Ichinose's Room Tutoring

"Let's call it a day."

Chabashira finished her sentence and walked out of the classroom.

At the same time, some students headed toward Hirata, while Horikita, Kushida, and Ayanokoji left the classroom with Sudo, Ike, and Yamauchi—the three troublemakers of the class.

Recently, Hirata had been organizing study sessions, while Horikita, Kushida, and Ayanokoji were busy worrying about those three idiots.

Setting the former aside, the latter was truly unexpected.

Not to mention Kushida, I never imagined that even Ayanokoji, who hates trouble even more than I do, would take on such a task.

Though, he was probably dragged into it by Horikita under semi-compulsion.

Me? I never participate in any study sessions; I spend every day studying in the library with students from other classes.

After all, I have almost no one to talk to in my own class, occasionally exchanging a few words with Hirata or Kushida at most.

I packed my things and walked out of the classroom. Just as I stepped into the hallway—

"Good work, Hachiman."

"Ah, Hikigaya-kun, I'm joining the study session today too. Please take care of me."

Standing before me were Hiyori and Ichinose.

Ever since the exam preparation period began, I have been studying in the library every day, though my companions change daily.

Hiyori comes every day, but Sakanayanagi and Ichinose have to balance their own class affairs, so they only show up every few days.

Sakanayanagi wasn't here today, so it looked like it would just be the three of us.

"Likewise. There's only a week left until the exams, so let's do our best."

We talked as we quickened our pace toward the library.

The library is packed during this time, and seats are first-come, first-served, so we couldn't afford to be slow.

"That's right. The exam scope has been adjusted, so we need to be careful."

As we changed our shoes at the lockers, Ichinose suddenly brought this up...

"Wait, the exam scope changed?"

I hadn't heard a single thing about that.

"Yeah. Every subject has been adjusted slightly."

"Our class was notified of the changes too. Didn't you receive a notice, Hikigaya-kun?"

"I haven't heard anything at all... Sorry, could you let me see the document with the new scope?"

The two of them immediately took the papers out of their bags and handed them to me.

I compared them against my own exam scope list...

"There are indeed a few changes..."

Although each subject was only adjusted by four or five pages, it's a big deal for those hovering on the edge of the passing line.

Across five subjects, that's a difference of over twenty pages.

I should check with Sakanayanagi first.

I pulled out my phone and dialed her number, and she answered immediately:

"Oh my, Hikigaya-kun is calling me on his own initiative. Are you asking me out on a date?"

"I don't have the luxury for that during exam prep. I just wanted to ask if the exam scope has changed."

"It has. A few pages were adjusted for each subject. Is there a problem?"

"It seems we in Class D are the only ones who didn't receive the notice."

What on earth is Chabashira thinking? She claims she wants to help Horikita and the rest of us reach Class A, yet she doesn't even notify us about the exam scope. It's completely baffling.

"That's truly a disaster, though I suppose it shouldn't be a problem for you, Hikigaya-kun."

"Thanks. Sorry for the sudden interruption."

"Don't worry about it. I still have to head to my class, so please study hard."

"You should guide your classmates well too. By the way, Ichinose, can I borrow that paper?"

"No problem~ Here."

After hanging up, I dialed another number—this time, Kushida, the only person in Class D I still had contact information for.

"How rare, Hikigaya-kun is actually reaching out to me. Is something the matter?"

After all, I really don't want to have too much interaction with this girl who wears a mask.

But this time, I had to share the information.

If it came out that everyone in Class D was kept in the dark, it would definitely cause an uproar, especially among the underachievers.

When that happened, since I associate with students from other classes like Sakanayanagi, Ichinose, and Hiyori, I would surely be questioned as to "why I didn't say anything sooner."

To avoid that kind of trouble, I had to report it in advance.

"The exam scope has been adjusted, but Class D hasn't received any notification at all."

"Eh?! For real?!"

A commotion came from the other end of the phone; she must have had it on speaker.

"I've already confirmed it with Sakanayanagi from Class A, Ichinose from Class B, and Hiyori from Class C. I'm going to read the adjusted scope to you now."

"Okay... I'm ready."

"Let's start with Mathematics..."

As I explained the new scope, I inwardly complained: the school's discriminatory treatment of Class D is just too exaggerated.

"...I think I've got it. It would have been a disaster if I'd gone into the exam without knowing."

"Indeed. Also, don't mention me when you pass this on to the others."

"Eh? Why?"

"I don't want to attract attention."

"But Hikigaya-kun, you're already conspicuous enough, you know."

Kushida asked with a tone of confusion.

I couldn't deny that.

Ever since I enrolled, I've been with Sakanayanagi and Hiyori almost every day, and recently, even Ichinose has joined our group.

Being inseparable from three beautiful girls, I truly couldn't deny that I was far too conspicuous.

"I don't want to become any more eye-catching. Besides, other than your contact info, I don't even know the addresses of the other students."

My contact list only has five people: Sakanayanagi, Ichinose, Ryuen, Hiyori, and Kushida. I don't even know how to contact my own classmates.

