Although we'd agreed to meet at a café, Yoshimi hadn't called me out to try the new desserts.
Her real purpose was exactly what both Airi and Natsu had mentioned before: the upcoming St. Trinity exams.
"I asked you out to study! Not to eat!"
Her face flushed bright red as she glared at the cupcakes I'd ordered in advance.
Taking a deep breath, she explained, "I'm not confident about this exam, so I wanted to review my mistakes from past assignments while doing a bit of revision. But when I study alone, my mind keeps wandering, and I can't focus properly.
"The parts I get right are fine, but for the ones I get wrong, even rereading them takes effort to understand. So I thought… if someone could explain the mistakes to me, it'd be much more efficient."
At that, Yoshimi blushed again. "A-after all, you're a teacher, right? This kind of thing is your job, isn't it?"
By normal standards of a teacher–student relationship, she wasn't wrong. But this was Kivotos.
Considering the kind of "education" relationships that tend to happen here, I'd half expected my teaching method to involve a metaphorical whip instead.
To be honest, I wasn't all that confident about teaching. Sure, I still remembered the basics from my own schooling, but I had no clue about the content of St. Trinity's exams.
"I'll say this in advance, I might not be much help, but I'll do my best."
"Y-you don't have to sound so serious! Geez… just take a look first!"
Yoshimi pulled a notebook from her bag and handed it to me. I flipped through a few pages and felt a quiet sense of relief.
Just some high school entry-level or even middle school-level math. Nothing I couldn't handle. But being able to solve it and being able to teach it were two different things. I wasn't sure if I could pinpoint the exact issues and help her really understand.
I looked up to speak to her, only to find her gaze wandering toward the beautifully decorated cupcakes, lips unconsciously parting as she swallowed.
Amused, I cleared my throat to get her attention.
"By the way, if this was supposed to be a study session, why pick a café famous for its desserts?"
Her tone stiffened. "I-it's still a café! Lots of people study here too!"
But under my knowing gaze, her thoughts quickly veered off in another direction.
"…Or maybe… am I disturbing your work, Sensei? I heard you're always busy. Even when we're chatting, you suddenly disappear sometimes."
Well, that was usually because other girls were messaging me. And while it was technically true that I was busy, "building rapport with students" was part of the job.
Seeing her uneasy expression, I shook my head. "Don't worry, I've got plenty of free time today."
"…Thank you. Asking you for help really was the right choice. Even if you say weird things sometimes, you're still a teacher after all…"
The usually tsundere Yoshimi spoke those words with such honesty that I couldn't help but tease her a little.
"Actually, I was just about to ask if you wanted some cake."
"Ah, so that's what you meant—"
Her smile froze mid-motion. Color flooded her cheeks as she snapped, teeth clenched.
"Stop teasing me already! I can't take it anymore! Why do you always have to be like this?! I told you I didn't come here to eat! How can you say things like that without thinking how I feel?! Just because you think I'll forgive you easily doesn't mean you can keep doing this!"
I hadn't expected her reaction to be so fierce. I quickly raised my hands. "Wait, wait, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have teased you. Calm down..."
"Calm down? With WHAT exactly?!"
"Everyone's staring…"
"I don't care if they're staring!"
While she was still fuming, a large shadow loomed over our table. A slightly exasperated voice followed.
"This is a public place. If you're going to argue, please... wait, Sensei? And Yoshimi?"
The moment that familiar voice spoke, Yoshimi froze as if doused with cold water.
"H-Hasumi-senpai…?"
I awkwardly raised a hand in greeting at the tall girl with raven-black hair and large black wings, dressed rather daringly for someone from Trinity.
"Good afternoon, Hasumi. Here to try the new desserts?"
It was Hanekawa Hasumi, the vice president of the Justice Realization Committee.
"Yes. Today's my day off."
She nodded, then frowned slightly. "And you two are…? Yoshimi, as a maiden from Trinity, shouting in public isn't very elegant."
"…I'm sorry…"
Caught acting childish in front of an upperclassman, Yoshimi looked ready to bury her face in her chest.
I hurried to smooth things over. "Sorry, Hasumi. I went too far with a joke. We'll keep it quiet from now on."
"Since Sensei says so… You're reviewing for exams, right? What a diligent student. Keep it up, and if you need help, I'm right over there in the corner."
No wonder I hadn't noticed her earlier, despite how striking she was.
After Hasumi left, I glanced toward the corner, an entire table covered in desserts.
Well… if anyone deserved to be in the After-School Sweets Club, it was her.
Sitting back down, I turned to Yoshimi, who had calmed down. "Alright, please accept my apology for real this time. Let's focus on your review, shall we?"
"…Yeah, I guess so. You came here today to help me study, after all."
She still sounded a little down, but at least she wasn't angry anymore.
We spent some time going over her mistakes, bit by bit, until Hasumi having finished her mountain of sweets at a shocking speed came by to check on us. Seeing that everything was fine, she soon took her leave.
As I turned back to continue tutoring, I noticed Yoshimi seemed distracted.
"What's wrong?"
"…Sensei, I'm still so immature, aren't I?"
Her tone was low. "I want to be like Hasumi-senpai—composed, elegant, graceful. But I can't control my emotions at all. Just now, I even lost my temper at the teacher who was helping me."
I actually found it kind of cute, like a little animal puffing up its fur.
Of course, I wisely kept that thought to myself and listened quietly as she continued.
"You probably think I'm annoying too, right? I mean, I'm the one being helped, and yet I got mad over a harmless joke. You must hate childish girls like me."
"That's not true at all. Small Yoshimi is adorable."
She sighed. "That's exactly the kind of thing I don't want to hear. Please try to understand a girl's heart a little, Sensei. I'm getting irritated again."
"But you managed to control your feelings just now. That means you're already closer to being an adult."
"…Really?"
"Of course. But compared to adults, you're still missing one important thing."
I pushed the tray of sweets toward her. "When you want dessert, you should eat dessert. Come on, eat up. You need enough sugar to study properly!"
Yoshimi looked from me to the cupcake, pouted softly, then picked one up. The moment she took a bite, her eyes sparkled with joy.
"Mmm… it's so good…"
That expression was simply too precious.
Then, noticing my amused smile, she blushed and warned me, "Next time, I won't forgive you so easily!"
"Yes, yes. Now, let's keep studying."
She gave a small "hmph," but smiled as she returned to her notes. With the sweets as motivation, her progress was even better than I expected.
—About an hour later—
"Whew, done!" Yoshimi put down her pen, flipping through her notebook with satisfaction. "See? I can do it if I try!"
"Good work."
She tilted her head. "Good work? What are you talking about? You're the one who worked harder, Sensei."
Then she laughed softly. "Thanks to you, I understand almost everything now. If it were just me, I never would've studied this efficiently."
I shook my head. "I might've helped a little, but the main reason you did well is because you took it seriously."
And I meant it. Her attitude was the real key.
"Hmph, so Sensei can give normal compliments after all."
…This student really has the wrong idea about me.
She continued teasingly, "Since you can say stuff like that, why don't you do it more often instead of always teasing me?"
I narrowed my eyes with a grin. "Then what would you like me to say?"
At that, her face turned bright red.
"T-that! That's exactly what I mean! I didn't mean that! Argh, enough already!"
She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, her embarrassment had faded.
"…Fine. I'll let you off today. But next time…"
Her smile was bright and full of warmth. "Next time, make sure you help me again, okay, Sensei?"
After saying goodbye to Yoshimi, I walked down the road toward the station, feeling like something was missing.
Then my phone buzzed.
When I looked at the screen, I smiled to myself.
Well, I guess that completes the day.