"Eh, Basori-san?"
Seeing the somewhat restrained girl with straight bangs, Yamada Elf's eyes lit up, and she happily waved:
"Come over, come over. Of course we can study together."
When handling her enrollment procedures yesterday, Tiara had accompanied her the entire time, running around and organizing all the paperwork methodically. Although Elf didn't say it, she had a very favorable impression of Tiara.
No one hates a serious and responsible person.
"Pardon the intrusion..."
Basori Tiara, holding her schoolbag with both hands, blushed slightly and sat down next to Sora.
In Tiara's view, she and Sora shared a "secret," so she subconsciously felt closer to him.
However, the girl's unintentional action caused Mahiru, sitting on the other side of Elf, to purse her pink lips, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes.
Sora-kun is a boy, and Basori-san is a girl. If she's going to sit, shouldn't she sit next to me?
Why did she choose to sit next to Sora-kun?
It makes one wonder...
Basori Tiara was already a bit nervous; growing up, she had never sat so close to a boy before. Now, sensing Mahiru's curious gaze, her eyes darted around evasively, wanting to escape:
"Um... maybe I should just leave?"
"Don't be nervous. The person next to Elf is Mahiru." Sora also noticed Angel-sama's probing gaze, but with a clear conscience, he felt no guilt. He introduced them: "Mahiru, Elf, and I are neighbors outside of school. We came to study together."
"So it's the legendary Angel-sama. She ranked first in the entire grade in this midterm exam..."
Basori Tiara replied softly. As she spoke, a look of envy involuntarily appeared on her pretty face.
If I could also get first place in the grade, I wouldn't be so distressed, right?
Unfortunately, that's clearly impossible.
As a high school student, Tiara already recognized the massive chasm known as talent between people.
Just like Gauss, who at age 9, right after starting school, was able to solve the super-hard problem of adding numbers from 1 to 100. When Tiara was nine, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division were very difficult for her.
However, Basori Tiara had not lost her fighting spirit.
I never thought of becoming first in the grade, as long as I don't bring shame to everyone in the student council, that's enough!
"Hello." Angel-sama tilted her head and looked over, her voice gentle.
"I am Shiina Mahiru. Please don't call me Angel, just call me by my name."
"I-I understand..."
Tiara hurriedly nodded. Facing the legendary academic genius Angel, she was inevitably a bit nervous:
"I am Basori Tiara. Nice to meet you, please take care of me."
"Please take care of me."
After simple greetings, Mahiru quickly withdrew her gaze and continued tutoring Elf.
"Phew..."
Basori Tiara quietly breathed a sigh of relief, quickly opened her schoolbag, took out her textbooks, and began to earnestly self-study.
I failed both math and physics in this midterm exam. I must work doubly hard!
A moment later.
Tiara quietly bit her lower lip, her pretty face displaying an expression full of despair.
Trigonometric functions are so scary... Why do such complicated things exist in the world...
I can't understand... I completely can't understand!
Why can others solve them so easily, yet no matter how I look at it, I can't figure it out, ahhhh!
Basori Tiara gripped the pen in her hand tightly, unable to resist stealing glances at Sora. However, the plea for help stuck in her throat; she truly couldn't bring herself to say it out loud.
The girl's pride made it hard for her to easily ask others for help. Otherwise, she would have asked someone to tutor her a long time ago.
Sora quickly noticed the straight-bangs girl's subtle movements and turned to look:
"Does Basori-san have a stomachache?"
"Eh?"
"I can give you some tissues..."
"I do not have a stomachache!"
Basori Tiara indignantly clenched her pink fists, unable to hold back a low shout:
"It's this math problem I can't solve!"
"Let me see."
Sora's expression remained normal. He reached out and took the exercise book from in front of the girl:
"Hmm... it's a simple trigonometric function transformation problem."
"Where is it simple?" Hearing this, Basori Tiara widened her eyes, unable to resist complaining.
