Chapter 564

"That's too much. Are you planning to stay here until next week?"

In the hallway, another beautiful woman with Black Long Straight Hair walked out of the living room, took a sip of water, and spoke slowly and deliberately.

But judging from the direction of her gaze, she wasn't paying much attention to what he was holding; she probably just wanted to say a few words to him.

In other words, she has a mild argumentative personality, but so far her objections are limited to him and her mother.

Sakurakoji Talent, however, wasn't going to tolerate this and went straight for her sore spot. "Then don't eat them later, let Yukina and I finish them off."

"..."

Touma Kazusa walked over as if she hadn't heard him, picked up the bag containing the dessert box from the floor while he was changing his shoes, and then returned to the living room with light steps.

"Let's have these to tide us over before dinner~ Yukina, come quick!"

Hi~

"..."

He sighed softly, then carried the remaining household items to the living room alone; the groceries had already been taken there by Kogisora Yukina.

The location is Touma Kazusa's house. Tomorrow is the weekend, and the three of them have agreed to hold a study session at her house tonight and stay overnight.

Around this time of year, most schools will be holding their midterm exams within the next two to three weeks.

The suggestion came from Kogisora Yukina, because Touma Kazusa would never have suggested it on her own initiative.

But it was less of a study session and more of a small tutoring session for the two of them. After all, if their levels were too different, there was no need for them to study and discuss together...

He didn't object; it would be a good opportunity to review his material.

However, Kogisora Yukina was relatively easy to deal with, since the entrance requirements for the regular class in Houjou were not low, and her grades were decent. But the other person...

"Why can't you even answer such a simple question, Touma-san?"

He held the book, deliberately addressing her by her surname, his tone indifferent and puzzled.

"Here we go again!"

Touma Kazusa shrugged, still clutching a pen in her right hand, her expression nonchalant, as if it wasn't her fault. "That's the arrogance of high achievers, isn't it?"

"A question that's easy for top students is really difficult for ordinary people!"

"But the questions I set were original questions from the first-year high school textbook."

"..."

"Why is it that you're already a senior in high school, and you still can't do the example problems related to the formulas in your textbook? Hmm? Can you explain that to me?"

Not only in math, but all her subjects were well-balanced, with no weaknesses in any subject, which was truly heartwarming and brought tears to my eyes.

"..."

She frowned, lowered her head, and stared at the papers on the table, as if deep in thought.

"Stop pretending! I bet you don't want to sleep tonight!"

"Hahaha..."

Kogisora Yukina, standing nearby, gave a soft, wry smile. She hadn't expected Touma Kazusa's grades to be so bad.

The General Department studies atmosphere in Houjou is acceptable, but as everyone knows, Touma Kazusa spent her first and second years of high school in the Music Department, where the evaluation criteria are completely different from those here.

However, even there, she was still an unpopular and bottom-ranked student—only in terms of academic performance.

If it were music, even if she slacked off for two years, she could still crush everyone.

"That's going too far..."

Touma Kazusa muttered something, then gave up, "So what? I'm not planning on going to higher education anyway, so it doesn't matter if my grades are good or bad, right?"

"Hmm~ So, you've decided to Mirai pursuing a career in Piano?"

He chuckled softly, crossed his arms, and stared at her.

"..."

Kogisora Yukina completely stopped what she was doing, pricked up her ears, and paid close attention.

She didn't want her hard-won best friend to be just a one-year relationship.

Touma Kazusa glanced sideways, let out a soft sigh, as if she had thought of something, "... Not yet, anyway, there's still plenty of time. There are still a few months until the mock college application period, so it should be fine, right?"

"Lazy people's excuses are always so the same."

Unsurprisingly, he responded in a lukewarm manner.

"If you don't think about it carefully, a year will pass in the blink of an eye. Well, I'm not forcing you to get into any good university."

Touma Kazusa scoffed, "Nonsense~ So, have you decided what you want to do in the future?"

"I don't know... I guess they can do whatever they want."

She scoffed, "Is that an answer? You're clearly just like me, not thinking about anything at all, are you?"

"No, it's completely different. It's just that there are too many choices, which makes me unsure."

"..."

"Whether it's going to higher education, continuing to work, making games, making music, focusing on a business, or even going back to my parents' studio to continue designing clothes, or just giving up altogether... Hey, Kazusa, which one do you think I should choose?"

Tsk, only now does he realize his mistake.

If only I had used the name Himemiya Chihaya to approach them back then... Unfortunately, I didn't have that thought at the time.

Am I supposed to tell them later, "I'm actually younger than you, so I can't graduate with you...?"

"You're so annoying! You're disturbing my studies!"

Touma Kazusa gripped the pen tightly in her hand, her teeth clenched, her dark blue eyes seeming to want to poke two holes in him.

Come to think of it, this guy has been like this ever since we first met!

When she mistakenly believed that he was just like her, a pitiful fellow abandoned by his parents in his hometown, he told her that he had left his doting parents voluntarily.

