"Both of you are here, perfect. To thank you for your help, I'd like to treat you to dinner after school."
Kiyono Lin put down her book, swiveled her body around, and looked at Xiaoquan Aonai, "That's not necessary. I agreed to help for the club activities, not entirely to assist you."
"But there was a willingness to help me, right? That's enough for me. Kiyono, give me a chance. A teacher who owes favors to students just doesn't look good, and it makes me feel guilty for exploiting them."
Dubian Che thought that Xiaoquan Aonai wasn't just being courteous but genuinely felt that way. He sighed helplessly and agreed.
Xiaoquan Aonai smiled with satisfaction, "Meet here at six. I'll drive you there."
"You 'guys'?" Dubian Che quickly spoke up, "Teacher, I have plans tonight."
He wanted to go early to the event location according to the navigation and scope out escape routes.
"Got plans? Dubian, you're not working overtime, are you?" Xiaoquan Aonai asked suspiciously.
"How could that be? I'm a paragon of school rules."
"Then what's so important that you can't even make time for dinner with your teacher?"
"Kiyono lent me an English classic. It's quite profound, and I want to finish it over the weekend, so I can return it to her early."
Xiaoquan Aonai turned to Kiyono Lin, "Is that so?"
Kiyono Lin crossed her arms and with her ethereal beauty, a smug smile appeared, as if kicking someone when they're down.
"Mixing truth with lies, spouting nonsense. Mr. Xiaoquan, I suggest you stop taking a liking to this liar."
Xiaoquan Aonai turned her head, leaned in close to Dubian Che, "Dubian, did you dare to lie to the teacher?"
"You're too close, teacher. Please back away a bit, you're too fragrant."
Xiaoquan Aonai tugged on Dubian Che's ear, her almond eyes angrily fixed on him, "Changing the subject again!"
"That really hurts, teacher."
"Wait here at six, got it?"
Xiaoquan Aonai let go and seeing him continually rubbing his ear, she couldn't help but laugh, "Stop exaggerating, I wasn't that rough."
"My ears are just sensitive."
"...What are you talking about! At your young age, how do you know such odd things!" Xiaoquan Aonai blushed slightly, trying to maintain her authority.
"What odd things? I just said my ears are defensively weak and easily pained, what are you talking about?"
"Never mind." Xiaoquan Aonai swiftly left the activity room.
Dubian Che had no choice but to stay in the activity room until after school. At six o'clock, he and Kiyono Lin took Xiaoquan Aonai's car out to dinner.
The dining spot was a pretty decent barbecue place.
Thanks to Xiaoquan Aonai's prior reservation, even during the dinner rush, the three of them didn't need to queue.
"I only took five days, no, actually three, to secure two A's! And that's with just casually studying a bit each day!"
"Such a super, super, super backwoods hick; people actually live in places like that?"
"No coffee shops around, hilarious! How poor can his family be?"
"I bet he can only afford discounted bento boxes from the supermarket!"
The trio had just seated themselves in a private room when familiar voices came through from next door.
Kiyono Lin looked toward the source of the voices with a cold gaze. She let out a scornful chuckle as if observing mankind from a bystander's perspective and waited to see how Dubian Che would react.
"Is that Yuzao and friends?" Xiaoquan Aonai's face turned sour as she stood up.
Dubian Che hurriedly held her back.
"Mr. Xiaoquan, if you confront Yuzao now, she'll be embarrassed in front of many people."
Dubian Che spoke with a smile, convincing her:
"Teacher, I truly don't mind at all; let them laugh. It won't take root in my heart, nor will it affect my studies. Besides, it's not often that Yuzao gets double A's. Let her enjoy it for a few days. At worst, make her answer more questions in class as punishment."
Xiaoquan Aonai looked earnestly at Dubian Che, seeing his natural smile, with no sign of pretense.
She reached out, affectionately ruffled Dubian Che's hair, "Teacher's proud of you."
Being head-patted by a beautiful teacher in her twenties upset Dubian Che.
"My hairstyle's going to get messed up!"
"Ah haha~" Xiaoquan Aonai laughed smugly and sat back down. "By the way, Dubian, I've been meaning to ask, is your hairstyle deliberately like that?"
"Of course, it was pricey."
Dubian Che's hairstyle looked so natural that it was hard to tell if it was deliberate or he had just woken up and not bothered to tidy it.
"I, Dubian, never lie."
"That sentence itself smells of a lie."
Dubian Che corrected, "Please call it a joke."
Xiaoquan Aonai nodded, "It is quite interesting."
Dubian Che hadn't had barbecue in a while, so he ate with a certain roughness, no, it should be described as boldness, that sounds better.
Xiaoquan Aonai ate some too, only Kiyono Lin, like a rabbit, just ate the greens, no, it should be compared to a cabbage worm, that sounds worse.
