Living Normally In An Abnormal World

Chapter 15: At the Study Group

Today is the long-awaited study group. But for me, it’s nothing but a waste of time. My brain isn’t so bad that I’d be stumped by elementary school lessons. If I were, my life would’ve been over long ago.

Besides, I’ve already finished my homework. It was just kanji and math afterall, so it didn’t take too long.

I’ll probably just end up helping Rina with her homework.

In the end, I had to ask them to pick me up. Apparently, it’s for my safety.

“As I’ve said before, it’s a woman’s role to protect men. Yuuto-sama, you’re an important person to me, so please rely on me more.”

That’s what she said. …Is there anything I can do for her? I can’t just let her do everything for me. Before we’re a man and a woman, we’re equals…

When the intercom rang, I went to the entrance, and Maria was waiting with a smile. Minami-san, her attendant, was with her too.

“Yo, good morning, Maria! Minam-san, it’s been a few months, how have you been?”

“Eh!? You remembered me!?”

Eh… isn’t that a bit harsh? Of course, I remembered.

“Ribbon… Yuto-sama isn’t that kind of person.”

“I was always in the young mistress’ shadow, so I thought he’d forgotten about me and felt down about it.”

“How could I forget one of the few people who call me ‘Yuu-chan’?”

“Ahaha… I was rude to you back then, wasn’t I?”

“It’s fine, I don’t mind.”

“Please come this way.”

“A limo again?”

“Yes, it’s a limo.”

Yup, knew it.

“You’re as consistent as ever, Yuuto-sama.”

“Minami-san, if I got used to this after one or two times, I wouldn’t be struggling.”

—

We arrived at Samejima-san’s house.

“Good morning, Tachibana, Kinoshita-kun.”

“Good morning, Samejima-san.”

“Good morning.”

“I want to apologize right away, but I’ve already finished my homework.”

“I figured as much. Me too.”

“So do I, so don’t worry about it.”

…I hope Rina’s okay.

“This is clearly to make sure Rina doesn’t get left behind after summer break.”

“I had a hunch.”

“Of course.”

“Atleast deny it.”

—

Then we arrived at Rina’s house.

“Everyone, good morning!”

“Good morning, Rina… Have you finished your homework?”

“Eh? Aren’t we doing it together today?”

“……Forgive me.”

“Eh? Everyone’s done already!?”

Everyone nodded silently.

“That’s mean! You’re all ganging up on me and leaving me out!?”

“What are you talking about? We’re going to watch you until you’re done.”

“That’s what it’ll come to.”

“You’re lying!”

“Complain later, for now, we’re finishing today.”

“Let’s go.”

“Yuuto-kun! You betrayed me!”

“Eh, did I betray you?”

“Who can I trust!?”

“Rina-chan.”

“Maria-chan! Maria-chan, at least you’re my…”

“Give up.”

“Harsh!”

Lately, I’ve been thinking that Rina tends to become the butt of jokes. Is it just me?

—

Finally, we arrived at Maria’s house.

“I thought it was Maria’s house, but it’s amazing.”

“It’s incredible! We ran around the grounds for like 20 minutes!”

“The rose garden is beautiful.”

“Fufu… thank you.”

To the right was a flower field, to the left was a rose garden, and in front of the entrance was a fountain. There were too many rich people’s things, I was getting sick of it.

“Let’s go.”

When we entered the house…

I won’t say anything. If anything, it’s presumptuous of me to explain. But in simple terms, rich people are amazing.

Then we were guided to a room that was more like a library than a study. At a glance, I could see a spiral staircase that seemed to go up five floors. I wanted to look for secret rooms. Hmm, there must be some for sure.

“For now, Rina, let’s start with math.”

But first, I focused on Rina’s studies. I didn’t give her the answers. I only taught her the thought process to get to the answers. Knowing and understanding are different, after all.

“Ugh… I’m bad at this…”

“Don’t complain and do it.”

“If I finish today, I can play games all day tomorrow.”

“I’ll do my best…”

“Ribbon, get us some drinks.”

“Yes.”

—

–One hour later–

“I’m done with everything!”

“You finished quickly!”

“””””””

Kinoshita-san and I looked at each other.

^[1]She can do it when she tries.

This kid is not only a game maniac, but she’s also surprisingly smart. When I taught her what she didn’t understand, she absorbed it like a sponge. Her scores are bad because she just doesn’t study. How unfair.

“Next is kanji!”

“That’ll be quick.”

“I’ll finish it.”

“Will you finish it!?”

“Then watch me?”

“~~~”

“Stop it.”

“Don’t waste time on silly things and get to work.”

“”Sorry.”””

“You seem to be having fun.”

“By the way, how do you guys memorize kanji?”

“I just write them down randomly.”

