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 - 16-17

Chapter 16: A Huge Misunderstanding

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The classroom after school. In the midst of the setting sun filtering through the window, I—Rina Aikawa—was slumped over my desk alone.

“……This is impossible.”

On top of the desk was a notice with “Subject for Supplementary Lessons” written in bright red ink. School rank, 268th. That number had ground my pride into powder.

“Rina-chan, aren’t you going home yet?”

From the classroom entrance, the girls from my usual group called out to me. In their voices, there was a clear mix of ridicule.

“Ah, sorry, sorry. Rina-chan, you have ‘supplementary lessons,’ right? That must be tough~”

“Even though you were a ‘reasonably smart’ character until now. Your plating has really peeled off, hasn’t it?”

“Well, we’re stopping by Starbucks on the way home. Good luck!”

They left while waving their hands flippantly. I bit my lip in frustration. Even though those girls used to pamper me with “Rina-chan, you’re amazing!” and “Show me your notes!” back when I was in the 100s. The moment I fell from grace, it turned into this.

It’s not like I suddenly became stupid or anything.

I made excuses in my heart. I just happened to not study this time. Between dates with Hasegawa-kun, my makeup, and other things, I just couldn’t put my heart into it. If I actually tried, I should be able to do it too.

I pulled out my smartphone and sent a LIME to my boyfriend, Hasegawa-kun.

『Hey, supplementary lessons are such a drag. Comfort me~ (crying face)』

The “read” receipt appeared immediately.

But what came back was a cold sentence.

『I’m busy with club activities, so no can do. Besides, you should study more. It doesn’t look good for me if my girlfriend is an idiot.』

……Huh? What was that? Even though he himself was on the verge of failing. Even though he refused when I tried to kindly teach him before, saying it was “a drag.”

I threw my smartphone onto the desk. The screen went dark, and the reflection of my own face there was miserably ugly.

“……Why did it turn out like this?”

Until a month ago, everything was going well. The top-caste me. The reasonably excellent-at-grades me. The me who had a kind boyfriend (Kashiwagi). Back then, Kashiwagi did all the tedious assignments and test prep for me. I could get points easily just by looking over the notes he made.

Kashiwagi.

Suddenly, my gaze turned toward the seat by the window. No one was there anymore. But the scene from lunch break was burned into my mind.

“Sensei, look! 18th place!”

“Yeah. You worked hard, Kisaragi.”

Kashiwagi in 1st place, and Kotone Kisaragi in 18th. The two of them were laughing side-by-side. Especially that Kotone Kisaragi, who had been a shut-in. Her getting such a high rank was undoubtedly due to Kashiwagi’s power.

If they have Kashiwagi’s instruction, even a shut-in can reach 18th place. If that’s the case… If I, who was originally in the 100s, were taught by him, I should be able to go even higher. 50th, no, maybe even 10th isn’t a dream.

When I thought that, I suddenly stopped caring about Hasegawa-kun. A man who had a good face but was empty inside and wouldn’t help me. Compared to him, Kashiwagi was plain but high-spec and had devoted himself to me.

“……Did I make a mistake in my choice?”

I muttered quietly. But maybe there was still time. After all, we had been dating for three months. I knew Kashiwagi better than that girl who just popped out of nowhere. Right now, he was just sulking because I had said some harsh things. Besides, he might just be pretending to be crazy about that girl to try and make me jealous.

“……That’s right. After all, I am cute.”

I took out my mirror and fixed my bangs.

It’s okay. I’m still cute. If I apologize properly and cry to him saying, “As I thought, Kashiwagi-kun is the best after all,” that kind guy will surely forgive me. If I do that, I can return to that easy and brilliant position again.

They say people can change… and if I become honest, I should be able to change too.

I was grandly misinterpreting the meaning of those words… Instead of “changing through my own effort,” I was only thinking about “changing the situation by changing (taking back) the other person.”

“……Summer vacation.”

It’s almost summer vacation. Kisaragi is always stuck to him at school, but there should be a chance during summer vacation. If I pretend to meet him by chance and appeal to him, he’ll be mine in an instant.

“Wait for me, Kashiwagi. ……After all, I’m the one who suits being by your side the most.”

I stuffed the supplementary lesson printouts sloppily into my bag and left the classroom with a light step.

