"No, as far as I know, it wasn't Class A."
Manabu Horikita shifted his gaze back to Akane Tachibana's face, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly—
"It came from Class D."
Volume One: Chapter Forty: Kushida Kikyo Loses All Her Strength and Means
An hour passed in the blink of an eye.
"Let's call it a day here."
Keima Katsuragi packed up his things and spoke to Airi Sakura.
"Thanks for all your hard work, Katsuragi..."
Airi Sakura lowered her head and spoke to Keima Katsuragi in a very quiet voice.
"There weren't any major problems. You've got the material from today down, right?"
"Yeah..."
Airi Sakura nodded.
Her learning ability wasn't particularly good, and she was nowhere near as sharp as Keima Katsuragi or Suzune Horikita, so she often had trouble keeping up with the teacher during class.
But after Keima Katsuragi tutored her, the things she hadn't understood before had mostly become clear.
Keima Katsuragi had stripped everything down to its essentials and laid the most important points out in front of Airi Sakura.
For him, that was the most efficient way to teach.
There was just too much unnecessary chatter in the teachers' lessons.
"Just go home and review everything properly afterward."
"I'm sorry about today. I caused you trouble, Katsuragi..."
While Keima Katsuragi was tutoring her, Airi Sakura had struggled to concentrate.
And some questions had taken her a while to figure out.
That left Airi Sakura feeling rather embarrassed.
"It was no trouble at all."
Keima Katsuragi answered immediately.
After all...
There probably wasn't anyone in this world who could be worse than Elsie.
Keima Katsuragi turned to look beside him—
"Elsie... did you understand it this time?"
Kushida Kikyo had a smile on her face.
But the smile seemed tinged with exhaustion, and even her voice sounded a little weak.
Kushida Kikyo was at her wit's end.
"Understand what?"
Elsie tilted her head slightly and looked at Kushida Kikyo with an innocent expression.
Kushida Kikyo drew a deep breath. Her heart seemed to skip a beat, and her body trembled.
"Kushida, you don't look well. Are you feeling sick?"
Seeing Kushida Kikyo's expression, Elsie hurriedly asked with concern.
"I-I'm fine..."
The exhaustion in Kushida Kikyo's smile seemed to deepen.
Tutoring Elsie was the most difficult thing Kushida Kikyo had ever experienced.
The girl seemed like she wasn't even from this world. She didn't even know some basic things.
In a sense, Kushida Kikyo's guess hadn't been wrong.
At first, Kushida Kikyo had even wondered if Elsie was deliberately pretending to be stupid.
Elsie had come last in the previous exam, but she had handed it in early, and she was Keima Katsuragi's younger sister.
For one reason or another, she shouldn't have gotten such a terrible score.
But later, Kushida Kikyo realized that wasn't the case at all.
Elsie really... didn't seem to know anything.
How had this girl even gotten into this school?
She didn't even know the answers to basic questions?
There were even characters she couldn't read?
One question after another surfaced in Kushida Kikyo's mind.
It also led her to a certain suspicion—
Perhaps Elsie was exceptionally talented in some other area.
Like Ken Sudō. He seemed like the type to get terrible grades, but he was excellent at sports and had made the school basketball team's starting lineup after only a few days.
Besides, Kushida Kikyo had to maintain her friendly, warm image.
Even if she was dissatisfied, she wouldn't let it show. So she had gritted her teeth and tried to tutor Elsie anyway.
But that hour had nearly worn her out completely, leaving her with no strength or tricks left.
She regretted coming here with Keima Katsuragi.
Keima Katsuragi turned around. Though Kushida Kikyo had done her best to hide it, he could still clearly see the exhaustion on her face.
Kushida Kikyo, you've got it pretty rough...
Unlike him, with his focus on the world of games, Kushida Kikyo seemed to care more about the real world. That was why she worked so hard to maintain her relationships.
"Kushida."
"What is it, Katsuragi?"
Kushida Kikyo turned to Keima Katsuragi, keeping her friendly smile in place.
"You've really worked hard today."
Keima Katsuragi's expression was earnest, and his voice sounded very gentle.
"Not at all! I'm always motivated when I can contribute to the class!"
"Let's call it a day here. Everyone should head home and get some rest."
Keima Katsuragi spoke to the people beside him.
There was only one thing on his mind now.
He wanted to get back to his room as quickly as possible and start gaming.
They got out of school early in the afternoon, and after studying for an hour, it was only just getting to dusk.
Just as Keima Katsuragi was about to leave, a gentle voice came from nearby.
"What a coincidence, Katsuragi."
The voice was as soft as a feather.
Airi Sakura instinctively turned to look. The face that met her eyes was nearly perfect, with silver hair and violet eyes, like an elf.
Shiina Hiyori.
S-She's so pretty.
Airi Sakura couldn't help thinking.
She was beautiful in a completely different way from Suzune Horikita and Kushida Kikyo. Just looking at her felt soothing.
"Shiina, you're here too."
Keima Katsuragi greeted her, having just taken out his handheld console.
"Yes. I come to the library every day after school."
Shiina Hiyori smiled faintly.
"May I ask if these are all your friends, Katsuragi?"
"Yeah. We just had a study session."
"I'm Shiina Hiyori from Class C. It's nice to meet you."
Shiina Hiyori greeted the others very politely.
"Nice to meet you, Shiina! I'm Kushida Kikyo! I've been wanting to meet you for a while, but I haven't had the chance to introduce myself properly."
"N-N-Nice to meet you..."
Seeing a stranger she had never met before made Airi Sakura feel even more nervous.
But she also felt that Shiina Hiyori seemed different from the others, especially her eyes...
Airi Sakura still felt flustered around her, and even forgot to introduce herself, but that feeling wasn't as strong as she had expected it to be with Shiina Hiyori.
There was something else Airi Sakura was a little curious about.
How had Shiina Hiyori and Keima Katsuragi met?
Keima Katsuragi played games every day, yet he knew students from other classes too?
Looking at Shiina Hiyori in front of him, Keima Katsuragi seemed to think of something.
"Shiina, how are your grades?"
"My grades?"
Shiina Hiyori looked a little puzzled by Keima Katsuragi's question, but she answered anyway.
"I think I do fairly well in my studies."
"Would you like to join my study group?"
Volume One: Chapter Forty-One: Shiina and Sakura, the Quiet Pair
"Huh?"
Shiina Hiyori was surprised. She hadn't expected Keima Katsuragi to invite her.
Keima Katsuragi looked at Shiina Hiyori meaningfully.
If she joined his study group, it would take quite a bit of the burden off him—
On the one hand, Keima Katsuragi would get more chances to spend time with Shiina Hiyori and raise her affection level.
On the other hand...
During study sessions, Keima Katsuragi wouldn't have to tutor everyone all the time. If Shiina Hiyori helped out now and then, he might even have some free time to play games.
Most importantly, it would also keep Elsie from stumbling across some strange book and learning something strange.
For Keima Katsuragi, there were only benefits and no drawbacks.
Of course, that depended on Shiina Hiyori being willing to help.
"I don't have any experience tutoring... I've never taken part in a study group before, but I am a little curious about it."
Shiina Hiyori smiled and nodded.
"If I can be of help to you, Katsuragi, I'd be glad to!"
"Thank you very much, Shiina."
"No, I should be thanking you, Katsuragi. I usually don't have anyone to talk to, and Elsie has talked with me a lot—and I really like your stories too."
Shiina Hiyori's gaze shifted to the handheld console Keima Katsuragi had just taken out.
She meant the game guides Keima Katsuragi had written.
Though Shiina Hiyori mostly read mystery novels, she didn't mind other kinds of books either.
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