Translator: Haruto.

The day of our study session is here. I wait at the entrance of my apartment building until my study buddies finally arrive…  

“Oh! Morning, guys.”

“Good morning, Yuuji-kun! So this is where you live, huh?! It’s huge!!” Yuito praises.

“I knew you had money… but this building is honestly quite impressive…” comments Mahiro.

“T-Thanks.” Truth be told, until just a few months ago, it still felt kind of strange to live in a place like this. So when it was decided that we’d be holding the study session here, I kind of figured they’d be surprised, but I guess that would probably be anyone’s first reaction.

“Welcome, dear guests,” Hibari says, wearing her usual maid uniform, the moment we enter the spacious living room.

No one knows how to respond. It’s understandable, though. The first time I saw her, I was also taken aback by her beauty…

“Alright, let’s snap out of it, guys. We gotta begin our study session,” I say.

Even though my room can easily fit our entire group, we decide to study in the living room because it’s closer to the bathroom and the main door, making it more convenient overall.

We head over to the table located right at the center of the living room’s carpet and begin taking our textbooks and notebooks out while also engaging in some small talk.

“I brought a bag of chips and a large bottle of soda! I just can’t study without some snacks!” Tajima declares with a huge smile plastered on his face as he puts the snacks on the table.

Satojima seems exasperated. “You’d better not make a mess.”

“I’m not that much of a klutz!” Tajima responds.

“…I beg to differ.”

I’d be kind of pissed if he ends up spilling the soda… but well, I do get the appeal of studying with your friends while eating some snacks since I used to do the same in my previous world.

“…Oh, I think things might get ugly…” Rina whispers.

And Yuito says, “Ahaha… Poor Tajima-kun…”

They’re acting as though Tajima has stepped on a landmine…

“Say… didn’t you come here to study?”

“Of course I did, Mahiro-sa—?!”

Tajima tries to answer Mahiro’s question with a smile, but as soon as he notices the expression on her face… the smile disappears. He’s even shaking with fear now.

I can’t see her expression all that well from where I’m sitting, but there’s no doubt she’s wearing quite the scary smile, and some weird dark aura also appears to be emanating from her…

“Do you really need snacks to study, though? I mean, it’s not like you’ll also eat snacks while taking the exam, right?”

“Err, that’s true, but—”

“Great, if you get it, then…”

“I’ll put them back in my bag… I’m sorry…” Tajima’s trembling like a newborn fawn.                               

Sitting beside me, Yuito whispers in my ear, “Mahiro-chan is super strict when comes to munching on snacks while studying. Maybe I should have said something…”

“Nah, I think that was for Tajima’s good, so don’t worry about it.”

…Shoot, that was a close one. For a second, I also considered buying some snacks!

“Please keep in mind that we agreed to let you guys join our study session. The least we expect from you is to follow our rules,” Mahiro warns.

And Tajima, Satojima, and I respond…

“U-Understood…!”

“A-Alright.”

“Got it.”

Tajima is now terrified of her, huh… For some reason, Mahiro reminds me of the king of the court from a certain volleyball manga… although, in this case, it’d be more accurate to call her the Queen of the Study Session.

Studying with our grade’s number one student sure promises to be interesting.

Three hours later…

We’ve all been studying pretty diligently, but well, since this is a study session, that’s to be expected.

For the past three hours, we’ve studied math, Japanese, and English. Each hour, we spend thirty minutes solving problems, ten minutes checking our answers, another fifteen minutes asking for guidance on things we don’t understand, and five minutes taking a break.

It certainly is a very efficient way of studying, but the main reason why we’ve been making so much progress is that Mahiro threatened to take our breaks away if we didn’t get full marks on the tests she made for us. And, well, considering how she reacted to Tajima’s snacks earlier, I’m pretty sure she wasn’t joking. It was still nice of her to take the trouble of selecting the things that are most likely to appear in the midterms and make those tests for us, though.

After the tests, Mahiro begins grading them and once she’s done, she puts the red cap of her pen back on. We all gulp in anticipation and—

“Great work, guys. You all got a perfect score, which means that the morning half of our study session is now over!”

When we hear that, we all can’t help but sigh in both relief and exhaustion.

“Haa… Thank goodness…” Tajima collapses on the table, obviously fatigued.

