Ordinary Life Will Leave Me

"Chiba! Over here."

As soon as he stepped into the library, Chiba Yu saw Hirata standing not far away with a group of girls. A quick glance confirmed that he recognized almost all of them.

Karuizawa Kei, Sato Maya, Matsushita Chiaki, Mori Nene, and others...

As expected of Hirata; he could easily accomplish things that were impossible for him.

Chiba Yu shed tears of envy in his heart, but his face remained calm.

Walking up to them, Chiba Yu asked, "So, why did you ask me to come to the library on a weekend?" As he spoke, he cast a slight glance at the girls behind him, his intent quite obvious.

Strangely, for a split second just now, he felt as if someone had glared at him. Was it just his imagination?

"Sorry, sorry." Hirata looked a bit embarrassed, then looked at Chiba Yu with a faint smile. "Actually, the reason I asked you to come today, Chiba, is that I wanted to ask you for a favor..."

So, could someone tell me why things turned out like this?

Looking at Karuizawa Kei and Mori Nene, who were sitting across from him struggling to solve problems, Chiba Yu could only lament that he hadn't checked his horoscope before leaving the house today.

He had been perfectly fine staying in his dorm when a sudden phone call from Hirata summoned him to the library. Now that he was stuck tutoring them, Chiba Yu couldn't help but wonder where exactly things had gone wrong.

He had originally intended to refuse outright, even using the excuse that his test scores weren't as good as Matsushita's. But for some reason, when he saw the corner of Hirata's mouth curl up as he looked at him, he had inexplicably agreed!

Even after being approached by Chabashira-sensei, Hirata had re-tested his abilities, but the moment those scores—ranging from 80 to 85—were laid out, he had fallen silent.

After that, although Hirata outwardly accepted that Chiba Yu's ability level was roughly in that range and promised not to bother him again, as for what happened afterward... well, the current situation spoke for itself.

At this moment, Chiba Yu deeply regretted why he had been so lazy during the entrance exam, stopping at 60 points per subject just to save himself the trouble...

"Um... Chiba-kun, how do you solve this problem again?"

Just as his thoughts were swirling, Mori Nene held up her workbook and asked him. With no other choice, Chiba Yu had to deal with the problem at hand.

"First, do this, then draw an auxiliary line here, and then do this—that should do it."

After effortlessly solving the solid geometry problem in front of him, Chiba Yu handed the workbook back to Mori Nene.

"Oh, so that's how it works! I get it now. Thank you, Chiba-kun."

"It's nothing." For Chiba Yu, these kinds of problems were hardly difficult.

As she took back the workbook, Mori Nene glanced at Karuizawa Kei, who was still struggling with her work, and asked casually, "Actually, I still don't quite understand. Chiba-kun, you're clearly so good at studying, so why do you insist on hiding it?"

Hearing Mori Nene's question, Karuizawa Kei, who had been ignoring Chiba Yu the entire time, secretly pricked up her ears, ready to hear what he had to say.

Early on, Hirata had told these girls about his score-controlling. Damn it, why didn't Hirata even doubt him, instead just assuming he really was controlling his scores!

He had even presented his last test score to them to gain their trust.

After seeing the stunned expressions on their faces, Chiba Yu had simply gone along with it.

"There's no particular reason. If I had to say, it's just that I don't want to bring trouble upon myself."

"But I still don't understand. Why would getting high scores be considered bringing trouble upon yourself?" Mori Nene asked again. In her view, Chiba Yu's logic was something an ordinary person couldn't grasp.

"..." Chiba Yu thought for a moment, then slowly replied, "Look at me right now. Isn't it obvious?"

"Look at you right now? Uh... you don't mean like this, tutoring us?" That was the only thing Mori Nene could think of.

As expected, Chiba Yu nodded. "I said it at the start of the term, didn't I? I hate troublesome things. If Hirata hadn't called me over, I'd probably still be lying in my dorm right now."

Mori Nene didn't feel any resentment toward Chiba Yu for calling their tutoring session a "trouble," as they were indeed the ones bothering him.

But at this, Karuizawa Kei, who had been quiet the whole time, couldn't help but interject: "If that's the case, couldn't you have just refused from the start?"

Chiba Yu sensed the dissatisfaction in her tone. Thinking about it carefully, he didn't think he had done anything to provoke her.

However, he wasn't bothered by Karuizawa Kei's little temper and replied in a calm tone: "I was just reflecting on that very question, so you're not wrong."

Hearing the man in front of her actually agree with her, Karuizawa Kei, who had been holding back a bit of anger, was instantly stunned, and the emotion she had been brewing vanished immediately.

"Whatever..." Karuizawa Kei pouted and turned back to her work.

"So, you mean Chiba-kun only came here because of Hirata-kun's invitation, right?"

"Yes..."

"Chiba-kun? And Hirata-kun, you're here too?"

Suddenly, a voice interrupted their conversation. Looking back, they saw Kushida Kikyo and Horikita Suzune walking toward them, with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka in tow.

"Good afternoon, Kushida-san. You're here to study as well, I take it?" Looking at the three people behind them, Chiba Yu knew this must be the tutoring group Horikita Suzune had organized herself; Ayanokoji seemed to have been dragged along as manual labor.

"Yes. Horikita-san brought them here specifically to help improve Sudo-kun and the others' grades."

"I see."

Compared to Chiba Yu's composure, Yamauchi and his group, standing not far away, couldn't help but grit their teeth as they watched the scene. "Damn it! Why is that guy Chiba with Hirata, and why does he get to study with so many cute girls!"

"Exactly! Doesn't he always go on about his 'energy-saving' philosophy? What's the deal with this situation!"

Ignoring the wailing of the trio, Chiba Yu turned to greet Ayanokoji: "You were dragged out by someone too, I assume?"

"I see. It seems we're in the same boat."

"Could it be that this is a curse?"

"Could it be that this is a curse?"

For a moment, the two of them actually thought of the same thing, leading Chiba Yu to once again lament the ill-fated connection between him and Ayanokoji. When he left the dormitory today, he hadn't run into him for once, and he had actually thought his sincere prayers had moved the heavens; he hadn't expected that he was just waiting for him here instead.

"Are Chiba-kun and Ayanokoji-kun discussing something?" Seeing them both muttering about something, Kushida walked over to their side out of curiosity and asked with a puzzled look.

"It's nothing. Since we're all here to study, let's all do our best." Brushing off the previous matter with a casual remark, Chiba Yu sat back down in his original seat.

After exchanging a few words with Kushida, Mori Nene also returned to her seat. As for Karuizawa Kei, she wasn't in the same circle as Kushida to begin with, so naturally, there was nothing for them to talk about.

Then there was Hirata. He had originally wanted to invite Horikita Suzune to study with them, but he was sternly rejected by Horikita, who claimed that she could handle such things on her own and didn't need their help.

Good grief, there isn't a single person in Class D who doesn't cause a headache.

"Hey, how do you solve this problem?"