"So many brain cells have already died, and I still can't solve it no matter what."
Sora extended his right hand, his tone calm:
"Pen."
"..."
Tiara silently handed over the pen in her hand.
Scratch, scratch, scratch.
Half a minute later.
All the steps clearly appeared on the scratch paper.
"Here." Sora pushed the scratch paper to Tiara.
"Which step do you not understand?"
"Amazing..."
Basori Tiara couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. She hurriedly began studying the scratch paper and quickly pointed a finger, her eyes full of a thirst for knowledge:
"From here on, I don't understand..."
Sora: "..."
So, aside from the word "Solve," you don't understand any of the subsequent steps! You're not an idiot on the same level as Elf, are you!
Having found the problem, the next step was naturally to prescribe the right medicine.
Sora picked up the pen and, with just a few words, quickly cleared up Tiara's confusion.
"Ehhhhh, so that's how it is?!"
Basori Tiara widened her eyes, her eyes sparkling brightly.
Something I racked my brains over and couldn't figure out was easily solved with a change of perspective.
"Thank you, Izumi-kun!"
Tiara expressed her heartfelt gratitude and hurriedly continued working on other exercises.
Sora withdrew his gaze and continued reading.
Helping solve a problem was completely effortless, so naturally, he didn't pay it much mind.
A moment later.
Poke, poke—
Sora suddenly felt someone gently poke his waist.
Turning his head, he saw Tiara leaning forward, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him:
"I don't understand this problem either... I'm counting on you, Izumi-kun."
"..."
Time flew by.
An hour passed in a flash.
Unknowingly, it was already 4:30 PM.
"Let's stop here for today." Mahiru's voice was gentle as she began packing her textbooks.
"Sora-kun, let's head back."
"Okay."
Sora quickly organized his schoolbag and stood up.
The bicycle was still parked at the lakeside park. He had to go over early tonight to fix it, so he needed to head back early.
"Basori, goodbye." Yamada Elf waved goodbye, her voice crisp. "We're heading back first."
"Goodbye..."
Basori Tiara hurriedly responded.
Watching Sora and the other two leave, Tiara quickly calmed her mind and continued studying.
Unfortunately, she quickly discovered that without Sora beside her to tutor, her efficiency dropped incredibly noticeably. When she encountered a problem she didn't know how to solve, she could only scratch her head in anxiety and sit restlessly.
Facts proved.
Even when pushed to the limit, one still can't solve math problems.
Thud.
Tiara lay limply on her desk:
"Studying alone is so inefficient... I wonder if Izumi-kun will come over tomorrow afternoon..."
Meanwhile.
The three of them got off the train together, stopped by a convenience store to buy fresh ingredients, and returned home. After drinking a cup of tea, Angel-sama went to the kitchen to get busy.
Sora went to the kitchen, helped wash the ingredients, and as soon as he came out, he was drafted by Elf to continue playing 'Silent Hill' as her companion.
Unfortunately, Elf was the standard type who loved to play but was terrible at it. Before long, she was so scared she tossed the controller to Sora.
During this time, Sagiri sneaked out of her room, hugging her body pillow, and sat beside them, nervously watching the game.
The plot quickly advanced to the scarecrow puzzle segment.
Although the puzzle was average, the horror atmosphere was maxed out. Even Sora was a bit tense, let alone Elf and Sagiri.
By the end, the two lolis were tightly hugging Sora's left and right arms, flanking him.
"Ahhhhh, Idiot Sora, you pulled out the wrong nail again!"
"Nii-san run, the scarecrow is going to catch you."
"Hurry up and hack it with your sickle."
"Nii-san ahhhhh!"
"..."
Squeezed between Sagiri and Elf, the air filled with enticing fragrances, and the tender, smooth touch on his arms made Sora's mood subtle. He could no longer focus on playing the game.
Is this the legendary loli sandwich cookie?