Come to think of it, three out of those five are leaders of other classes...

"Ugh..."

Hey, don't use such a genuinely sympathetic tone.

Even without the contact info of my classmates, I'm not bothered in the slightest.

"Anyway, I'll leave contacting the others to you. That's all."

I hung up the phone after saying that last sentence and returned the note to Ichinose.

"That was a huge help."

"It's nothing, really. But the school is truly awful, isn't it? To not tell the students in Class D about the exam scope at all."

It's more likely that Chabashira is being malicious on purpose.

If this were any other school, she probably would have been fired without a second thought.

Not to mention that changing the exam scope drastically at the last minute is problematic in itself.

"Anyway, with the class's most popular person, Kushida, helping to spread the word, there shouldn't be any issues. We should get going too."

"You're right. We spent more time than expected; we need to pick up the pace."

That is true.

The library fills up quickly at this time of year, so we need to hurry.

I nodded in agreement with Hiyori's words, and we headed toward the library, however...

"It's full."

"It really is full."

"It is indeed full."

The library was packed.

Although there were one or two empty seats here and there, there was absolutely no space to accommodate three people.

It seems that phone call earlier took too long.

"It can't be helped. Let's go somewhere else? Where should we go?"

"I've already used quite a few points this month, so cafes and the like are out... How about Hachiman's room?"

"Eh? Hikigaya-kun's room? I don't mind, but..."

"...Why does it have to be my room?"

"If we're in the dorms, we don't have to worry about closing time. If it's inconvenient for Hachiman-kun, we can use my room too, you know."

"If we're going to be in the dorms, let's use my room. Being in a girl's room is just too distracting."

Although I've only been in a girl's room once, that unique scent makes it impossible to focus.

"Then I'll leave it to you."

"Please take care of us."

"Understood, then let's not dawdle and get going."

With that, the three of them left the library.

Rather than wasting time here, it would be better to start reviewing early.

After Hachiman and the others left, inside the library...

"...Hey, did you hear that?"

"Yeah, Hikigaya is going to hold a study session in his own room."

"Neither of the two girls objected, so they must be used to this kind of thing by now."

"That bastard! Not only is he preparing for exams, but he's even doing 'night tutoring'?!"

"It's highly likely. He'll probably call Sakanayanagi over later and say something like, 'While written exams are important, practical exams shouldn't be taken lightly, so I'll personally guide you through the practical part of health and physical education,' and then handle all three of them at once..."

"A four-person free-for-all?! I'm so jealous I could kill him!!"

"Damn it... why is the trash from Class D so popular!"

"I really want to go and cause some trouble, man!"

"I'd advise against it. If you interfere with Shiina, you'll be violating the contract signed with Ryuen."

"I know, but still..."

"Hey! What are you students over there making so much noise about!!!"

The commotion erupting from various corners finally angered the librarian.

"Come on in, I'll go make some tea..." "That kind of work should be done by me, since I'm in charge of taking care of Hachiman-kun..." "Understood, I'll leave it to you."

Just as I returned to the room and prepared to boil water, Hiyori took the tea set from me.

As I led Ichinose toward the living room, Hiyori, wearing an apron and preparing refreshments, looked exceptionally cute.

"Is Shiina-san Hikigaya-kun's exclusive caretaker?"

"After signing the contract with Ryuen regarding Hiyori's situation, she said she wanted to repay the favor."

"Ah, is that the 500,000 point contract?"

"You know about that too?"

"Although it hasn't spread throughout the grade yet, quite a few people know that Hikigaya-kun paid 500,000 points for Shiina-san."

That's true; at the time, Hiyori had hugged me in the middle of the classroom and announced it loudly, so even Ichinose from a different class would have heard about it.

"I suppose so. I originally thought it didn't matter, but she insisted on doing it."

"It certainly seems that way. But being willing to pay such a huge sum of 500,000 points shows that you value Shiina-san a lot, right?"

"...I won't deny that."

Whether it's Hiyori or Sakanayanagi, they have both made me rediscover a joy I haven't felt in a long time.

Although it's hard to put into words, I truly cherish them.

"What are you two talking about?"

Hiyori asked, tilting her head as she brought in the tea and snacks, but Ichinose answered directly: "We were talking about how Hikigaya-kun values Shiina-san very much."

Ichinose! Don't be so blunt!

"I, I see... Actually, I also value Hachiman-kun very much..."

Hiyori's blushing, bashful appearance was truly unfairly cute.

She almost confessed on the spot, but gentle girls have left me with psychological trauma in the past.

I'd definitely get rejected, so it's better to just let it go.

"...Thanks. More importantly, we should start reviewing seriously."

"Mm (Okay)."

After confirming that both of them nodded, we took out our study materials.

At first, I was a bit nervous, but Hiyori's serious demeanor quickly made the atmosphere more relaxed.

In the end, with the company of Sakanayanagi, who joined at seven o'clock, we studied until eleven at night.

Fortunately, no witnesses saw the three of them when they left.