"Heugh," I sighed in exasperation.
I really, really hate studying.
We had only been at the library for just 15 minutes, and I already wanted to go back to my room.
Unfortunately, leaving the library wasn't really an option, especially since the special exam was close.
That being said, the setup we had for studying was quite amazing.
There were 10 people on a table—so five tables in total; each table had a tutor. Said tutor was someone who would explain hard concepts to people if they didn't get it.
The tutors were the people who scored highest on the test given a while back by Jackson-sensei.
The 5 students were Ito, Suzuki, Hayakawa, Mori, and Minata, though Minata wasn't outgoing, so Kagura helped him a bit—and everyone paid attention; I wasn't sure if it was because of her smarts or her looks.
The people chosen for each table were chosen by how bad they were—the worst students were given to Ito, and the average students (by Class Epsilon standards) were given to Minata.
Well, I was to be at Minata's table, but considering it was me—the supposed rapist—everyone disagreed with me being at the table, and it got to the point that the only thing I could do was to sit with Ito.
Well, it was not like that was a bad thing except for the fact the table was full of girls, and they all snuggled up to Ito, leaving poor me alone at the other side of the table.
"Heugh," I sighed again, this time a little louder than the first time, so as to get a little bit of attention, though no one noticed.
So rather than trying again, I gave up.
At any rate, the textbooks given were really top tier; they were so informative that even molecular orbital theory and stoichiometry were taught in a way that someone like me could understand.
Though that didn't mean everything was left to the textbooks, the teachers taught at the class's pace, explaining key concepts to even the dumbest students in our class.
There was also the tutor system—a system where you could pay the school to give you a tutor—though no one in my class used such a system.
All in all the education system of this school was amazing; it was probably why they told us of the special test only a week before.
However, a major issue with the school system was also still the education system.
Like I said earlier, the students in class were taught at the pace of the students rather than by the whim of the larger number of students—basically majority rule.
It meant that if only 20 students understood a concept, the concept would have to be re-taught because 30 students didn't get it.
Because of that, the lower classes, which would have a higher rate of people not grasping a concept, would be at a disadvantage—especially Class Epsilon.
It meant that Class Alpha was at a glaring advantage, especially in a test that focused on academic effort.
Luckily, we had a bit of a chance because we could have study sessions.
The students in my class didn't get the tutor system because of several reasons, some of which were lack of funds and because they didn't want to stay holed up with a teacher for a couple of hours.
However, study sessions handled both issues and also attracted more people because of attractions like Ito, Suzuki, and Kagura.
That meant that all in all the study sessions Ito did were a good idea.
However, I loathe studying.
I hated the very thought of reading a textbook—I can read any type of book, but a textbook is out of the question.
Not anymore, at least.
The only time I enjoyed studying was with Suzuki, and we all saw how that ended.
Anyway, this study session was only possible because students were scarce in the library—no, there weren't any students besides us, in fact.
It was quite weird, though it was possible they hadn't gotten the information I had.
However, I doubted that, considering they were way smarter than me. Or were they?
I actually couldn't actually tell.
At any rate, I hope to see what happens next.
With that aside, I stuck my head into my textbook for the next hour until I got bored and began to think more about the traitor or if there was a traitor.
Everyone in class was way too calm about this. Their trust for Ito was quite amazing, but it would prove to be a crutch in the long run, though for now it was okay.
So as I thought of what to do, I came up with a strategy; rather, I wanted to be one hundred percent sure about something.
I texted Ito something and waited.
And waited.
And waited for 5 minutes.
Still no answer, huh?
Tutors weren't always answering questions, and access to phones was not restricted, though I personally believed that they should have done that; at any rate, the only way to not see a text was to simply ignore it.
However, Ito wasn't someone who would just ignore a text; in fact, he replied quite fast, so it was a shock to me.
I looked over at him and saw the girls at the table snuggling up to him.
Oh.
He was surrounded, so to speak. Well, that wasn't really surprising, though it seemed I had to be more proactive.
I stood up and walked over to Ito.
"Yo Ito, I have a question. Are you up for it?"
"Hmm? Uh sure, lay it on me," he replied.
As I stood in front of Ito, the girls glared at me because I interrupted their time with Ito.
It reminded me of when I sat at Hiro's table; however, at this point I couldn't care less.
"Ok then," I said, sitting between Ito and the girls.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" One of the girls asked—she happened to be one of the girls that helped during the Class Beta debacle.
"Huh? I'm asking Ito-kun a question," I replied.
"Why don't you ask him later when he's less busy?"
"Less busy, huh?" I said. "I happened to think we were having a study session, weren't we?"
"What do you think, dumbass? Just read the room and leave, or do we have a problem?" Her voice dripped with disdain.
The girls were basically telling me to leave or face the consequences. Well, what I needed from Ito was so important that I could risk something like this.
"Ito-kun, tell him to leave," another girl said, trying to diffuse the quickly intensifying atmosphere.
"Yeah, tell him to stop making things feel weird."
"I'm sorry, guys, but I can't do that. I can't just abandon him when he needs help," Ito said.
Yes, especially with that saviour complex.
"He's lying; he just–" the first girl said before being cut off by Ito.
"Don't just insinuate such a thing. Regardless of what you say, I have to help him."
"...Fine," the girls moved far away from us and glared at me before actually reading their books.
"I hope I didn't cause any trouble for you," I said after they left.
"Nah, it's fine," he said. "I'm sorry they were like that; they're really good people, they can just be a bit too much sometimes."
After Ito said that, the girls looked in our direction with a slight blush, though they didn't say anything.
So they can hear us from there. Good thing I brought my Kokugo (Japanese) textbook.
"I see. Anyway, about that question, it's here in my book."
I brought out my Kokugo (Japanese) textbook and pointed at some kanji.
俺 ore-I
は wa-[topic marker]
メッセージ messēji-message
を o-[object marker]
送 oku-sent
読 yo-read
(It translated to, "I sent you a message; read it.")
He understood what I did and went on his phone. I told him secretly because I didn't want anyone to overhear our conversation.
"...You did that, huh? Well, it's fine but texting him is a bit…" Ito was hesitant to follow my instructions.
Well, it was expected. I told him I recorded his conversation with Takagaki and wanted him to text Takagaki so I could have a try at convincing him. I also told him to tag along.
"You can't?"
Can't blame him for hesitating since I just said I recorded his conversation with someone.
"Heugh," Ito sighed. "...I'll do it."
Of course, considering it was Ito, I knew he would agree, especially since this would also help the class.
Ito went on to do what I asked him to do; he sent a message to Takagaki and told him to come behind the school.
"It's been done, so we can leave now," he said after he finished sending it.
"Alrighty," I replied.
We stood up and left the library and walked over to a secluded area–it was the place where I and Miyamura met.
***
Author's Note:
Well, I am enlarged the world-building a bit here, and I think I did alright.
You know cuz I'm trying to differentiate it for COTE as much as possible.
Anyway, remember to comment, share, and leave a review. Thanks for reading the chapter and see you in the next one.