The non-studying break time always passed quickly. After a few words, a knock came from the entrance.
"The takeout must be here." Hayakawa Haku glanced at the door, stood up from the sofa, and walked towards the entrance. "I'll go get it. You two wait here."
"Okay." Furuhashi Fumino replied and continued chatting with Ogata.
Hayakawa Haku went to the door and opened it, only to find no one outside, just the empty night.
"Strange, where is the person?" Hayakawa Haku looked around suspiciously, thinking it was a prank by a neighbor's child.
"Where are you looking!" Just as Hayakawa was looking around, a delicate, exasperated voice suddenly came from down below. "I'm right here!"
"Huh?" Hayakawa Haku looked down and found a purple-haired girl standing in front of him, staring up at him.
"Ah… I'm sorry," Hayakawa Haku was startled. "I didn't notice you."
"You can't see me when I'm standing right in front of you. You must be doing it on purpose!" the girl said indignantly, her tone full of dissatisfaction with Hayakawa.
"I truly didn't notice," Hayakawa Haku explained, then seriously looked at the girl—or rather, the young girl—in front of him.
She really is beautiful, Hayakawa Haku couldn't help but think.
The girl in front of him was petite, reaching only to his chest. Her face was delicate and youthful, a mix between a young girl and a maiden. Mature aloofness and youthful mischief subtly blended in her, making it impossible to pin down her age, yet captivating with every look.
She had purple hair braided into tight plaits. With a slight shake of her head, the purple strands hanging near her creamy white neck moved, reminding Hayakawa Haku of Bordeaux red wine poured into a wine glass.
Based on her figure, looks, and aura alone, the girl could already draw a man's eyes out of their sockets, but she was also wearing the most alluring Western-style black and white maid uniform. Undoubtedly, this combination was invincible.
However, this beauty held no meaning for Hayakawa Haku. His mind was entirely focused on studying.
"Whose child is this?" Hayakawa Haku looked around one more time, then looked at the girl's outfit, his expression changing slightly. "A maid?"
He remembered something.
"Hayakawa-san, you ordered three omelet rice dishes with delicious magic added, right?" The purple-haired girl's anger was written all over her face. She gritted her teeth, took out the three omelet rice dishes from the bag on the floor, and said clearly, word by word, "Is. That. Yours."
"Uh, I apologize, it's mine." Hayakawa Haku took the food expressionlessly, a feeling of melancholy in his heart.
Society is truly wicked. This child is probably only a junior high student. Do delivery services even hire child labor this young now? She must be having a very hard time at home.
Thinking this, Hayakawa Haku's eyes held a hint of pity for the girl. He even considered pulling out ¥1,000 from his pocket to give her.
As if sensing Hayakawa's disrespectful thoughts, the embarrassment and indignation on the girl's face became even harder to hide. Her lavender eyes stared unblinkingly at Hayakawa, and her voice was as hard as if she were chewing a piece of steel, barely maintaining a smile. "Your magic omelet rice. Do you want me to add the delicious magic for you now?"
"No need." Hayakawa Haku refused without hesitation. He was aware of what "delicious magic" was, having seen it on a live broadcast from Akihabara before.
Frankly, he thought it was the most foolish thing on the entire planet in the 21st century.
"That's best!" The girl angrily picked up the bag from the floor and turned to leave. If not for her professional integrity as a maid, she would have left a long time ago without even asking, having encountered such a rude person with poor eyesight.
Hayakawa Haku watched the purple-haired girl's back disappear around the corridor corner, shook his head with a sigh, and returned to the room.
"What's wrong, Hayakawa-kun?" Furuhashi Fumino looked at the slightly strange expression on Hayakawa Haku's face. "Did something happen at the door?"
"Nothing," Hayakawa Haku said, putting down the three takeout containers. "It's just that the delivery person seemed to be just a child, looking like a junior high student."
"A junior high student is already working?" Furuhashi Fumino's expression changed, and she lowered her head and whispered, "That's truly a little…"
To be in the most beautiful and innocent stage of their lives, yet having to bear the burden for their family. Thinking of a small girl running around alone in the unpopulated night, experiencing the cruelty of society too early, both Furuhashi and Hayakawa showed expressions of sympathy.
Hayakawa Haku nodded silently, then opened the takeout boxes and handed one each to Furuhashi and Ogata.
"You two shouldn't immediately assume it's child labor," Ogata Rizu looked at Hayakawa and couldn't help but say, "Maybe that child is like me, the daughter of the restaurant owner. When deliveries are busy, I often deliver a few orders for the shop too. It's quite common."
"Oh, is that so? Then never mind." Hayakawa Haku's previously downcast expression instantly cleared, and he smiled as he opened the lids for Furuhashi and Ogata. "Then let's eat."
