The next morning, when I woke up, I was surprised to find Kayoko already cleaning up the aftermath.
Since Hina told me to be careful on my way home, it was only reasonable that, for safety's sake, I decided to stay the night at Problem Solver 68's office, right?
Under the mighty power of time, the small awkwardness from before had already vanished without a trace, while feelings of longing only grew stronger.
As a result, the members of Problem Solver and I quickly cast aside any remaining barriers, opened our hearts to one another, and spent the entire night rekindling old feelings.
And after failing to convince Kayoko, who had practically stayed up all night, to get some sleep, the two of us cleaned up the messy room together.
Apparently that still wasn't enough, because after we were mostly done, we deliberately created a little more work for ourselves.
Even Kayoko couldn't help but comment.
"When it comes to rock, you really are unusually gifted."
Holding her in my arms, I answered sincerely.
"I think this is the result of both natural talent and hard work."
First of all, I had to thank my one-of-a-kind appearance and gender in all of Kivotos. Second, I had to thank my own tireless devotion to teaching and guiding others. Finally, I had to condemn whatever corrupt system produced this broken card.
"By the way, are you really not going back to sleep for a bit?" I asked again despite myself.
"If you want to go back, just go. You don't need to worry about me," Kayoko replied calmly.
Even after our relationship had deepened and we had even reached the card's standards, her attitude toward me still hadn't changed much. It gave me that same feeling of closeness mixed with distance.
Every now and then, she would do something slightly intimate or say something suggestive enough to spark the imagination, but those moments were so rare they almost felt like illusions. Most of the time, she still maintained that neither warm nor cold demeanor, just like the cats she liked.
Looking at it another way, though, couldn't this serve as evidence that Kayoko had actually fallen for me long ago, but simply rarely showed it because of her naturally detached personality?
In other words, another hidden pervert.
I gently stroked the head of the girl whose faint dark circles showed how tired she was and said sympathetically.
"No, I just think it's still early, and you're exhausted too. Besides, everyone else is still asleep..."
"So you do know I'm tired..."
Hearing that suddenly made me feel a little embarrassed.
Having just finished cleaning in the early morning, only to immediately continue with "morning exercise," she shook her head.
"But I'm fine. I told you before, I'm already used to waking up early. Besides..."
After a brief pause, Kayoko looked at me helplessly and sighed.
"Even though Haruka's presence isn't exactly strong, don't tell me you still haven't realized she already went out?"
"...Huh?" I blinked. "Haruka went out?"
That honestly hadn't occurred to me at all.
After waking up and seeing only Kayoko moving around the room, I had naturally assumed the other three were still sound asleep.
I frowned slightly in concern.
"Why'd she head out so early? Is something important going on?"
"Whether it's important or not..." Kayoko sighed. "Anyway, when I got up, I happened to run into her, so I know what she went out to do."
After choosing her words carefully, she slowly continued.
"According to her, she wanted to offer tribute to the sensei who was willing to include her in... that kind of thing. So she went out to prepare something."
"...Tribute... what a nostalgic word. And such a Haruka-like one too... but that reason..."
"Right? That's one of the reasons I only told you now."
As for the remaining reason, it was definitely because she wanted to take the chance to be alone with me.
I nodded inwardly in satisfaction, but soon found myself caught in a dilemma.
Spending time with Kayoko was something I wanted. Caring about Haruka was also something I wanted. If both couldn't be had at once, what should I choose?
In truth, I already had an answer in my heart.
Between two people of roughly equal importance, it was always the less mature one who made people worry more easily.
But just then, the girl who seemed to have been secretly watching my expression suddenly spoke up.
"...Sigh, your suggestion does make sense."
Kayoko gently slipped out of my embrace, stood up, and yawned.
"I guess I am a little sleepy after all. Maybe I'll go take another nap."
After a brief moment of surprise, I hugged her emotionally.
"Kayoko! I seriously love you so much!"
But the more mature one, the one who even knew how to step aside, only made me feel more guilt and tenderness toward her.
Meanwhile, she merely complained softly with words that sounded contradictory at first glance.
"You idiot... honestly, that's so unfair."
Aru and Mutsuki, who were still sleeping nearby, seemed to be disturbed by our voices and murmured something unintelligible in their sleep.
In any case, after saying goodbye to Kayoko, who may or may not have been strategically retreating to advance, I left the girls' office-slash-home.
Then I took out my phone and sent Haruka a MomoTalk message asking where she was.
After panicking for a while, Haruka finally calmed down under my reassurance. First she expressed heartfelt gratitude, then insisted that she absolutely had to properly offer tribute this time as repayment for even a fraction of my kindness, before finally sending me an address and saying she hoped to meet there later.
Honestly, the whole thing still felt a little strange to me.
Overall, Haruka probably did gain a tiny bit more from what happened, but considering how half-forced and half-willing the situation had been back then, gratitude really wasn't necessary.
Even if it was simply Haruka's personality, I still hoped our relationship could become more normal, rather than her placing herself in such an entirely unequal and humble position.
Normally, even with the care shown by the other members of Problem Solver 68, Haruka would become even quieter whenever all four of them were together. So for both of us, this was actually the perfect opportunity to talk about things that would be difficult to discuss in front of others.
Thinking I'd deal with it after meeting her, I headed toward the address Haruka had sent me.
At first things were fine, but perhaps because the place was located in a remote suburb, the roads became more and more complicated the farther I went. By the end, there wasn't even a trace of any delinquent girls around.
And after finally arriving at the destination, there wasn't even a trace of Haruka either.
I carefully checked again and confirmed I hadn't come to the wrong place.
Just then, something cold landed on top of my head. The already gloomy sky began releasing a light drizzle.
Opening the umbrella Kayoko had stuffed into my hands before I left, I wondered whether I should contact Haruka again to confirm her location or simply wait a little longer.
But at that moment, I seemed to hear a rather strange sound.
Then a second one. Then a third...
Following the source of the noise, I looked toward an old building nearby.