Yukimura Teruhiko, one of the top students in the entire grade, wore an expression of profound helplessness, as if to say, "So it's finally my turn, huh?"
Wu Qiao really did study. He wasn't just putting on a show or cramming for exams. He could even apply obscure concepts that barely got a mention in the textbooks to new situations, and sometimes he understood them better than the people involved. Yukimura seriously suspected that this guy was determined to force every weak subject into becoming a strength.
Today, they were working on history. Watching Wu Qiao frantically memorize dates and events, Yukimura Teruhiko seriously wondered if Wu Qiao could study just fine on his own and had only asked for a tutor to speed things up a little—and, by the way, to have someone keep an eye on him. (That was probably the real reason, since he tended to get distracted and start researching other things whenever he studied alone.)
Halfway through the tutoring session, Ichinose Honami appeared in the library.
Of course, she had only found out Wu Qiao was there after specifically asking Ayanokoji Kiyoha. Wu Qiao's tutoring location wasn't fixed; it could be the library, an empty classroom, or even the courtyard, so it was hard to know exactly where he'd be.
Ichinose Honami tiptoed over and peered at them curiously. "Are you helping Wu-kun with history? Need a hand?"
When Yukimura Teruhiko saw that it was Ichinose Honami, he looked as if he'd spotted his savior and hurriedly nodded. "Yes, Ichinose-san. Um... could you take over for a bit? I'm kind of... running out of brainpower."
Seeing how exhausted Yukimura looked, then glancing at Wu Qiao, who seemed completely innocent, Ichinose Honami readily agreed. "Of course. Go take a break, Yukimura-kun."
Yukimura Teruhiko looked as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He immediately gathered his things and left. Ichinose Honami took his seat, opened the history textbook, and began tutoring Wu Qiao.
And then... well, that was that.
After only half an hour, Ichinose Honami was already struggling to keep up with Wu Qiao. The session was supposed to involve her asking questions and Wu Qiao answering them, but it gradually turned into Wu Qiao scanning the table of contents and making wild connections between topics, while Ichinose Honami could only occasionally remind him of details he'd missed.
"Here, you missed the changes to social structure caused by the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century," Ichinose Honami reminded him, pointing to a line of small text in the book.
"Oh, right, social structure. The conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, followed by the labor movement..." Wu Qiao muttered as his pen raced across the scratch paper, building a mind map. His concentration was almost frightening.
Watching him become completely absorbed in his work, Ichinose Honami couldn't help thinking, How does this guy's brain even work?
Before long, Yukimura Teruhiko came back with water and handed a bottle to each of them. He looked at Ichinose Honami's utterly drained expression, as if her life force had been sucked away, then at Wu Qiao, who was still full of energy. Sympathy filled his eyes.
"Thanks for your hard work, Ichinose-san." Yukimura Teruhiko unscrewed his bottle and took a drink, then sighed helplessly. "Tutoring him is practically a workout. He isn't studying so much as devouring knowledge."
Ichinose Honami accepted the water and nodded with a wry smile. "Honestly... I feel like he's drained my entire store of historical knowledge. Wu-kun, could you slow down a little? My brain really can't keep up."
Wu Qiao stopped writing and scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed. "Sorry, sorry. I got a little carried away. The pleasure of Erudition... I mean, of learning, really is hard to resist."
Seeing Wu Qiao's sincere apology—and his complete lack of remorse—Yukimura Teruhiko and Ichinose Honami exchanged a glance. They both saw the same deep helplessness in each other's eyes.
It seemed that keeping up with this monster's study pace took more than enthusiasm. You needed a strong heart, too.
Kei Karuizawa felt like she was... pretty unlucky.
She had an amazing-sounding cheat like the Daily Intelligence System in her head, but most of the information it gave her was practically a joke and completely useless.
Well... not entirely useless.
Every day, it did give her plenty of information about where Ryuen Kakeru planned to go start a fight or cause trouble, as well as some developments in Class A that seemed trivial to her.
But so what if she knew Ryuen was going to start a fight? She didn't want to get involved in something violent, much less get dragged into it just because she knew about it in advance.
As for information about Class D, there was only one genuinely useful item so far: Sakura Airi, the classmate who was always hiding behind her camera and had almost no presence, was apparently the temporarily retired gravure idol known as "Shizuku."
Kei Karuizawa scratched her head. What was she supposed to do with information like that? Blackmail her with it? She wasn't some awful person like Ryuen.
Another item said, "Kushida Kikyo will go out tonight to blow off steam." That sounded just as bizarre. What could someone as cheerful and sociable as Kushida possibly have to be stressed about, enough to go out and blow off steam in the middle of the night?
Ever since she'd tried to use information about Wu Qiao's deal with Hoshinomiya Chie to threaten Wu Qiao, only to have him turn the tables and expose her secret, Kei Karuizawa had lost faith in the stupid system.
The information it gave her was true, but it never told her the whole story. It was a half-baked cheat, good for nothing but giving her a headache and occasionally providing some gossip to chat about. It couldn't actually turn the tables.
She lay listlessly across her desk, once again recalling the few pieces of information that had popped up that morning. Among a pile of nonsense about Ryuen Kakeru and Class A, the only item related to Wu Qiao stood out:
[After school, Wu Qiao will be targeted by Sakayanagi Arisu for staying late at the library.]
Kei Karuizawa read the line, frowning slightly. Sakayanagi Arisu... one of Class A's leaders, the silver-haired girl who always wore an elegant smile but made people shudder. Being targeted by someone like that definitely wasn't a good thing.
Though she was always bickering with Wu Qiao and sometimes found him even harder to deal with than Ryuen, they were still "comrades" who shared the same Class D.
Besides, ever since Wu Qiao had seen through her secret, Kei Karuizawa had felt a complicated sense of awe toward him.
"Seriously, what's that guy up to..." Kei Karuizawa sighed, torn. Should she warn him? But Wu Qiao had the sort of personality that would treat the sky falling as an extra blanket. Even if he knew Sakayanagi was up to something, he'd probably just say, "Oh, really?"
Besides, he didn't look like the kind of person who'd let himself be taken advantage of easily. Hadn't he already put everyone through enough trouble before? Maybe being targeted by Sakayanagi was part of his plan this time.
Thinking that, Kei Karuizawa shook her head and decided not to get involved for now. Anyway, if anything really happened, that guy would surely figure out a way to deal with it. She just had to watch from the sidelines and quietly pray that Sakayanagi wouldn't drag her into the fray.
"Forget it." Kei Karuizawa stretched and muttered to herself, "I've got nothing else to do, so I might as well go see what Sakayanagi's up to. If Wu Qiao really does get unlucky, I'll be generous and buy him a milk tea to cheer him up."
She made it sound casual, but a trace of unease still lingered in Kei Karuizawa's heart. Sakayanagi Arisu... that woman's methods were no joke. She hoped Wu Qiao really could get through this unscathed.