"Patchouli, you will help me with this, right?" Seeing the expression on Patchouli's face, Kars knew his problem was solved.
"Yes, but in that case, I will have to teach you other subjects as well. Just magic won't be enough, it seems." In this situation, her tutoring could persuade Remilia to keep Kars from attending the Terakoya.
"Great! If it's you, Patchouli, I'll study anything!" Hearing Patchouli's reply, Kars immediately smiled. As for the extra subjects, he didn't care at all. Studying with Teacher Keine was torture, but studying with Patchouli was pure pleasure.
"However, I need to spend some time preparing. I have no experience or materials for teaching anything other than magic." Patchouli had never considered teaching subjects other than magic, so she had to prepare now. Fortunately, Remilia's personal library contained many old books that could serve as teaching materials; otherwise, she would have been unable to teach.
"Koakuma, please help me find those books."
"Understood." Koakuma nodded, but finding those long-forgotten books would take a lot of effort. Most of the library was filled with magic books; the remaining original books were mostly useless in Koakuma's view. Organizing them would be a hassle.
"In the end, I'm still doing all the hard work for you." Koakuma felt she was Kars's tool, getting dragged into most of his affairs. It would be fine if she got a reward like before, but now there was no reward at all.
"I know you're the best, Koakuma. Love you (๑˙❥˙๑)"
"Hmph! All you do is say sweet things." Koakuma scoffed, but she was still happy and went to look for the books.
"Have you shown some improvement, perhaps?" Patchouli looked at the happy Koakuma leaving, then stroked Kars's head, feeling that if he took the initiative more often, he might already be in a relationship with Koakuma.
"Improvement? I don't quite understand what you mean, Patchouli." Kars asked, confused by Patchouli's meaning.
"It's nothing, just me talking to myself. You should go talk to Remilia about this matter."
"Oh! I got it!" Kars jumped out of Patchouli's lap, but just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something. He walked back to Patchouli. Under her watchful gaze, he stood on his tiptoes and kissed her cheek, then dashed away, leaving Patchouli to touch the spot where she was kissed and smile contentedly at Kars's retreating figure.
"Hello, I've come to apologize for Keine's actions. And also, these are fresh bamboo shoots I dug up from the bamboo forest. It's all I could bring." Kars, having just arrived in the living room, heard Fujiwara no Mokou's voice. She was clearly there about yesterday's incident and brought some self-dug bamboo shoots.
"It's not a big deal. We haven't had a falling out, have we?" Seeing that Remilia had no intention of holding a grudge, Mokou breathed a sigh of relief. Then, she saw Kars approaching.
"It looks like you've rested well. Honestly, seeing you leave last night, I almost wanted to take you to Eientei to get checked out."
"It was nothing. I was just mentally exhausted. A good sleep fixed it. If that doesn't work, I'll just sunbathe more. That'll fix any problem." Mokou really wanted to call him out on that. Since when did sunbathing have such an effect, especially on a vampire? But in the end, she held back.
"Little Auntie, I have something to tell you. I don't think I need to attend the Terakoya anymore. Patchouli said she would help me with my studies."
"You got Patchouli to help you?" Remilia hadn't expected Kars to solve the problem by going to Patchouli so quickly, and clearly, Patchouli had softened and agreed.
"She certainly spoils you."
"Of course, she does! So I don't have to go, right?" Kars said smugly. It looked like he wouldn't have to go to that terrifying place after all.
"I think you should reconsider."
"Huh? Why should I reconsider? Or rather, there's no need to reconsider at all, is there?" If he had to choose between Teacher Keine and Patchouli, there was no choice to make! Only a fool would choose the former and suffer torture.
"Have you considered Patchouli's health? She already teaches you magic. If you make her teach you all those other subjects, won't that put too much strain on her? You know Patchouli often stays up late. If you add all this work, won't she have to do it every day?"
Remilia's words made Kars realize his oversight. He had only thought about himself and forgotten about Patchouli's health. He had seen how much Patchouli suffered when her illness flared up. His current behavior was increasing her workload, making her more susceptible to illness.
With that thought, Kars's initial happiness vanished, and his expression became serious. Remilia saw the change in Kars's face and already knew his decision.
"Sigh, I guess I have to be the fool." Kars sighed and scratched his head, wondering when he would ever finish all the subjects at the Terakoya, considering how little he understood.
"I feel like my sacrifice is huge, Little Auntie."
"This has little to do with Patchouli. She spoils you so much and teaches you magic. What you're doing is nothing."
"I don't care! I still feel like my sacrifice is huge! And you saw what I looked like when I came back today, didn't you? What if the stress there turns me into an idiot! I'm only agreeing to this dangerous thing for the sake of Patchouli's health! If she doesn't compensate me, that's unacceptable! I'm going to find her for compensation right now!"
Remilia smiled at Kars, who ran off again. Mokou watched the scene and felt a pang of envy. The way the family cared for each other was truly heartwarming.
However, she wondered if saying the Terakoya would turn him into an idiot was going too far. Keine would be very angry if she heard that.