Chapter 360: A Step Back That Causes Great Damage
At the assembly hall.
"Shirogane, you still haven't answered my question. These sports club members must be hard to command, right?" After Ryuju Momo angrily stormed off, Sakurai Saki continued talking to Shirogane.
"Actually, not really. I've been the Student Council President for two terms already. The club budgets all have to go through the student council, so they still show me some respect."
Shirogane Miyuki's words reminded Sakurai Saki of something Ishigami Yuu once said.
He had claimed that with the student council's power, one could control all of Shuchiin…
At first, Saki thought it was impossible, but now, it actually seemed quite plausible.
"Sakurai-san?!"
⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡
From afar, Yotsuba waved her small hand. She ran toward Saki, her face filled with surprise and joy — she looked genuinely happy.
Sakurai tried to put himself in her place. If he ran into a teacher during vacation, he definitely wouldn't be happy about it.
But Yotsuba was.
Yare yare, it seemed this handsome teacher really was adored by his students.
"What's the matter, Yotsuba?"
Sakurai Saki smiled at her and asked, "The homework I gave you before the break — did you finish it?"
Yosuba: Σ(°ロ°)
The cheerful smile on Yotsuba's face suddenly froze.
"Ah… about that…"
Her eyes began darting elsewhere. "I'm… still working on it."
As for how much she had written — unfortunately, not even a single word.
After all, it was only the first day of vacation. She hadn't even touched the homework assigned by her teachers, let alone the one from her tutor.
In fact, Yotsuba had originally planned to attend the usual morning training session for the track-and-field club, but halfway through she got dragged over here.
Oh right — she had been dragged here by President Shirogane.
"Hello, President Shirogane!!"
Yotsuba greeted him cheerfully, then said gratefully, "I almost got caught in a fight earlier, thank you so much."
Sakurai Saki: "..."
He seemed to understand now.
So the two clubs had been fighting over Yotsuba, and then Shirogane saw things getting out of hand and simply pulled her away?
"No need to thank me. Nakano-san, I know it might sound a bit meddlesome since I'm an outsider, but I think you should try learning how to say no to people." Shirogane Miyuki said seriously — it seemed he had been observing the situation for quite a while.
"...Yes."
"Always trying to be a Happō bijin like that isn't good." Sakurai Saki also chimed in.
His teaching goal this year — was to help the quintuplets fix their bad habits.
"Happō... bijin?" Yotsuba tilted her head.
"That's a negative term. I've been teaching you classical Japanese for a whole year and you still don't know that?" Sakurai Saki sighed and explained, "Happō bijin means someone who tries to please everyone, gets along with everyone, but isn't sincere with anyone."
Helpless, Saki even started doubting his own teaching ability.
How could it be that after teaching them for more than a year, these girls still scored average marks and remained this dense?
Maybe it was because Yotsuba hadn't developed the habit of studying on her own?
Miku, Nino, and Itsuki already had self-discipline when it came to learning.
But Yotsuba and Ichika each had their own reasons — outside of classes and tutoring sessions, they barely had any time left for extra study.
"So that's what it means~"
Yotsuba tried to pretend she understood and brushed it off.
Sakurai Saki gently pinched her cheeks, and amidst her little yelp of pain, his voice turned cold:
"I've been teaching you for a year now. I definitely mentioned that before."
"It hurts!!" The little bunny let out a weak whimper.
Watching the two of them, Shirogane Miyuki quietly reminded, "Sakurai, maybe you should let go…"
"I'm not even using any strength, she's faking it!" Sakurai Saki huffed.
Seeing that her act wasn't working, Yotsuba softened her tone, her eyes glistening with tears as she looked at him pitifully:
"I'm sorry… I'll study harder from now on."
(இ﹏இ`｡)
Ultimate Technique — Acting Cute!
"All right, all right." Sakurai Saki released her cheeks.
Didn't feel as nice as Nino's thighs, though.
Nino's thighs were truly amazing — since she stretched every night before bed, they were probably the most beautiful among the five sisters!
Sakurai Saki had only ever touched the legs of Ichika, Nino, and Itsuki, so he couldn't judge precisely yet.
Maybe once he had gotten into trouble with all five, he could finally make an accurate comparison.
'Thinking about things like that… what a damn pervert.'
Snapping back to reality, Sakurai Saki noticed Yotsuba staring at him with bright eyes.
"What is it?"
"Sakurai-san, I feel like… we've met somewhere before, haven't we?"
"Maybe." Saki replied vaguely.
He had once asked Shinobu to seal part of Yotsuba's memory, and apparently it had worked perfectly — she remembered nothing about that night when the two of them met.
The previous time-travel incident hadn't left any side effects.
The world remained peaceful as usual, its trajectory unchanged.
"I don't mean recently," Yotsuba murmured, "I mean a really long time ago! When I first met Sakurai-san, I already felt like I knew you."
"...That's probably just an illusion. In psychology, there's a term called false memory — for example, when you're studying or walking, and suddenly you get the feeling like, 'I think I've seen this before.'" Sakurai Saki explained.
"Sakurai-san really knows a lot." Yotsuba said, dropping the subject.
On the other hand, Shirogane Miyuki beside them sensed something off.
As Sakurai's close friend, he knew certain habits of Saki's whenever he lied — such as how his speech would speed up a little, or how he'd start using slightly uncommon words to justify himself.
But Shirogane didn't expose him.
"All right, Sakurai, come over here for a second. I didn't call you just to chat."
"Sakurai-san, see you later!" Yotsuba waved, watching the two of them walk away.
Sakurai Saki was dragged by Shirogane to the empty back courtyard.
"Sakurai…" Shirogane took a deep breath, his voice deadly serious. "This is the one and only request in my entire life! Please, just hear me out!"
"What?" Saki pretended to look surprised.
"The truth is…"
Saki raised an eyebrow, already guessing: "You… don't know how to dance, do you?"
The moment he said that, he saw Shirogane's body stiffen.
So it was true—he really didn't know how to dance?
Actually, it wasn't that strange. For someone like Shirogane Miyuki, who came from an ordinary household, it would be weird if he did know how to dance. After all, not every family had to attend formal social banquets like that.
At last year's sports festival, he didn't do too badly when performing the Soran Bushi dance, which at least showed he had decent control over his body… right?
But the more Sakurai Saki thought about it, the less sure he became.
He wanted to believe in Shirogane Miyuki, yet memories of past experiences kept flashing through his mind.
Including that whole fish-dissection incident…
"Shirogane, maybe you should find someone else to teach you?" Sakurai Saki took a step back.
Shirogane: ಥ‿ಥ
That half-step backward… really hurt, you know?
I get that I'm hopeless, but did you really have to act like that?
"Shirogane, it's not that I don't want to teach you. It's just… I'm not very good at dancing either." Sakurai Saki decided to be honest. "The last time I danced at the bonfire during the cultural festival, it was Kaguya who taught me on the spot."
Shirogane sighed and asked, "Then should I go ask Shinomiya too?"
"..." Sakurai Saki stayed silent for a few seconds, then said, "Forget it. Even if I'm not that good, I can at least teach you enough."
Letting Kaguya personally teach another guy how to dance — that thought made him feel a bit uncomfortable.
Even if that guy was his best friend.
Perhaps this was what people called the ugly possessiveness of men.