"Not bad."
After a deliberate, thorough flip through the manga manuscript, Kasumigaoka Utaha delivered her succinct verdict. It was a classic Utaha-style review—terse, containing neither effusive praise nor sharp criticism, yet carrying a subtle acknowledgment of competence.
She then picked up her smartphone from the coffee table and rose gracefully from the sofa.
"I'll be heading upstairs to work on my manuscript," she announced, her tone indicating the discussion was closed. Without another word, she turned and made her way toward the staircase, her footsteps soft on the wooden steps.
Watching her retreating back, Eriri Spencer Sawamura couldn't help but pout slightly, a faint huff of air escaping her lips. She refrained from any verbal retort, however, perhaps satisfied enough with the 'not bad' from her academic rival.
Carefully, she gathered the precious manuscript pages and slipped them back into their protective folder. After bidding a polite farewell to Kasumigaoka Touji, she and Kani Nayuta set off for their planned visit to the neighboring author's home.
Left to his own devices, Kasumigaoka Touji retreated to the sanctuary of his bedroom. He picked up a light novel he'd been meaning to read—one that had been gathering dust for a while—and settled in to enjoy a quiet, leisurely weekend afternoon, the kind of simple pleasure that felt increasingly rare.
****
Time, as it always does, moves swiftly.
Monday morning arrived, bringing with it the familiar rhythm of school life.
As Kasumigaoka Touji approached the school grounds with his sister, he noticed an unusually large crowd clustered around the main bulletin board near the entrance. Students were jostling for position, necks craned, a low buzz of anxious and excited chatter filling the air.
Kasumigaoka Utaha, with the seasoned calm of a top student who had been through this ritual many times, commented, "The exam results are posted. Do you want to go take a look, Onii-chan?"
There was a knowing glint in her wine-red eyes.
"Might as well," Kasumigaoka Touji replied. He felt he had performed reasonably well; he hadn't encountered any questions that completely stumped him, so he approached the board with a clear conscience.
The two navigated through the throng of students to the leftmost section of the board. Posted here were the first-year rankings. True to Japanese privacy norms, specific scores weren't listed—only names in order of academic performance.
Kasumigaoka Touji's eyes scanned down the list from the coveted top position. First, second, third… He passed familiar and unfamiliar names until, finally, his own name came into view.
"Tenth place…"
A nod of quiet satisfaction. It was a solid, respectable ranking, well within the top tier. He was content.
His gaze then continued its journey downward, now searching for another name. This search took considerably longer; he had to scan multiple pages of the posted list before he found it, nestled toward the bottom of the third sheet from the end.
"One hundred and seventy-sixth…!"
His brows drew together slightly. That placed Kani Nayuta firmly in the lower-middle of the pack—a result that was, frankly, not very good. A flicker of concern passed through his mind, but he suppressed it for the moment.
He and Utaha then moved to the adjacent bulletin board dedicated to the second-year rankings. As expected, there was no suspense. The name 'Kasumigaoka Utaha' was printed boldly at the very top of the list, claiming the number one spot with undisputed authority.
"Onii-chan, you should really learn from your big sister, you know?" she said, her lips curling into a triumphant, slightly teasing smile. Even though they were in different grades, the stark contrast in their rankings spoke volumes, and her voice trembled ever so slightly with contained pride.
"Yes, yes, of course," Kasumigaoka Touji responded with a perfunctory wave, used to her playful gloating.
As they walked together towards the main teaching building, a thought suddenly occurred to him. He mused aloud, "You know, what I think I really need is a professional, after-school tutor. Someone who can provide targeted, one-on-one guidance."
He paused for dramatic effect. "The key point is, they'd need to be… sexy and captivating. That's crucial for maintaining student motivation, you see."
"The emphasis is on 'sexy and captivating'?" Kasumigaoka Utaha tilted her head, her wine-red eyes narrowing as they fixed on him with a look of pure, unadulterated skepticism.
"What 'sexy and captivating'? Shouldn't the emphasis be on 'professional, after-school tutoring'?" Kasumigaoka Touji shot back, adopting an expression of profound surprise, as if her interpretation was the most bizarre thing he'd ever heard.
"Tsk—! Onii-chan, just keep pretending!" she clicked her tongue softly, utterly unconvinced.
"What am I pretending about?" He maintained his facade of wide-eyed innocence, which only earned him an eloquent, long-suffering eye-roll from his sister.
***
After parting ways with Kasumigaoka Utaha at the stairwell, Touji made his way to his own classroom. The morning's four class periods were largely dedicated to post-exam review—teachers went over common mistakes, clarified textbook concepts, and the general atmosphere was one of relieved closure.
