also going to ask me that, huh?!』
「Oh so you didn’t. I see.」

The more emotional the principal gets, the wearier I feel. I’m already almost as weary as I can get though.

『My position, if only I didn’t have this position…』
「Well it is like inviting a subordinate out, after all. Rumors would spread around if people were to see.」

So he’s blaming his position as principal for being an obstacle. But in the end, it’s just an excuse. If you’re in love, then show that you can overcome an obstacle of that level.

『So, do you have any good plan for this?』
「Please don’t leave that up to me.」

It’s a real nuisance. I’ve already done the planning before, why do I have to plan for the next one too? Did he like it that much? Rather, you should’ve set up for a next date that night. I really want to say it to his face.

「Learn from your past experience and handle this by yourself.」
『Are you abandoning me now?』
「Yes.」
『……』

I ended up answering honestly. For some reason, I can easily imagine him hanging his head. Reflect on yourself a little. And break. Now then, what else do I have to clean up? The bottles and cans last, right?

「O~i?」

He wasn’t reacting, so I called for him, but he’s still not responding. Did his spirit break or is he dead drunk, which is it?

『So, the customer just told me to switch with him for some reason…』
「……」

This time it was my turn to fall silent. Giving the phone to the shop staff because I broke his spirit, really now? Moreover, this voice sounds extremely familiar. I expected this, but are you really at Mr. Shizuo’s shop?

『Hell~o?』
「I really wonder what that coward was thinking when he passed you the phone.」
『This voice, Kotone? Eh? Why was this having a call with you?』

You’re calling him “this”, eh. Well, I can’t carelessly call him principal myself, so it’s fine and all. Still, what do I even say to Mr. Shizuo?

「There’s a deep reason for this, but just know that we’re acquaintances.」
『My instincts are speaking to me, that this is probably going to be interesting so I have to ask the details.』

Shimotsuki family! What the hell is with your instincts! Having two siblings on my case, give me a break. Is their little sister like this too? Please let me have even a bit of hope.

『Oh, just to confirm, I’ve already gotten permission from him to ask.』
「There’s no credibility in a drunk person’s permission, is there now?」
『Don’t worry. I swear that I won’t even tell my wife about this. Somehow, I feel like that’d be really bad.』

They even have danger evasion abilities, huh. Isn’t that too powerful? I guess it’s already beyond that at this point.

「Even though you say that, there’s nothing I can say from my end. Please ask him for the details.」

In this case, if the principal doesn’t remember, it’s going to be all on me. I need to secure a proper escape route. I don’t want to get resented over something this trivial.

『Tch, so this is how it goes, huh. You aren’t going let it out that easily.』
「It would be problematic in more ways than one, you see. Still, what is the person in question doing right now?」
『Sleeping.』

Oi, don’t leave it all to someone else and just sleep. Also, leaving your phone to the bar master is another problematic thing. Handing it over was problematic enough by itself, though.

『I suppose I’ll try to fish out answers later. It’s fine if it’s from his mouth, right?』
「It’s his own responsibility, after all. However, please don’t use me as bait.」
『Sure thing~. I’ll end the call now.』

Somehow, isn’t the situation progressing in a dangerous direction? Not for me, for the principal. If he gets the Shimotsuki family as an ally, things will definitely get more interesting. If Aya finds out about this, it’ll be dangerous.

「It should be fine if it’s Mr. Shizuo.」

It’s just my gut feeling, but he’d probably maintain confidentiality. Still, he might assist the principal to increase the shop sales. But in that case, Mr. Shizuo and Teacher Saeki are going to end up meeting. Though it should be alright as long as he doesn’t introduce himself.

「Whatever happens will happen, I guess.」

Everything will depend on the principal’s efforts. If there’s any time I’ll get involved, it’ll be when the principal needs someone to cry on. Though it might happen pretty early on, and that scares me.

Now then, time to forcibly break the adults for the night. I’ll worry about the future later.