Despite her young age, little Yuka Yuigahama was sharp and quick-witted.
Sometimes, her words were astonishingly on point for someone her age.
After Yui let her down, Yuka was still persistent, wanting Kotomi to hold her. It wasn't out of any bad intent; she simply found Kotomi's soft and fragrant presence so comforting and loved being held by her.
However, a little cuddle was fine—Kotomi couldn't tutor Yui while holding Yuka in her arms, could she?
It was time to bring out the big guns!
Kotomi silently mused to herself while pulling out three boxes of chocolate cookies from her bag—Yuka's favorite brand.
During lunch, Kotomi had some extra time before heading back to school, so she swung by the supermarket to pick up these three large boxes of chocolate cookies for Yuka. While a single cookie might not weigh much, carrying three of these big boxes made her bag noticeably heavier.
As expected, the effect was immediate.
Yuka's eyes lit up with excitement, practically sparkling like little stars.
"These are my favorite chocolate cookies!"
"Here, take them. They're a gift from your sister. But you have to be a good girl and listen, okay? Only good girls get rewards. And remember, after eating, you have to brush your teeth."
"Thank you, Penguin-neechan!"
Seeing her sister's joyful expression, Yui couldn't help but remind her again, though with a smile of indulgence, "Yuka, don't eat too many, or you'll lose your appetite for dinner again."
Whether Yuka heard her or not was unclear—she had already dashed off to the living room, clutching her cookies and ready to watch TV.
"That little rascal," Yui said, half-laughing, half-exasperated. She adored her clever and lovable, yet sometimes mischievous, little sister.
Ah, the common woes of being an older sister!
"By the way, Kotomi, let me pay you back for the cookies," Yui offered.
She knew how much Yuka loved that brand of cookies, but because they were a bit pricey, Yui could only afford to buy a small box once a month with her saved-up allowance. And each time, Yuka would ration her cookies, eating just half at a time to make them last longer, though she never hesitated to share them generously with her mother and sister.
Just the other day, she had even shared them with Kotomi.
When a child is so mature and thoughtful, it tugs at your heartstrings.
Kotomi smiled and waved off Yui's offer, "I wanted to buy them for Yuka; she didn't ask me to. How could I possibly take money from you?"
"But three large boxes of those cookies must've been expensive, right? I remember a regular-sized box costs over 3,000 yen," Yui said, a bit worried.
It was true.
When Kotomi had taken the three large boxes to the register and saw the price pop up, even she had been momentarily stunned.
A total of 26,000 yen for three big boxes of chocolate cookies.
Good thing I don't like chocolate, Kotomi thought wryly at the time as she paid.
Kotomi never liked chocolate herself, so she didn't understand the appeal of these expensive cookies. But Yuka loved them, so she bought them anyway. After all, this clever and sweet little sister had thoroughly won her over.
"Just think of it as a gift for Yuka. Don't worry about it," Kotomi said, patting Yui on the shoulder with a reassuring smile. "Besides, I'm waiting for you to ace your exams next week and treat me to a big cake as a reward!"
Yui, feeling a bit better after hearing Kotomi's words, nodded. From a young age, her mother had always taught her not to accept too many favors from others and to repay any kindness quickly.
After heading upstairs, the two girls began their tutoring session. Since it was Friday, Kotomi had extended the usual one-hour session to two hours. She had informed her mother, Izumi Akina, about it during lunch, and her mother had agreed, reminding Kotomi to call her on her way home so she wouldn't worry.
Even though Kotomi, with her experience from her previous life, felt she didn't need such precautions, she reminded herself that in this world, she was still a 16-year-old high school girl. It was better to listen to her mother's advice about safety.
"First, solve this step like this, then continue like that. Got it?"
"Got it. First like this, then like that," Yui repeated, diligently following Kotomi's instructions.
As the final tutoring session before next week's exams began, Kotomi started by reviewing common mistakes and tricky questions, then left Yui to solve problems on her own.
After all, as the saying goes, a good memory is no match for a worn-out pen. No matter how well you understand something, you need to practice it yourself to truly master it.
Yui didn't disappoint. While she wasn't the fastest, she worked steadily, and it was clear that all the effort she had put in over the past week was paying off.
Kotomi mused to herself that if she had been sitting next to someone like Yui during an exam, she might have been tempted to glance over and 'borrow' some answers.
But when the seating arrangements for the upcoming exam were posted, Kotomi saw that she and Yui would be in different rooms.
Yui's exam room was assigned to Class 1-D, while Kotomi's was in Class 1-A—the top-performing class.
Exam seating arrangements were based on a few factors. One was the student's middle school entrance exam scores, and the other was their academic performance since starting high school. As each exam concluded, seating would be adjusted based on rankings.
Kotomi figured that her placement in Class 1-A must've been due to her stellar performance in class over the past few months, as the teachers likely disregarded her entrance exam scores.
For the teachers who had taught Class 1-F, or heard about Kotomi's reputation, they were eager to see how she would perform in her first major exam. There was a sense of anticipation—who among the top students gathered in Class 1-A would come out as the victor, securing the coveted title of first place?
In many ways, the Class 1-A exam room was—
The battlefield of the elite!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven
The student list for the 1st-year A class exam room was already out, and before the end of the school day, Izumi Kotomi took a look at it. There were 20 students in total—far fewer than other exam rooms—but that's because every one of these students was among the top performers in the entire first-year cohort.