"So that's it." Furuhashi Fumino's face also brightened a little, and she took the chopsticks with a smile. "I'm going to dig in."
After dinner, Hayakawa Haku went to turn on the water heater for their showers later, then returned to continue studying.
"Oh, right, Hayakawa-kun." Furuhashi Fumino suddenly remembered something as she opened her book. "I'll transfer the money for the meal to you."
"Oh, right, mine too." Ogata Rizu quickly took out her phone when she heard this.
"There's no need. It's just one meal's cost," Hayakawa Haku said nonchalantly. "I was the one who called you here in the first place. Instead of paying me for the meal, you should study hard to repay me."
"Where are you from, Model Teacher?" Furuhashi Fumino deadpanned a sarcastic remark, then took out her phone and said seriously, "No, we have to settle the accounts clearly. We'll be staying for a long time. Should Hayakawa-kun treat us to every meal?"
"How troublesome." Hayakawa Haku reluctantly took out his phone. "Add me on Line, and send it to me."
"Mhm." Furuhashi Fumino operated her phone, and soon added Hayakawa Haku to her and Ogata's friends list.
"How much is it?" Furuhashi asked.
"Let me see," Hayakawa opened the takeout app and glanced at it. "¥2,400 in total."
"Omelet rice with magic is so expensive!" Furuhashi Fumino couldn't help but exclaim. "It tastes exactly the same as regular omelet rice."
"Uh… maybe it's because I didn't let her add the magic." Hayakawa Haku raised an eyebrow, leaning lazily on the sofa with his eyes narrowed like an autumn leaf lying on the ground.
The two girls each transferred ¥800 to Hayakawa, which he accepted.
"Let's create a group chat while we're at it." Hayakawa looked at the two girls added to his friend list and suggested, "That way, if anything comes up, we can talk about it in the group."
The two girls had no objection, and so a group named "Mutual Learning" was born.
Furuhashi Fumino looked at Hayakawa's profile picture in her friend list on her phone, her delicate face blushing slightly.
Ah, I was trying to keep my distance from him for the sake of studying, but how did I add him on Line so naturally? Even though it's for convenience in studying, it still feels wrong!
Ogata Rizu calmly looked at Hayakawa's new presence in her list, a subtle, almost imperceptible smile on her small face.
Another friend added.
As for Hayakawa Haku, he looked at the "Mutual Learning" group with a blank and wooden expression.
Mutual Learning? Mutual? I haven't seen any mutual aspect at all. Am I not the one unilaterally helping the two of you?
The studying continued.
"This requires the substitution method." Hayakawa Haku looked at the problem Furuhashi handed him. After a quick look, he explained, "Although the problem has to the third power and to the fifth power, odd powers aren't typically within the scope of high school students. Logically, you must first convert it to an even power. Therefore, you need to eliminate the odd powers and leave the even powers and the constant term. So, you need to replace with something that can eliminate some of the difficult terms, generally by setting equal to or and so on. That solves it. They're all fixed patterns; it's nothing difficult."
"Uh…" After listening to Hayakawa, Furuhashi Fumino's eyes swirled with spirals, and her face was so pale it looked as if she had suddenly fallen seriously ill.
"Are you alright?" Hayakawa Haku looked at Furuhashi's miserable appearance and asked with some exasperation.
"I'm fine~" Furuhashi Fumino said woodenly, her tone hollow. "It's just that when I think about how I need to understand all these profound and obscure math problems to get into the astronomy department, I feel like my goal might be a little too unrealistic. Maybe someone as insignificant as a seaweed in the water doesn't deserve to truly understand the stars in the sky. I should just float and float in the water~ Hehehe…"
She cracked a grin, letting out a strange laugh.
"Did you break?" Hayakawa Haku was shocked and quickly stopped her. "Pull yourself together, Furuhashi. It's not time to give up yet."
"This is just the beginning. Don't be so downcast." Hayakawa Haku patted Furuhashi on the back. "I will help you understand it."
"Ah…" Furuhashi Fumino was suddenly touched by Hayakawa and instantly blushed. She looked at Hayakawa cautiously and subtly shifted her body away.
Why did he suddenly touch me? He's taking advantage of me! He's casually taking advantage of me!
He can pretend to accidentally pat my back now. Next time, he'll probably reach for my thigh. I don't know how far you'll go if this keeps happening.
No, I must protect my body.
Furuhashi Fumino lowered her head with a look of vigilance, her hands shielding her front.
"Speaking of which, Furuhashi, and Ogata," Hayakawa Haku looked at the two girls and asked with some hesitation, "Do either of you belong to a club?"