“I write the on’yomi and kun’yomi first.”

“I write down the on and kun readings and organize them neatly.”

“I’ll study kanji the same way Yuuto-kun does.”

“Don’t copy me just because you want to take it easy.”

“Eh, Yuuto-kun does it too!?”

“Fufu, of course♪”

“”Oh! My best friend! (What! My friend!?)”””

Me and Rina high-fived.

“Do you want me to tsukkomi you?”

“”Yes.”””

“Then… Am I an important person for Yuto? (Yuto-sama, am I a important person to you?)”

Maria joined in! But as a former high school student, this level of English is easy to respond to!

“Yes. Maria is an important person to me. (Yeah, Maria’s an important person to me.)”

“Fufu… I see. I’m glad.”

“Is it a fault? Do I not matter? (Hmm? Am I not important to you)?”

Samejima-san joined in too.

“Not at all. As for me, all are important. (That’s not true. Everyone is important to me.)”

“Kinoshita-kun, you’re really unfair.”

“That’s the kind of person I am.”

“I guess so.”

“Hey, Yuuto-kun, when did I end up in a foreign country? I don’t understand what everyone is saying.”

“I, everyone, important.”

“That’s easy to understand, thanks.”

“Anyway, do your kanji notebook.”

—

–45 minutes later–

“I’m done.”

“I finished too.”

“I finished as well.”

“I’m done too.”

Rina’s kanji notebook was finished. However, the rest of us, excluding Rina, were just looking at it and chatting.

“Now what do we do?”

And when it was over, there was nothing to do.

“I think it’s fine to just keep talking.”

“We want to play cards or something.”

“Then let’s do it, Ribbon.”

Maria clapped her hands twice, and

“Yes, here.”

Minami immediately brought the cards. I’ve never seen anyone call a maid by clapping their hands, it’s amazing.

And did she realize I was surprised?

“I’ve been standing by outside the room.”

“No, don’t say that, it’s lonely.”

It makes me feel like I’m leaving someone out.

“Let’s all play Daihinmin.”

“That’s safe.”

“Should we add a penalty game?”

“Let’s not, that’s a flag for me to lose for sure.”

“Then let’s just play normally.”

“Minami, why don’t you join us?”

“No, I’m working right now.”

“Is that so?”

“Then I’ll take my leave.”

Minami left the room.

And so, Daihinmin began.

—

“By the way, Yuto-kun, you’re really different from ordinary people, aren’t you?”

……

“Eh, this timing!?”

“No, I just thought of it now.”

“Well, I’m unreasonable, right, Maria?”

“Yes, you are!”

“Don’t say it with a smile.”

“Kinoshita-kun is clearly abnormal.”

“Samejima-san, you’re the rudest right now.”

“My apologies. But he goes to elementary school, he’s kind to girls, he writes replies to all the love letters he gets, and he remembers the names of everyone he talks to. See… he’s clearly abnormal.”

Well, I guess I am pretty weird. But I hate to see girls cry, and I guess it’s about romance too. I feel like I have to respond sincerely to the girls who have feelings for me… It’s just because I’m stupid.

“Hahaha…”

“Yuuto-sama, may I ask you something too?”

“Go ahead.”

“Why are you so kind to women?”

“……”

I knew this day would come. Most men hate women. That’s why I’m too abnormal. Especially since I entered a girl’s garden in the first grade.

But because I carried over my memories from my previous life, I was able to think and understand deeply. But that’s not the main reason. The main reason is,

“It’s because I had a family.”

—

“Family?”

“Mana… She thought of me, scolded me when I did something bad, and praised me when I did something good. At first, she even taught me that women are wolves. I couldn’t hate someone who thought of me in so many ways, and instead, I wanted to be of use to her. Yuuna often relies on me and comes to me for affection, which makes me happy. And she always looks genuinely happy when she’s with me. If you’re with a family like that, you’ll naturally become a kind person, won’t you?”

If my family hadn’t been so fortunate, I might have become selfish. The reason I’ve been able to stay the same until now is thanks to Mana and Yuuna.

“Also, only a small number of women are perverts or attackers. I understood that everyone isn’t like that. The other girls were the same. That’s why I’m kind to them.”

“……That’s so like you, Yuuto-kun.”

“Yes, it really is.”

“Maria, what’s wrong?”

“No… I’ve been wanting to ask you since the first time we met. All the men I’ve met hated women, so I was very curious. I’m sorry for asking such a thing.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’d be curious too if the situation was reversed.”

“Fufu… thank you.”

“So how many points is my answer worth?”

“100 points or more.”

“Alright!”

“Now what do we do?”

“Let’s play Jiji-nuki!”

—

And so our time passed,

“See you later!”

“See you, Yuuto-kun!”

“Yes, Yuuto-sama.”