This meant that the 20 top students would engage in fierce competition during the exams in the 1st-year A class exam room.
Just thinking about it made Kotomi's blood boil a little.
Aside from Kotomi, both Yukino Yukinoshita and Seiko Kirigiri were also assigned to the 1st-year A class exam room.
As for the remaining 17 students, she didn't recognize them.
"Kotomi, I've finished," Yui said, pulling Kotomi's attention back from her thoughts about next week's exams.
"Done already? Good job. Take a break while I look over it."
Kotomi took the papers and, with practiced hands, picked up the red pen on the desk. It was no wonder Yukino, Yui, and Megumi Kato often said she seemed like a teacher—her focused expression while marking papers really gave off the air of a strict but exceptional educator.
The grading was done quickly, and both tests scored a perfect 100.
Kotomi couldn't help but smile as she wrote a large "100" in red on each paper, then handed them back to Yui.
Yui, who had been nervously awaiting her scores, stared in disbelief at the two perfect 100s on her papers. Then, bursting with excitement, she leapt from her chair and cheered, "Yay! I got 100 points!!"
"Actually, two 100 points~," Kotomi reminded her, grinning as well.
"I can't believe I did this! Kotomi, are you sure you didn't just give me a high score to comfort me?"
Yui's academic track record wasn't great, so seeing two perfect scores filled her with disbelief and joy, a combination that left her struggling to process it.
"You've been studying hard all week, and I've been tutoring you. If you still didn't do well on these practice tests, do you think I'd go out of my way to comfort you? I'd be more likely to pin you to the desk and give you a stern talking-to," Kotomi said, pretending to be fierce.
"Ehehe~," Yui scratched her light peach-colored hair, laughing sheepishly at Kotomi's mock scolding.
"For the next hour, I'll walk you through the key points from Japanese and other subjects that often show up on exams but are easy to get wrong. If you can learn them and stay calm and focused during the test, you'll have no problem getting a good score."
"Mm-hmm! I can't wait to bake you a big cake when I ace the exam!" Yui nodded energetically.
"Is it only cake that you're offering to me?" Kotomi asked playfully, wanting to lighten the mood after Yui's intense hour of practice.
She had only meant to joke around a bit, but Yui's reaction was unexpectedly different. Her face flushed red as her mind drifted to thoughts that were definitely not related to cake, and she stammered:
"K-Kotomi…what else do you want me to make? As long as it's not too hard, I-I'll do my best to meet your requests!"
While Kotomi had no idea what Yui was thinking, she could tell it was definitely something…off. Yui's reddening face confirmed it.
"I was just joking, Yui. Cake will be perfect," Kotomi clarified with a slight chuckle.
"O-Oh…right," Yui responded, her face turning an even deeper shade of red. If the ground could have opened up, she would have gladly slipped right in.
Yui had been under a lot of pressure recently, what with all the studying and preparation for the upcoming exams. It was a change of pace for someone who didn't normally hit the books so hard. A few days ago, in an attempt to relieve stress before bed, she had been browsing her phone and ended up stumbling onto a site that asked if she was 18 or older.
Instinctively, she clicked "Yes" and found herself on a manga site.
The site's logo was a single orange slice nestled within a blooming lily.
The cover of the manga caught Yui's attention, making her wide awake just as she was about to fall asleep.
What she read next utterly shocked her.
"Wha—this is that kind of manga! Girls…can do this sort of thing?!"
"A bunch of girls...together?!"
"Wha—what is this weird stuff they're doing?!"
"But they…they look like they're really enjoying it…"
"Wait…does it feel…good?"
New knowledge unlocked!
Yui found herself hooked, and before she knew it, she was up late each night reading these kinds of comics. By now, she had devoured over 90 volumes in just a few days!
From short stories to full-color ones, Yui had dived deep into this new world. And thanks to these nightly reading sessions, she found herself waking up refreshed, her stress from the day before completely gone.
Of course, this newfound hobby also led to some rather…distracting thoughts whenever Kotomi tutored her. The proximity, the faint fragrance Kotomi carried, and the sight of her beautiful, delicate features only made Yui feel more and more flustered.
No wonder she had interpreted Kotomi's innocent comment as something more suggestive.
Once the lesson ended and Kotomi finished reviewing all the critical points, their final cram session before the exams was officially over.
"Make sure to digest everything I've taught you today. If you get stuck on something, just ask me."
Looking over her notes, Yui still couldn't help but worry. "Do you think I'll do well on the exam?"
Hearing the uncertainty in Yui's voice, Kotomi smiled gently.
"Nervous?"
"A little," Yui admitted with a nod.
"I get it. It's actually normal to feel nervous after studying hard for an exam. If you hadn't reviewed anything, you might not even feel worried. But now that you've put in the effort, you're probably afraid of letting yourself down, wasting all that hard work, or disappointing me for all the time I spent tutoring you. Am I right?"
Yui quickly nodded. Kotomi had perfectly captured her anxious thoughts.
Bạn cũng có thể thích
bình luận đoạn văn
Tính năng bình luận đoạn văn hiện đã có trên Web! Di chuyển chuột qua bất kỳ đoạn nào và nhấp vào biểu tượng để thêm nhận xét của bạn.
Ngoài ra, bạn luôn có thể tắt / bật nó trong Cài đặt.
ĐÃ NHẬN ĐƯỢC