Before anyone knew it, the clock hands met at the vertical. The bell signaling the end of the fourth period and the start of lunch break rang out clearly.
Their homeroom teacher, Kojima Kana, finished her closing remarks but, unlike her usual habit of gathering her materials and departing immediately, she remained at the podium. Her stern gaze swept across the classroom before landing on three specific students.
"Gotou Hitori, Kani Nayuta, Itō Hidesato. The three of you, come with me to the staff office."
A ripple of attention passed through the class. All other activity paused as their classmates' eyes subconsciously turned toward the named trio.
The three individuals in question froze for a moment upon hearing their names. Their reactions were a study in variations of dread: Itō Hidesato's face paled with obvious fear; Gotou Hitori's expression twisted into one of flustered panic; and Kani Nayuta simply looked troubled, a resigned sigh barely held back.
They all had a pretty good idea why they were being summoned. There was really only one likely reason this soon after the exams: their monthly test results.
"Kazuko, I'll take your bento over to the clubroom first. You can head straight there after you're done," Kasumigaoka Touji said softly to Kani Nayuta, who was already gathering herself to follow the teacher.
Kani Nayuta turned and gave him a small, slightly strained smile, humming in acknowledgment before quickening her pace to catch up with the others.
Kasumigaoka Touji left the classroom not long after, making his way to the now-familiar Nap Club room. On the second-floor staircase landing, he met up with Kasumigaoka Utaha, who was waiting as usual.
"Hm? Where's Kazuko-chan?" Utaha asked, noticing the absence immediately.
"She and Gotou-san were called to the staff office by Kojima-sensei. Probably about their grades," Kasumigaoka Touji explained casually as they began descending the stairs together.
"Her grades were bad enough for an office summons?" Kasumigaoka Utaha was genuinely surprised. They had seen the rankings that morning. While Kani Nayuta's position wasn't stellar, it hadn't seemed disastrous enough to warrant a personal conference with the notoriously strict homeroom teacher.
Kasumigaoka Touji didn't fully understand it either at that moment. He would later learn from Kani Nayuta herself that the issue was severe subject imbalance—while she excelled in literature and Japanese, her scores in mathematics and science were dragging her overall rank down significantly. Kojima-sensei wanted to address the weakness. The other two students, Itō and Gotou, were simply struggling across the board.
"But you have to admit, Kojima-sensei is quite dedicated," Kasumigaoka Utaha remarked thoughtfully as they walked along the now-bustling campus path, alive with students heading to clubs or lunch spots.
"Indeed," Kasumigaoka Touji agreed wholeheartedly. In a system where teachers often took a more hands-off approach to individual student performance, Kojima Kana's proactive concern was genuinely noteworthy. A teacher who would personally call in students to discuss poor grades was something of a rarity.
They arrived at the clubroom, heated their bento boxes in the small microwave, and were just about to begin their meal when Kasumigaoka Touji's smartphone vibrated on the table. He glanced at the screen. It was a message from Kojima Kana.
The message was direct and to the point. She asked him, given his own strong academic standing, if he would be willing to tutor Kani Nayuta and Gotou Hitori in his free time. She suggested organizing a few dedicated study sessions. Notably, Itō Hidesato's name was not included in the request.
Kasumigaoka Touji didn't question the omission. His own thoughts were already occupied with the future—specifically, the idea of attending university in the same city as Kani Nayuta. They didn't necessarily have to aim for the same institution, but being geographically close would be ideal. Better grades for her now meant more options and opportunities later. With that in mind, he saw no reason to refuse.
[Touji.]: "Understood, sensei. I'll do my best."
He sent his agreement, then, emboldened by a moment of cheekiness, decided to test the waters. After all, it never hurt to ask.
[Touji.]: "By the way, sensei… is there a reward?"
The message seemed to hang in the digital ether for a long moment, unanswered. Kasumigaoka Touji began to wonder if he'd overstepped, if the teacher expected this to be purely a charitable, unpaid duty of a model student.
Just as he was considering a follow-up message to play it off as a joke, his phone buzzed again.
[Kojima Kana]: "I'll treat you to a meal."
Kasumigaoka Touji stared at the screen, his expression flattening. A single, weary thought echoed in his mind.
Sensei… is treating someone to a meal the only form of reward you know? Am I really lacking that one meal from you?
After this internal, resigned complaint, he tapped out a simple, obedient reply.
[Touji.]: "Okay."