“Oshino wanted to talk to me.” “Mister Oshino? Why?” “Well─to help with his work.” “O…kay?” Hanekawa reacted uncertainly. She seemed suspicious at my sudden change of topic─or rather, blatant curtailment of it. My uncertain phrasing, “to help with his work,” could only have deepened her suspicion. This, I thought, is why I don’t like dealing with smart people. Couldn’t she just play along? Standing up from my chair, I continued a bit forcedly, “So me, I need to leave. Can you take care of the rest, Hanekawa?” “You can for today if you promise to make up for it. There isn’t any important work left, so I’ll let you go this time. We wouldn’t want to keep Mister Oshino waiting,” Hanekawa was kind enough to say anyway. Oshino’s name seemed to have worked on her. He had saved her ass, just as he had saved mine, so being ungrateful must have been out of the question. Well, naturally, I’d taken that into account, but it wasn’t a complete lie. “Then can I pick all of the options for our activity? I’ll have you confirm them later, though.” “Yeah, I’ll let you handle it,” I said. “Send my regards to Mister Oshino.” “I will.” With that, I stepped out of the classroom.