Ai felt that Hiko's stamina seemed to be lacking. Remembering how he used to tease her, she playfully said, "I had about the same amount of exercise as you just now, so why are you sweating while I'm not?"
"It's not the same, is it? I was also protecting you while we squeezed onto the train, wasn't I?" Hiko retorted without hesitation. As soon as he finished speaking, he caught a pleasant scent.
"Forget it..." Ai listened to Hiko and felt a vibration of air on her body, so she gave up the idea of arguing with him.
Seeing Ai fall silent, Saito Hiko asked curiously, "Why aren't you saying anything? Are you feeling guilty for slandering me?"
"You!... Hmph!" Ai felt a bit awkward about her current situation. She turned to face the wall, no longer looking at Hiko, and let out a hum to express her displeasure.
Hiko saw Ai turn around and asked, puzzled, "Why did you turn around? Are you giving me your back?"
Seeing her defenseless, he lightly blew a cool breath on the back of Ai's neck.
The cool air made Ai shiver. She said in a low, angry voice, "Scoundrel! Don't push your luck!"
"Turning your back to others on a train can be very dangerous," Hiko ignored Ai's warning.
Ai, intimidated by Hiko and fearing he would tease her again, had no choice but to turn back around. "Damn it!"
"Relax, it's only because you and I are so familiar that I just blew a cool breath."
Hiko heard Ai's low curse and, feeling that she was about to get angry, soothed her, "If it were anyone else, when you exposed your back and were completely defenseless, they would have already laid a hand on you. Girls need to protect themselves when they're out and about."
"Baka!" Ai was displeased to hear Hiko speak to her in a lecturing tone. "I wouldn't be defenseless! You big idiot!"
Hiko heard Ai's statement and felt that she had developed a sense of trust in him, so he said, "Thank you very much for your trust in me."
"I really don't know if you truly understand or are just pretending..." Ai mumbled in a barely audible voice.
Hiko saw Ai's lips move but didn't hear her speak, so he asked, "What did you say?"
"Nothing." Ai shook her head and fell silent.
She then lowered her head and said nothing.
Hiko felt a bit bored, so he occasionally tried to strike up a conversation with her.
However, Ai didn't want to talk to Hiko for the time being, so she only gave simple acknowledgments like "Mm," "Oh," "Is that so?" and other perfunctory replies.
After a few attempts, Hiko felt that Ai seemed preoccupied with something, so he stopped bothering her.
The train arrived at the station.
After Hiko and Ai got off, he asked, "What were you thinking about just now? You weren't talking."
"Nothing." Ai shook her head.
Hiko felt confused. He shouldn't have provoked her just now... Well, he had been lecturing her, so she was probably annoyed by the lecture.
He thought for a moment, felt he had found the problem, and said, "I'll probably be a bit late tomorrow morning. You can lead the team in training first. I have something to do."
"Are you slacking off right after taking office?" Ai was puzzled by Hiko's plan to be late the next day.
"How so? Wasn't I super diligent today?"
Hiko planned to write up the proposal Ichigo had assigned him tonight, and then plan the group's proposal.
He felt that he might have to stay up all night, so he gave Ai a heads-up: "Besides, I really do have things to do, I'm not going to play."
"I didn't say you were going to play, did I?" Ai felt that Hiko was like someone who confessed without being asked when he said that.
"I've already assigned the tasks to you. If I'm not there early tomorrow morning... Ha~... You can also talk to them about performances and confirming the styles of the stage costumes. Anyway, they'll find out sooner or later."
As Hiko spoke, he yawned, feeling a bit sleepy.
Ai saw Hiko yawn again and felt that he hadn't slept enough and still needed rest. She nodded and replied, "Since you've said so, then I'll do as you say tomorrow."
"Oh, and for the stage costumes and performances, you can say that you asked me today, or that it was the result of your efforts, which is why the custom-made stage costumes and the selection of performance venues were confirmed so quickly," Hiko instructed Ai.
"Are you planning to have me impersonate someone again?" Ai remembered how Hiko had done this before, helping her come up with strategies.
From Ai's words, Hiko sensed that she felt guilty, which was why she used the term 'impersonate.' He then comforted her, "What impersonation? These are resources you earned yourself."
"I'm merely fulfilling my agreement with you. These are resources you earned yourself, so you are not impersonating anyone." Hiko continued to explain, "Furthermore, stage costumes, promotional posters, and these sorts of things should have been prepared already. I'm just moving the timeline forward a little bit."
"But I didn't do anything..." Ai still found it hard to accept Hiko pushing all the credit onto her.
"No 'but'." Hiko interrupted Ai's self-reproach. "If you feel guilty, then practice diligently. Strive to make all the audience feel it was worth it on the opening day of the performance, and even look forward to the next performance."
Hiko thought for a moment, then extracted two million yen from the system, converted it into a bank card, put it in his pocket, then pulled the bank card out and handed it to Ai.
"If I'm not there tomorrow morning, you can ask the president to take you to the custom stage costume shop."
Ai complained about Hiko constantly arranging her schedule for tomorrow, "Why are you making it sound like a last will and testament?"
"You're overthinking. Don't talk nonsense!"
"It's not me overthinking; it's you acting this way that makes me worried." Ai was troubled by Hiko's continuous words, so she also wanted to make him feel troubled and said, "It's not me overthinking, but because you keep emphasizing 'tomorrow' and 'after you're not here'—such keywords make it hard for me not to overthink."
Hiko heard Ai's words and felt that his narration indeed had a slight problem.
"The password is..." Hiko slipped the bank card into Hoshino Ai's hand.
"This..." Ai was confused when the bank card slipped to her.
"The money for you to order stage costumes tomorrow morning should be enough. Don't refuse." Hiko said uncertainly, then changed the subject: "Anyway, that's it for today. I'll take you home."
"Mm, alright." Ai saw Hiko's firm attitude, and since it wasn't given to her personally but seemed like company funds, she accepted it.
Although she felt something was off, she couldn't quite figure it out at the moment.
Afterward, the two chatted casually. Hiko took Ai home before returning to his own place.
By the time he got home, it was already past ten o'clock.
Hiko sighed as he looked at his home, which he hadn't had time to tidy due to his busy schedule.
He had initially thought he would have free time during the holiday, but he turned out to be even busier than when he was in school.
However, he didn't dwell on it. He went to his computer desk, turned on the computer, and began writing the proposal in a document.