Chapter 381: Chika-chan – The Girl at the Bottom of the Class
"What were you talking about with Nakano-san just now?"
When they left the film set, it was already late at night.
The three of them went together to a nearby Chinese restaurant. It was crowded and nearly full.
After sitting down, Fujiwara Chika asked about the conversation between Sakurai Saki and Nakano Ichika earlier.
The two of them suddenly went off on their own, which made Chika certain they were hiding something from her.
"Nothing much, just some things about teaching."
Sakurai Saki didn't like revealing private matters, and he didn't want to involve unrelated people either.
Chika was simply worried that there was something shady going on between him and Ichika.
But that worry was completely unnecessary.
"Oh. So Saki-kun is still working as a tutor."
"I actually quit a while ago."
"Then does that mean you'll have more free time from now on?" Chika asked with hopeful eyes.
If he had free time after school every day, wouldn't that mean he could spend more time with her?
Going out together everywhere! That would be awesome!
"Probably."
Sakurai Saki picked up the glass of water on the table and took a sip of cold water.
The weather was a bit hot, so drinking cold water felt refreshing.
But there was one thing Saki could never understand — some restaurants even served cold water in winter; that was downright inhuman!
"You spend every day with Ai-chan, so spare a little time for me too." Fujiwara Chika said halfway, but when she saw Mashiro coming back from ordering food, she stopped.
"What are you talking about? Let me join in on the topic of you youngsters."
On Minamoto Mashiro's mature oval face appeared a hint of curiosity.
"Time management."
"Time management?" the beautiful woman repeated.
"Umu. Young people have limited time each day, so deciding what to spend it on is important."
Sakurai Saki changed the subject; he didn't want to talk about his scumbag history in front of this older sister.
In the image Minamoto Mashiro had of him, Saki didn't want to ruin it.
Men always have a few stubborn points like that.
For example, length.
For example, time.
Or, not wanting someone to find out their secrets — wanting to maintain a perfect image.
"Studying?" Minamoto Mashiro seemed quite interested in the kids' topic.
Her own student days had passed more than ten years ago and were now just memories.
And in those memories, aside from a few fun things like cultural festivals or school trips, everything else was just textbooks and exams. Especially during the year she prepared for university entrance exams — even though her grades were good, it still took a lot of effort.
Fortunately, she passed in the end and didn't become a "rōnin."
If she hadn't gotten into her first choice, she probably would have chosen to study another year.
In Japan, students who retake the exam are called "rōnin." Retaking once is called "ichi-rō," then "ni-rō," "san-rō," and so on. In Minamoto Mashiro's memory, during each university entrance exam season, up to one-third of the candidates from prestigious schools were "rōnin."
"Each day we have at least 10 hours of classes, and homework after that takes at least 2 more hours to finish. I think studying that much is already a lot." Sakurai Saki joined the topic he had just made up.
The university entrance exams were approaching, and as a candidate himself, he didn't feel any pressure at all.
First, he had already accumulated quite a lot of knowledge. Second, he had a memory far superior to ordinary people. Now that the side effects of his ability had gradually lessened, he no longer suffered headaches so bad that he couldn't even finish writing during exams.
Sakurai Saki's confidence came from past experience, not from thin air.
"When I was in my final year, I studied every single day. It felt like my brain was about to break." Minamoto Mashiro said as she took a sip of cold water.
The small room didn't have air conditioning on — it wasn't summer yet, after all.
May had just passed.
The temperature was rising, but it wasn't hot yet.
"Since I'm really smart, I don't need to try that hard." Sakurai Saki praised himself.
"Yes yes yes, Saki-kun is so smart." Minamoto Mashiro said helplessly, "I'm different though — I'm dumb. Even though I worked that hard back then, in the end I only got into Waseda."
Was that a roundabout way of bragging?
"What's wrong? Chika-chan hasn't said a word this whole time."
"My grades aren't very good." Fujiwara Chika recalled her own scores and felt this topic wasn't something worth talking about.
Minamoto Mashiro teased, "Then as Saki-kun's girlfriend, you probably won't be able to get into the same university as him."
"Then let Saki-kun go with me…"
Sakurai Saki was sure that Chika was about to say, "let him give up a prestigious university and go to the same one as me."
"Chika, since I've already finished tutoring at the Nakano household, do you want me to tutor you after school?"
He didn't want Chika to just drift along aimlessly.
This girl had potential, but without motivation, she'd simply give up. Clearly she was quite smart, but she never put her heart into studying.
"No need."
"Even Kudo Sayaka—the gyaru girl from the movie Flying Colors—was able to raise her deviation score by 40 points in one year. Chika, you can do it too."
He was referring to the contents of a movie.
In Flying Colors, the main character Kudo Sayaka, under the guidance of her tutor, raised her deviation score by 40 points in one year and successfully got into the prestigious Keio University.
"But that's a movie." Fujiwara Chika truly didn't want to spend every day working hard at studying.
"That movie was adapted from a true story. It's an inspirational film, not science fiction."
"…I think it's science fiction."
"Ai-chan's grades weren't good a year ago either, and now she's in the top ten of the whole grade."
But in truth, Hayasaka Ai's case didn't really count.
It wasn't that she couldn't score well, but because she was serving as Shinomiya Kaguya's maid, she couldn't stand out too much, so she intentionally held herself back.
You could only say—someone who could control their grades that precisely was terrifying.
"Fine."
Fujiwara Chika said reluctantly.
Compared to spending time after school together drowning in the sea of knowledge at the library, she'd rather go on dates with Sakurai Saki.
But what Minamoto Mashiro said was also true.
She still hadn't managed to win Sakurai Saki back from Hayasaka Ai. If she waited until university, the situation might get even worse.
Giving up was absolutely not an option!
"Chika-chan's that bad at studying?" Minamoto Mashiro joined the two's conversation.
"My deviation score is around 68… not that good."
Minamoto Mashiro: "…I see."
Students from Shuchiin really were terrifying.
A deviation score of 68, statistically speaking, was in the top 3% of all students.
For a moment, Mashiro didn't even know what to say.
Back in her own school days, her grades might not even have been as good as Chika's.
Fortunately, the restaurant's service was quick, so she didn't have to stay awkward for long.
"Customers, the mapo tofu is here!!"
A waiter entered carrying the dish.
Fujiwara Chika glanced at the plate and immediately stopped caring about everything else.
As someone who loved spicy food and had tried over a dozen kinds of ultra-spicy noodles before, today she felt like she was facing a true challenge.
The burning scent hadn't even reached her taste buds yet—she hadn't even taken a bite—but her tongue was already tingling.
The aroma was so strong it stung her nose.
"Chika-chan, can you handle spicy food?"
Minamoto Mashiro asked the question that should've been asked before ordering.
"Of course!"
"That's good."
Five minutes later.
Fujiwara Chika looked at Sakurai Saki, who still hadn't dared to pick up his spoon.
"Saki-kun, what's wrong?"
"Chika-chan doesn't know? He's afraid of spicy food."
?
An Esper who's afraid of spicy food? How embarrassing could that be?
Being stared at by her, Sakurai Saki quickly turned his face away.
'So what if I'm afraid of spicy food? I'm also allergic to pollen, you know. Does that make you lose faith in Esper now?'
...