"Take responsibility?" Yusei teased.
"Yes! Responsi- Pfft! No! Who wants you to take responsibility?! You have to compensate me!" Kaori said fiercely.
"And what compensation do you want?" Yusei looked at Kaori with interest.
"A Häagen-Dazs ice cream! No, plus a cake from my family's shop!" Kaori declared.
"So, why should I compensate you with a cake from your own family's shop? Can't you just go home and eat as much as you want? And are you really that easily bought off with just ice cream and cake?" Yusei felt too exhausted to comment.
"Of course it's different! The cakes my family sells are from my family, not compensation from you! You just don't understand the power of sweets!"
"Fine then. Hurry up and finish the music, and I'll compensate you," Yusei said dismissively.
As for Kaori's assessment of him, he was dismissive. He was a sweet tooth himself, okay? The foolish Kaori just couldn't tell.
Kaori shot Yusei a sidelong glance but didn't start on the music, instead heading for the door.
"Where are you going?" Yusei called after her.
"To dry my hair!"
"..."
For the rest of the time, Kaori didn't bicker with Yusei. She really did dry her hair and then settled down seriously to work on the music.
Music is complex, often requiring a spark of inspiration.
The piece with the fast-slow rhythm and passionate melody from before had already been selected by Yusei as the background music for specific scenes.
According to Yusei's plan, creating one more piece today would be sufficient.
Kaori didn't disappoint. Perhaps motivated by the promise of cake, she actually managed to compose another decent melody.
By the time they finished organizing everything, it was already dusk.
Unknowingly, from the moment Yusei left home in the morning to work on his game's music in this studio, an entire day had passed.
But he hadn't been idle. While Kaori practiced her music, he trained his Rinnegan, so no time was wasted.
Watching Kaori, who had packed her things, wave goodbye, Yusei left the place with her.
Walking on the street, Kaori skipped ahead, humming an unknown tune, looking very relaxed.
"Should I eat ice cream first or cake first? Ah, such a blissful dilemma!" Kaori laughed to herself.
Walking beside her, Yusei couldn't help but comment, "I suggest you weigh yourself before deciding what to eat."
"Don't say such mood-killing things!" Kaori retorted, shooting him a glare.
Yusei shrugged, "Suit yourself."
Yusei kept his promise, buying her ice cream, and later they stopped by her family's cake shop, where he bought quite a few cakes.
Of course, besides the one for Kaori, the rest were to take home.
With so many girls of all ages at home, they were bound to like them.
At the very least, Yusei knew that Shiro and he himself were sweet tooths.
When Yusei returned home, everyone was having dinner.
Asuna wasn't home, and she was probably staying at school with Kaguya tonight. Athena, however, was back.
After dinner, Athena pulled Yusei aside privately.
"Husband, I may need to leave for a while. I sense that in the west, within the Athena ruins of this world, there is a divine artifact that can perfect my power. If successful, I might obtain Metis's Authority."
"Athena ruins in this world? Will it be dangerous for you to go? Do you need my help?" Yusei asked worriedly.
Athena chuckled and shook her head, "It's fine. The gods of this world may have encountered an unavoidable catastrophe. I cannot sense the presence of any active gods in this world, so there's no need to worry about my safety."
"Alright then, you can go. But if anything happens, tell me immediately through our contract. We are bound by it."
"Mhmm." Athena buried herself in Yusei's embrace, and the two prepared to enjoy their warmth before parting.
Yusei and Athena shared a Servant Contract.
Through it, Yusei could always sense Athena's condition. Moreover, the contract included a teleportation function.
He could teleport to her side or summon her back to him.
No matter what, Athena wouldn't be in any real danger, which was why Yusei felt comfortable letting her go search for this world's divine artifact.
They spent a warm night together.
The next day, Athena departed directly for the western continent. Over the following days, Kaori sent over the remaining music pieces she had recorded.
In terms of professionalism, Kaori's work, guided by Nishimura, was superior.
Yusei didn't make many modifications and directly handed them over to Yui to incorporate into the game.
As for Eriri, things went quiet for a while. The remaining illustrations weren't sent over. It seemed that after her mother's joke last time, she had suddenly become shy around Yusei.
But Yusei was still anxious. After all, he couldn't stay in this world for too long. Finishing the game sooner meant he could see the results faster.
He dialed Eriri's number.
Considering she might have classes, Yusei called around noon.
The call connected, and Eriri's clear voice came through.
"Kazami-kun?"
"Yeah, it's me. Did you forget something these past couple of days?" Yusei got straight to the point.
"You mean the illustrations? I've been a bit busy lately, haven't had time to draw them," Eriri explained.
"Busy?"
"Mhmm, with school activities... Hey, aren't you a Tokyo University's student too? Didn't you know?"
"Uh... I actually didn't know. I haven't been to school recently," Yusei admitted.
"I see. Well, there's a university-wide event happening recently. To put it simply, it's like a talent showdown. You can sign up for your specialty and participate. The one who defends their 'ring' successfully gets a full year's worth of credits as a reward." Eriri's voice was noticeably excited at this point.
"With a full year's credits, I wouldn't have to attend those boring classes anymore!"
Yusei was aware of the credit system, but he didn't care much about credits because he didn't care much about university itself.
So, hearing Eriri's explanation, he wasn't very interested. But he respected Eriri's decision. Since she had decided to participate in this competition, he would have to complete the remaining illustrations himself.