When it came to the study sessions, there was practically no one left in the class who could teach Wu Qiao anything—not even Ayanokoji Kiyoha.
Even Ayanokoji Kiyoha seriously suspected that she had encountered a true genius: the kind of rule-breaking prodigy the White Room had spent countless resources and years of effort trying, and failing, to mass-produce.
Whether it was physical ability or intelligence, Wu Qiao seemed to need only a little push to surpass everyone else. The knowledge Ayanokoji Kiyoha had accumulated in her mind no longer left her anything she could teach him.
The study sessions had now completely turned into Wu Qiao teaching everyone else.
Of course, not many people were willing to come and "get tortured" of their own accord. Ayanokoji Kiyoha was one of them, while Ichinose Honami would occasionally join in out of curiosity—so she counted as half.
At that moment, Ayanokoji Kiyoha was trying to learn Chinese. Wu Qiao casually picked up a pen and scribbled on a sheet of scratch paper, teaching her an extremely practical trick: "You don't actually need to worry too much about complicated grammar. Just put the key words together. As long as they fit the situation and you use the right gestures, the other person can understand the general meaning."
Looking at the simple words Wu Qiao had written down, and thinking about his clear, easy-to-understand explanation, Ayanokoji Kiyoha pondered for a moment.
Wu Qiao's familiarity with Chinese and his effortless feel for the language often made Ayanokoji Kiyoha wonder about his nationality. Was this guy really just an ordinary Japanese high school student?
"Like this." Wu Qiao pointed to the words on the paper, then to the groundskeeper outside the window sweeping up leaves. Speaking slowly, he said in Chinese, "'He,' 'sweep,' 'leaves.' Got it?"
Ayanokoji Kiyoha nodded. Her pronunciation was still extremely rough, but she tried to imitate him anyway. "He... sweep... leaves."
"That's right, just like that!" Wu Qiao snapped his fingers and gave her an encouraging smile. "Language is a tool for communicating, so don't make it more complicated than it needs to be. If you're willing to speak and gesture, you're already halfway there."
Watching the boy share his knowledge so freely, Ayanokoji Kiyoha felt her curiosity flare up again. The more astonishing Wu Qiao's talents were, the more she felt that the secrets he was hiding might be far greater than she had imagined. And somehow, she seemed to have gotten caught up in this mystery without even realizing it.
When it came time to eat together, Ichinose Honami was especially enthusiastic. She suggested they go back to the buffet restaurant where the three of them had eaten together for the first time.
As soon as they sat down, Wu Qiao made a beeline for the buffet, already familiar with the place. He never bothered with expensive sashimi or other high-end dishes. His needs were simple and straightforward: plenty of food that would fill him up.
His plate came back piled high with rice, udon, tonkatsu, and other foods packed with carbohydrates and calories.
What's more, Wu Qiao's appetite seemed to have been growing at a visible rate over the past few days. According to Ayanokoji Kiyoha's calm and precise analysis, he was currently eating about as much in one meal as eight Ichinose Honamis.
In less than a month, his appetite had steadily grown by a third.
Most incredible of all, there wasn't the slightest sign that Wu Qiao was putting on weight.
On the contrary, under the bright lights of the buffet restaurant, the muscles in his arms looked even more firm and well-defined as he rolled up his sleeves and dug into his food. It was as if all those terrifying calories were being precisely converted into pure muscle fiber.
Watching Wu Qiao sweep the food off his plate like a whirlwind, Ayanokoji Kiyoha elegantly cut into her steak as she silently assessed the situation. How could a body function like that, in defiance of the law of conservation of energy? A normal human body absolutely couldn't handle eating so much without accumulating any fat.
Wu Qiao's body was practically a biological engine, specialized for some extreme purpose.
"Wu-kun, don't you... need to eat some vegetables or fruit?" Ichinose Honami asked worriedly, looking at the mountain of empty plates in front of Wu Qiao. She pushed her salad over to him. "A balanced diet is healthier, you know."
Wu Qiao swallowed his tonkatsu, took the salad, and stuffed it into his mouth without hesitation. "Thanks, Ichinose!" he said with a muffled laugh. "But I'm fine. I'm in great shape. I'll just have these vegetables for dessert."
Seeing how carefree he looked, Ayanokoji Kiyoha set down her knife and fork. The mysteries surrounding this boy had expanded from his intelligence and physical prowess to the most basic aspects of his physiology. As expected, this school was hiding far too many things beyond common sense.
After the meal, it was time to take care of some practical matters. The three of them took a short walk to help their food settle, then headed together to a sporting goods store on Commercial Street. They needed to pick up a few things, such as knee pads and wrist guards.
Of course, those were for Ichinose Honami. She had recently joined the morning exercise group, so she needed the basic gear.
As Ichinose Honami carefully compared the breathability and elasticity of various protective pads on the rack, Ayanokoji Kiyoha stood to one side. Her gaze, however, drifted toward Wu Qiao as he warmed up his wrists nearby.
She couldn't help suspecting that at his current rate of progress—one that defied all reason—she might not be able to beat him in another month.
It was as if he had some inexplicable cheat code. His physical abilities and learning capacity were both improving at a terrifying pace.
Ayanokoji Kiyoha came back to herself and skillfully helped Ichinose choose a pair of knee pads and wrist guards with excellent support. Then, rather than leaving right away, she turned and went to the shoe store next door. Among the rows of sneakers, she quickly picked out a pair of decent-quality running shoes with excellent cushioning.
Watching Ayanokoji Kiyoha's smooth, practiced movements, Ichinose Honami couldn't help exclaiming, "Kiyoha, you seem to know everything! Whether it's studying or picking things out, there's nothing you're bad at."
Ayanokoji Kiyoha calmly handed the running shoes she had picked out to Ichinose and explained matter-of-factly, "I just looked into it a little. Running puts a lot of strain on your knees and ankles, after all. Choosing the right shoes can prevent a lot of unnecessary injuries."
She made it sound easy, but inwardly she was doing some quiet calculating. Since she could no longer ignore the existence of Wu Qiao, her "cheat code," perhaps she didn't need to hide herself so much anymore.