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Chapter 1 : She’s Starting to Study – Part 2
At first, Shoichi thought he was mishearing.
The girl who he had just assumed would have nothing to do with him was suddenly asking him to teach her how to study. His mind was slightly confused.
But the moment he realized that this was the case, he groaned involuntarily, “Um… I’m sorry. Could you please repeat that?”
“As I said, I’m asking you to teach Yuzuki. Did you not hear me?”
“N-No, I heard you! I heard you, but… Why should I do that?!” Bursting with feelings of irrationality, he confronted the teacher.
He was just a student. He had no obligation to teach Amiru, who was also a student, how to study. Why should he have to go through such trouble?
In the first place, the homeroom teacher, who was supposed to be in charge of the entire class, was behaving as if he favored Amiru alone. As an educator, shouldn’t he be ashamed of himself?
As Shoichi stared at him with white eyes, the teacher blurted out an ‘explanation.’
“You see, a little while after you guys enrolled, each subject had a competency test.”
“Y-Yes. It was a way to recheck our ability in middle school before the midterm.”
“Yes. And that had the perfect score of one hundred.”
“Huh?”
As he was trying to figure out what it meant, the homeroom teacher put his face close to Shoichi’s and said, “…Have you ever seen a single digit score in every subject?”
“Uwah…”
Shoichi, who had figured it all out, stared at Amiru. Amiru’s eyes were fluttering and her hands were clasping her red cheeks as if she was embarrassed. This was not the time to be embarrassed however.
“In short, that score holder is Ami… Yuzuki? So that’s why you need to watch her study specially.”
“That’s right. I heard a rumor that you and Yuzuki grew up together and live close to each other. You’re a good student, so I’m sure you’ll be good at teaching others. You should help her with her studies. If you don’t, it will be decided that she will repeat her year as soon as her first year. And if you accept, I’ll even raise your internal score.”
Shoichi mumbled, “Huh?” once more and looked at Amiru. He didn’t miss the way her face scrunched up the moment the word ‘repeat her year’ came up. In her own way, she was feeling threatened, and her complexion looked heartbreakingly pale.
In spite of her sense of crisis, she still wore her school uniform sloppily, her hands fiddled with her hair restlessly, and her expression seemed somewhat absent-minded.
I won’t care if she’s quiet like when she was little… But if I’m asked to watch her study now, she’s too noisy.
Did she really have the will to take this seriously? If not, teaching her how to study would be a waste of time. It’s irrational to do something that’s useless. It didn’t suit Shoichi’s skin.
Should he refuse after all? Just as he was thinking this, Amiru suddenly opened her mouth.
“Please. Can you teach me how to study? Sho-chan.”
“Sho-chan!?”
“Yeah, Sho-chan is Sho-chan. Eh, did I say something wrong?”
Shoichi groaned, “No,” as he rolled his thin eyes. It was certainly true that Amiru had called him that when they were in elementary school–but since they were estranged, he didn’t expect her to call him that without any hesitation.
Huh? Amiru and I have been distant, haven’t we? Eh, eh?
He felt slightly dizzy because just a few minutes ago, he had been thinking that their lives would never intersect. What was that sentimentality all about?
However, Amiru paid no heed to Shoichi’s confusion and walked up to him.
“Ne~, please. Teach me how to study. Come on, look here!”
She put her hands together and bowed down. As she lowered her head, he caught a glimpse of a small but firm bulge in the chest of her sloppily opened shirt, and the gaudily colored cloth covering it.
Turning away hurriedly, Shoichi murmured, “Wh-What do I care. If you want to study so badly, why don’t you use a cram school or a private tutor?”
“Because, my family doesn’t have that much money.”
“Ah…”
The reply reminded Shoichi of something. Amiru’s family was a single-mother family since her father died early, and in addition, her mother was also sick.
He had heard in conversations with some friends that the cost of going out to play was rather high. He didn’t know how she was making ends meet, though.
Anyway, cram schools and private tutors were both ridiculously expensive. If there was someone around who could teach her how to study, it would be best to help her.
“But I don’t think I should be the one teaching you how to study…”
“Please, Sho-chan. Most of the girls around me are just as dumb as me, so Sho-chan is the only one I can rely on right now.”
“That’s…probably true.”
“Ah, that’s terrible. You’re being rude to my friends.”
“You’re the one who started it, though!?”
“Ahaha. Well, that’s that. Ne, please, Sho-chan, please, please.”
“Hey, don’t nuzzle up to me, too close, too close, your face is too close… Oi, don’t rub your head against my shoulder!”
Before he knew it, Amiru had closed the distance to the point where he could catch her breathing. As it was, she leaned into Shoichi’s shoulder as if she wanted to be spoiled.
The sensation was warm and soft. The sweet scent of body odor or some kind of perfume drifting in the air was almost stealing Shoichi’s ability to think.
This girl smells so good… How did she smell when she was little? As he thought about this, Shoichi shook his head in panic.
He shouldn’t be misled. He must analyze the situation calmly and properly.
Regardless of her attitude, Amiru seems to be rather serious. It didn’t seem like she was lying when she said she wanted to study. I’m sure she doesn’t want to repeat a year, and I feel bad for abandoning her. Besides, it could be beneficial for me to get a higher internal application score…
–In the end, there was only one option. Shoichi let out a sigh.
“It can’t be helped, I’ll teach you… But if I decide you’re no longer motivated, I’ll abandon you right then and there.”
“Yatta! Sho-chan, you’re super helpful!”
Amiru was so moved that she clung to his neck. As he was about to be pushed down, Shoichi wondered while stunned, “Has it really been three years since I talked to this girl?” This was how easily he had started to talk to her.
No, Amiru had become that kind of girl. Amiru had become the kind of girl who could casually interact with anyone and not hesitate to engage in skinship.
The Amiru of elementary school would not have taken such an extreme attitude, no matter how much she relied on Shoichi. She would have just said, “Thank you,” rather hesitantly.
And yet, she was dressed sloppily and hugged him casually. Shoichi felt a little sad as he realized once again that people change.
At that moment, the teacher, who had been quietly observing the scene, threw them a key.
“Here, you can use this classroom after school, so get to studying. Just make sure you lock the door when you leave.”
“Y-Yes.”
“Ah, also… Don’t do anything lewd just because there’s no one around. If you get in trouble, they’ll blame it on me.”
“We won’t!?” Shoichi couldn’t help but shout at the teacher who made such a ridiculous remark. What kind of homeroom teacher was this?
However, the teacher didn’t seem to care as he waved his hand and hurriedly left the classroom.
Shoichi, who was left behind, looked at Amiru, who was also left behind, and felt somewhat awkward. Ehem, he cleared his throat.
“Ah, anyway, let’s start studying. Things are going to get tough, so be prepared.”
“Yeah, I got it! I’ll do my best!” As she clasped her hands to her chest, Amiru nodded her head easily with a sniffle.
The look on her face seemed to suggest that she didn’t understand anything, which made Shoichi wonder, “Is this really okay?”
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I have been helping my mom for the past couple days, so I didn’t have time to work on this. I also planned to release the whole first chapter, but work came up, so here’s this. I’ll try to release more often, but my second semester is just around the corner, so…can’t promise much.