Later, as they got to know each other better, she realized that apart from both of them liking to skip classes, being good-looking, having good taste in clothes, coming from wealthy families, and having strong musical abilities, they had absolutely nothing in common!

That damn perfect playboy! Was he sent by heaven specifically to annoy me?!

"At least come up with an excuse that doesn't seem too fake, okay? Studying, for goodness' sake..."

He picked up his pen and began writing rapidly on a blank sheet of paper, line after line, until the paper was covered with writing in no time.

"What's this?"

Kogisora Yukina peered over it, asking curiously.

"Reference materials and textbooks,"

He handed the papers to Touma Kazusa, "When you have time later, go and buy all these textbooks. You need to brush up on some knowledge."

Touma Kazusa glanced at it and exclaimed in surprise, "What?! So many?!"

Even a cursory glance reveals that there are more than twenty books listed above.

She was certain that, let alone high school, even including junior high, she probably hadn't bought this many extra books.

"Are you trying to work me to death?!"

"This is only the first round of books; you need to brush up on your knowledge, Miss Touma."

He sighed with a worried expression. "If I could, who would want to teach a terrible student? It's such a painful process!"

Her level of knowledge is probably only slightly better than Shiina Mashiro's, and there's Hoshino Ai, who doesn't study much, and a certain woman who's United Kingdom but doesn't speak much English, the womanizer, the one-track-minded Yamada Ryo... Thinking about it this way, there are surprisingly many "dumb girls" around me.

Okay, forcing them to become normal isn't realistic, and it would be a waste of time too.

Thinking of this, he snatched back the paper and quickly crossed some things out. "Fine, long live graduation, just buy these."

That's more like it.

She breathed a slight sigh of relief and took the papers back; half of the books were gone.

"Wait a minute! Chinese, math, and English are one thing, but why is there a German reference book?!"

Upon seeing the last part, she frowned and glared at him.

"To plan ahead,"

He crossed his Hands and stared directly into her eyes. "You might go to Vienna in the Mirai, right? It won't hurt to learn German in advance."

"... When did I say I was going there with that woman?"

"I didn't say you were going with Aunt Yoko."

"..."

"It seems more likely that you'll pursue a career in Piano, so there's a possibility you'll go there in the future, right?"

"..."

Kogisora Yukina's face scrunched up, her spirits plummeting. She grabbed Kazusa's Hands and asked, "Kazusa, are you going abroad?"

She bit her red lips, knowing that this path was the best for her, but... it just goes to show that people are indeed selfish.

Seeing her pitiful little expression, Touma Kazusa would definitely take two steps back if she could.

Sure enough, she really couldn't handle her...

"... No, that's not true. He just thought of it on his own, Yukina, don't worry about it."

She rolled her eyes at Sakurakoji Talent, then said wistfully, "Besides, I haven't even gained my mother's approval. Even if I go alone, I'll probably only be humiliating myself."

"My skills and talent are far from reaching that level."

"..."

Sakurakoji Talent revealed the image of an "old person, subway, looking at a mobile phone".

Can you please stop making me laugh, Ms. Kazusa?

Even if your skills are lacking now, as for your talent—I won't say anything about it.

"If you slack off for two years, it'll be strange if your skills don't improve. After you finish your lesson, you'd better practice! Practice hard and try to recover and surpass your previous level before summer vacation!"

"What?! Don't I need to rest?!"

"Then let's rest for a while and practice again."

"What right do you have to tell me what to do! Are you my mother? No... even my mother wouldn't treat me like this!"

"Excuse me, your guardianship was recently transferred to me by Aunt Yoko. Would you like me to show you the news?"

After he finished speaking, he showed her his emails and social media messages with Touma Yoko.

"!!!"

Touma Kazusa's eyes widened as she snatched the phone.

"When did you exchange contact information with her?!"

After letting her swipe a few times, Sakurakoji Talent put his phone away, just in case she saw something she shouldn't.

"We already switched places, so I now have the right to supervise your learning and practice progress. If you want to resist..."

He paused, then thought about it carefully, and realized that there really wasn't anything that could threaten her.

Although she was a rich girl, her life was not extravagant, and she wouldn't lose anything even if her credit card was suspended.

"Then I'll ask Aunt Yoko for a key to this place, and then I'll come over and bother you every day."

"Talent-kun, you..."

Kogisora Yukina clenched her fists, her expression subtle, as if she really wanted to say, "Is this a reward or a punishment?"

"Hmph~ Hmm~"

Touma Kazusa gave a soft hum, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, her emotions unreadable.

"Don't worry, I guarantee you, as long as you follow my arrangements, you'll be fine whether it's graduation or music."

He was quite confident about this.

"Maybe when Aunt Yoko comes back next time, she'll appreciate your performance."

"It's not that simple... No, I don't want to go with her at all!"

She changed her words, saying one thing but meaning another.