Chapter 223: Invisible Struggle
No matter what, Sakurai Saki could not abandon his good student.
Although it was sweltering outside, he still went to the Nakano quintuplets' house in Minato, his forehead dripping with sweat along the way.
Espers also sweat, especially when hearing Yotsuba say she hadn't finished her homework — Sakurai Saki's forehead almost dripped sweat the size of beans.
Ever since he started school, he had never let homework pile up until the end of vacation.
The matter of "one pen, one night, one miracle" was something Sakurai Saki had never experienced. If he didn't use superpower, there was no way he could finish all the homework in one night.
Reaching the base of the Nakano sisters' apartment, he pressed the intercom for the top floor.
This building couldn't be entered without a key card; the security was maxed out to the extreme.
"Sakurai-san, you finally came!!" Yotsuba said excitedly.
Yotsuba: ₍₍⚞(˶˃ ꒳ ˂˶)⚟⁾⁾
Compared to being tutored by Itsuki — whose grades were only slightly better than hers — she preferred Sakurai Saki.
She was already used to his tutoring methods, and her body had long been shaped to his style — whatever Sakurai poured into her, Yotsuba could quickly absorb. (Here it means knowledge, don't misunderstand.)
"Open the door." Sakurai Saki said grumpily.
"It's so damn hot outside, why doesn't this Japan just grow legs and run to Antarctica in the summer?" He even began rambling nonsense.
Later on, once he fully mastered superpower, he would definitely lead this Japan on a wandering plan — when it got hot, migrate to the Arctic or Antarctic; when it got cold, move to the tropics. Perfect!
"Does Antarctica have polar bears?" Yotsuba asked casually while pressing the door release.
"Whether Antarctica has polar bears or not, I don't know. But what I do know is, the person talking to me right now is an idiot, Yotsuba!" Sakurai Saki said while stepping into the elevator lobby and then entered inside.
Pressing the button for the top floor, Sakurai Saki waited more than ten seconds.
"Ding—"
The elevator doors opened.
Yotsuba was standing right there at the door, wearing a short-sleeved shirt, her little hand raised high, exposing her cute belly button.
Yotsuba: ◝(ᵔᵕᵔ)◜
"What are you standing here for?"
"I'm not an idiot!" Yotsuba raised her hand and declared seriously.
The green ribbon on her head shook twice, and seeing this, Sakurai Saki blinked.
Could it be that just like Shinpachi in Gintama, that bunny-ear-like accessory was actually her true body?
"Only idiots claim they aren't idiots." Sakurai Saki stepped out of the elevator and walked straight toward their door.
It had been a long time since he had been to the quintuplets' house. Since May, he had been tutoring them in the self-study room of the school library.
"Then Sakurai-san, are you an idiot?" Yotsuba asked, waiting expectantly for his answer.
"I'm not."
Yotsuba's small nose tilted up slightly, and she proudly said: "Only idiots say they aren't idiots!"
( • ̀ω•́ )✧
This was the classic case of turning someone's own words against them!
Eye for an eye! Tooth for a tooth!
"Yotsuba-san, Balzac once said: 'The first person to compare women to flowers is a genius, the second is mediocre, the third is an idiot.' Do you want to be an idiot or mediocre?"
Sakurai Saki smiled at her.
"Can't I be the genius? Also, who's Balzac?"
"The moment you asked that, I already knew you weren't the genius." Sakurai Saki sighed.
—Don't argue with idiots. They'll drag you down to the same starting line, then use their wealth of experience to beat you.
—And don't argue with beautiful young girls. They are the type who never reason.
As for ordinary girls… they don't have the capital to be unreasonable: not enough beauty, not enough talent, not even a decent personality. If they're unreasonable too, no one could possibly like them — except some simp.
Stepping into the living room.
Sakurai Saki glanced at the side of the tea table.
"Ichika, Nino, Miku, Itsuki… why are you all here?"
The five sisters had gathered together once again.
Sakurai Saki didn't pay too much attention to it.
He glanced toward Nino and noticed those beautiful eyes staring straight at him, as if they held an entire autumn lake inside, brimming with vague, indescribable emotions…
Nino: (❀❛ ֊ ❛„)♡
"What is it, Nino, why are you looking at me like that?" Sakurai Saki pretended to act calm.
But in truth, inside he was still a little flustered.
He and Nino had once had physical contact that went far beyond the teacher–student relationship, so to maintain their former state, for Sakurai it was really difficult.
"It's nothing, just that… I haven't finished my homework either." Nino raised the summer homework notebook in her hand.
Sakurai Saki sat down beside them: "Don't tell me all of you haven't finished?"
Itsuki shook her head: "I finished long ago."
She came here only because while reviewing ahead she ran into some difficult parts, so she came to ask a few questions.
"I'm reading the books for next term."
"Very good." Sakurai Saki casually praised.
Miku acted as if nothing was going on, sitting down right next to Sakurai Saki: "Saki-kun, I've also reviewed ahead."
Seeing Miku's action, Nino immediately sat down on the other side of Sakurai.
Miku & Nino: ( ,,⩌'︿'⩌,,)(｡•̀ ⤙ •́ ｡ꐦ) !!!
At this moment, Yotsuba came down from upstairs carrying her homework, glanced at the spot beside Sakurai.
'Hey hey! Clearly I was the one who called Sakurai-san over, why are the two best spots taken by my sisters!?' Yotsuba adorably furrowed her delicate brows.
If she wanted to be taught by Sakurai-san, then sitting beside him was the best.
Oh well, sitting opposite him wasn't bad either.
Ichika sat on the sofa beside the tea table, quietly observing the current situation.
'Nino is still pressing forward… wait a sec! Why has Miku joined in too?' Ichika secretly marveled.
( ˶°ㅁ°) !!
At first she thought the only one who liked Sakurai Saki was Nino, but it turned out Miku did as well?
How strange, clearly sensei-chan already had a girlfriend, yet her younger sisters were still charging forward like moths to a flame.
Could it be that they were all just like herself… waiting for him to break up, then seizing the chance to climb up to become the rightful one?
"All right, let's start studying. Yotsuba, take out your homework, do it yourself first, if you run into anything you don't know then ask me."
"Eh!? You're not teaching me?" Yotsuba was shocked.
"1+1=2, do I need to explain word by word to you even for this kind of problem?" Sakurai Saki gave her a glance.
"Sakurai-kun, why does 1 plus 1 equal 2?" Yotsuba had just finished speaking…
When she realized everyone in the room had gone silent.
She reached up and scratched her little head, then gave a silly laugh and lowered her head to start working.
Yotsuba: (๑>•̀๑)
"All right then, Nino, do you have any questions?"
Sakurai Saki turned his head to look at her.
"Um… it's not easy to say, let me write it out for you instead."
Nakano Nino said as she pulled out a notebook, then flipped to a blank page.
Her pen tip slid across the paper.
When she finished writing, Sakurai Saki leaned over to take a glance.
[ "I like you so much~ what should I do?"]
As soon as Sakurai Saki saw those words, his heart began to beat much faster, and when his eyes slowly moved upward, he met Nino's gentle smile, along with her lips silently mouthing: [ "Shy?"]
'This girl… really knows what she's doing.'
Sakurai Saki's face turned red, and he stayed silent without speaking.
After a few seconds, he finally whispered:
"Switch to the next question, I can't solve this one either."
Nino, in extremely good spirits, replied:
"It's okay, I already knew the answer anyway."
Nino: (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