The current days felt both good and bad for Kenji. While Saki's group was now mostly following rules (though Saki's skirt was still the same—maybe just a few more days?), and he only needed to remind them once a day or so, it was also the reason why he couldn't chat with Saki. Today went like that as well.
'I'm having Saki withdrawal effects ;-;' thought Kenji as he approached the Disciplinary Committee office.
'She still looks at me angrily ;-;' Kenji opened the door.
'And not to mention, she thought I was stalking her?! I mean I was— I mean I was not! It was just observation!!' Kenji thought as he sat down and started working on his report.
"Nakayama-kun."
'How would I approach her without any—'
"Nakayama-kun!" Kenji's thoughts were abruptly cut off.
"Ah! Y-Yes?!" he replied to Hiroto standing in front of him.
"What were you thinking about so deeply?" Hiroto asked in confusion.
"...Math?"
"Math?"
"Yes, senpai."
"Hmm..." Hiroto said, looking suspiciously at Kenji.
"Hey Nakayama-kun! I've got exactly what you need!" Ayaka suddenly called out from her seat. Kenji hadn't even noticed she was there, but hearing what she said, he turned to her at light speed. Kenji wouldn't admit it, but he knew Ayaka understood the reality of what was going on. Though he wasn't sure if her plan was good or not.
"Well, it's just an idea now, but I know it will work!" Ayaka said as she saw Kenji's hopeful eyes looking at her.
'I guess there's no harm in trying...' Kenji thought as he said, "Yes, Hayashi-senpai?"
"Ah, so he was thinking about that," Hiroto suddenly said, finally letting go of his 'thinking' expression.
"..." 'He knows???'
"Anyway, Hiroto-kun, show him the reports," Ayaka said to Hiroto with a sly smile.
Then Hiroto picked up some papers from the table and gave them to Kenji.
'Test papers?' Kenji thought as he looked at them.
They were test papers belonging to Saki, Yume, and Daiki. Their marks were so bad that it seemed like someone had just marked answers randomly, which, to be honest, 'It seems like they marked answers randomly...'
"As you can see, these are horrible. They're on the verge of repeating classes, maybe even expulsion if we include their now-past behavior," Ayaka said, her sly smile getting even more ominous.
"Yes, senpai," Kenji replied.
"And that's where you come in," Ayaka said, her sly smile now turning into a full-blown devil grin.
"Oh... So you're asking me to leak them question papers? I don't think they'll do any better even after that, though," Kenji replied.
"Haha— No, what?" Ayaka suddenly stopped and looked at Kenji.
"No, Nakayama-kun, that's not what she meant. That's against rules too," Hiroto said.
"Then what, Hayashi-senpai?"
"What do you do when your child doesn't study?"
"...Beat them? Or hire a tutor, I guess..."
"The second one! Yes!"
"You mean I should hire them a tutor?"
"No! You'll become one!"
"How?"
"That's where your great senpai comes in, Nakayama-kun! Tomorrow, I'm going to talk to the teachers about this. If everything goes right, you should get a notice and start the day after tomorrow!" Ayaka finished with such a proud face as if she had just conquered all of Japan.
However, instead of just ignoring her expression like usual, Kenji looked at her in awe before bowing 90 degrees and saying, "Thanks a lot, senpai!"
"Eh, don't do that! It makes me embarrassed."
"No, really, thanks a lot, senpai!"
"Let's start committee work now, guys," Hiroto cut in.
◆◇◆
The next day went normally. At the end of the day, Ayaka told Kenji that the decision was finalized and he would start teaching all three tomorrow.
"I convinced them, and since you're top of the class and all, they agreed. There's a condition though—you must not get any bad scores, or they'll stop this," Ayaka told Kenji. To Kenji, however, this wasn't a problem. He had already finished almost all of his second year's coursework a while back.
And so, D-day came.
It started normally. Kenji was doing his morning checks as usual. Saki's group had no problems, so they got in without much talk and merely contemptuous stares. Kenji continued his duties and was about to finish when—
"You fucking bastard!" he heard Saki's loud voice. As Kenji turned around, he saw Saki (and the other two) with expressions like Kenji had killed her dog.
'Did I do something?' Kenji thought as he replied, "What?" coolly.
"What? The fuck you mean what? What the hell is this!" Saki said, showing Kenji the paper with a notice about Saki's group having to attend extra classes arranged by the 'Student Disciplinary Committee.'
'Does she hate studying this much?' Kenji thought as he asked coolly, "Everything is written there. Should I explain it?"
"You did something, didn't you?! Some complaint!!" Saki accused Kenji.
'I mean... yes?' Kenji thought for a second before replying, "No, this decision was caused by your marks. And looking at them right now, you might get expelled soon." Kenji's face showed no expression.
"Bullshit! I know you have something to do with this! You like to play with us, don't you!" Saki continued to accuse Kenji. Even Daiki and Yume now seemed to think maybe Kenji had nothing to do with this, but they didn't want to stop such an angry Saki.
'If this goes on, she'll be late for class,' Kenji thought. With pure intentions, he replied to Saki, "Get back to your class. You'll be late."
Hearing this, Saki stopped, looked at Kenji in anger, and stomped off with Yume and Daiki sighing and following her.
'I wonder what will happen when she finds out I'll be teaching them...' Kenji thought. In the notice paper, there was no mention of who would teach Saki's group. The only information given was that it would be handled by the Student Disciplinary Committee.
Elsewhere, Saki said to Yume and Daiki, "I realize it now! That bastard likes to see our reactions! From now on, I will give him nothing!" she declared.
