My Ex-Girlfriend Who Dumped Me, the Top Student, Is at Risk of Failing and Repeating a Year—but I’m Too Busy Tutoring a Former Shut-in Beauty To Get Back Together With Her - 12-13

Chapter 12: Studying in the Library After School

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The library after school. Since it was a week before the final exams, even the reading area—which was usually deserted—was packed with students today. We were in a corner at a window-side seat.

“……Sensei. Is my interpretation of this classical Japanese passage correct?”

“Hmm, let me see… Ah, there is a linking rule at play there, so the meaning becomes emphasized. That makes the translation like this.”

“I see…! Sensei, you’re amazing. It’s so easy to understand.”

Kotone Kisaragi let out a voice of admiration and lightly pressed her shoulder against my upper arm. She was close. The pleasant scent of her shampoo tickled my nose, and I felt as though I could even feel her body heat through our uniforms.

“……Hey, Kisaragi. You’re too close. This is school.”

“……But if I don’t speak in a whisper, it’ll be a nuisance, right? I can’t hear you unless I get this close, Sensei.”

Kisaragi smiled mischievously, and under the desk, she gave my leg a light tap with her own.

I felt the piercing gazes of the surrounding male students—gazes that likely said “just explode already,” though I couldn’t be sure. However, I told myself this.

This is strictly “instruction.” She’s only leaning in because she’s anxious. It’s not that she feels any charm from me as a man. Yes, this is just a fledgling’s imprinting.

I had to stay by her side as a parent bird until she could fly away on her own. As I desperately maintained my composure and continued the explanation, the entrance to the library became noisy.

“Hey, I told you to teach me this! Hasegawa-kun!”

“Ah, jeez, shut up, Rina. I told you I don’t get it either.”

It was Rina Aikawa and Hasegawa from the soccer club. It seemed they had come to study for the tests, but Rina’s natural voice was loud, making her stand out in a bad way in the quiet library. A library committee member started to get up to warn them but flinched at the two “top-caste” students and sat back down.

The two sat in the available seats—unluckily, the ones diagonally across from us.

“Ugh, this is the worst…”

Rina noticed us and overtly grimaced. However, as if quickly pulling herself together, she began to act spoiled toward Hasegawa with an exaggerated voice.

“Hey, Hasegawa-kun. I don’t understand this math part. Teach me~”

“Huh? Let me see… Ah, no way. I’ve given up on math.”

“What!? But this is on the test! It’ll be bad if I get a failing grade!”

“I don’t care. Besides, why do I have to teach you? What a drag.”

Hasegawa pulled out his smartphone and started playing a game. Rina looked stunned. It was only natural. Until now, I had been the one patiently breaking things down and teaching her until she understood. Her common sense—that “it’s only natural for a boyfriend to teach me”—didn’t apply to Hasegawa.

“……”

Rina bit her lip and flicked a glance over here. At the end of her gaze, I was answering Kisaragi’s questions.

“It becomes clear if you draw an auxiliary line here. Look, this triangle and this triangle are similar, right?”

“Oh, you’re right! I get it, I can solve this!”

“Exactly, that’s the spirit. You have a good intuition, Kisaragi.”

“Hehe… it’s because Sensei is so good at teaching.”

Kisaragi, smoothly writing down the answers, and I, watching over her calmly. In contrast, Rina sat before a notebook where nothing was progressing, glaring at her boyfriend who was absorbed in a mobile game.

The disparity was obvious to anyone. I could tell Rina’s gaze was glued to the notebook in my hand. It was a summary of key points I had written for Kisaragi. This was that “magic piece of paper” I used to make for Rina. If only she had that…. The “correct answer” she wanted so badly she could taste it was right there.

Rina seemed to make up her mind and started to stand up. She was probably about to throw away her pride and call out to me, saying “Teach me a little.” However, Kisaragi moved faster.

“……Sensei.”

Kisaragi pointedly leaned forward, peering into my face and blocking the line of sight between Rina and me.

“Teach me this part one more time? …I want to hear Sensei’s voice from even closer.”

“You… Fine, give me your ear.”

When I whispered the explanation into her ear, Kisaragi flushed and gripped my arm with an enraptured expression. It was completely “the world of just the two of us.” There wasn’t a single millimeter of space for Rina to enter.

“…!”

Rina’s face turned beet-red, and she stood up, her chair let out a loud rattle.

“……I’m going home!”

“Ah? Already? Then you wanna hit the arcade?”

“I’m not going! Idiot!”

Rina left Hasegawa behind and stomped out of the library. Silence returned. The abandoned Hasegawa clicked his tongue, muttering “What’s with her?” and went back to his game.

“……Hehe.”

I thought I heard Kisaragi give a small giggle next to me. Looking over, she was writing small characters in the corner of her textbook.

『Sensei belongs only to me.』

……Hmm? Did she just write something scary? When I did a double-take, there was only a mathematical formula written there.

……I must have seen it wrong. My eyes might be tired from studying too much lately.

“Sensei, what’s wrong?”

“No… It’s nothing. Alright, we’re done for today once we finish this chapter.”

“Ehhh… Let’s keep going at home.”

“During the exam period, I will only instruct you at school. Discipline is important.”

When I spoke sternly, Kisaragi puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction, but her eyes looked somewhat playful. Outside the library window, the sunset was dyeing the schoolyard red. The final exams, our “first battle,” were now right before our eyes.

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Chapter 13: The Day Before Final Exams

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The day before the final exams. The air in the classroom was tense. A sense of tragic desperation hung particularly heavy around the seats of those at risk of failing. Rina Aikawa, the leader of that group, was lashing out at everyone around her every time a break started.

