After school the next day, Yukinoshita Yukino was, as usual, waiting downstairs in the school building to meet up with Tanaka Masao. The two of them then headed home together so she could tutor him.
But today, something was different.
When they met downstairs, they didn't keep their distance like they had yesterday. Instead, they walked side by side.
Naturally, this immediately drew the attention of the other students.
"Isn't that Yukinoshita-san?"
"Yeah. Who's the guy next to her?"
"Don't tell me that's her boyfriend?"
"You've gotta be kidding. Dating that kind of guy? That's so lame, it's hilarious."
"What kind of charm could someone like that possibly have? I don't get it at all. Guess this is just a genius's weird taste—ordinary people like us wouldn't understand."
...
"Who's that brat walking with Yukinoshita?"
"No idea. Some nobody out of nowhere. He's got some nerve."
"Should we find a chance to teach him a lesson?"
"Sure. Let him learn that there are some people he shouldn't get close to."
...
Almost all eyes were focused on them.
The boys looked at Tanaka Masao with a mix of envy and jealousy, some already thinking about giving him a beating.
The girls, on the other hand, felt a bit of schadenfreude. In looks, grades, or family background, none of them could compare to Yukinoshita Yukino.
Seeing that someone as outstanding as her was walking with a guy like that gave them a sudden sense of superiority.
So what if you're amazing? You can't even find a decent man.
...
Tanaka Masao vaguely overheard these discussions.
Hearing them left him feeling a bit irritated.
He glanced at Yukinoshita Yukino, only to find that she showed no sign of reacting at all—as if the surrounding chatter and attention simply didn't exist.
That made Tanaka Masao curious.
Could someone really be this indifferent?
"Yukinoshita-san, when people talk about you like that… don't you feel angry?"
"Angry? Why would I be? Using other people's bitterness and malice to make myself uncomfortable would be pointless."
Although Yukinoshita Yukino's tone was calm, Tanaka Masao could hear emotion beneath her words.
Perhaps anger—but more than that, disdain and pity toward those making malicious assumptions.
Yes, pity.
In Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes, people who were driven by jealousy, who never reflected on their own shortcomings and could only seek a sense of superiority by attacking others' weaknesses, were nothing but weaklings.
Compared to Yukinoshita Yukino's composure, Tanaka Masao felt rather indignant.
"If it were me, and they dared to talk about me like that, I'd definitely teach them a lesson."
"Oh? Teach them a lesson?"
Yukinoshita Yukino raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement appearing on her face.
"What, are you planning to beat them up? I seem to recall a few of those guys just now calling you a nobody and saying they wanted to mess with you. So, Tanaka-kun, are you going to teach them a lesson?"
Tanaka Masao put on a very proud expression.
"Hah. They're just jealous because I get to walk home with Yukinoshita-san. I should be happy about it—why would I waste energy on a bunch of pitiful guys like—"
Seeing how smug Tanaka Masao looked, Yukinoshita Yukino let out a cold snort but didn't say anything else.
She had never intended to actually have Tanaka Masao fight anyone; she'd only wanted to see how he'd react.
As it turned out—rational and not impulsive, but also a bit thick-skinned.
...
This was the first time Tanaka Masao experienced walking home under so many gazes.
How should he put it…
Walking alongside the school idol, basking in everyone's envy, being a conspicuous background character for once and tasting the treatment of a protagonist—it felt great.
But it was also a little uncomfortable.
He still preferred going home quietly like usual.
Once they left the school grounds and there were no other students around, Tanaka Masao finally let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Unable to help himself, he said,
"Whew… being watched by everyone like that is really nerve-wracking. Yukinoshita-san lives in this kind of environment every day and can still stay so calm—that's amazing."
Hearing that, Yukinoshita Yukino proudly brushed back her long hair.
"Tanaka-kun might not understand, but someone as cute and outstanding as me was born to be the center of attention—a protagonist-like existence."
"That said, you should get used to it too. After all, anyone who can stand beside the protagonist is, at the very least, a named character with screen time."
There it was—Yukinoshita Yukino's moment of pride.
Tanaka Masao secretly named it [Smug Yukino].
If Yukinoshita Yukino ever found out about this evaluation, she would definitely explode in embarrassment and anger.
She'd surely say, [How can something an outstanding person does be called "smug"?]
And then follow it up with, [I'm really popular, truly…]
Entering full Kou Otsu Yukino / Xianglin Yukino mode.
...
When they arrived at Tanaka Masao's house, the tutoring session went much the same as yesterday.
Jahy was like a dried-out sponge, frantically absorbing new knowledge.
Tanaka Masao also came to truly understand the weight of the saying,
[What's scary isn't that someone is better than you—it's that someone better than you works even harder.]
Jahy didn't just study seriously at home; she also self-studied at school.
According to her, since classes were boring anyway, she might as well learn more—it also made things more convenient for her activities in the human world.
As for listening to the teacher while multitasking—wasn't that easy?
Tanaka Masao was thoroughly stimulated by Jahy's attitude.
His motivation to study reached an unprecedented high.
Because if he didn't work hard now, with Jahy's talent, catching up to his current level was only a matter of time.
If you involute, then I'll involute too.
The study atmosphere was so intense that even Yukinoshita Yukino was affected, going so far as to pull out material she had already mastered and review it again.
When you focus deeply on something, not only does time seem to fly by—you also start feeling like there's never enough of it.
That was exactly the state the three of them were in.
It wasn't until the Tanaka parents came home that the three finally snapped out of their concentrated studying.
Having learned in advance that Yukinoshita Yukino would be coming over again today to tutor, Tanaka Kazumi had deliberately gone to the supermarket and bought extra ingredients.
She was determined to properly entertain Yukinoshita Yukino.
[If you want to capture your future daughter-in-law's heart, you start by capturing her stomach.]
[If you want her to stay, make her fall in love with this home.]
To secure this extremely satisfactory future daughter-in-law, Tanaka Kazumi was prepared to give it her all.
As for Tanaka Masao's own opinion?
With such a good girl—and one with great chances—what was there to be picky about?
So in Tanaka Kazumi's eyes, Tanaka Masao's opinion was automatically deemed irrelevant.
The Tanaka couple entered the kitchen, full of fighting spirit.
...
On the other side, Tanaka Masao—completely unaware of his mother's schemes—moved his stiff body a bit.
He pinched his neck and said with a sigh,
"We studied way too long without noticing. Never thought there'd come a day when I'd be this serious about studying."
Yukinoshita Yukino's body was also quite stiff.
But compared to Tanaka Masao's large, exaggerated stretches, her movements were much more restrained.
Tanaka Masao glanced at Yukinoshita Yukino, really wanting to say,
[Yukinoshita-san, you can stretch boldly. You don't need to worry about your buttons—they won't be under any pressure.]
The three of them didn't continue studying. Instead, they sat in the most comfortable positions on the soft sofa and turned on the TV.
Letting their bodies relax while giving their overworked brains a rest.
Since dinner today was more elaborate than yesterday, it took a bit longer to prepare.
After intense mental exertion that burned through a lot of energy, all three were already starving.
Faced with such a lavish dinner, everything tasted even better than usual.
Jahy shouted [One more bowl!] so many times she'd lost count.
Even Yukinoshita Yukino, feeling a little embarrassed, went back for another bowl of rice.
As for why it was "the two of them," that was, of course, because Tanaka Masao was eating a separately prepared diet meal.
Tanaka Masao: daily persecution.
Tearfully swallowing his bland, boiled broccoli.