The next day, Hiko woke up early and went to school. He had expected Ai to arrive earlier, but the class bell rang, and she only walked into the classroom, yawning.
Hiko saw that she was still wearing the same jacket as yesterday, and she didn't look very energetic. "Did you go to bed very late yesterday?"
"I went to bed after ten, ha~ah~" Ai covered her mouth with her palm, her eyes glistening with tears.
This was a lie.
Hiko concluded this from her half-asleep state at the moment.
"You should have finished your homework, right?" Hiko took out his homework book from his desk. "You haven't finished it yet, have you?"
"Just a little bit left," Ai said, pinching her index finger and thumb together to show a tiny gap.
"You mean a whole lot, right?" Hiko retorted, but in truth, he didn't feel like she was lying. He guessed, "Could it be that you practiced too late after you went back last night and forgot about your homework?"
"It's not too late to do homework now~" Ai mumbled, her eyes darting away.
After she got home last night, she opened her exercise book. At first glance, she recognized all the words on it, as if she had learned them today. But she couldn't remember how to write or solve the problems.
Even though at school, she could understand the content in the textbooks and the problems in the exercises, she couldn't remember them.
Because of this, Ai started to feel irritable. Wanting to clear her head, she began practicing vocalizations and dance moves.
As she practiced, it got very late, and at night, she became very sleepy... So when she woke up the next day, she had to rush to make breakfast and her bento, ultimately delaying her homework until she arrived at school, with no time to do it.
"It's already almost time to hand it in..." Hiko took out his completed exercise book.
"It's no big deal if I don't hand in homework once," Ai said carelessly, thinking of the blank homework and past events.
"The purpose of doing homework is to consolidate newly learned knowledge..."
Hiko sighed and didn't lecture her. Instead, he placed the exercise book in front of Ai and said, "Since you don't have time to do it yourself, just copy mine for today to get by."
"Ugh... okay..." Ai took the exercise book Hiko handed her and opened it to the page she needed to write on.
She saw that his handwriting was like print, perfectly neat and square.
Without thinking much, she immediately seized the time to copy the answers.
During this time, Hiko felt that next time, he should let her finish her homework first before going to Ichigo-Pro's office for practice.
To help Ai improve quickly within this month, he needed to seize the time to tutor her and build her foundation.
Moreover, when they were together, they could trigger the halo, accelerating Ai's learning efficiency. And to avoid Ichigo getting too many cultivation effects, he should probably avoid staying at Ichigo-Pro during this period.
As for the investigation, he had already entrusted it to Hasegawa. Now, should he try to find a way to start some kind of business?
After school in the afternoon, he would try to secure the position of Ai's manager.
However, he estimated that Ichigo wouldn't budge this time, but he could use this opportunity to make a bet with him beforehand. Given his confidence, he would surely place a wager.
"Phew~ Finally finished~" Ai felt lucky that there wasn't much homework today. She managed to copy all the answers before it was collected, barely making it.
She put down her pen and stretched her wrist. Only then did she take the two exercise books to hand them in.
"How long did you stay in the dance practice room yesterday?" Hiko asked.
"I don't remember the time, I just remember the president took me home in the end." After Ai finished her homework, she was already very sleepy from staying up late, but before the homework was done, she had to stay alert. Now that it was finished, that drive slackened, and her voice immediately became weak.
She lay on the desk.
"Today..."
Hiko was about to ask her, but seeing her resting with her eyes closed, he gave up on disturbing her.
During lunch break, Hiko saw Ai's bento. After opening the lid, there was only meat and vegetables, with no sign of rice.
He was curious about this; in Japan, not putting rice in a bento for filler would require more time to prepare.
However, considering this was only the second meal he had seen Ai eat, there might not be any hidden reason. But out of a certain thought, he asked, "Ai, did you make your bento again today?"
"Yes, ever since I could make my own bento, I've always made it myself." Ai picked up a piece of meat covered in sauce with her chopsticks and put it into her mouth.
"It looks delicious, I want some too." Hiko took a bite of the bread in his hand, immediately feeling like he was chewing on wax.
The bread was too cold and no longer fragrant at all.
"This..." Ai didn't respond, remaining silent.
"By the way, Ai, what's your favorite food?"
'Don't you get tired of just eating vegetables? Why is there no rice in your bento?' Hiko recalled what he wanted to ask, but feared that asking directly might touch on Ai's sad memories, so he decided to approach it indirectly.
"Cake, sweets," Ai replied.
"When you get old in the future, what will you eat the most?"
Hiko said suggestively, "Only count foods that can be considered staples."
"Staple food, huh?"
Ai thought for a while before replying, "It should, probably, be bread or other flour products?"
As expected, the answer was not related to rice or rice-based content.
Hiko pondered silently.
If this question were asked of him, and with the limitation of 'staple food,' even he would answer rice or other rice-related content.
"Then, can you make me a bento tomorrow?" Hiko suddenly said.
"No~" Ai immediately refused.
"Just consider it a payment for me tutoring you." Seeing that a direct request wouldn't work, Hiko immediately changed his approach: "I'm afraid you won't keep up with the school's learning pace, and your grades will end up being worse than at your old school."
"When the final exams come, uncle will definitely have something to say."
Hiko subtly shifted the blame: "You don't want me to get scolded by him, do you?"
"There's less than a month left until the final exams. The president shouldn't forcibly pin the responsibility on you, right?" Ai looked at Hiko.
"It's not about what you think, he will definitely do that." Hiko described Ichigo as an unscrupulous capitalist: "You don't know how much he..."
Hiko deliberately left the rest of the sentence unsaid.
"The president what?" Ai immediately took the bait and asked.
"Never mind, it's not good to talk about others behind their backs. Unless... you also make me a bento tomorrow." Hiko timely proposed a condition: "If you bring me a bento, I'll tell you about uncle's shady dealings."
Ai immediately became interested: "Does the president really have dirt on him?"