Following close behind me into the living quarters, Aru glanced at the neck brace around my neck, her voice tinged with concern.
"Sensei, did you get hurt?"
Realizing it was difficult for me to turn my head, Aru stepped forward and matched my pace, walking beside me.
Even this silly girl knows how to worry about her teacher now. Sensei is pleased.
"It's fine, just a minor injury. I'll be perfectly fine in a couple of days."
Then, I smoothly shifted the topic.
"By the way, Aru, what did you forget? If it's nothing urgent, you could've just sent me a message on Momotalk and I'd mail it to you. No need to come all the way back. Or is it something important? As the president, you shouldn't be that careless."
A silly girl who ignores her teacher's advice and forgets her belongings makes Sensei very displeased.
"U-um… it's not anything that important… I just didn't want to trouble you, Sensei…"
From her shifty eyes, uneasy expression, and even the bead of sweat forming on her temple, it was painfully obvious she was lying.
Now this was getting interesting.
I decided to play along, stopping where I stood and putting on a grave expression.
"This is bad, Aru."
"Eh?! S-Sensei? What's wrong?"
Already nervous, Aru jumped in fright. Her panicked reaction was so cute it almost made me laugh.
But I kept my serious face and said solemnly, "Aru, I just remembered—I actually hired a maid."
"M-maid?!"
I nodded. "That's right. You know how it is. I'm so busy with work that I barely have time to clean, so I had no choice but to hire one."
A complete lie, of course.
After all, any guest room that's been used by a beautiful girl, I'd rather lose a bit of sleep than let anyone else clean it.
Upon hearing that, Aru's entire body trembled as she let out a distressed cry. "H-how could this happen!"
I pressed on urgently. "So, Aru, tell me, what exactly did you forget? If someone picked it up, that would be terrible!"
In truth, no one else ever comes into Schale's living quarters, and even if she had lost something, there are surveillance cameras everywhere. It would be easy enough to retrieve it.
But in her current state of panic, Aru clearly wasn't thinking that far.
Under my insistence, she finally stammered out an explanation.
"I-it's… actually my student ID. I mean, I could get it reissued at school but… ah! But it's not mine! It's, uh… Mutsuki's! Yeah! I came back to pick it up for her! Mutsuki, honestly, she's just so careless, ahaha…"
She actually tried to pin it on her childhood friend!
Lying is one thing, but telling such an obvious lie with her face flushed, her voice trembling, and her heartbeat practically audible, did she really think no one would notice?
I couldn't help feeling both exasperated and a little amused. I honestly don't know where Aru picked up such terrible lying habits.
Still, my curiosity was piqued even more.
If she's going this far to hide it, then there must be something about that student ID she doesn't want anyone to see. Maybe she looked very different back when she first entered the academy?
Entertaining the thought, I pretended to believe her. "Ah, I see. Mutsuki really can be careless sometimes."
"Exactly, exactly!"
Aru sighed in relief, her face softening and her lips curling into a faint smile, proud of her quick thinking. But soon her brows drooped again, guilt flashing across her expression for having badmouthed Mutsuki.
Too easy to read, Aru.
If only feelings were always this simple… well, actually, they kind of are.
We arrived at the guest room Aru had stayed in before. I opened the door, and Aru immediately rushed inside, pulling open the drawer of the nightstand. When she saw the student ID lying neatly inside, her face relaxed in obvious relief.
But just as she reached for it, a large hand swooped in from behind her and snatched it away first.
I looked down at the photo on the card, comparing it to the Aru standing before me, and couldn't help but smile.
The Aru in the photo had short hair, neatly pinned bangs, glasses, and an innocent, well-behaved expression, like one of those perfect honor students straight out of a textbook.
I suddenly remembered that Mutsuki had a thing for girls with glasses.
Looking at the thunderstruck Aru, I teased, "This photo… is that Mutsuki?"
Aru bit her lip and forced herself to answer. "Y-yeah, it's Mutsuki."
"Oh, really?"
"Y-yeah. Back then… Mutsuki wore glasses."
Watching her cling to her lie with all the determination of a cornered animal, I couldn't hold back a laugh.
Aru flinched, her voice trembling. "S-so… can I have it back now…?"
Instead of replying, I read aloud in a loud, clear voice.
"Name: Rikuhachima Aru. Birthday: March 12th… hmm? Quite an interesting bit of information."
"Ah… ah…"
Aru trembled all over, her face turning crimson as tears began to well up in her eyes. She looked seconds away from crying.
…Oops. I might have gone too far.
I quickly handed her the student ID back. "Sorry, Aru. You were just too cute, and I got carried away. I shouldn't have lied about the maid or taken your things. My bad. Please forgive me."
Sniffling, Aru carefully tucked the ID into her wallet. Her voice was calm, though a faint trace of hurt lingered in her tone.
"It's okay, Sensei. I just… wanted you to see me as the president of Problem Solver 68. Someone cool, reliable, and worthy of respect…"
That side of her is actually the one I rarely get to see.
"I think you're wonderful just the way you are, Aru."
After thinking for a moment, I added something that I knew would resonate with her. "Even the most fearsome outlaw has a softer side, right? And personally… I think the moments when Aru shows that other side of herself are the coolest ones."
Aru's eyes brightened. "Really?"
"Of course. I like you a lot, Aru."
That wasn't a lie. Aru could be a handful at times, but that's part of her charm. Combined with all her strengths, it's what makes her uniquely Rikuhachima Aru.
Once you learn to really understand others, it becomes easy to see how loveable everyone truly is.
Looking at Aru again, I saw that her usual confidence had returned after my praise.
"Heh, I see. As expected of my company's business consultant. You have some valuable insight into the president's image. But you know, that kind of talk is a little too casual. Words like that should come after things progress a little more. Like… at a nice restaurant overlooking the city at night…"
Her cheeks were faintly pink as she closed her eyes, lost in daydreams.
"I get it! Then let's go. My treat, as an apology!"
"Eh? W-wait, Sensei—!"
After some effort, I managed to find a restaurant that matched Aru's imagination and still had seats available.
Unfortunately, just as I was about to say those "relationship-progressed" words after dinner, Aru panicked and ran off.
It seems the president still has quite a ways to go before reaching the maturity she dreams of.