Chapter 366: It's Over!
On the balcony, Itsuki gazed into the distant night scenery.
Tokyo glowed brightly with lights; strips of neon reflected in her eyes, and a faint salty breeze drifted in from the distant bay.
In her ear came the cold voice of her father — Nakano Maruo:
"Itsuki. Have you been having any trouble with your studies lately?"
It was clearly a question of concern, but his tone made it sound more like an interrogation.
Nakano Itsuki knew his personality well, so she didn't take it to heart. "There's no problem at all. Sakurai-san has been teaching us very well. After class, he even calls us to the library."
On the other end of the line, Nakano Maruo was silent for a moment.
Itsuki continued asking, "Dad, about Sakurai-san's salary… it's been a while since you last told me to transfer his payment."
She guessed her father might have asked someone else to deliver it.
It had already been over a month since the new term started; normally, he would get paid every two weeks.
"He didn't say anything to you girls?" Maruo's voice carried a trace of surprise.
He had always assumed that Sakurai Saki — a man who already had a proper girlfriend — wouldn't be interested in his daughters at all.
But judging from the current situation, the fact that Sakurai Saki was still tutoring them without receiving any pay was indeed unusual.
"What did he say?"
"Itsuki, Sakurai-kun is no longer your tutor," Nakano Maruo said, his tone holding a hint of regret.
If Itsuki didn't have such deep feelings toward Sakurai Saki, he wouldn't have severed that relationship.
The main reason was that Sakurai Saki already had a girlfriend — otherwise, Maruo felt that a young man as capable as him wouldn't have been a bad choice for a son-in-law.
"Dad, you're not hiring him anymore?" Itsuki froze.
If her father wasn't paying him anymore, then why was Sakurai-san still teaching them?
Was he working for free?
"..." Maruo fell silent for a few seconds before replying, "No. I even made it clear to him — told him not to approach you girls anymore."
Unfortunately, the other party didn't obey.
"Why? Sakurai-san has always done his job so well! Ever since he started tutoring us, our grades have improved steadily, and everyone's been studying harder…"
Itsuki tried to argue back, her voice full of reason.
She couldn't understand!!
Nakano Maruo cut her off coldly: "I just don't want you girls to repeat the same mistake as before."
"..." Nakano Itsuki immediately understood that he was referring to her biological mother and father.
When her mother was bedridden, close to death, that man never once came to visit — not even a single message!
Choosing the wrong person — that was what led her mother to die in sorrow.
"Sakurai-san isn't like that at all, and besides, none of us have any romantic feelings toward him…"
In the car, Nakano Maruo looked out the window at the scenery outside.
If someone else had said that, he might have believed it.
Ichika was mature and wouldn't easily develop feelings for a man.
Miku was quiet and had no interest in socializing.
Yotsuba was cheerful, but every time Maruo called her, she always complained that Sakurai Saki was too strict.
As for Nino — well, that went without saying.
In truth, the only one who could possibly develop feelings for the tutor was Itsuki.
"Itsuki, what do you think of Sakurai-kun as a person?"
Nakano Itsuki answered in a faint voice, "He's a very good person and an excellent teacher."
She truly didn't understand why her father was asking that.
"So it seems you still don't want to tell the truth."
"Huh?"
What did he mean, "the truth"?
What was he talking about?
Could she possibly have any special feelings for Sakurai-san? No way — she wasn't Nino!
Nino liked Sakurai-san so much she didn't even bother to hide it — he should be asking her that question! Why suddenly ask her what she thought of him!?
"You don't have feelings for Sakurai-kun?"
"That… of course I do, but not that kind of feeling between a man and a woman. It's the respect a student has for her teacher." Nakano Itsuki absolutely could not allow her father to slander his own daughter like that!
That one time she accidentally kissed him was just an accident…
Aside from that, there had never been any kind of intimate action between her and Sakurai Saki!
If treating him to meat buns counted, then fine, Itsuki would admit it!
But clearly, that didn't count!
Her relationship with Sakurai Saki was pure! There wasn't a single trace of anything improper!
"The last time you found out Sakurai-kun agreed to keep tutoring you, the way you reacted… didn't really look like a student's attitude toward her teacher."
"…" Itsuki held her phone, at a loss for words.
It was true she had been a bit overly excited that time.
But could that really be taken as proof that she liked Sakurai-san?
Her father was definitely overthinking things!
"In short, Sakurai-kun's tutoring job has ended since the beginning of this semester." Nakano Maruo didn't give Itsuki a chance to explain and continued, "For now, Edogawa will take over your tutoring sessions."
Edogawa was Nakano Maruo's driver.
Nakano Itsuki was quite familiar with him, so she had no objections to that decision.
However, Sakurai Saki was still here…
"Itsuki, Sakurai-kun isn't getting paid anymore, but he's still responsible for teaching all five of you. Do you think it's fine to just let things continue like this?"
"I understand." Nakano Itsuki replied quietly, her tone tinged with sadness.
They were already in their final year of high school; if she kept letting Sakurai Saki spend so much time helping her and her sisters study in this situation, she would only be hurting him.
Moreover, he wasn't even getting a single yen for it now.
After learning the truth, even if her father hadn't said anything, Itsuki would have told him to stop herself.
She didn't understand why Sakurai Saki chose not to tell her and her sisters the truth, instead hiding it.
But Itsuki's conscience wouldn't allow her to let things go on like this.
After hanging up, Itsuki remained silent for a long while.
Her feelings were a complicated mess.
No one was really in the wrong here. Her father always cared for their mother and all five sisters, so of course he didn't want them to go astray. How could she blame him for no longer hiring Sakurai-san? That would clearly be unreasonable.
Sakurai-san wasn't wrong either. Maybe he just found it hard to explain everything, so he kept up that peaceful façade.
Now that she knew, she couldn't let him keep working without pay anymore.
So… this relationship ends here.
As for Nino's matter, it wasn't that important, actually.
Her father only minded the teacher–student romance part. If Nino could love Sakurai-san in a normal way, he definitely wouldn't object.
Besides, Sakurai-san already had a girlfriend — Hayasaka-san. Nino had always been one-sided, and in all their interactions, Sakurai-san had never shown any sign of returning her feelings.
As for those occasional "private lessons" between the two… Itsuki was sure they weren't dates. After all, each of the five sisters had her turn with private lessons too.
'Haizz.' After thinking it all through, Itsuki sighed inwardly.
How should she tell her sisters about this?
Say it now? Or wait until Mr. Edogawa arrived first?
"So annoying…"
Father really is something else, always tossing these troublesome matters onto me…
Itsuki turned back to the living room.
Looking at her sisters chatting happily, she couldn't bring herself to ruin the mood with such heavy news.
"Itsuki, who was that on the phone?"
"Dad," Itsuki replied to Nino's question.
"He just asked a bit about our studies."
After a few casual words,
Itsuki found an excuse and went upstairs.
She wanted to call Sakurai Saki and ask him directly for the reason.
...