"Well, thank you." Nakano Itsuki smiled. "Student, what's your name? You're eating so little."
"Little? I think it's alright." Hayakawa Haku glanced at his own set meal and soup, then at Itsuki's lunch across the table.
Large udon noodles with tempura shrimp, matcha cake, lime soda, and an extra serving of grilled meat. Compared to that, his meal was indeed small.
"Hayakawa," Hayakawa Haku said, looking down to continue reading his vocabulary book, speaking dismissively. "Hayakawa Haku."
"Then we'll call you Hayakawa-kun. Maybe Itsuki and I will be placed in your class," Nakano Yotsuba said with a brilliant smile. "Then we'll be classmates."
"Possibly." Hayakawa Haku replied. "Welcome in advance."
A faint smile appeared on the handsome young man's face, and both girls across from him blushed simultaneously, their eyes shifting slightly.
"I feel like he's the type that Nino would like," Nakano Itsuki whispered to Yotsuba beside her.
"...That's definitely possible," Yotsuba also turned her face away, whispering in agreement.
What are these two whispering about?
Hayakawa Haku was puzzled by the two girls who had suddenly started murmuring, but after a moment, he simply returned to looking at the problems in his book.
"Hayakawa-kun, you study so hard. You must be very good at it," Nakano Itsuki said, looking very approving. She greatly admired people who were serious about studying.
"...I suppose so." Hayakawa Haku's body twitched, and he slightly turned his face. "I am, tentatively, first overall in the humanities and science tracks for the grade."
"First overall? Really? I thought so." Nakano Itsuki exclaimed in admiration, though she felt a bit strange. Hayakawa-kun's wording was odd. High school first-years are about to choose their tracks. Shouldn't he state his scores for the track he chose? Why did he mention the total score for both humanities and science?
"…You could say that." Hayakawa Haku felt his body continually shrink, just like Furuhashi Fumino, and his heart sank into an empty space. He looked up at Itsuki. "May I ask, Nakano-san, why you are asking me this?"
"Ah… I was just asking purely out of curiosity!" Nakano Itsuki quickly waved her hand in alarm, but after a slight hesitation, she gathered her courage and whispered, "Actually, I'm looking for a tutor for my sisters and me."
"A tutor?" Hayakawa Haku repeated.
"Yes." Nakano Itsuki said with some bitterness. "The truth is, my sisters and I don't have very good grades, so my father arranged for us to come to this school, hoping to improve our scores in the academically strong Ichinose Academy."
"Father has already hired several tutors for us," Yotsuba, beside her, nervously fiddled with the green ribbon on her head and whispered, "But the results weren't very good, so Itsuki thought about looking for a student in the same grade or something… She thinks peers can understand each other better."
"Yes, that's what I believe, which is why I'm looking for a top-scoring student in the new school," Nakano Itsuki nodded, then quickly added, "Of course, we will provide a salary. It will be a higher salary than the market rate for a high school tutor."
"I see." Hayakawa Haku nodded, indicating he understood.
"Then…" Nakano Itsuki looked at Hayakawa with expectant eyes, her gaze like a fawn in the forest mist.
"I apologize, but I refuse." Hayakawa Haku shook his head under the disappointed gazes of Yotsuba and Itsuki. "I already have people I need to teach—two of them—so I don't have the extra energy to teach anyone else."
"...So Hayakawa-kun is already working as a tutor? Well, at least my judgment wasn't wrong; I immediately found someone experienced," Nakano Itsuki said, sounding both surprised and disheartened, forcing a smile. "That's a bit of a shame, but it can't be helped."
"I wouldn't exactly call it tutoring. It's a task assigned to me by the school," Hayakawa Haku clarified. "It's more of a mutual learning group."
"Ah, I see," Nakano Itsuki sighed. "Then those two people must have very poor grades if the school had to specially assign someone to help them. That must be quite a burden."
"..." Hayakawa Haku gave the girl in front of him an odd look, then said, "It's alright, it's not too much trouble."
"Well, there's nothing for it then. It seems I need to find someone else." Nakano Itsuki recovered her composure and smiled at Hayakawa. "But I still hope to be in the same class as a student like you, Hayakawa-kun."
"I hope so too." Hayakawa Haku offered a gentle smile, offering comfort. "There's definitely still a chance."
Just being consoling. Gotta maintain the good-guy persona, after all.
However…
They actually are in the same class.
Hayakawa Haku looked expressionlessly at the red-haired girl standing on the stage. As the girl introduced herself, she shot a look of joyful expectation towards him.
"What a pain," Hayakawa Haku thought, looking at the girl's bright, eager expression.
"What a pain," Hayakawa Haku said, leaning on his chin and looking up.
"I-I'm sorry…" Furuhashi Fumino next to him instantly softened, her expression becoming utterly dejected. She apologized in a low voice. "I'm sorry for being so stupid…"
"I wasn't talking about you," Hayakawa shot a glance at Furuhashi. "It's just that we have a transfer student in class."
"Your B-class has a transfer student too?" Furuhashi Fumino said, slightly surprised. "Our A-class does too! She's a super beautiful girl, so cute that even I, a girl, feel my heart flutter."
"Is that so?" Hayakawa Haku sighed. "It seems the school is admitting students early."
Furuhashi Fumino: "..."
Ugh... Couldn't you at least care a little? I said she's a super beautiful girl, a beautiful girl who makes even my heart flutter! A normal boy would be at least a little excited to hear about a beautiful girl transferring in, wouldn't they?
Furuhashi Fumino couldn't understand Hayakawa. When a transfer student, especially a beautiful girl, arrives, normal boys should be excited. What was with this dull reaction?
Could it be that he's thinking:
"Me? I have absolutely no sexual interest in any girl other than Furuhashi Fumino."
"Mph…" Furuhashi Fumino quietly reached up to cover her flushed face, lowering her head without speaking.
Hayakawa-kun, don't be so excessive! No one's going to be happy even if you think that!
Furuhashi Fumino gave herself a pep talk internally, then recovered her calm expression and asked curiously, "What kind of transfer student came to your class, Hayakawa-kun?"
"A girl too," Hayakawa Haku yawned. "And she tried to talk to me earlier."
"Oh?" Hearing this, Furuhashi Fumino gave a gentle smile. "Do tell me the details."
"It's nothing," Hayakawa Haku rubbed his sore shoulder. "She wanted to hire me as her private tutor, but I refused. I can't help it. I already have you two; where would I find the time to teach someone else? I had to politely decline."
Furuhashi Fumino lowered her head again and said nothing.
I told you not to be so excessive!