◆◇◆
And so, the time came. Kenji, knowing full well what could happen, went to fetch Saki's group himself just as classes ended. He soon found and approached them. Of course, Saki had now built a habit of realizing when Kenji was approaching them—well, as long as he didn't do it discreetly—so now they were staring at him.
"I was here—" Kenji said as he abruptly got cut off by Saki, whose face was definitely trying to hide her anger and rage and imitate Kenji's indifferent one.
"No."
"..?" Kenji just paused and stared at Saki with his indifferent face. 'Why does she look cuter than normal?'
Seeing this, Saki continued, "You can't make us study."
'But you'll fail if I don't!' Kenji thought as he replied, "Please just come. It will be bad for you if you don't."
Kenji meant it as in her and her friends repeating grades or even getting expelled. Saki saw it as a threat but didn't say anything. Inside, she got even angrier, but she was trying to hold it in.
"You could even get expelled," Kenji continued, trying to convince Saki. Saki, however, her anger finally filled to the brim, punched Kenji in the chest with her utmost force.
Kenji could have blocked it easily. But he knew Saki must loathe studying, and this was how she was venting her anger. Well, he was a little right, though her current anger was directed at him.
Of course, since Saki's punch didn't even make Kenji flinch, she got even angrier for just a millisecond before stopping, "tch"-ing, and saying,
"Whatever. We'll be in class. I hope you die. Now get the fuck out of my face."
With what Saki said, and what Kenji knew as well, Saki's friends needed no convincing now since Saki was going to come to class. So he just turned around and left.
◆◇◆
A while later, Saki's group entered the classroom designated for their classes. There, they saw Kenji standing near the teacher's spot.
Kenji had expected Saki to go haywire when she realized that Kenji would teach her, but to his surprise, she just sat down in the back seat like she knew he was the one who would teach them. Yume and Daiki also sat around her.
Then it clicked in Kenji's mind: 'They hadn't even considered the fact that other committee members would do anything, let alone teach them. That's probably why she came to the conclusion that I did something.'
"Please sit in front. You already know why," Kenji said as Saki and her friends just "tch"-ed. 'Why so many "tch"s?' Each sat in a front seat.
"Well, I'm sure we don't need any introductions, so—" Kenji said as he was cut off.
"Just start! We don't need any welcoming speech! We're busy!" Daiki interrupted.
"Yeah, start teaching so we can just fuck around and leave on time!" Saki said, taking out her smartphone.
Just then, the classroom door opened once again, and everyone turned around. Ayaka stepped in. She gave a smile to everyone before saying,
"Hello everyone! I'm Hayashi Ayaka, a third-year student and president of the Student Disciplinary Committee!"
Hearing this, Saki and her group just ignored her and turned their faces back to the board before she continued.
"And the teachers have given me two options! Either fix you or suspend you! So choose wisely!" she said with a smirk as Saki and her group turned their faces back to her again.
'Clear lie, but they don't know this. Thanks, senpai!' Kenji thought.
"Now, now! Don't worry, I'm on your side—well, as long as you're on mine!" Ayaka continued with her sly smile as she took out a small box and came toward the front of the class. By now, there was already a bit of horror toward Ayaka in Saki and her friends' minds. Mostly, caused by her face and words.
"Put your smartphones in here," Ayaka said after walking up to Saki.
Saki, holding her phone, hesitated, then looked at Ayaka's face before putting her smartphone in the box. The same happened with Yume and Daiki.
Then Ayaka walked to the back of the class and put the box with phones within everyone's view before saying,
"There. No one will touch your phones now. Just do as Nakayama-kun says. I'll be back soon." Ayaka waved goodbye and left the classroom, closing the door.
For a second, there was dead silence in the class before Daiki spoke.
"So... who is Nakayama?"
Yume had already deduced Nakayama must be Kenji by process of elimination, and Saki remembered Kenji's name because 'I'll kill him.' Daiki, however, had done neither of those.
'I hope at least she remembers...' Kenji thought before doing a fake cough.
"Oh," Daiki realized.
"So, as I was saying, you all have very bad grades. Don't worry, I will teach each of you exactly at your level, even if I have to start from addition and subtraction," Kenji said.
"Are you mocking us?" Yume asked, but Kenji ignored her and continued.
"However, for that, I must assess your level. So you each need to do these tests. Today will end with that, and tomorrow I'll come with a personalized plan for each of you."
Then Kenji gave some question papers to each of them. He had prepared them himself at home. They started from preschool level and went up to high school second year.
Saki just said, "Whatever," before starting. Daiki and Yume also began.
Kenji hadn't expected them to comply so well, but after Ayaka's appearance, everything had happened smoothly.
◆◇◆
After the time was up, Kenji took the papers. Saki's group collected their smartphones and left the classroom, throwing passive curses at Kenji, who just ignored them.
Then Kenji left with the papers for the Student Disciplinary Committee office. There, he thanked Ayaka—"Yeah, lol, no need. I'll keep coming to observe sometimes, though"—and started checking the papers. Since these papers were his, he brought them home.
Their academic level was around middle school level, but each had different strengths and weaknesses.
Saki's math was surprisingly decent up to basic algebra, but her reading comprehension was terrible. 'She gives up on long passages,' Kenji noted. 'Probably gets frustrated and stops reading.'
Daiki was the opposite—decent at language but math seemed to confuse him completely. 'He doesn't understand the fundamentals. I'll need to start from scratch.'
Yume was consistently mediocre at everything. Not terrible, not good. 'She's actually capable but doesn't care enough to try harder.'
Kenji started planning. 'Saki needs shorter, clearer instructions. Daiki needs patient math tutoring. And Yume... Yume needs motivation.'
'Tomorrow is going to be interesting,' he thought, already dreading Saki's reaction to personalized lesson plans.
'She was too cute today...'