There were still two hours before the end of the school day when Watanabe Tetsu returned to his classroom, grabbed his bag, and headed to the Human Observation Club's activity room.
Koizumi-sensei had said she would bring the two students over.
The setting sun cast its afterglow over the campus, shining from the direction of the Hilton Shinjuku building, dyeing the entire school building a deep crimson.
The sound of an oboe drifted through the campus, weaving through other instruments yet still standing out distinctly.
Kiyono Rin sat at the window-side table, spreading out the test papers and studying them attentively.
Although Watanabe Tetsu wanted to reclaim some dignity after being called "not human" earlier, he decided to let it go. After all, for a Tokyo pretty boy, getting insulted was practically normal.
This world is full of jealous people, isn't it?
He sat on a metal chair far away from her and began looking through the answer sheets in his hands.
English.
Upon closer inspection, the issues were simply poor memorization of key points and likely an inadequate vocabulary.
These were all basic concepts, but the lax education system in Japan meant that many students only studied seriously when it was time for tests.
Every school had a few students like this, and even Kamikawa Academy—known for its high deviation-score ranking—was no exception.
The boy named Kawake Renta on this answer sheet was clearly one of those students.
Because of the orders of the Human Observation Club's president—who, aside from beauty and intelligence, had absolutely no redeeming traits—Watanabe Tetsu had gathered some information about this first-year boy.
Well… "information" meant only that he knew the boy's class, name, and appearance.
Oh, and that he wasn't a member of the Literature Club.
But since the Literature Club had now become a bitter memory, that went unmentioned.
Ten minutes later, Koizumi Aona entered the room with a girl and a chubby boy.
"Ah, Tetsu! Hellooo~!"
In all of Tokyo, the only person who called Watanabe by just his given name was his "friend," Tamamo Emi.
Watanabe Tetsu looked her up and down.
Her skirt hem was, as always, slightly shorter than the other girls'. Her ribbon hung loose in a stylish way. Her glossy lips sparkled with some kind of product.
Watanabe Tetsu did not like this style.
It wasn't that he disliked fashionable girls—he liked stylish girls just fine—but preferences depended on time, place, and person. Private academy students should be more natural and pure.
This wasn't the time to think about that. Because Tamamo Emi had called him by name so casually, the air in the activity room grew strangely tense.
Kiyono Rin displayed a superior, amused smile.Kawake Renta's chubby face openly twisted with jealousy.Koizumi Aona looked between them, slightly puzzled.
"Tetsu?" Koizumi Aona asked, wanting to confirm.
Given the unreliable impression Tamamo Emi constantly gave, Watanabe quickly explained to avoid misunderstanding.
"We were paired together during Home Ec class. She's a very cheerful person."
Translation: We're not close. She calls everyone by name—that's just her personality.
"I see."Since Koizumi Aona adored Watanabe Tetsu the most, she immediately accepted the explanation and assumed nothing else was going on.
Kiyono Rin's beautiful eyes slid to the far left of her vision as she cast Watanabe a look full of disdain.
Realizing belatedly what she'd caused, Tamamo Emi let out an embarrassed laugh.
"Yes, yes, that's exactly right!"
Koizumi Aona nodded. "Let's all introduce ourselves."
"I'll go first~!" Tamamo Emi raised her hand high.
"My name is Tamamo Emi! I love singing, shopping, buying cute clothes, and eating all kinds of sweets!"
After she finished, it was Kawake Renta's turn.
Under everyone's gaze, he grew visibly nervous, head lowered.
"I-I'm Kawake Renta… I l-like playing games and reading manga."
Then it was the Human Observation Club's turn.
"Kiyono Rin. I like quiet places and reading."She paused, glanced at Watanabe.
"Hm?"
Kiyono Rin withdrew her gaze and continued, "This guy is Watanabe Tetsu. A man who lies all the time and calls himself a Tokyo pretty boy."
Everyone—including Koizumi Aona—turned their eyes to Watanabe.
"Tokyo pretty boy is correct." He nodded confidently, then modestly added, "But only a beginner—for now. I'm still working hard to improve."
Their gazes grew even stranger.
Tamamo Emi suddenly giggled cutely."Tetsu, you're so funny~!"
Kiyono Rin hated the sudden high-pitched noise and shot Emi an annoyed glare.
Tamamo Emi ignored it and turned to Koizumi-sensei.
"Sensei, who's tutoring me?"
"Kiyono-san."
