Chapter 40: Kushida Kikyo Loses All Strength and Means
An hour passed quietly.
"Let's call it a day," Katsuragi Keima said to Sakura Airi as he packed his things.
"Thank you... thank you for your hard work, Katsuragi-kun..." Sakura Airi said in a very small voice, her head lowered.
"It's no big deal. You basically mastered everything from today, right?"
"Mm..." Sakura Airi nodded.
Her learning ability wasn't particularly outstanding, and her intellect was far behind the likes of Keima or Horikita Suzune, making it difficult for her to keep up with the teachers during class. However, after Keima's tutoring, the areas she previously didn't understand had basically become clear. Keima had cut straight to the chase, laying out the most core knowledge points right in front of her. For him, this was the most efficient teaching method. The teachers' lectures simply contained too much fluff.
"Just make sure to review it properly when you get home."
"I'm so sorry about today, I caused Katsuragi-kun so much trouble..." During the tutoring, Airi had struggled to concentrate. Furthermore, there were some problems that took her quite a while to grasp. This made her feel quite embarrassed.
"It wasn't a trouble at all," Keima replied instantly.
After all... in this world, there was likely no one who could compare to Elsie.
Keima turned his head and looked beside him—
"Elsie-san... did you understand it this time?" Kushida Kikyo asked with a smile.
However, that smile seemed to carry a hint of exhaustion, and her voice sounded somewhat weak. Kushida was truly at her wit's end.
"Understand what?" Elsie tilted her head slightly, looking at Kushida with a face full of innocence.
Kushida took a deep breath. For a moment, her heart seemed to skip a beat, and her body gave a slight shudder.
"Kushida-san, your face doesn't look very good. Are you feeling unwell?" Elsie asked with immediate concern upon seeing Kushida's state.
"I-I'm fine..." The exhaustion in Kushida's smile deepened.
Tutoring Elsie was the most difficult thing Kushida had ever experienced in her life. It was as if the girl wasn't even from this world; she didn't even know some common-sense facts. In a sense, Kushida's internal suspicion wasn't wrong.
At first, Kushida wondered if Elsie was deliberately acting stupid. Although Elsie had placed last in the previous exam, she had turned in her paper early and was Keima's sister. By all logic, she shouldn't have such poor grades. But Kushida soon realized that wasn't the case at all. Elsie seemed... to truly know nothing.
How did this girl even get into this school? She couldn't even answer common-sense questions? She didn't even recognize certain characters? A string of questions popped up in Kushida's mind. This led her to a hypothesis—perhaps Elsie possessed exceptionally outstanding abilities in some other area. Like Sudo Ken; though he seemed like the type with terrible grades, he was excellent at sports and had become a regular on the school basketball team in just a few days.
Furthermore, Kushida needed to maintain her friendly and enthusiastic image. Even if she felt dissatisfied, she wouldn't let it show, so she continued to brace herself and try to tutor Elsie. However, this one hour had ground down almost all of her means and strength. She somewhat regretted following Keima here.
Keima turned his head. Even though Kushida was trying her hardest to hide it, the fatigue on her face was plainly visible.
'Kushida Kikyo, you've really had a tough time...' In contrast to himself, who focused on the game world, Kushida seemed to care deeply about the real world, which was why she worked so hard to maintain her interpersonal relationships.
"Kushida-san."
"What is it, Katsuragi-kun?" Kushida turned to him, keeping a friendly smile on her face.
"Thank you for your hard work today." Keima's expression was very serious, and his tone sounded quite gentle.
"No, not at all! As long as I can contribute to the class, I'm very motivated!"
"Let's stop here for today. Everyone should head back and rest early," Keima said to the group.
He currently had only one thought in his mind: to get back to his dorm as fast as possible and start his gaming time. They were dismissed early in the afternoon, so after an hour of studying, it was only just evening.
Just as Keima was about to leave, a soft voice rang out from nearby.
"Katsuragi-kun, what a coincidence."
The voice was as gentle as a feather. Sakura Airi instinctively turned to look, and her eyes met an almost perfect face—silver hair and purple eyes, like an elf.
Shiina Hiyori.
'What a... what a beautiful girl' Airi couldn't help but marvel in her heart. That kind of beauty was a completely different type from Horikita Suzune or Kushida Kikyo; just looking at her made one feel comfortable.
"Shiina-san, you're here too," Keima greeted her, having just pulled out his handheld.
"Yes, because I come to the library every day after school." Shiina Hiyori had a faint smile on her face. "Are these all your friends, Katsuragi-kun?"
"Yeah, we just finished a study group."
"I am Shiina Hiyori from Class C. Nice to meet you; please take care of me." Shiina Hiyori greeted the others very politely.
"Nice to meet you, Shiina-san! I'm Kushida Kikyo! I've wanted to get to know you for a while, but haven't had the chance to say hello formally yet."
"P-P-Please take care of me..." Sakura Airi felt the pressure increase significantly upon seeing a new, unfamiliar face.
However, she also felt that Shiina Hiyori was different from other people, especially her eyes... Although Airi still felt flustered seeing her—even forgetting to introduce her own name—that feeling wasn't as pronounced in front of Shiina Hiyori as she imagined it would be.
The thing that Airi was slightly more concerned about was something else. How did Shiina Hiyori and Katsuragi Keima know each other? Keima played games every day, yet he already knew students from other classes?
Looking at Shiina Hiyori, Keima seemed to think of something.
"Shiina-san, how are your academic grades?"
"My grades?" Shiina Hiyori was slightly confused by the question, but she answered nonetheless. "In terms of studying, I think I'm doing quite alright."
"Would you like to join my study group?"
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