“Ah, jeez, I don’t get it! Why do they even give us these kinds of problems!? The teacher must have a twisted personality!”

The sound of a desk being slammed—bang! Hasegawa was asleep from the exhaustion of morning club practice, and even Rina’s group of girls was recoiling from her intensity. The price of cutting me off—the very lifeline she had relied on—had come back to haunt her now with maximum interest.

Meanwhile, at my seat…

“……Sensei. I made a mnemonic for these dates in world history. Want to hear it?”

“Oh, nice. Let’s hear it.”

“‘Strawberry pants at Honnoji’ (Ichigo pantsu).”

“……1582, huh. Well, it’s easy to remember, but honestly, you…”

Kotone Kisaragi laughed with a “hehehe” while plucking at and shaking my sleeve. She was relaxed. The results of her sticking through my Spartan coaching for the past week were showing. Her basics were perfect, and she had covered almost all the applications. At her current level, she could even aim for the top of the grade.

Seeing the way we were acting, Rina approached us, her footsteps sharp and aggressive. Her eyes were bloodshot. She was clearly emotionally unstable.

“……Hey. Seriously, knock it off.”

Rina blocked the space in front of our desks.

“What is it? We’re in the middle of a final push here.”

“Acting all high and mighty… Hey, Kashiwagi, what did you give Kisaragi-san?”

“Huh?”

“Don’t play dumb! There’s no way a kid who hasn’t been coming to school can keep up with classes in just one week! You stole the test questions, didn’t you!?”

The classroom fell dead silent. It was a preposterous accusation. I was so exasperated by the sheer stupidity of it that I let out a sigh.

“……And here I wondered what you were going to say. You think I snuck into the faculty office?”

“Well, it’s weird otherwise! You’re Saejima-sensei’s favorite! To get Kisaragi-san’s grades up, I’m sure you pulled strings behind the scenes and leaked the answers for chemistry and all the other tests!”

Rina’s voice was loud. She was likely unable to make rational judgments due to her impatience and jealousy. By labeling “results she couldn’t understand” as “cheating,” she was trying to maintain her mental stability. It was beyond pathetic.

“Take that back. That isn’t just an insult to me. It’s an insult to Kisaragi, who worked desperately hard.”

“Hard work? Ha, don’t make me laugh. There’s no way that clumsy girl could—”

“—Hey.”

At that moment, I felt the temperature of the classroom drop to freezing. The one who said that was—not me, but Kisaragi, who was sitting next to me. Her eyes weren’t the sweet ones she usually turned toward me. They were cold, piercing eyes, as if she were looking at trash.

“Don’t insult Sensei.”

Her voice was quiet, but it carried well. I never imagined that Kisaragi would ever become like this.

“I’m used to being made fun of, so I don’t care about that. But I won’t forgive you for calling Sensei’s instruction ‘cheating’.”

“Wh-what…But there’s no other explanation for it!”

“I can give you an explanation. Right here, right now.”

Saying that, Kisaragi snatched the crumpled math printout from Rina’s hand. It was a worksheet of difficult problems distributed during yesterday’s class. Rina’s answer column remained blank.

“You’re irritated because you don’t know how to solve this problem, right?”

“Nng… Give it back!”

“Just watch.”

Kisaragi borrowed my pen and began smoothly writing mathematical formulas on the back of the printout. She didn’t hesitate. With beautiful handwriting, the equations were assembled.

“Since the domain is here, there are three case divisions. Finding the maximum value for each… it goes like this.”

In just over a minute, Kisaragi set the pen down and thrust the printout back at Rina. There, a solution more elegant than the model answer was written.

“……No way.”

Rina was speechless. Adoring voices like “Whoa, awesome” and “She’s legit solving them…” leaked out from the classmates watching around us.

“Cheating isn’t necessary. It’s just that Sensei’s way of teaching is easy to understand. Sensei’s teaching is as incredible as ‘magic’.”

Kisaragi puffed out her chest triumphantly. Her figure was so dignified and beautiful.

“It’s so noisy in here. What’s going on?”

Right on cue, Saejima-sensei entered the classroom. Rina’s shoulders gave a startled jolt.

“Ah, Aikawa. Did you just say something about ‘Kashiwagi stealing the questions’?”

The teacher looked down at Rina with cold eyes. Apparently, she had heard everything.

“Th-that’s… well…”

“Don’t be stupid. Do you think I’d be negligent with security management? That goes for the other teachers, too. Or does Kashiwagi look like the kind of person who would take such a risk?”

The teacher shook his head in exasperation.

“Aikawa. If you have time to disparage others, how about using that time to learn a single vocabulary word? …As things stand, your final exam results will be nothing but a ‘tragedy’.”

An ultimatum from the teacher. Rina’s face turned bright red, and she fled back to her seat with teary eyes. It was a complete rout for her.

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After the homeroom ended, I spoke to Kisaragi in a low voice.

“……Thanks, Kisaragi. For getting angry for me.”

“No. I was only doing the most obvious thing to do.”

Kisaragi smiled softly and squeezed my hand tightly under the desk.

“Sensei is amazing. You’re the best private tutor in the world. ……So, it’s my job to prove that.”

There was unwavering trust in her eyes. I looked away to hide my embarrassment.

To prove it, huh. That’s right.

There was no need to talk back with words. If we struck down with overwhelming high “numbers” in the final exams, that would settle everything. Feeling the warmth of the hand squeezing mine back, I was certain of victory. Rina’s self-destruction was guaranteed. All that was left was to see how high we could fly.

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