"What are you looking at?" Kiyono Lin noticed his gaze and put down her fork and knife with the vegetable salad.
"You must be really angry inside, despite being so concerned about Yuzao Haomei, going to the trouble of preparing proxy exam papers for her and doing your utmost to boost her confidence."
"No, I'm not angry at all. Everything I do has nothing to do with Yuzao, I don't care what she thinks of me, I'm going through all this trouble solely for Mr. Xiaoquan."
"Dubian..." Mr. Xiaoquan didn't know what to say.
The mockery on Kiyono Lin's face disappeared, and she observed Dubian Che seriously for a moment before she seemed to remember to eat her vegetable salad with her fork and knife.
"You are very interesting to observe," she said.
"Kiyono, may I ask you a question?"
"I might not answer."
"That's your right." Dubian Che paused, "With your personality and the way you talk, you probably don't have any friends, right?"
As soon as he uttered those words, Xiaoquan Aonai immediately reprimanded with a shout of "Dubian!", and then cast an apologetic glance toward Kiyono Lin.
Kiyono Lin put down her cutlery for the second time, "You're right, I indeed don't have friends. Are you satisfied now?"
"Kiyono..." Xiaoquan Aonai again didn't know what to say, her gaze taking on a maternal softness.
Then she glanced reproachfully at Dubian Che, signaling him to apologize.
Dubian Che reflected on himself, realizing he had indeed made a mistake, not in counterattacking, but in the way he had done it.
As a "Tokyo Hottie," using words to attack a girl was immature, what he should do was aim to get the first place in the whole school in the midterm exam.
"I'm sorry," he said, "I think the reason you don't have friends, Kiyono, is not because you can't find any, but because you won't settle. You value friendship more than the average person, and in that regard, I can't compare to you."
Xiaoquan Aonai breathed a sigh of relief, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration and suggested, "How about you two become friends!"
"Huh?" Both Dubian Che and Kiyono Lin looked at her in surprise.
"Dubian is very smart, hardworking with his studies, self-disciplined and strong in life, and in the matter of Yuzao, it also shows that he has a good character. Didn't you also say, Kiyono, that Dubian is worth observing?"
Dubian Che wrapped some grilled tongue with sauce and stuffed it into his mouth fiercely.
Kiyono Lin glanced at the wolfishly eating Dubian Che, "I admit, as a human being, he is an ideal and excellent individual."
"But, teacher, friendship isn't just about that, my requirement is someone who absolutely never tells lies, and he clearly isn't that."
Xiaoquan Aonai was at a loss for words, and after a while, she said, "It's one thing for lovers not to lie to each other, but can't you be more lenient with friends?"
"No," Kiyono Lin flatly rejected, "I never lie myself, so I have the right to demand the same from others. And I'm not forcing anyone to do so, I just take care of myself."
"That may be so," but Dubian is really great, you two are both very intelligent, you would surely have a lot to talk about!"
Xiaoquan Aonai's voice was excited, but what she said was bland, like trying to make conversation for the sake of it.
Dubian Che felt very uncomfortable.
'What's with this atmosphere, is this a matchmaking meeting? Or are they trying to sell a niche financial product named Dubian Che?'
Perhaps sensing his discomfort, Kiyono Lin showed a mischievous smile.
"That's true. If Dubian himself says he is not human, then it wouldn't be impossible to be friends, after all, my condition is: a person who never lies, non-humans naturally wouldn't fall under this requirement."
"Are you joking?" Dubian Che said.
"Oh my," Kiyono Lin crossed her arms, her hand propping up her chin, "Didn't Mr. Xiaoquan say you were smart? How come your memory is so poor? Didn't I say it when we met, I never lie."
"Joking isn't the same as lying."
Kiyono Lin ignored him, "Teacher, as you can see, our perspectives are too different, we can't be friends."
Xiaoquan Aonai looked back and forth between them, smiling, "No, I feel that you will definitely become friends, and maybe even closer comrades than friends."
Dubian Che corrected, "Teacher, my goal is to become a civil servant, I'm not interested in the Self Defense Force."
"I mean comrades in life!" Xiaoquan Aonai vigorously ruffled Dubian Che's hair.
After dinner, Xiaoquan Aonai escorted Kiyono Lin home, as a boy, Dubian Che could only walk the night road by himself.
When he got home, he took off his school uniform and put on the multi-pocketed clothes his mother bought for him in junior high.
The quality of the clothes was good, and apart from the color being slightly faded, there was no damage at all. Since they had been bought large, they still fit him well.
He checked the stun gun, alarm, and other equipment again to ensure they were working properly before placing them in his pockets, the Alloy Steel Telescopic Stick was clipped to his waist separately.