Book Club

"Uh? Qiuyue? What are you doing here?"

...Waiting for you.

"I was taking a walk and happened to pass by. Where are you headed, Kushida?"

"Huh? Ayanokoji and I arranged to tutor Sudo in the Library."

...I know. That's what I was waiting for. I saw you in the Library.

"...Tutoring, huh? I could help, too. I don't want anyone in our class to get expelled either. Would that be okay?"

Kushida beamed and welcomed him cheerfully. "If you want to join us, Qiuyue, you're more than welcome!"

Her voice was full of warmth and friendliness, making him feel especially welcome.

"But first I need to find Sudo and the others so we can go together. Do you want to come with us, Qiuyue?"

"I don't mind. Let's go together."

Qiuyue and Kushida found the Idiot Trio. Yamauchi was unusually subdued. Ever since the last swimming lesson, things had been a little tense between him and Qiuyue.

Ike, meanwhile, was still as carefree as ever, as if he'd already forgotten what Qiuyue had said that day.

Maybe Qiuyue thought he'd taken at least a little of it to heart, even if it had been nothing but empty words.

Kushida led Qiuyue and the Idiot Trio toward the Library.

"Ayanokoji, Horikita, I brought everyone over."

As soon as she finished speaking, Kushida sat down beside Ayanokoji. It seemed perfectly normal at first glance, but Qiuyue knew she'd hurried to sit there because she didn't want to sit next to Horikita.

"Ah... Qiuyue? I remember you came fifth on the last quiz."

Ayanokoji asked.

??? Why does Ayanokoji still remember me? Whatever. I was going to get to know him this time anyway.

You think I wanted to come fifth? I'm not some freak like you who can control his scores. I can only try my best. I don't want to fail before I even get started and get expelled for failing.

"I..."

"Qiuyue was the one I invited. Horikita might have a hard time tutoring all of us by herself, so when I ran into Qiuyue on the way, I asked her to join us, too."

...Thanks for that, Kushida. But you're not going to win me over that easily!

What a coincidence, huh? I was specifically waiting for you. I had to get in on this scene for my plans later.

"...I see."

"It should be fine if Qiuyue joins us, right?"

Kushida leaned over and carefully asked Horikita, but Horikita remained silent.

"If anything, I'm the one asking for help. My Sakura History grade is dangerously close to failing. I'm decent at my other subjects, which is how I managed to get third place.

It's just... how should I put it? I'm the kind of person who's great at some subjects and terrible at others. I really don't know a thing about Sakura History..."

Qiuyue asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. Even he felt a little awkward.

It'd be a miracle if I knew this stuff. Even though I'm from the Zhonghua Family and had been through the whole ordeal, I'd never studied this subject before. After coming to this world, I'd slacked off in elementary school and ignored it in middle school. I only knew a little and could barely pass.

"Fine."

Horikita put down the book in her hands. After a long silence, she finally spoke.

Then everyone got down to studying.

"By the way, Teacher Chabashira said anything below the failing mark counted as a fail. So what score do we need to get?"

Sudo asked.

"Thirty-four."

Horikita answered with a frown, then continued:

"But whether or not thirty-four is enough to pass, I want all of you to aim for at least fifty."

"Huh...? Seriously? Do you think I can do that?"

"This isn't about whether you think you can do it. If something unexpected happens—for example, if the passing mark isn't thirty-two next time—you'll be expelled. And learning a little more won't hurt you."

Unlike Qiuyue, who had no problems with the material, the Idiot Trio looked troubled. Still, they followed Horikita's instructions and nodded.

"...Damn it, are we sure we've studied this stuff?"

Sudo scratched his head with both hands in frustration. Everyone followed his gaze to the very first question on the test.

"You really do surprise me over and over. This is an easy question. You need to think it through yourself, or you won't be able to do the others."

"But... you make it sound so easy. If I don't know how to do it, I don't know how to do it. There's nothing I can do."

Huh... She just tossed me a book to memorize. It's like I'm not even here. Whatever, I'm already here, so I might as well take a look at his questions. I'll teach him what I can. I really don't feel like memorizing Sakura History, anyway.

Qiuyue leaned over to look at the question.

Math? This is my best subject! Back in high school, I used to explain problems to other people all the time.

"Do you have some scratch paper?"

"Ah... here."

Qiuyue took the scratch paper and started writing. He worked quickly and laid out his reasoning clearly, then handed it to Sudo and pointed with his pen.

"I'll show you a shortcut for this kind of problem. You just..."

Horikita glanced back and forth between Sudo and Qiuyue a few times, then looked away.

After a bit of work...

"No way! Qiuyue, you're amazing! You actually solved it! And the method's so simple—I got it right away!"

Sudo happily slung an arm over Qiuyue's shoulder, then pointed to another question on the test.

"Then... what about the next one?"

Qiuyue's mouth twitched. (Huh?! Isn't that the second question?! Are you planning to ask me about every single one?)

"Listen. For this type of problem, you can solve it quickly with the cross-multiplication method."

Horikita answered at once.

"Uh... well... what's the cross-what method? I don't think I've ever heard of it."

"You're not joking, are you?"

Qiuyue was speechless. Seriously? Even middle schoolers know this, don't they? I guess I overestimated the three of them.

"Qiuyue, is there an easy way to solve this one? Like you did with the last one."

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but the cross-multiplication method is already the easiest way to solve it."

Sudo tossed his pen aside and leaned his chair back.

"Then there's nothing I can do. I've never even heard of it."

Qiuyue rubbed his forehead helplessly.

...You're the one who's about to get expelled for failing! Why are you acting like we're the ones who have to beg you? Look at you, acting so high and mighty.

Horikita said nothing, and the situation continued to deteriorate. At that point, Kushida stepped in to defuse things and started explaining it to the Idiot Trio.

But no matter how many times she explained, they still didn't understand. They even started giving up, and Horikita couldn't take it anymore.

"As expected, you're defective. Ignorance isn't frightening. What matters is being ignorant and not knowing it."

"...What does that mean?"

Clearly, the Idiot Trio didn't understand what Horikita meant.

Horikita, aren't you just making things worse? Sigh... I know this is how it went in the original story, but seeing her like this, I still think she's got guts.

Next, things would probably get worse. Horikita would keep insulting them, Sudo would get angry and try to hit her, Kushida would stop him, and then they'd all go their separate ways.

"Um, I'm going to use the bathroom. You guys carry on."

Qiuyue hurriedly slipped away.