Sakura is Surprisingly Easy to Hypnotize

"Sakura, go buy me a cup of coffee."

"Understood!"

During the evening study session, Ju Ji sent Sakura on an errand just to test her level of obedience.

"Since when did Sakura become so obedient to you? Shinomiya, you animal, what exactly did you do?"

"Yeah, no matter how you look at it, this is too abnormal. If you're bullying a girl, I won't forgive you, Shinomiya!"

"What kind of despicable person do you two take me for? I wouldn't do something like that. I just used a little strategy, that's all."

Facing the questioning from Sudo and Ike, Ju Ji, who had already hypnotized himself beforehand, was able to lie without changing his expression. To say he was lying wasn't entirely accurate, as he hadn't actually bullied Sakura. He had just done something even worse: he had caught her weakness and used it to threaten her.

"Shinomiya-kun... the coffee... I've bought it back."

At this moment, Sakura's breathing was a bit ragged, and there was a light sheen of sweat on her forehead. It seemed she had run to buy it, which showed how much weight this matter held in her heart.

If Sakura hadn't been so uncooperative, he wouldn't have wanted to use such methods. He felt a certain amount of guilt in his heart for threatening a gentle girl.

"Sakura, take a break first, then we'll continue studying."

"Yes."

Seemingly afraid of making Ju Ji angry, Sakura didn't dare to say another word.

"So something really did happen between those two."

"Hey, this is a betrayal of Horikita-san."

"I've already said it, Horikita and I aren't in the kind of relationship you think."

As the saying goes, a lie repeated a thousand times becomes the truth. Even if something isn't a fact, if enough people say it, someone will eventually believe it. For instance, these two idiots seemed firmly convinced of this.

"Sakura-san, this problem should be solved like this... yes, that's it. Hey, you two, don't take this opportunity to slack off, hurry up and study. Time is tight. We only have one hour."

"It's fine, don't worry. I've been feeling like studying is going very smoothly lately. I feel like I'm starting to like this feeling of studying. So I will definitely pass this midterm exam. Just let me relax a bit."

"Come to think of it, it's strange. Why didn't I have this feeling before? It must be because your explanations are easy to understand, Shinomiya."

It was obvious that the reason these two were in this state was because the [Taming lv1] skill was taking effect. In reality, Ju Ji's explanations weren't much different from the teachers'. They were perhaps even worse, so having this feeling was entirely because their brains had become more efficient.

"Don't slack off. Don't forget that our goal isn't just to pass, but to earn more points in this midterm exam. In order to promote to Class A."

"Shinomiya-kun is great at everything, except he's a bit rigid."

"Don't forget he's also bad at communicating with strangers."

"Hey, you two, don't start badmouthing me right in front of me."

Although what Ike and Sudo said stung a little, this atmosphere felt very much like friends interacting. So, Ju Ji actually enjoyed this exchange and didn't feel angry about it.

"Is that so? So Shinomiya-kun is also bad at communicating with people... I couldn't tell at all."

"Did you say something just now, Sakura?"

Sakura's voice was so quiet that it reached the point where you wouldn't hear it if you didn't listen carefully. I really don't know what kind of environment could foster such a personality.

Regardless of the reason, the only obstacle to the study session had been resolved, and it could proceed smoothly. With the Taming skill, as long as nothing unexpected happened, there should be no need to worry about the academic performance of these three.

It wouldn't be a waste of all the effort Ju Ji had spent tutoring them these past few days.

"Let's stop here for today, Ike, Sudo. You two go back first... Sakura, stay behind. Because of the earlier reasons, your progress has fallen behind. So you need to make up for it; you'll study for two more hours today."

"Finally over, I'm exhausted. Now I can finally go to club activities."

"Yeah, no matter how pleasant studying is, you'll feel tired if it goes on too long."

"Hey, Sudo, since you can still participate in club activities, that means you aren't tired at all. And Ike, you only studied for an hour, don't act like you've been studying all day."

"Nice retort."

After actually spending time with them, Ju Ji felt that Sudo and Ike weren't as hopeless as they seemed. They were actually just like Ju Ji, not very good at communicating with others. In reality, they were quite good people at heart. If only they could be a little more serious about their studies.

Perhaps because she had gradually grown accustomed to the presence of Ju Ji and the others during their studies, Sakura wasn't as reserved as she was at the beginning. She could occasionally chime in with a sentence or two, which could be considered progress.

After the two left, Ju Ji conducted nearly an hour of one-on-one tutoring for Sakura. Perhaps because one-on-one was more efficient, Sakura caught up with several days' worth of the others' progress in just one hour. As expected, those two were just too inefficient.

"Sakura, I'm too tired. Give me a shoulder massage."

"That... this is..."

"The Gravure Idol photos..."

"I understand."

Perhaps because she had never given anyone a shoulder massage before, Sakura's technique was a bit amateurish. However, it was still comfortable. As expected, keeping Sakura under control was a wise choice.

"It's about time, we should head back to the dorms too."

"We?"

"Yeah."

"Which dorm are we going back to?"

"Mine..."

Upon hearing that they were going to Ju Ji's dorm, Sakura clearly showed resistance. However, it wasn't strong. Under Ju Ji's threat, she eventually agreed.

Hmm, that was a slight failure. Ju Ji's goal was to make an unreasonable request and have her actively refuse it. Through this back-and-forth, he hoped to make her feel that the secret of her being a gravure idol was less significant.

Ju Ji believed that this was the only way to change her timid personality and her fear of interacting with others. Her lack of initiative was an obstacle to their class advancing to Class A. Perhaps this was the real reason Ayanokoji eventually abandoned Sakura.

Of course, this was merely Ju Ji's own interpretation; as for how things truly were, only Ayanokoji himself likely knew.

After a while, the two successfully arrived at Ju Ji's dormitory. Fortunately, they hadn't run into anyone they knew along the way.

"Make yourself at home, Sakura. I'm going to pour some drinks. What would you like?"

"No, that's alright."

"[Sakura, choose the drink you want!]"

"Yes, I'll have a glass of orange juice."

Snap!

"OK, orange juice it is."

Perhaps it was because Sakura's willpower was too weak, but Ju Ji's Hypnosis actually succeeded on her almost every time. However, he wasn't the type of person to take advantage of others, so he only used it for trivial matters or when he was truly left with no other choice...