As soon as the bell signaling the end of school hours chimed, the previously tense classroom atmosphere began to thaw.
Nonoa immediately packed her stationery and approached Yuuta’s desk with light steps.
“Yuuta-kun, same as usual, right?
I’m really counting on you today to help me study in the library.” “Mm.” Yuuta, already accustomed to the presence of his former girlfriend, simply gave a slight nod.
However, just as he stood up and was about to head out, a boy with a shaved head ran quickly toward him.
He was Maruyama Takeshi.
Under the astonished gazes of many, Takeshi shockingly threw himself down and clung tightly to Yuuta’s leg.
“Yotsuba!
Help me!
Please let me join your study group!” “I don’t want to be sent to a construction site!
I don’t want to die, especially not before I’ve had a girlfriend!
I beg you, Yotsuba, save my future!” Takeshi whined in a tone of desperation, making the classroom atmosphere incredibly awkward.
“…” Yuuta looked down at the boy still attached to his leg.
“Let go first, Maruyama.
As I recall, our relationship isn’t close enough for me to have to teach you.” It was true; in the real world, the two were just classmates who rarely spoke to one another.
Takeshi was actually closer to Kuze Masachika, the protagonist of the anime Roshidere, who ironically was a childhood friend whose position Yuuta had usurped without either of them realizing it.
Yuuta glanced toward Nonoa, who stood beside him.
“What do you think, Nonoa?” Nonoa shrugged casually.
“I don’t mind; after all, you’re the one giving the tutoring, Yuuta-kun.
It’s up to you to decide.” Seeing Takeshi’s face already deathly pale and feeling a slight bit of pity, Yuuta finally exhaled.
“Fine, you can come.
But there’s a condition: don’t ever think about giving up halfway.
I really dislike the type of person who stops before their goal is reached.
Understand?” Hearing that, Takeshi immediately stood up straight with exploding enthusiasm.
He thumped his chest hard.
“Of course!
I promise to study very seriously, Yotsuba!
I won’t let you down!” He then turned to Nonoa with a face full of gratitude.
“Thanks to you too, Miyamae, for helping me persuade him!” Nonoa simply gave a sweet smile and waved her small hand.
“You’re welcome, Maruyama-kun.
Let’s hurry before the library gets full.” After the group left the classroom, the atmosphere became somewhat sparse.
However, not everyone could feel calm with the end of school.
“I’m so envious…
I want Yamabuki-kun’s tutoring too…” Fumino murmured from her seat.
She propped her chin up listlessly, staring at the classroom door Yuuta and the others had just passed through with a gaze full of envy.
Fumino squeezed the hem of her skirt, appearing hesitant.
(Should I try to beg like Maruyama-kun did?) she thought hesitantly.
But just as she imagined it, she shook her head quickly.
She was afraid of Yuuta—or more accurately, she was afraid of the man’s reputation.
Fumino and Yuuta were from the same middle school, so she knew very well his history as a playboy who changed girlfriends as if changing clothes.
She had even heard malicious rumors that Yuuta once got one of his girlfriends pregnant and forced her to have an abortion.
Of course, Fumino didn’t fully swallow the rumor; she assumed the students were just exaggerating their hatred.
Even so, the fact that Yuuta was a conqueror of women could not be denied.
That was why Fumino always kept her distance, worried she would be trapped in the playboy’s fatal charms.
However, there was something Fumino did not know.
The real reason Yuuta never glanced at her wasn’t that she was “guarding herself,” but because of his specific taste.
Yuuta liked sexy women with clear curves, not the cute type.
With Fumino’s A-cup bust size, he subconsciously tended to view her as a feminine boy rather than a woman.
Fortunately, Fumino remained unaware of that thought.
If she ever found out, her dignity as a woman would surely be shattered into pieces.
“But…
even though he’s a playboy, his intelligence really can’t be denied.” Fumino murmured again while looking at the physics book still open on her desk.
The letters there still looked like dancing worms to her eyes.
