You En's Suggestion (4K)

Saturday evening.

The Kyudo Club dojo,

"Not bad."

Senior Qiao Heng praised him and wiped the sweat from You En's forehead.

You En collapsed straight onto the wooden floor. After training for a while, he had advanced from practicing on stationary targets to moving targets.

Besides that, he had also asked his senior to teach him how to make his own bow and arrows.

She not only taught him, but when she saw that he planned to make his own traps, she also provided plenty of materials for him to practice with.

With his hard work, he had reached the initial mastery level in two skills:

Archery (lv0→lv1, Mastery)

Trap Making (lv0→lv1, Mastery)

"Want to spend the night here?"

Qiao Heng bent down and asked.

You En caught his breath and steadied it.

"No, thanks."

He actually wanted to get a little closer to his senior. It was only natural, after all. Who could resist such a thoughtful, handsome senior who kept dropping hints?

But their relationship hadn't reached that point. For the most part, she was just joking around. It was like with Kushida Kikyo: he shouldn't take it seriously too quickly, or he might end up ruining the feelings that were already growing between them.

Kushida was still just a girl, though.

You En liked more mature women. He didn't just mean physical age; he could only see himself with women who were mature in spirit, like his senior.

That was one small principle he held onto.

"Ibuki: Come out?"

"You En: On my way."

"Ibuki: The grove east of the plaza."

"You En: Be right there!"

You En changed out of his clothes and got ready to help his senior clean up the practice area.

But Qiao Heng waved him off.

"Someone asked you out, didn't they? Go on."

You En said goodbye to his senior and headed to the grove east of the school plaza.

A girl with short blue hair stood beneath a streetlamp.

Ibuki tugged at his arm.

"Come with me."

The two of them entered the grove. It was called a grove, but it was really just a park. Since it was usually quiet, student couples often came there to meet.

You En looked at the girl before him and the peaceful surroundings, finding it quite pleasant.

"There aren't many people here, so I can take your measurements."

Ibuki patted him on the shoulder.

You En asked, "What measurements?"

"Your armor,"

Ibuki glanced at his lower half and rolled her eyes at him.

"What else did you think I meant?"

As he watched her use a measuring tape to take his measurements,

"What kind of armor are you planning to make?"

Ibuki continued measuring him. When she got to the hands-on part, she realized that he was in pretty good shape.

"Leather armor. I got some good materials from a craftsman."

"Are you really planning to fight empty-handed?"

You En asked. They had talked about it on their phones over the past few days, and it seemed she didn't plan on using any weapons.

"What else? This is what I'm best at. Learning to use something else at the last minute wouldn't be as useful as this,"

Ibuki said, crouching to continue measuring. Her fluffy short hair looked like a pair of blue dog ears.

"Besides, you use a bow, don't you? Someone has to keep the enemy occupied at close range. I'll protect you."

Looking at her crouched in front of him, You En spoke up.

"...I just thought of something really rude."

"I know what you're thinking!"

Ibuki looked up and glared at him. Whether they hunted with bows or knives, they needed hunting dogs to help. The hunter usually stayed nearby to keep the prey occupied.

"You think of me as a hunting dog, don't you?"

You En looked at the cute, doglike girl in front of him and promptly shook his head.

"No."

"I'll let it go,"

Ibuki said, finishing her measurements and standing up.

"Let's practice tomorrow. Morning or afternoon?"

"Evening... My morning and afternoon are booked."

You En thought it over. Tomorrow morning, he had to talk with Ichinose and the others about their teaching methods. The four girls he was tutoring had improved remarkably, so the other group leaders in Class B wanted to meet him and learn from him.

In the afternoon, he had to teach Ando Sayo, Tsube Hitomi, and the others. They were paying him, so he couldn't cancel.

Ibuki clicked her tongue in disapproval. "You womanizer. Fine, then, evening."

"It's all work."

You En explained.

