CH 47

Tuesday.

After school, we gathered at my house for a study session as we did yesterday.

Saejima went out of her way to bring snacks for us to eat together, and Keiichi bought a 1.5 liter bottle of grape juice at the supermarket on the way to my house. He knows what I like, choosing 100% juice instead of carbonated juice. Keiichi, you love me, don’t you?

By the way, Kohinata didn’t have any allowance and didn’t bring any snacks with her, so she took out three candy bars from her schoolbag and handed them out to us, looking very self-conscious.

I don’t really mind …… as long as you’re serious about your studies.

About 10 minutes after arriving at my house and starting to study–.

“…………”

Kohinata took a short break, stretching her tiny body, twisting and stretching, and began peeking at other people’s notebooks and problem books, sniffing and puffing.

Keiichi and Saejima were concentrating on their own studies, or perhaps they were not paying much attention to Kohinata, who was clearly bored with her studies.

Currently, she is peeking at my hand, but she is very close. Very close.

Even though I have rarely been involved with girls, I know that this is not the distance between male and female classmates. It’s a distance that would lead one to assume that we were a couple.

It’s only natural for us to be so close since we are sitting right next to each other looking at my problem book, but I feel that Kohinata’s wariness toward me has almost completely disappeared, perhaps because of her recent pinky finger holding and shoulder riding. If I reach out my right hand just a little, I can hug Kohinata.

However, even if I were allowed to do so, it is absolutely not possible right now.

I smack my forehead against the back of Kohinata’s head, which is reflected in my field of vision.

“You’re getting distracted too quickly. You haven’t even finished a single page yet. …… Come on, focus properly.”

What she is currently doing is a math problem book handed out by the school.

The math teacher quotes directly from the problem book, so I was encouraging Kohinata to hide the answers to the places in the test range and solve them.

I had already filled in the answer column of Kohinata’s problem book because it was a place that had been on the homework before, but …… it was clearly copied directly from someone else’s. Perhaps someone in the class showed it to Kohinata.

After receiving my headbutt, Kohinata rubs her own head.

“If there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask. I think I understand the content of this test, so I think I can help you.”

When I said this, Kohinata looked up at me and nodded her head.

She then rubbed her head against my shoulder as if to show her gratitude. What a cat.

Well, it’s just her body language, right? It’s safe to say that I’m not spoiling her. Yeah, I guess it’s safe. She’s back to studying on her own. There’s nothing wrong with that.

After checking on Kohinata, who was holding a mechanical pencil and staring down at her problem book, I quietly exhaled and reached for the juice on the table. And then,

“…………”

I notice Keiichi and Saejima looking at me with nimble expressions.

“…… what’s with that face?”

Keiichi and saejima let out a few teasing words like that and went back to their own studies as if nothing had happened.

Unlike Kaoru and Yu at Harunade Gakuen, I think they are Sakura Sei Gakuen students in that they can immediately concentrate on their studies.

I wonder if Kohinata is more like a student of Harunade? Maybe she and Kaoru are more in tune with each other than I thought. Kaoru is the first person that comes to mind when I think of a person who is good at sports and bad at studying.

Their physiques are opposites, but maybe that’s the only thing they are alike in.

In fact, those two–maybe they are more compatible than I thought ……?

“By the way, why does Tomoki have a jealous look on his face?”

“What kind of expression is that? …… Just concentrate, concentrate.”

“Heeey.”

☆ ☆　☆　☆　☆

“Yes, I’m sorry to inconvenience you–yes, yes. Thank you very much. I’ll make it up to you somewhere else. Then I will accept three wrestling moves, yes, yes, yes. Thank you very much.”

That day, after seeing off Keiichi and the others and taking Kohinata home, I made a phone call to the manager of the coffee shop “Rest” where I worked part-time. The reason was that Kohinata was not going to be able to finish her studies on time.

So I asked the manager if I could take either Saturday or Sunday off this week, but he told me to take both days off, saying, “Students are supposed to study.”

The manager laughed and said it was the equivalent of three wrestling moves, but I always receive moves without such a thing, so there was no problem. In other words, there was no blame.

“Now I can prepare for Kohinata’s exams on Saturday and Sunday–all three of them said they had nothing else to do, so if I call them over to my place, they’ll come over.”

I’ve been teaching Kohinata too, and it’s kind of a review, so I think my grade ranking is going to improve. I guess you could say the result is all right.

Kohinata is quick to understand and if everything goes without any problems, she will be able to avoid red marks in plenty of time. I should study again so that I can explain it properly.

Later, I would realize that I had missed my part-time job this weekend.

I would later realize that my absence from my part-time job this weekend was a turning point in the relationship between Kohinata and me.