After reflecting for a long time and weighing her fear against the risk of being sent as a manual laborer and dying due to the failure of the Infinity Reincarnation mission, Fumino finally made a decision.
She was self-aware enough to know that studying alone would only result in bad grades.
“There’s no other choice…
I have to try.” With forced determination, Fumino stood from her chair, tidied her books into her bag, and stepped toward the library.
She was ready to throw away a bit of her pride for the sake of survival before her dream could come true.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆ The library that afternoon was filled with the soft hum of breathing and the rustle of paper.
The adults in this era truly pressured children to study from an early age, fully realizing that this period was a golden age where the brain was capable of absorbing knowledge like a thirsty sponge.
Yuuta and Nonoa took places at a corner table that had become their permanent study spot.
Seeing the two sitting side-by-side with an atmosphere that was hard to penetrate, Takeshi was wise enough not to disturb them and chose to sit in the chair across from them.
“Alright, Maruyama.
Which part don’t you understand?” Yuuta asked while opening his notebook.
Takeshi winced, then opened his book and pointed to nearly every line on a full page.
“Almost all of it, Yotsuba…
I’m really stuck here.” However, before Yuuta could utter a single word to teach, the figure of a girl with long blue hair appeared beside their table.
She squeezed her bag strap nervously.
“Um…
Yamabu— Ahem, Yotsuba-kun, sorry to interrupt.
May I…
may I join your study group?” Fumino asked in a voice that was nearly submerged.
Just as Fumino recognized Yuuta, Yuuta naturally recognized Fumino.
After all, Furuhashi Fumino was one of the heroines from the anime Bokuben that he had watched.
However, because the girl’s body shape was so “pitiful” in his eyes, he never had the initiative to interact.
Yuuta truly did not expect the opposite party to be the one to start first.
“Adding one or two more won’t make a big difference.
Sit down.” Yuuta answered briefly with a nod of approval.
Fumino’s eyes sparkled instantly.
“Really?
Ah, thank you so much!
You’re truly a good person, Yamabuki-kun!” Hearing that compliment, Yuuta actually furrowed his brow.
Instead of being happy, he gave a small warning.
“Furuhashi, don’t ever say ‘you’re a good person’ to a man.” Fumino, not understanding, blinked her eyes in confusion.
“Eh?
Why?
Isn’t it a compliment?” It was Nonoa who answered with a soft chuckle.
“That’s because that phrase is often used by women to subtly reject a man’s love confession, Furuhashi-san.
In other words, you just gave him a ‘good person card.'” Fumino’s face turned bright red from embarrassment.
“Ah!
Sorry!
I really didn’t mean it that way!
I was just very grateful!” “Whatever, I don’t care.
Sit down.” Yuuta waved his hand lazily, telling her to take her position immediately.
Fumino finally sat next to Takeshi, directly across from Yuuta.
The study session began.
Yuuta had to split his focus between teaching these two “stupid students,” while Nonoa studied independently and only asked questions if she found problems that were truly impossible for her to solve on her own.
Yuuta’s toughest challenge turned out not to be Takeshi, but Fumino.
The girl seemed to have a chronic “allergy” to numbers.
Every time her eyes caught a complex math or science problem, Fumino experienced sudden panic, dizziness, and almost fainted onto the table.
As a literary genius, Fumino tended to analyze problems using feelings or metaphors.
To her, numbers had no “soul” and felt bland, making it difficult for her to understand why a formula had to work in such a rigid, mechanical way.
“Furuhashi, try to imagine this variable x is a main character searching for their identity in a narrative.” Yuuta began using a very patient approach, explaining mathematical concepts using literary analogies so they could be accepted by Fumino’s dominant right brain.
In other parts of the library, the other Ascendants also began to form small groups to study, driven by fear of Akira’s threats and the Infinity Reincarnation.
However, a different sight was seen with Yukino.
She sat alone, surrounded by a stack of high-level reference books, radiating a cold and superior aura that effectively created an invisible wall for anyone intending to approach.