Without knowing that I had already become “expired content” to him… My long and painful “summer of delusion” was about to begin.

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Chapter 17: A Promise for a Date

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The closing ceremony for the first semester. The principal’s long speech came to an end, and the students who returned to the classroom were overflowing with a sense of liberation. Summer vacation started tomorrow. About thirty days of free time were guaranteed.

“Kashiwagi, what are you doing for summer break? Shutting yourself in to study again?”

“How rude. ……Well, I do plan to solidify my basics before I become an exam student, though.”

“You never waver, do you? Well, watch out for heatstroke.”

My bad influence of a friend, Todo, slung his bag over his shoulder and left with a flippant wave. As I was packing my things to head home as well, I felt a steady, hot gaze from the seat next to mine. It was Kotone Kisaragi. She was resting her chin on her hand, staring up at me. Her eyes looked somewhat reproachful.

“……What’s wrong, Kisaragi? Your grades on your report card were good, weren’t they?”

“Yeah. I feel like I made up for everything except PE with my test scores. It’s all thanks to Sensei.”

“Then be happier about it.”

“I can’t be happy……”

Kisaragi puffed out her cheeks with a “muu” and tightly gripped the hem of my uniform under the desk.

“I mean, summer vacation starts tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah. The long break that is a student’s duty.”

“No school means…… The time I can spend with Sensei is going to decrease.”

She said this with a serious face. For her, someone who had been a shut-in, school had become “the place where I can see Sensei.” To lose that seemed to be a matter of life and death.

“Lately we’ve been able to see each other almost every day but once summer break starts, we’ll only see each other during tutoring time. Out of twenty-four hours a day, that’s only two hours. I’ll wither away from a ‘Sensei deficiency’ during the other twenty-two hours.”

“Are you a cactus or something?”

I gave a wry smile. Her dependency was the same as always. However, being admired to this extent didn’t feel bad.

“Besides, there’s a lot of homework during summer break, and I’m anxious about doing it alone. ……Hey, Sensei. Come every day during summer break, too? From morning until night.”

“N-no. As expected, every day is impossible. I have my own plans, and it would be a nuisance to your parents.”

“It’s not a nuisance! Mama even said, ‘If it’s Kashiwagi-kun, he’s welcome to move in!'”

“Even your mother……”

The outer moat was being filled. However, hanging around every single day felt like it exceeded the scope of a tutor. Maintaining boundaries was important.

“Every day is impossible, but… I see. Let’s increase it to three times a week. Under the pretext of a ‘Summer Special Lecture Series.'”

“Eh, really!?”

“Yeah. Besides, from the second semester, there will be more applied problems. We’ll need new reference books, too.”

When I said that, Kisaragi’s face instantly brightened.

“Reference books! I’ll go buy them! I want to go buy them with Sensei!”

“Hmm, well, I suppose it’s safer if I’m the one who chooses them.”

“Let’s go, let’s go! When shall we do it? Tomorrow? The day after?”

Kisaragi leaned forward. Pushed by her momentum, I checked my schedule book.

“I’m free tomorrow. Then, shall we go to the large bookstore in front of the station?”

“Yay! …That’s a date, right?”

“It’s a shopping trip.”

“Hehe, to me, it’s a date. …I’m looking forward to it. I wonder what I should wear.”

Kisaragi swayed happily and enveloped my hand with both of hers. Her face was so incredibly cute that I lost the energy to deny it with “It’s a shopping trip” a second time.

Well, whatever. If it raises my cute student’s motivation, all’s well that ends well.

“Then tomorrow, let’s meet under the clock tower in front of the station at 10:00.”

“Un! I definitely won’t be late!”

We exchanged our promise and left the classroom. Just because tomorrow’s plans were set, my own footsteps had naturally become lighter.

However… We had not noticed… That in the back of the classroom, from the shadow of the cleaning supply locker, there was a figure intently watching us.

“……Tomorrow, 10:00. In front of the station, huh.”

Rina Aikawa quickly typed a note into her smartphone’s calendar. At the corner of her mouth, a smile like a predator that had found its prey appeared.

“The chance has arrived. Just you wait, Kashiwagi. Because I’m going to make that date much more ‘fun’.”

With a misguided strategy hidden in her heart, the ex-girlfriend had also hardened her resolve to head toward the battlefield of summer vacation.

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