Chapter 26: "Is Saying Sorry Useful?"
Unexpected.
"…Sorry."
(っ- ‸ - ς)
That was the first thing Nakano Itsuki said to Sakurai.
"You didn't do anything wrong, so why are you apologizing to me?" Sakurai didn't pay her any attention and quietly continued eating his lunch.
"About yesterday… I'm sorry. I misunderstood you. So… if possible, I hope you can still…" Nakano Itsuki clasped her hands tightly in front of her chest, her uneasy expression made her look somewhat pitiful.
"Continue being your tutor? Frankly speaking, Itsuki-san, if I threw your bag down from the thirtieth floor right now, what would you think? Try putting yourself in someone else's shoes—would you choose to forgive?" Sakurai replied with a faint smile.
( ◠‿◠ )
Fujiwara Chika was holding her chopsticks midair, momentarily unsure whether she should keep eating or pause.
So something like this had happened?
Which one of the five sisters did that? That's awful!
( ,,⩌'︿'⩌,,)
"If it can make you calm down, then I'm fine with it," Nakano Itsuki said seriously. "You can even scold me a few times, I won't talk back. After all, it's because of me that my sisters treated you that way."
Those words left Sakurai unsure how to respond for a moment.
"If you just want to find a tutor, then in a big place like Tokyo, there's no shortage of people like me." Sakurai set his chopsticks down and looked at her.
Was this girl really the dumbest of the five sisters?
With an attitude this serious, and based on how she was when studying yesterday—how could her grades possibly be that bad?
"It's not the same," Itsuki said softly.
Sakurai waited for her to continue.
Several seconds passed.
But no follow-up came; it seemed she couldn't find the reason.
"Because you caused me to lose a job, and you think that makes me feel bad. So today you came to apologize to ease your own guilt a little? Itsuki-san, isn't that what you're thinking?" Sakurai said aloud the thought in her heart.
He advised, "I said this yesterday, maybe you didn't hear it at the time, but I honestly don't care much about this job. It's no big deal if I lose it. You don't need to feel guilty or blame yourself. You didn't do anything wrong."
"..." Itsuki lowered her head.
He didn't forgive her.
"Honestly, I didn't really care about the things you said about me. In the end, this whole matter doesn't actually have anything to do with you." Sakurai said calmly.
At the very least, she preserved his dignity. Compared to Ichika, who stormed back to her room, or Nino, who showed that nasty attitude, Itsuki at least acted like a normal person.
Of course, that was just relatively speaking. That Ojou-sama arrogance was still fully intact.
But at least she knew how to apologize, which already made her better than the one just now.
"It's just the start of the school year, and there's still quite some time before the midterms. The small daily quizzes won't affect whether you repeat the year, so you girls still have plenty of time."
It was early April now, and the midterms wouldn't be until the end of May.
Shuchiin only held five major exams each year.
The passing threshold was half the average score. If the average was 60, then the passing mark was 30, and there were no make-up exams.
Failing any subject twice would result in no credit, and without credit in a required course, of course one would be held back.
Last year, the five sisters were basically all at the yellow card level—that is, one fail and one pass, constantly jumping around the danger zone.
That was probably also why their father hired a tutor.
"You should go now, Itsuki-san. Your sisters are waiting for you. Your apology—I've received it. As for that suggestion from earlier, just forget it." Sakurai Saki said casually.
To be honest, he was already fed up with this whole matter.
"Let's go to the library," Itsuki suddenly said.
"Huh?" Sakurai looked at her like she was an idiot.
(ಠ_ಠ)
"Let's move today's tutoring session to the library, okay~? I'll convince my sisters to come study too, so, is that okay~?" Itsuki spoke in an extremely submissive tone.
"Itsuki-san, I already told you, you don't need to act out of guilt…" Sakurai sounded a little angry.
Nakano Itsuki cut him off and said seriously, "I want to study!"
"I want to improve my grades! So! Please become my tutor! Sakurai-san!" Itsuki bowed deeply.
Fujiwara Chika looked at Sakurai Saki, then at Nakano Itsuki.
This is… a scene that often appears in shounen manga!
The part where the main character goes to seek a master to learn from!
Chika: ( • ̀ω•́ )✧ interesting!
"I Refuse!" Sakurai Saki felt like she didn't understand human language at all.
Doing whatever she wanted, completely unreasonable!
Nakano Itsuki raised her head, looked straight into his eyes, and said seriously, "Sakurai-san, after class, I'll be waiting for you in the library! Until the school closes! If not today, then tomorrow, or the day after, I'll keep waiting!"
After saying that, she walked off, not giving Sakurai any chance to reply.
He looked at her fading figure.
"…Idiot." Sakurai Saki cursed under his breath.
(ꐦㅍ _ㅍ)
"Sakurai-kun, are you going to go?" Fujiwara Chika asked curiously.
"Of course not," Sakurai Saki replied firmly.
"My heart isn't that soft. Especially after bumping into that girl in the hallway just now."
Whispers rose around them.
The other party had made no effort to lower her voice earlier—every student nearby had heard everything.
Just from their expressions, Sakurai Saki could tell they were all guessing things related to romance.
For example, that after school today, a female student would confess to the Student Council General Affairs Officer Sakurai Saki in the library.
Yeah, what Nakano Itsuki said earlier was definitely misleading.
…
After lunch, when heading back with secretary Fujiwara, Sakurai dropped by to check out the club recruitment activities.
They had been recruiting since morning near the school gate. In fact, the first years were even given a whole period in the morning just to participate in club introductions.
After school, a welcome performance by the various clubs would also be held in the auditorium.
The drama club, jazz club, light music club—even a demonstration match by the kendo club.
Back in class, Sakurai noticed that this year's classmates seemed… a bit unfriendly?
'Was something strange going on while I was out earlier?'
Sakurai found it odd, glanced around the room, but didn't notice anything unusual—until he saw Hayasaka Ai talking to her friend.
"Yo, Ai-chan, what did you have for lunch?"
(„• ֊ •„)੭
"…Food." Hayasaka Ai replied coolly.
(¬_¬)
'Why does it feel like she's in a bad mood? Am I imagining things?' Sakurai thought.
'He should've noticed that I'm not in a good mood.' Hayasaka Ai maintained a neutral expression.
If next, Sakurai instinctively tried to comfort her, then maybe he had feelings for her. Hayasaka Ai thought that, planning to use this to test Sakurai Saki's affection for her.
The result—
"Oh, I had curry. Tasted pretty decent." Sakurai Saki looked at her face, but didn't pick up on anything she was thinking.
Sakurai: ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
Hayasaka Ai: ...(눈_눈)
Was he pretending not to notice, or did he seriously not understand?
Honestly, this Sakurai guy was hard to figure out. Usually emotionless all day, yet sometimes could say teasing things that crossed the line for mere friends.
No wonder he got along so well with Secretary Fujiwara.
Those two were the same kind of people.
'Is she… jealous?' Sakurai Saki wondered to himself.
Probably not. Maybe she's just in a bad mood.
Hmmm… That time of the month for women?
(°□°) ☝️