“Hey, Tajima, don’t forget that we’ll continue studying after lunch!” Satojima tells him.

The good thing is, I doubt he’ll even have the strength to try and hit on Hibari now.

“Yuuji-kun, it was amazing how you were able to solve every problem after just a little explanation!” Yuito praises me.

“Haha, thanks. I know I got a pretty bad score on the lastest quiz but that was just because I was feeling under the weather… I promise…”

Well, to be honest, I’d simply forgotten a bunch of formulas and other important stuff, but once Yuito and Mahiro explained them to me, I was able to solve all the problems on Mahiro’s tests without issue.

“I think you’ll rank pretty high in our class, Kasashima-kun,” Mahiro says.

“To tell you the truth, I’m the same as Rina-san. All I want is to get some good grades on my report card.”  

“We’re totally not the same, okay? I want all A’s on my report card!” Rina responds.

“Our objectives are still pretty similar!”

I mean, even I know getting all A’s is out of my reach.

But anyway, I can’t help noticing that Rina still changes the way she speaks whenever she’s talking to me. I don’t really mind either way, though.

Hibari, who was resting in her bedroom, suddenly enter the living room.

“Pardon my intrusion. What would you like for lunch?”

“Ahh, about that…” I throw a glance at Mahiro.  

“We’re grateful for the offer, but we already decided to buy some sushi,” she says, taking an envelope full of money out of her bag and showing it to Hibari. Earlier today, we discussed what we’d be eating for lunch and each of us gave her 1000 yen… Man, it never ceases to amaze me how mature Mahiro can act sometimes.

“I see. In that case, would you like me to go buy it for you? You can relax here in the meantime,” Hibari suggests, before making eye contact with me.

I suppose that’s her way of letting me know that she wants me to accompany her. That was my plan all along, though.

“Alright, in that case, Hibari and I will—”

“I’ll go with you!” Yuito exclaims, standing up faster than me.

“Huh?”

“There’s no need. Yuuji-sama will accompany me to the restaurant,” Hibari replies.

“Yuuji-kun was kind enough to welcome us into his home so the least I can do is go pick up the food in his stead!” Yuito’s as considerate as ever.

Still, I don’t think the two sisters will let him leave that easily. Hesitantly, I take a peek at them and—        

“See you later, Yuito!”

“Be careful out there, Yui-kun!”

“What?! You’re letting him leave just like that?!!” I’m baffled.

“…Very well, I’ll go pick up the food with Yuito-sama, then.”

“Huh?! Seriously?!”

Paying no mind to my question and bewilderment, Hibari and Yuito step out of the living room.  

“Okay, how about we organize our books and other things while we wait for them to return?” Mahiro proposes.

“Sis, can I eat some snacks now?” Rina asks.                              

“Sure, but don’t eat too much, okay? And don’t forget to organize your things first.”

“Okayyy!”

Neither of them seems angry or jealous at all… They’re acting like Yuito leaving isn’t a big deal.

“Kasashima-kun, please snap out of it already and organize your things,” Mahiro says.  

“Ah, yeah…”

“Oh well, I know Yuito would never disrespect Hibari or anything like that, so I guess it’s fine…”

Had it been Tajima, I would have stopped him from leaving, even if I had to get a little rough with him.

I’ve come to the bathroom to wash my face to freshen up, but suddenly—

“Hey.”

“Hm?”

I hear a voice as I’m drying my face with a towel. I take a peek and see Rina standing beside me.

“Do you also want to wash your face, Rina-san? Here, you can use—”

“No, Kasashima… I want to talk with you about something.”

“Huh?”

***

After a short ten-minute drive, Hibari and Yuito arrive at a sushi restaurant. Being a Saturday, the place is filled with customers.

“It seems it’ll take some time for the food to be ready,” Hibari says.

“I see…” responds Yuito.

Having ordered the food, Hibari and Yuito head to the sofa found at the entrance of the restaurant and take a seat.

“Yuito-sama, could you please tell me the real reason why you’ve decided to accompany me?”

“I guess it was too obvious that I didn’t just want to give you a hand with the food, huh? I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“I’m glad. The thing is, Hibari-san…”

“Yes?”

“I’d like… to have a chat with you.”

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