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 - 7

Chapter 7: Saying It’s a Waste of Time and All Just for Show

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After school.

It was Rina Aikawa I ran into at the corner of the hallway yet again. In her hand was a snow-white math assignment printout. Her complexion was poor, and she was clearly in a state of panic.

“Ah… Kashiwagi-kun.”

When our eyes met, Rina’s gaze darted around awkwardly, but she immediately sidled up to me with a saccharine, wheedling voice.

“Wh-what a coincidence! Hey, are you heading home now? Do you think you could spare just a little bit of time?”

“I can’t. I’m in a hurry.”

“Don’t say that! This! Just teach me this one printout! Hasegawa-kun went to his club, and when I thought about asking someone else to show me theirs, everyone had already left…”

Rina thrust the printout in front of my face. It was today’s homework. The difficulty level wasn’t high, but for Rina, who lacked the basics, it would be impossible to solve.

You won’t even try to solve it yourself.

“I just don’t get it! You’re good at this kind of thing, Kashiwagi-kun. Just scribble down the answers for me real quick. Think of it as a final act of mercy for your ex-girlfriend!”

She gave me a wink, showing no sign of feeling bad about it. I looked down at her with cold eyes. In the past, I probably would have smiled, said “I guess I have no choice,” and pulled out my pen. Back then, I thought being relied upon by her was my reason for existing. But now, I could only think of her as being incredibly brazen.

“I refuse. I’m not your handyman anymore.”

“Huh!? It’s not like it’ll cost you anything, so don’t be so stingy! …Ah, wait, is this because of that ‘prior engagement’?”

Rina looked at my bag and let out a displeased snort.

“You said it in the classroom earlier, too. An important student…By any chance, is it Kisaragi-san?”

“…And what if it is?”

“Whoa, so it’s for real. The rumor that you’ve been going to that shut-in’s house was true.”

Rina shrugged her shoulders in exasperation, a mocking smile playing on her lips.

“You should stop. It’s a waste of time.”

“What is?”

“I mean, Kisaragi-san is like that, right? She looks like a high-class lady who’d be smart, but she’s actually a ‘fraud’ who can’t study at all, right?”

My eyebrow twitched.

“Back in our first year, a girl in the same class said it. Like, ‘Is it for real that she gets failing grades even though she’s taking notes with such a composed face?’ It’s that thing where people get their hopes up and then get disappointed, right? She’s got no knack for it but her pride is through the roof, so she just snapped and stopped coming to school. It’s seriously such a pain. Everything she did was just all for show.”

Rina rattled on in a light tone. There might not have been any explicit malice there. She probably intended it as mere small talk or idle gossip. But it was precisely those casual words…. The insensitivity of forcing an ideal image on someone, getting disappointed on one’s own, and then making a laughingstock of them. How much had that driven Kotone Kisaragi into a corner?

I hadn’t known much about why she stopped coming to school, but it must have been because of people like this. Something snapped inside of me.

“…Take it back.”

“Eh?”

“‘Waste of time.’ ‘Fraud.’ Retract those words right now.”

My voice was surprisingly low, even to my own ears, and it seemed to be trembling with rage. Rina’s shoulders shook with a start, and she took a step back.

“Wh-what… Why the scary face all of a sudden?”

“What do you know? Don’t speak as if you know anything when you’re just an outsider who knows nothing of how much effort she’s putting in or how much she’s suffering.”

I took a step forward while glaring at Rina.

“She has no knack for it? So what of it? Regardless, she’s still challenging it without giving up. Even when she doesn’t understand, even when she’s on the verge of tears, she doesn’t run away and keeps her grip on the pen. …Someone who gives up from the start and begs her ex-boyfriend for answers has no right to laugh at her.”

“Gh…!”

Rina’s face flushed bright red, then turned pale. She probably hadn’t expected me to go that far.

“Kashiwagi-kun, you…”

“As far as I’m concerned, this is the waste of time. Don’t ever show your face in front of me again.”

I spat those words out and roughly brushed past her. Behind me, Rina opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but I didn’t look back.

Why was I even dating someone like that? I felt like punching my past self in the head.

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With my heart rate still high from anger, I walked at a brisk pace. I couldn’t forgive it. I was far angrier than when I myself had been mocked for “only being able to study.” The cruelty of mocking someone who was living desperately from a safe zone. That was what had robbed a girl named Kotone Kisaragi of her place in the “classroom.”

“…Damn it.”

By the time I arrived in front of the Kisaragi house, I was slightly out of breath. I took a deep breath to calm my anger. I couldn’t let her see me with a face like this. When I pressed the intercom, the door opened immediately.

“Sensei!”

Today as well, Kisaragi came running to the front door. Instead of the frills she wore yesterday, today she was in somewhat casual loungewear. That, too, was endearing, as it felt like she was letting her guard down around me.

“…You’re late, Sensei. Five minutes late.”

“Sorry. The road was a bit crowded.”

“Hmph… As a punishment, we’re extending the session by an extra hour today.”

She grabbed my sleeve and pouted her lips as if sulking. Just looking at her face seemed to wash away the dark emotions from moments ago.

“…Yeah, I understand. I’ll stay as long as you want.”

“Eh… i-is that okay? I was just joking though.”

“I want to be with you. …Especially today.”

When I said that, Kisaragi’s mouth fell open, and in the next moment, her face turned bright red as she looked down.

“…That’s unfair. Sensei, you say things like that sometimes… it’s bad for my heart.”

Her small hand squeezed mine back tightly. I was saved by that warmth.

She wasn’t a fraud. To me, she was a student of more value than anyone else, someone I had to protect. No matter what anyone in that classroom said, I alone would absolutely be on her side. 

Vowing that once more, we headed up the stairs to the usual room.

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