Kouji could finally breath a sigh of relief that Waa returned to the ball. Considering the way she was taking the courses, he figured she was right about not needing help.

“Man, if only she didn’t need me to motivate her.” He muttered to himself. That girl was somewhat smart, but definitely was the laziest person he ever had the pleasure of knowing. It felt a little bit of a shame that he was the type of person she needed in her life. Especially since it was probably because of her feelings for him.

Actually, now that she was here. It seemed that all of the girls were doing fine without him. A bit of a disappointment for him, that he his help wasn’t needed for once. While that made attending this event easier on him, there was a part of him was hoping for some quality time to be spent with them.

All of this was quite a change from the day back when he first stepped into this school. Back then, he was worried about surviving all of them. Now, he was concerned about the future, on if he’d ever have to live without any one of them.

“It seems you’ve worked your wonders yet again.” Isako came up to him, congratulating the boy on bring Waa back. “Looks like our little ball here will be a nice success.” The way she talked, it sounded positive. Yet her tone lacked energy. The sounds she was making were faint in the sea of noise in this party.

“You could say that again.” He responded. “Um, are you all right?”

“Well, that scare earlier did raise my heart rate a bit.” She answered. “But, of course I’m fine. This stuff always takes a lot out of me.” If that was the truth, then he was terrified for her. This woman appeared as if she might stagger and fall to the ground at any moment.

“I don’t know, maybe you should find a place to rest.” He suggested, to which she rejected.

“I can’t just do that.” She replied. “I have a responsibility here for the students.” That was true, and hard to argue against. However, Kouji was certain that he could find a decent solution for her.

Said solution being to simply ask Yuma’s parents if they didn’t mind taking over for 15 minutes at most.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” Now he was walking her back to her office. Something that she needed a little help with. “But it seems that you are correct in your assessment. I could do with a bit of recuperation.” Isako was taken inside and sat down at her desk. Paperwork was strewn across the table, things that she had promised to get to after this was all over.

“Here, let me get you some water.” Kouji didn’t have to go far to find something for her to drink. It really was convenient that the staff room was attached to her office. Inside of it was a fridge with plenty of good beverages. “Here you go.” He handed her the bottle of water he settled on.

“Thank you.” She took a sip and took a deep breath. Sitting down here made her realize just how exhausted her body was. It was nice to get some good rest for the first time in a long while.

“I guess I’ll return to the ball.” He said. “You can rejoin us after you’ve gotten some rest.”

“Oh?” She stopped him before the boy opened the door. “You’ve been working hard yourself. It wouldn’t be fair if only I got a break.” At first, he didn’t think it would be a good idea to spend more time away from the ball. Then again, she was right. He was feeling rather tired from all the work, and he had taken care of all the things they were being graded on here.

“Sure.” Kouji accepted the offer. He sat down down at the chair across her desk. The two didn’t talk for a little bit. Isako was casually sipping on her drink before finally breaking their silence.

“Did you mean what you said earlier?” She referenced their last conversation before the ball began. It caused discomfort in him that she was bring it up once more. He was hoping that they’d just forget what he said.

“Of course I did.” He answered her, doing his best not to maintain eye contact. “But, if it was inappropriate, I’m sorry.”

“No, no I was not offended by what you said.” She assured him. “I was just caught off guard is all. Truthfully, I haven’t heard anyone say that about me in a long while.”

“Really?” He was stunned to hear that. “But, I thought that you said you weren’t worried about all that?” The conversation before with Waa before this ball was announced made it seem that way. And that still was the case, but that doesn’t mean a woman her age doesn’t get a little excited over a compliment.

“It just doesn’t come my way all that much anymore.” Not to mention that she hadn’t made a huge effort in meeting new men in a long time either. All the time spent working with the academy made it difficult, no matter what her intentions were. “Sometimes when I look at you, I’m reminded of how behind the game I am.”

“Right, because of my mother.” Seeing as he was nearly a full grown man, his mom certainly beat Isako to the punch of falling in love and starting a family.

“Well that and because of you, yourself.” She clarified. “You have a lot of lovely ladies surrounding you. Try not to waste it.”

“I know that.” Even with that declaration, it still didn’t fill him with confidence that he’d make the right choices. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, but I promise that I won’t take any of them for granted.”

“That’s good to hear.” She smiled. “You should return to the ball before it gets too late. I’ll be there in a moment. Just need to make a short trip to the lavatory.” Isako dismissed the boy and they separated once more.

The headmistress took a moment to collect her thoughts as she looked around this room. It was a very familiar room, one with no secrets left for her to find. Ever since she invited Kouji to join the school, her life had changed only just a little. But it was much better than the mundane life that had festered since his parents passing.

“I really do hope you don’t take any of us for granted.” She whispered to herself.