"Uh…" Hayakawa Haku fell silent, his expression shifting.
This is bad. It seems that teaching two unbelievably idiotic rivals for too long has made my own common sense warped.
I've been tutoring people who score in the single digits, and now I genuinely think anyone with a double-digit score has a good foundation. Seriously, what am I doing to myself…
"I misspoke just now," Hayakawa covered up. "Don't worry about it."
"Eh~" Nakano Ichika held the log with both hands, looking at Hayakawa thoughtfully, then smiled. "I heard you're tutoring Furuhashi Fumino from Class A and Ogata Rizu from Class C, right?"
"Yes." Hayakawa nodded. "I was asked by the school to temporarily tutor those two."
"Oh! That's impressive," Ichika looked at Hayakawa with a hint of admiration. "Aren't those two supposedly the top students in Liberal Arts and Sciences, respectively? Hayakawa-kun must be incredibly good at academics and teaching to tutor them."
"It's alright…" Hayakawa's face turned imperceptibly blue for a second. His tone was stiff. "While those two have decent scores in some subjects, their grades in others are very poor, so they can't be considered number one."
"I-is that so?" Ichika found this very strange, saying awkwardly, "It seems they need balanced development."
Hayakawa Haku was clearly bothered. He simply nodded and looked up, his eyes unfocused.
Nakano Ichika: "..."
I can't talk to this person! I'm trying so hard to find a topic, but I still can't hold a conversation for more than a few sentences. Why?! I'm putting in the effort to act like a caring older sister.
Nakano Ichika was internally frustrated.
Truthfully, she viewed Hayakawa as a potential half-brother-in-law. Yotsuba clearly harbored lingering feelings for him, his grades were good, he willingly helped the struggling Miku, and he seemed like a serious, non-frivolous guy. From her observation, he didn't seem like a major liability.
Coupled with Yotsuba's wish, Ichika was quite supportive of a potential relationship.
If it could happen…
But it looks like it won't work! This man is an unresponsive blockhead. A girl has to constantly find topics when walking with him! Is Yotsuba's crush really on the right person?
"Sigh…" Ichika started sighing, feeling a little weak.
"What's wrong? Can't hold it?" As soon as Ichika momentarily relaxed her grip, Hayakawa noticed. "I can take it myself then."
"No," Ichika quickly hugged the log again, saying, "I just zoned out for a moment."
"Mhm, just one more log to go." Hayakawa nodded. "It will be quick."
"Hayakawa-kun…" Nakano Ichika looked at him and hesitated for a long time. "What do you think of me?"
A test! This is a test!
Because of being quintuplets, her appearance and body were almost identical to Yotsuba's. Asking for his opinion on her was a subtle way of gauging his feelings for Yotsuba.
There's no other way. Since this guy seems uninterested in romance, I need to check his favorability toward Yotsuba. I can only sacrifice my own sense of shame for this.
Yotsuba, thank me. Your big sister is worried sick about your love life~
Nakano Ichika, embodying a spirit of great self-sacrifice, asked with a slight blush, feigning shyness, "Hayakawa-kun, what do you think of me?"
"Hmm?" Hayakawa Haku frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Just my looks, my figure, my personality, things like that." Nakano Ichika swayed slightly, subtly showing her profile. She emphasized "looks" and "figure" a little more, and spoke "personality" very softly, as Yotsuba's personality was quite different and couldn't be used as a reference.
"..." Hayakawa Haku turned his head to look. The girl in front of him had the same voluptuous and appealing figure as Yotsuba. Even hidden beneath the school uniform, her chest had a proud outline, and the curves of her firm backside and long, beautiful legs were naturally sculpted, full of youthful beauty.
Her short, choppy pink hair looked neat and refreshed. A slightly longer lock of hair hung down her temple. Her delicate cherry lips, combined with her faint smile and gentle, flowing eyes, gave her the complete air of a beautiful, kind older sister.
Perhaps because she saw herself as the eldest, even though the five sisters were born on the same day, Ichika appeared much more mature than her four younger sisters.
"..." Hayakawa's expression shifted slightly for a moment. Even he had to admit that the girl in front of him was truly high-caliber, far surpassing a typical school idol. She could easily debut as an actual idol.
"I think you're very good." Hayakawa Haku thought for a moment. "Very graceful, very pretty, and… that's it."
Nakano Ichika: "..."
How… how incredibly dismissive! I can hear the undisguised pretense in his tone! What is wrong with this man? How can anyone be so cold-blooded as to say that?
