"Rinji~ I'm here!"
"Yeah, did you bring everything?"
"Everything's packed, I even put the gifts for uncle and aunt in the bag."
"Just a gift for Mom is fine, no need to bring anything for Dad."
"That won't do, I haven't even met uncle yet."
Friday. Only one day remained before Rinji's departure. But since the departure point was at IW's West Pacific headquarters, the two of them had to leave Japan today.
Rinji had already finished packing yesterday, preparing to head back home. Karura brought her things over to Rinji's house.
Though it seemed Karura hadn't appeared for a while, in fact she came to Rinji's house every weekend.
Since he rarely went home, Rinji didn't really have anything he wanted to bring back. After all, everything was there already.
Aside from the gift he bought for his mom, the rest was just clothes that fit in a school bag. No need for suitcases.
The original plan was to return home together with Hayasaka, but she wasn't the kind of person who would casually take a month off outside of vacation.
It wasn't that she couldn't, but rather the normal constraints of someone living under rules and systems.
"You two are leaving for a month?"
As Rinji and Karura checked their luggage, Hayasaka leaned against the wall watching them.
"Yeah, a bit more than a month. Probably won't be back until the end of the semester."
"Once this semester ends, Karura and I will be in our third year, and Rinji, you'll be in second year… time really flies."
"Yeah."
"Since it's third year, I need to start preparing for university entrance exams." Hayasaka twirled her hair. "When you come back, let's go check out some universities nearby."
"Sure."
By the time they returned, it would probably be March, a good time to visit local universities.
Bzz~
Feeling the vibration in his pocket, Rinji pulled out his phone and glanced at it.
"Looks like the car's here. Time to go."
"Yeah, let's go."
Karura shouldered her bag and walked to the door, then looked back at Hayasaka.
"Ai, will you be okay while Rinji and I are gone?"
"It's fine, I'm not a kid." Hayasaka smiled. "I can take care of myself."
After all, she was used to taking care not only of herself, but also of a certain airheaded lady.
"Then Rinji and I will go. See you in a month."
"Yeah."
"Let's go."
Rinji slung his bag over his shoulder, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and stuck one between his lips.
But before he could light it, Hayasaka suddenly stepped forward and plucked it from his mouth.
The scene was reminiscent of the first time the two reunited at Shuchiin.
Hayasaka leaned close to Rinji's ear and whispered, "You're really going to leave me alone in this empty house for a whole month?"
"Eh… but…"
"Of course, part of it is because I didn't plan on vanishing with you, but still, leaving your girlfriend here all alone—are you really okay with that?"
"If it's you, Ai, I actually feel reassured." Rinji said. "Besides, I arranged someone here in Tokyo too. If anything happens, you can…"
"Forget it. We've been boyfriend and girlfriend for a while now, but it feels like we haven't done anything couples should do."
"I…"
"Make it up to me when you get back. For now, consider this an advance."
With that, Hayasaka rose on tiptoes, gripped Rinji's shoulders, and pressed her lips to his.
The kiss lasted about half a minute before Hayasaka let go.
Blushing lightly, she brushed her lips with her fingers and said to Rinji, whose face was also a little red, "That'll do for now. Have a safe trip."
"…Yeah."
It was probably the first time Hayasaka had been this bold in front of Karura.
Karura didn't really react, though. She just looked curiously at Rinji.
---
"The plan for the school trip is ready. The route has been finalized. Next is making the handbook to distribute to the second-years."
"Yes, the handbook is being worked on now."
"The inn has been reserved too. Shinomiya, show me the budget plan."
"Yes."
The student council was running as usual.
Shirogane glanced at the papers Kaguya handed over. "Looks like everything's been arranged pretty well. As expected of Rinji, he even wrote out the details."
"Yeah."
"Speaking of which, where's Rinji?"
"President, Rinji isn't here today." Kaguya said. "Did you forget? He already went home today."
"Oh… right."
Shirogane finally remembered.
He looked around the student council office. Kaguya, Ishigami, Fujiwara, and Iino were all there. Only Rinji was absent.
"So Rinji's not here today."
"Yes, but before he left, he handed his work over to Ishigami and even printed out the budgets for the next month. Basically nothing is left undone."
"…True."
Shirogane knew that was the case.
Before leaving, Rinji had already taken care of everything he could, and delegated what he couldn't. Even if he was gone a month, it would be fine.
Still, Shirogane felt a strange sense of unease.
He was used to seeing Rinji in the student council office. Now that he was gone, it felt oddly out of place.
Not just Shirogane. Ishigami felt it too.
"President, it feels weird with Rinji suddenly gone."
"Yeah…"
"If Fujiwara-senpai starts acting up, I'll be the only one left to comment on it."
"What are you saying?" Fujiwara puffed her cheeks. "A good student like me never acts up."
"…"
The student council suddenly fell silent.
"…Actually, that's true." Fujiwara muttered helplessly. "Normally Rinji would already be arguing with me by now."
On the first day without Rinji, the student council went on as usual.