"See you!"
"See you tomorrow!"
After waving goodbye to everyone in the Light Music Club, Sato picked up his school bag and headed toward Aoyama Apartments.
Overall, today's club recruitment event had gone quite well. After their performance, the audience responded enthusiastically. It was clear that a lot of people had enjoyed their show.
"I wonder if we'll be able to recruit one or two new members."
He thought to himself.
The private high school had about eight classes in each grade: six regular college preparatory classes, one international education class, and one arts and sports class. Each class had around forty students, meaning there were only about three hundred and twenty students in each grade.
At first glance, that might not seem like a small number, but the school had forty or fifty different clubs.
That meant that, on average, each club could hope for at most about six new members, and that was under ideal circumstances. In reality, not every student joined a club. Many belonged to the so-called Going Home Club instead.
After excluding those students, the number of recruits available to each club became even smaller. On top of that, popular clubs like the Kendo Club, the Wind Ensemble Club, and the Soccer Club would attract a large share of students. For the remaining clubs, getting even one or two freshmen was already considered a success.
Although the Light Music Club had performed very well today, Sato was not getting his hopes up too much.
"Senpai!"
Just then, a familiar voice called out from behind him.
He turned around, raising an eyebrow.
"Asuna, you haven't gone home yet?"
Yuuki Asuna jogged over from behind him. Once she caught up and walked beside him, she slowed her pace, holding her school bag with both hands in front of her as they walked together.
After catching her breath, she smiled.
"I joined a club yesterday, so I went to get familiar with it today."
"Hm? Which club did you join?"
"The Wind Ensemble Club!"
"Oh!"
Sato nodded in realization. He remembered Asuna mentioning before that she had learned to play the violin.
"Your performance earlier was amazing, Senpai!"
"You saw it?"
"Mm! I had just come out of the club activities building and saw such a huge crowd, so I went over to take a look. I didn't expect you to be the one performing, Senpai. Are all those girls members of your club?"
Asuna asked casually.
"Yeah."
Sato nodded with a smile.
"That's right. They're all friends from my club."
"They're all very pretty."
Asuna added another comment, her tone carrying a subtle implication.
Sato gave her a rather strange look, but before he could say anything, she quickened her pace and walked ahead.
"Senpai, let's hurry home. It's getting late."
...
As they approached the apartment building, they spotted a slender figure standing in front of the entrance from a distance.
Sato found the silhouette somewhat familiar. As he drew closer, the other person greeted him first, smiling faintly as she waved.
"Miyabi-sensei!"
"Kosaka-sensei?"
Sato looked at her in surprise after getting closer. He had not expected her to suddenly appear here.
Walking behind him, Yuuki Asuna frowned slightly as she thought about the way Kosaka Akane had addressed Sato.
Miyabi-sensei?
Was master living a double life?
Meanwhile, when Kosaka Akane noticed Yuuki Asuna behind Sato, her eyes lit up.
"Could this be your girlfriend, Sensei?"
"No."
Sato rubbed his forehead helplessly and looked at Kosaka Akane.
"Kosaka-sensei, could you please stop asking that every time you see a girl? It just makes people uncomfortable."
"Sorry, sorry!"
Kosaka Akane made an apologetic gesture before looking at Yuuki Asuna with surprise.
So she wasn't Miyabi-sensei's girlfriend either?
Now that was interesting.
It seemed Miyabi-sensei had quite a few romantic entanglements.
Although Kosaka Akane was already thirty and still unmarried, she was not lacking in perception.
Even though Sato and Yuuki Asuna were not acting particularly intimate, she could tell that the girl definitely had some feelings for Miyabi-sensei.
It was simply a feeling, or perhaps what people called a woman's intuition.
At the same time, she was curious about Yuuki Asuna's identity. Because of her own background, she could tell from Asuna's bearing alone that she was no ordinary girl, but the daughter of a distinguished family.
Aura was one of those things that sounded impossible to explain scientifically, yet undeniably existed. Sometimes you could recognize it at a single glance.
"By the way, Kosaka-sensei, what brings you here?"
Sato steered the conversation back on track. It looked as though she had been waiting here specifically for him.
Kosaka Akane rolled her eyes.
"Didn't I tell you a few days ago?"
As she spoke, she reached into her shoulder bag, took out a USB drive, and handed it to him.
"This contains the completed portion. If you hadn't come back soon, I was about to leave."
"Oh, right."
The moment Sato saw the USB drive, he remembered. During their last conversation, Kosaka Akane had mentioned that she'd be coming here to take care of some business and would bring the game files with her.
Taking the USB drive, he looked at her.
"Thank you for the trouble, Kosaka-sensei."
She waved her hand dismissively.
"It's nothing. But... I think it's about time you paid some attention to the company, Miyabi-sensei. Come to think of it, it's been quite a while since you last visited."
"With Kosaka-sensei keeping an eye on things, I'm sure everything's fine."
Kosaka Akane stared directly at him.
"Should I thank you for trusting me so much, or say you'd make an excellent capitalist?"
Yuuki Asuna blinked in confusion beside them.
Sato smiled.
"Capitalists can only exploit ordinary people and capitalists weaker than themselves. They can't exploit bigger capitalists."
Kosaka Akane smiled at him before shaking her head.
"Forget it. I'm used to it by now. But there's a favor I'd like to ask of you, Miyabi-sensei."
"What kind of favor?"
"Well... you'll find out when the time comes."
Kosaka Akane gave him a mysterious smile, the corners of her lips curling upward slightly as she waved.
"See you!"
Sato watched her departing figure with a puzzled expression.
What did she mean?