Ichika involuntarily puffed up her pink cheeks. Looking from the side, she resembled a petulant hamster. After thinking for a moment, she pretended to say casually, "It seems Hayakawa-kun has very upright conduct. But that's understandable. After spending every day with two beautiful girls like Furuhashi-kun and Ogata-kun, your standards are naturally high."
"Why do you keep thinking in that direction?" Hayakawa Haku frowned slightly, finally showing a hint of displeasure. He said seriously, "Ogata, Furuhashi, and I only have a normal student-teacher relationship."
And a lifelong rivalry.
"Oh… I see." Hayakawa's seriousness surprised Ichika, and she mumbled a response.
The rest of the way was silent. The two finished moving the last log in silence, and then it was time to part ways.
"Bye-bye, Hayakawa-kun." Ichika smiled and waved at Hayakawa. "See you tonight."
"Mhm, goodbye." Hayakawa Haku had just responded when he paused slightly. "See you tonight?"
"Huh? You didn't know?" Ichika smiled. "The school is organizing a Jungle Exploration Game tonight! Basically, a test of courage. Maybe we'll run into each other in the woods."
Hayakawa: "..."
"I hope to see you, Hayakawa-kun." Ichika turned and walked away. "Bye-bye~"
Hayakawa Haku stood frozen in place, his face so ashen it looked like a corpse. He stood there like a terracotta warrior.
"Why…" he muttered, his voice laced with uncontrollable anger. "There's another activity?!"
"Isn't this an off-campus study camp? Where's the studying?! Where did the studying go?!"
The Plot Against The School
"In short, I've gathered you two here to deal with the school's completely unreasonable waste of time," Hayakawa Haku said with a stern expression, looking at Furuhashi Fumino and Ogata Rizu before him. He spoke in a deep voice, "The focus is on tonight's Test of Courage."
Furuhashi and Ogata: "..."
"I've already asked. Tonight's Test of Courage will last for at least two hours—that's the minimum. Activities like this usually take even longer. Including the time for organization and getting back to the dorms, it will likely be two and a half hours," Hayakawa stated flatly, then his expression turned to one of profound distress. "Two and a half hours! That's enough time to complete two practice tests and fifty mock questions. All of it will be wasted purely because of this school's stupid and excessive activities! I cannot understand this even for one picometer."
Uh… that sounds like something I would say.
Ogata Rizu thought to herself. It looks like Hayakawa-kun is so angry that he's starting to copy my mannerisms.
"I already thought this school was disorganized, but I didn't think it would reach this level," Hayakawa Haku's eyes were vacant. "They might as well just shut down. They aren't serving any educational purpose anyway."
"Um… Hayakawa-kun," Furuhashi Fumino saw Hayakawa's expression and suggested weakly, "I think that taking appropriate breaks after completing study tasks is more effective. You know, balancing work and rest. Don't you think so… mhm, that's what I think…"
As Furuhashi Fumino spoke, her voice became softer and softer because Hayakawa was staring at her with terrifying eyes.
"You consider 'rest' to be the entire school rushing into a dark forest for a walk? This is neither safe nor physically restful! You'll probably be too exhausted to study afterward. You think this is balancing work and rest?" Hayakawa's voice was faint, as if drifting out of the Sanzu River. His gaze towards Furuhashi was dead, like a ghost's. He murmured, "Is that what you think, Furuhashi Fumino-kun…?"
Thud! Furuhashi Fumino immediately performed a dogeza apology. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have questioned Hayakawa-kun. Someone like me should just…"
"Alright, I know," Hayakawa preemptively interrupted Furuhashi's self-blame. As he reached out to pull her head up, he said seriously to both girls, "If the school acts this unjustly, then don't blame me for acting disloyally. They can start their activities, but I have ways to counter them."
"What do you have in mind, Hayakawa-kun?" Ogata Rizu quickly asked. "I'll support you as long as it's related to studying."
Furuhashi Fumino glanced at Ogata in surprise. When did Rizu-chan become so proactive about studying? She was always trying to trick people into playing Ludo at Hayakawa's house.
Hayakawa, meanwhile, was deeply touched. Rizu truly is a good child who loves to study. I will treat you well for the rest of my life.
However, the truth was…
Scary, scary, scary! Why do they have to have a Test of Courage?! I really can't handle a pitch-black forest! What if real ghosts appear? I'll definitely be scared to death!
Ogata Rizu's expression was calm, but her face was subtly paling.
She was a science girl who championed rationality, science, logic, and the spirit of experimentation. She believed everything must conform to objective laws. Ghosts, without a doubt, were not scientific. For the logical loli, they belonged to a completely unknown world.
The unknown equals terror.