After exchanging contact info, Sora turned and returned to the classroom.
Just as expected.
As soon as he sat down, the blonde loli in the front row turned around. Putting her hands on her hips, her cheeks puffed out in jealousy:
"Idiot Servant, what just happened? What did you go do with that oppai alien?"
"Don't give people random nicknames." Sora unhurriedly opened his schoolbag and took out his textbooks.
"Others will be unhappy if they hear."
"Hmph~"
Yamada Elf gave a light snort, muttering quietly:
"I definitely wouldn't call her that to her face... Idiot Servant, don't change the subject. Hurry up and tell me what happened. If you dare betray this lady, I'll have to subject Servant to capital punishment."
Sora glanced over. He saw the ahoge on Anna's head bobbing slightly as she sneakily approached, so he said:
"I'll explain once Anna gets here."
Needless to say, 'Inmate Eight' also knew what just happened. The speed at which girls spread gossip is truly astonishing.
"Sora, Sora~"
Anna scurried over, her tone resentful:
"I heard Basori-san confessed to you?"
To have a confession version pop up this quickly, rumors really are too terrifying!
"Of course it wasn't a confession." Sora's expression was calm. With a clear conscience, he felt no guilt at all.
"It actually had to do with Elf..."
Sora didn't waste words and quickly explained the situation.
Of course, his previous promise was still in effect. He didn't mention the report card, only saying it was a special item that couldn't be disclosed.
After hearing the explanation, Anna and Elf didn't suspect anything. Instead, they became very interested in the "special item."
"What's the special item?"
"Why can't you tell us?"
"So suspicious... Could it be an unspeakable special prop?"
"C-Could it be a sex..."
"..."
A black line dropped down Sora's forehead. He decisively raised his hand and lightly chopped Anna on the head:
"That's enough. Stop making wild guesses. If someone hears you, it'll be trouble."
"Got it~"
Anna held her head with both hands, agreeing pitifully.
"Sora." Yamada Elf tilted her small face up, putting her hands on her hips.
"I want a head chop too."
Fighting even for a head chop, you don't have some special fetish, do you!
Sora extended his right hand again and lightly chopped the blonde loli's small head, satisfying Elf's special fetish.
The day passed in a flash.
In the blink of an eye, it was time for school to end.
Japanese Literature and Geography were still manageable; Yamada Elf could at least listen to them. But Math and Biology were torture. Sora truly witnessed what it meant to sit on pins and needles.
"Elf, let's go to the library together, okay?"
Mahiru walked over, extending a soft invitation.
"Eh?" Yamada Elf looked up in confusion. "What for?"
"To help tutor you." Mahiru's voice was gentle. "I feel like Elf is having a hard time in class. If we catch you up, you'll be able to experience the joy of learning."
Angel-sama was indeed super kind. When they rode their bikes back last night, she said she would help tutor Elf. Today, she had already put it on the agenda; it wasn't just empty talk.
Yamada Elf hesitated: "Can't we just tutor at home?"
"Home definitely won't work." Sora vetoed it from behind.
"There are too many temptations at home. Elf will read manga, read light novels, play games, scroll on her phone... she just won't read her textbooks."
For studying, the environment is very important.
So, after a brief discussion, Sora and Mahiru unanimously agreed that the school library was a good choice.
"What's that about? Sora, stop looking down on people." Yamada Elf put her hands on her hips.
"I'm not that kind of person."
Sora gave a look of disgust: "A super procrastinator has no right to speak."
"There aren't many people in the library, and it's still very early." Mahiru's voice was gentle.
"We'll go there and study for an hour, and then it'll be just the right time to go home... Sora-kun is studying with us."
Hearing that Sora was also going, Yamada Elf's eyes quickly lit up. She crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin:
"Since you're being so proactive, I guess I'll reluctantly go over and study a bit."
"..."
The discussion concluded.
The three left the classroom and headed to the library.
Anna also wanted to go along, but she had to attend cheerleading training and then go shopping with friends, so she didn't join them.
After school, the library was exceptionally quiet. Aside from the librarian, there were basically no other students to be seen.
The three walked into the library and sat down in a deserted corner. Yamada Elf sat in the middle, with Sora and Mahiru sitting on her left and right.
The afternoon sun slanted in through the window, forming bright beams of light in the air. Looking closely, one could even see tiny dust motes floating within the beams.
"Elf, let's test your math skills first."
Mahiru opened her schoolbag, took out a notebook, handed it to Elf, and said softly:
"Try answering the questions on here first."
"Let me see..."
Yamada Elf was originally a bit nervous, but upon closer inspection, she found the questions were simple addition and subtraction. She instantly relaxed, picked up a pen, and began solving them.
"Elf is very smart." Mahiru raised her hand to tuck the stray hair by her ear, softly praising.
"You answered them all correctly."
"Mhm~" Yamada Elf proudly lifted her chin, revealing her snow-white, slender neck.
"I am a genius beautiful girl, after all. Such simple questions are naturally a piece of cake for me."
"Save that sentence for later." Sora handed over a notebook.
"Next, the difficulty upgrades to the multiplication and division stage."
This time, Elf could no longer fake it.
She couldn't solve double-digit multiplication, and her division was a complete mess. Even in elementary school, she'd be at the bottom of the class.
Sora then tried an elementary school-level equation problem. As a result, upon seeing a variable, Elf's eyes glazed over, indicating she had never seen such a thing before.
"As I thought, we have to start tutoring from the elementary school level."
Sora helplessly pressed his fingers against his brow.
With Elf's current abilities, if she took the academic exams, she'd probably end up like His Imperial Highness Prince Hisahito—on a test with a maximum score of a thousand, she'd get at most twenty points!
After the assessment, it was teaching time.
Angel-sama, gentle and patient, was in charge of tutoring, while Sora acted as a study companion beside them.
Meanwhile.
A girl with straight bangs, hugging her textbooks, quietly walked into the library, preparing to read.
"Eh?"
Sweeping her gaze across the corner and seeing Sora, Tiara's eyes quickly lit up.
"Izumi-kun is in the library?"
"It looks like he's studying..."
"If... if I ask Izumi-kun for guidance, the results will definitely be better than burying myself in books alone, right?"
At this thought, Tiara's heartbeat involuntarily and quietly accelerated.
She didn't want to go to a cram school because she might be recognized. But since she had already exposed her secret to Sora, there was naturally no need to keep hiding it.
After hesitating for a while, Tiara finally couldn't suppress her ambition. She carefully walked over to Sora, her voice tense:
"Um... can we study together?"