Ibuki's expression improved. "I thought you were going on dates with the girls in your class. If you're just doing a part-time job to earn points, then never mind."

You En said innocently, "How could I have that many dates? The only thing that could count as a date was meeting you today."

"Eh..."

Ibuki reacted strongly. "Y-you... What are you saying?"

"Nothing. It just slipped out."

You En waved a hand, ready to run after dropping that line.

"I'll head back first. See you tomorrow night."

"...You jerk!"

Ibuki cursed him first, then laughed when she saw his aggrieved expression.

"See you tomorrow. But meeting you is work, not a date. If you want to go out with me... you're not good enough yet. Come back when you can beat me."

"Then it's a deal?"

You En raised an eyebrow.

"Of course..."

Ibuki Mio saw his challenging expression and instinctively agreed. But then she remembered that they had first met because of a bet, and that she had lost rather badly...

"I only said I'd think about it."

She stepped up to You En, lifted her head to look at him, and said with a competitive air,

"Even if you manage to beat me someday, that doesn't mean I can't win next time."

You En smiled. His tone was confident, as if he were stating a fact.

"If I beat you once, there won't be a next time."

Ibuki Mio's breath hitched. She pressed her left hand to her chest.

"If that really happens, then you can do whatever you want with me."

You En blinked. "Then it's a deal?"

Ibuki felt that, like her, he had a conviction he believed in—and a confidence she couldn't hope to match, one she even found herself admiring.

As she thought back on the little moments from class, she realized that she was often the one who couldn't keep up. He had patiently found ways to teach her, bit by bit. With learning ability like that, it wouldn't be surprising if he surpassed her.

Ibuki held out her right hand.

"I won't go back on my word."

You En understood and took her hand.

"I won't let you down."

Sunday morning,

Ichinose Honami, Kanzaki Ryuji, and the other study-group leaders got a feel for You En's teaching methods.

"It really is great. I feel like I learned a lot myself,"

Ichinose Honami said sincerely, looking at the others.

"What do you think?"

The higher-achieving students in Class B chimed in.

"That part he just explained—I knew how to solve those problems before, but I didn't understand why. Now I finally get it."

"He's impressive, but I can't even explain what makes him impressive."

"He's... really good at connecting with people. I can't learn that."

Kanzaki Ryuji pushed up his glasses. "His explanations are very clear, and you can tell he planned them carefully. He moves from concepts to understanding to application, with each step building on the last. The key is that he can read everyone's mood and tell whether they understand."

Ichinose Honami asked, "So, Kanzaki, can we learn from him?"

"We can. Setting aside whether we can match his rapport with people or explain things as thoroughly as he does, at the very least, we can learn from the structure,"

Kanzaki Ryuji said hesitantly, glancing at the students present.

"But it'll take up more of the time and energy of the students who are already doing well. I'm not sure if that's appropriate."

Most of the high-achieving students in Class B didn't mind, but a few had reservations. They just hadn't said anything.

You En noticed and pulled Ichinose Honami and Kanzaki Ryuji aside to talk in private.

"If I remember right, most of your personal points are kept in a shared pool, right?"

"That's right," Ichinose Honami said. "We put them together for easier management and to stop anyone from spending them recklessly. Why do you ask, You En?"

You En glanced at the Class B group leaders, some of whom had been a little unhappy with him before but now looked up to him.

"Then let me ask you something... It might not be entirely appropriate, but I still want to ask.

Do your classmates get any points for helping other students in the class with their studies?"

Kanzaki Ryuji jolted at the question, then lowered his head and fell into thought.

Ichinose Honami shook her head.

"Isn't it normal for classmates to help each other?"

You En nodded. "That's true, but the girls I tutor, like Ando, get personal points as a reward."

Ichinose Honami said, "You're from another class, so we hired you. That's different."

You En said, "But what we're doing is essentially the same."

Ichinose Honami didn't resent him for bringing up the issue. Instead, she considered it calmly.

