Chapter 305: We Form an Alliance!
"Saki-kun, the shampoo the five of us sisters use isn't all the same, don't let Nino find out, okay?"
Miku spoke as she let him go, her voice very soft, but the tone full of ambiguity.
Like sweet words between a husband sneaking behind his wife's back and his mistress.
It felt a bit thrilling.
"Where did you learn this stuff?"
Sakurai couldn't believe this was Miku's real nature.
Sure enough, as soon as he said that, he saw her little face turn bright red, almost steaming.
"That… from those movies. Is that not allowed?"
(⸝⸝⸝-﹏-⸝⸝⸝)
She looked at him like a small animal.
But what she said wasn't cute at all; on the contrary it was slightly provocative: "I heard doing this makes boys very excited, did I do something wrong?"
Sakurai was about to answer when Nino's door opened.
Nino changed clothes quickly; after adjusting her outfit she was ready to go downstairs.
"Hm? What are you two doing here?"
Nino looked at Miku.
Sakurai suddenly sensed something and quickly cut in: "We're waiting for you."
"Thanks for your concern!" Nino grabbed Sakurai's hand, ignored Miku, and directly pulled him downstairs.
Miku stared at their backs, lightly licking the corner of her lips where the taste still lingered.
'Chocolate flavor.'
(❀❛ ֊ ❛„)♡
…
"So hard!! Sakurai-san!! I'm gonna die!!" Yotsuba collapsed over the tea table in the living room, her expression like a fish stranded on land.
.·°՞(¯□¯)՞°·.
Advanced math is so hard! Obviously it's for college, why learn it in high school?
Integrals, derivatives—it's killing me. Suddenly having Sakurai cram a pile of stuff into my head, I'm surely gonna die!
It's too much! Can't you be a little gentler?!
"Sakurai-sensei!! Please, be gentle~" Yotsuba tilted her face toward him, looking completely exhausted.
Her grades were already in the top 100 of the year, so why did she still have to keep trying?
"I've been gentle enough with you already." Sakurai spoke with a hint of irritation.
That saying was indeed true: strict teachers make good students!
If you spoil children too much, you raise the kind of kid with no motivation like this.
"But!! I already finished three pages of advanced math problems!"
"Those are all basic questions, right?"
"…Sakurai-san, we're simply not the same species. You know what? There's something that, even if I'm about to die, I still can't do, and that's math! If you don't know how, you really don't know how!" Yotsuba said seriously.
Someone who claims math isn't hard—could that person even be considered normal?
Sakurai-san, aren't you some alien? A math alien?
Sakurai lightly tapped her forehead.
Bonk!
"Ow ow ow! I'm dying, dying!" Yotsuba held her head, then leaned sideways into Sakurai's chest.
Right now Sakurai was tutoring Yotsuba privately, so they were sitting very close.
In the kitchen, Nino glanced over and saw the scene.
It was fine—Yotsuba was her good sister; surely she wasn't doing it on purpose.
Nino: ( ≖‿ ≖ )
Yotsuba: (｡Ó﹏Ò｡)
"Sakurai-san, I suddenly feel a little cold."
Yotsuba sensed a chilly gaze from behind her back.
"Studying so hard in midsummer that your hands and feet are cold?" Sakurai thought she was making an excuse.
"Alright, let's continue." Yotsuba straightened up from his chest and flipped the page of problems.
After another problem, Yotsuba suddenly leaned in close to Sakurai, bringing her face near: "Sakurai-san, I don't know how to do this one!"
"If you don't, then let me teach you?" Nino wiped her hands with a towel, walking out of the kitchen straight toward the living room.
She felt that if she didn't step in now, there'd be no way to stay good sisters.
Miku liking Sakurai by herself was already troublesome enough; if Yotsuba joined in, soon it would turn into a five-sister fight for a husband.
And it wouldn't even be a fight for the main wife position but for a mistress. That was just ridiculous.
If Dad found out, he'd probably break our legs. After all, Mom had ended up in her situation because she met the wrong man.
"Umu umu." Yotsuba quickly responded, "Sakurai is too strict; Nino is still the best."
"Is that so?"
"I like Nino the most." Yotsuba might not study well, but her EQ was quite good; she basically understood why she'd felt that chill behind her.
So Nino had misunderstood because of her.
Aiyaya, how could I possibly like Sakurai? Just the thought is impossible!
"Alright, I should head home now."
Sakurai Saki stood up and looked out the floor-to-ceiling window; the rain had stopped.
"Final exams are coming soon, so don't slack off."
He gave that reminder, then picked up his things and left the sisters' house.
…
Two hours after Sakurai Saki left.
Nine o'clock at night, Nakano Ichika came home.
"Everyone!!! Come out!!! I have something really important to discuss!!"
Ichika shouted up toward the second floor.
Very quickly, the other four came out of their rooms.
A few minutes later, around the tea table, all five sisters sat together, Nino bringing over several cups of tea.
"What's the matter? Suddenly saying something important? Ichika, are you planning to film some big blockbuster?"
"That too, but I have something more important to say." Under the expectant gazes of the others, Ichika slowly opened her mouth: "Sensei-chan said he'll quit tutoring when this semester ends!"
Nino: ∘ ∘ ∘ ( °ヮ° ) ?
Ichika's news was really not sharp at all.
That was from half a year ago already.
Moreover, with her current relationship with him, even if he stopped being a tutor, they could still go out on weekends for some "extra" biology lessons.
Miku: ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!
She really hadn't known this.
"What? Sakurai-san won't tutor anymore?" Yotsuba reacted strongly.
Then what about Nino's romance?
Itsuki looked flustered: "Eh?"
What about my grades? If there's no Sakurai-san, where will I get the help I'm missing?
"Seems like everyone's thinking the same as me. As expected of us five sisters."
Nino sat down on the sofa: "Same how?"
How could the five of us be the same? Though we look identical on the outside, inside we're definitely different. Personality, interests—they're all different.
"Isn't it true that none of you want Sensei-chan to quit?" Ichika asserted.
"Umu." Miku nodded.
Yotsuba thought for a few seconds, then nodded as well.
Itsuki didn't nod; instead she asked, "But isn't Sakurai-san's own wish the most important here? If he doesn't want to continue, no amount of persuasion will matter."
Ichika glanced at Nino.
The one who should have been the most panicked.
Yet unexpectedly, Nino stayed calm: "If he quits, then he quits."
Miku suddenly lifted her head to look at her, voice icy: "Nino, what did you just say?"
"So what? Sakurai-san can't decide to quit if he wants to?" Nino said unhappily.
"I don't want him to quit!" Miku said flatly.
Only Nino was liked by Saki-kun—that wasn't fair!
"What can you do if you don't want it?" Nino shot back.
"Nino, don't you like Saki-kun?" Miku met her eyes, choosing to lay her cards on the table.
"Wha… what are you talking about? How could I possibly like him?" Nino still tried to act tough.
It wasn't just her and Miku here—there were other sisters too!
"At this rate, none of us will win." Miku said quietly.
The other three didn't understand, but Nino did.
As long as Hayasaka Ai was there, neither she nor Miku would ever be able to break through.
What to do now? Team up?
The two of them competing together against Shinomiya-san, secretary Fujiwara, and Hayasaka-san? With that lineup on the other side, could they even win?
Or should they drag a few more sisters into the rabbit hole?