"Eh? Can I switch to Tetsu? I like being with him."
Koizumi Aona hesitated.
As a supervisor, she preferred boys tutoring boys and girls tutoring girls. But Tamamo Emi had already been extremely unwilling to participate in tutoring, and convincing her to come had taken all of Koizumi's effort. A small request like this… she wanted to grant.
But Kiyono Rin's presence made it hard to simply override her wishes.
Kiyono Rin smiled indifferently."Fine. I'll take Kawake Renta then."
"Thank goodness…" Koizumi Aona exhaled in relief.
"Great! Tetsu, you better teach me well~!"Tamamo Emi bounced to Tetsu's side, bringing with her a soft, pleasant scent.
"Looking forward to working with you," Watanabe Tetsu said politely.
Tamamo Emi puffed her cheeks."Don't say stuff like that—we should be closer than that, right?"
Watanabe answered with a subtly cold smile.
Koizumi Aona added, "I won't disturb you then. Do your best. If you need anything printed, you can freely use the office printer."
Soon, only four people remained in the activity room.
Watanabe Tetsu and Kiyono Rin exchanged answer sheets and re-evaluated the mistakes.
Tamamo Emi wandered around the classroom—spinning the globe with her finger, opening display cabinets, then finally pulling over a metal chair and sitting close to Watanabe, chatting with friends on her phone.
Kawake Renta stood anxiously near the door, stealing glances at the sliding classroom entrance, as if ready to flee at any moment.
"Kawake-kun," Kiyono Rin said as she put down the test.
"Y-yes!"
"Lower your voice."
"S-sorry!"
Kiyono Rin massaged her temples—this was torture for someone who loved quiet.
"When you go home today, memorize pages 1 to 15 of your English textbook. If you don't understand something, look it up in the dictionary. Then redo this test."
"Huh?"
"Is there a problem?"
"I-I can't memorize all that…"
"You can't?" Kiyono Rin was genuinely shocked. "Why not?"
Kawake Renta didn't answer, shrinking further.
"I'm not blaming you," Kiyono said, frowning lightly. "You don't have to be scared. If you have a cognitive impairment, I can develop a different plan for you."
Watanabe Tetsu couldn't help looking up.
Her face was completely serious.Not a hint of humor.
This woman absolutely had no friends, he concluded internally.
"Pff—"Tamamo Emi snickered.
Kawake Renta grew even more distressed, but still said nothing.
"Tamamo-san, please be quiet."Kiyono Rin's voice turned icy.
"Sorry, sorry~" Tamamo hurriedly looked down and typed on her phone.
Kiyono Rin turned back."Why can't you memorize it?"
"…I can. I'll memorize it."Kawake only wanted to escape.
Unfortunately, he didn't know that Kiyono Rin saw through all lies. Even Watanabe Tetsu, after struggling to activate his "mind-reading" skill, couldn't deceive her—much less someone like him.
Kiyono Rin remained expressionless, long accustomed to human dishonesty.
"Forget it. Don't memorize. Copy everything I just told you twenty times and bring it to me tomorrow."
"T-twenty times?!"
"Isn't that corporal punishment?"Tamamo Emi whispered to Watanabe, "Tetsu, you wouldn't treat me like that, right?"
"You're doing math and history," Tetsu said. "Math doesn't require memorization—just practice the formulas. For history, you can use manga to understand the content."
"Ehh~~ I hate doing problems…" she pouted.
Kiyono ignored them and faced Kawake."Any problem?"
"I-Isn't that… too much?" he whispered so quietly that if the room weren't small, no one would have heard.
Kiyono Rin glanced at the clock at the back of the room.
"It's four-thirty. You'll get home at five. You sleep at eleven. That's six hours. Leave one hour for dinner and showering—five hours left. Plenty of time."
Then she added, "If you don't want to copy, then memorize. Choose one."
"I'll—I'll memorize!"
Kiyono Rin pinched the bridge of her nose, looking exhausted.
"Kawake Renta."
"Yes!"
"I don't care if you actually memorize or not. If you fail tomorrow's recitation, I'll have Koizumi-sensei call your parents to the academy."
"No! I'll memorize! But it's so much! Can't I do a little each day? The makeup test is on the tenth!"
"Come here after school tomorrow. For now, leave."
Kawake Renta packed his bag and trudged out.His silhouette looked as if he were carrying an entire mountain on his back.
Watanabe Tetsu sympathized with him.
Next, it was his and Tamamo Emi's turn…