"But your teaching ability is beyond what we can match."

Kanzaki Ryuji shook his head.

"As You En said, those are just details. In reality, helping our classmates does cost us time and energy, and we should receive something in return. The question is, what should we do?

You En, since you brought it up, you must have an idea. Could you explain it to us?"

You En's idea was still pretty rough. He didn't know enough about the overall state and structure of Class B, so he could only offer a general suggestion.

"I suggest treating each tutoring group as a unit and awarding personal points after each exam based on how much the students have improved. Or, instead of personal points, the class could pay for food and drinks for each group and hold a small celebration or get-together."

Ichinose Honami's eyes lit up. She liked the suggestion, but when she caught You En's meaningful look, she immediately calmed down.

It was a lovely idea, but putting it into practice would still be difficult. For example, how would they measure improvement? Which students had improved the most?

Kanzaki Ryuji noticed the problem too. "Which matters more, the group leader's progress or the group members'?"

You En said, "The group leader's, of course, but their reward should be tied to the group members' results. They just need to set a reasonably attainable cap."

"Why is that?"

Ichinose Honami thought the idea was worthwhile, but she didn't understand the reasoning behind that arrangement.

Kanzaki Ryuji had a vague idea of what You En meant. By then, his reservations about You En had completely disappeared.

You En was thinking about the most central problem in their class and had proposed a fairly workable solution, even pointing out the potential pitfalls.

You En smiled. "Think it over carefully. You'll have to decide how to put it into practice yourselves. I'm just offering a suggestion."

After he left,

Ichinose Honami and Kanzaki Ryuji discussed it. Then, with the group leaders, they went to get lunch before heading to Hoshinomiya-sensei's office.

"Honami, Ryuji, what brings you here?"

Kanzaki Ryuji stepped forward and repeated everything You En had just said.

After hearing it all,

Hoshinomiya's smile was impossible to suppress. She hadn't expected the favor to be returned so quickly.

With her greater experience, she understood the problem You En had raised at once.

It was an issue that previous Class B students had always chosen to ignore, but one that inevitably flared up in the end.

Unity required some people to sacrifice their own interests. How should they address those people's resentment?

There were only two answers: give them some tangible benefits, or build a sense of collective pride.

But the first could easily become corrupted, while the second could turn into pressure with no limits. So what should they do?

Set limits. Limit the rewards group leaders could receive, and keep all the pride they could gain within set bounds as well.

"That's really brilliant."

Hoshinomiya Chie said that now that a student had already brought up the idea, it wouldn't break the rules for her to explain it further.

Delighted, she patiently broke down You En's idea for them, piece by piece.

Ichinose Honami couldn't calm down for a long time after hearing that.

She had never considered anything like this before. She had simply chosen to believe—and believed that everyone else would, too.

Kanzaki Ryuji felt that, as Class B's strategist, he had somewhat failed in his duties.

"Don't be discouraged. This is a good thing. There's nothing better than finding a way to resolve a problem while it's still in its infancy."

Hoshinomiya Chie's good mood lifted the spirits of the two students before her.

Kanzaki Ryuji became a little more optimistic.

"Understood, Sensei."

Ichinose Honami also decided she would work to keep the class in better shape.

"We'll do our best to figure something out."

Hoshinomiya Chie stood up and saw the two students to the door, then reminded them:

"You understand how important this boy is. Find a way to bring You En into Class B. If he agrees, come see me."

"Mm," Ichinose and Kanzaki replied.

Hoshinomiya Chie watched them leave.

Having taught so many cohorts of Class B, she knew where the problem lay, but it was something they could never seem to fix. She hadn't expected to find an answer by chance today.

It was a shame someone like him was in Class D.

Class D would hold him back and keep him from fully displaying his talent.

Only she—only her class—could help him reach his full potential.

She still had to think of a way.

Hoshinomiya Chie made up her mind.

She absolutely had to bring him into her class.