Inside the kitchen.
Nakano Nino had just put the porridge on to simmer and was preparing other dishes. Today, to take care of Sakurai Saki, she had entrusted dinner for her four sisters to Ichika, the eldest.
Thump-thump!
The door was knocked. Nino guessed it was a delivery, but Sakurai Saki was sleeping, so he probably couldn't sign for it. She went to the door and opened it.
The next moment, both girls—with similar hair colors—froze in place.
"Chika-chan?" Nakano Nino said subconsciously.
Most of the girls at Shuchiin Academy called Chika this way. It showed how popular Fujiwara Secretary was—she was very well-liked. Even if she couldn't read the room daily, she had a strange charm that inexplicably drew people in.
"Eh! Nakano-kun?" Fujiwara Secretary almost dropped the shopping bag in her hand.
Coming to Sakurai Saki's house and actually meeting one of the Nakano Five Sisters—was there anything more terrifying than this? Moreover, Chika hadn't known his exact address until Shirogane Miyuki told her, only that he lived in Setagaya Ward, not far from Shirogane's house.
Why is she here?
Both of them had the same thought simultaneously.
"Wow! What a delicious smell!" Chika's small, delicate nose sniffed, and an interested expression appeared on her cute face. "There's something good to eat!"
She was a little hungry.
"I'm cooking." Nino's voice was gentle, measured. "The porridge needs to simmer for a long time. If Chika-chan wants to eat, she'll have to wait a while longer."
At Shuchiin Academy, there were many rumors about her and Sakurai Saki—some said they were dating. It certainly looked that way; after all, if she didn't like him, she wouldn't have come over so quickly. It was just past four o'clock, less than half an hour after school ended.
"Nakano-kun also came to take care of Saki-kun?" Chika asked.
"Also? Yes, I just arrived not long ago." Nino stepped aside. "After all, I got good grades on this midterm exam, which has a lot to do with Sakurai-kun—he is my tutor. So when I heard he was sick, I came over. Chika-chan, please come in first."
Even though this person was her love rival, Nino showed no resistance, inviting her in very naturally. It was as if… she was the mistress of this room.
This made Fujiwara Chika furrow her beautiful brows.
Sakurai Saki and the Five Sisters had a normal teacher-student relationship—or so Chika had always believed. Because it was impossible to have a relationship while teaching and still improve the grades of these underachievers by nearly fifty places. Even if Sakurai Saki were a superpower user, Fujiwara Chika wouldn't believe it. Moreover, she herself had put in a lot of effort to make Sakurai Saki like her—more than what could be achieved in just two months since the start of the school year.
"Where is Saki-kun?" Chika squatted down to take off her shoes and asked, looking at the shoe cabinet.
"Sakurai-kun is sleeping in his room." Nakano Nino opened the shoe cabinet and took out a pair of new, unworn shoes for her.
Chika lowered her voice. "Oh."
She took the indoor shoes Nino handed her but didn't put them on immediately. The other person's actions didn't seem like it was her first time here—she even knew there were unused shoes in the shoe cabinet.
When Sakurai Saki woke up, his headache had worsened, and there was no sign of improvement.
He looked at the bedside and found that Fujiwara Chika was actually sleeping, sprawled out. She had probably come to look after him, but the caregiver sleeping more soundly than the patient was very much her style—something Fujiwara Secretary would do.
"…" Chika noticed the movement and slightly opened her eyes. "Saki-kun~ you're awake?"
"Yes, and then?" Sakurai looked at her adorable, blank expression, feeling helpless and amused.
"Oh, right! Dinner! I'll get it for you!"
Chika stood up in a hurry and left the room. After a while, she came back carrying the porridge.
"Slow down." Sakurai looked a little worried—mainly concerned that she would fall and spill the porridge on herself.
He took the bowl she offered, sat up, and put his feet on the side of the bed. "Where's Nino?"
"She's outside." Chika sat on the bed. Then, in a casual tone, she probed, "Saki-kun, are you and Nakano-kun very close?"
That time at lunch, there had been so much tension between them—they were almost fighting. No, Nakano-kun had already made a move then, but Saki-kun had stopped her.
Sakurai Saki scooped up a spoonful, blew on it a few times, and put it into his mouth. It tasted very good—she had clearly put thought into it.
"No. But she likes me." Sakurai Saki would not lie to Chika and Hayasaka Ai about relationship matters. Concealment would only make problems more complicated. "But this is just her wishful thinking. I can't develop feelings for her."
One-sided love. The words popped into Chika's mind. She felt a little pity, but she wouldn't sympathize with the other person. They were all old enough to take responsibility for their own feelings.
"I told her to give up, but she wouldn't." Sakurai's voice was tired. "I just want to be her tutor. Next year—or even after this semester—once the Five Sisters' grades improve, I'll consider resigning from this job. Learning is their own business. You can't keep force-feeding them."
No matter what, he was a male, and constantly going to a girl's house was not good for either of their reputations.
"The midterm exam—Nakano-kun and the others did quite well, didn't they?" Chika recalled.
"Compared to before, there's been a lot of improvement. Almost like evolving from ape-men to normal humans—spanning thousands of years of evolutionary history." He scooped another spoonful into his mouth. The porridge was savory; Nino knew he didn't like sweets. "When I say 'giving up the job'—at minimum, everyone needs to reach the 130th rank. Mid-tier."
Footsteps came from the doorway.
"…Sakurai-kun." Nino walked in. Her voice was quiet. "Is what you said true?"
She had heard him say he was going to resign.
Sakurai Saki looked up at her. "Yes."
"But in the last midterm exam, everyone barely passed. If it weren't for Sakurai-kun—"
Nino was looking for an excuse. There was only a little over a month left in this semester. Meaning she only had a little over a month left to interact with Sakurai Saki.
"You and Miku both did very well, didn't you?" Sakurai asked, puzzled. "If you're talking about barely passing, it was only Yotsuba and Ichika."
"But my good grades are all thanks to you." Nino's voice was strained. "Father is also very satisfied with your work. If Sakurai-kun could continue to be our tutor, we would all be very happy."
Sakurai Saki shook his head slightly. "No. It's your own effort. It has nothing to do with me. And the relationship between Mr. Nakano and me is just employer and employee."
Nino's expression was complex.
She had studied hard to make Sakurai Saki look at her in a new light. But the better she studied, the closer he got to leaving her home and canceling his tutoring job. What kind of situation was this? It was her first time pursuing a boy, and she completely couldn't understand Sakurai's thoughts. Being forceful didn't work. Being gentle didn't work either. Was she really that unlikable? She had already tried so hard to change for him.
"Study hard, Nino-kun." Sakurai Saki finished the porridge and set the bowl aside. "I'll only be happy if your grades go up. The porridge was delicious. Thank you."
Nino stood in the doorway, something fragile flickering across her face.
"Okay." Her voice was soft. "I'll work hard."
He was already praising her. Wasn't that already a huge step forward?
There would always be a way. After all, there was still a month—not a week, not a day, let alone an hour or a second.
That was enough.