Chapter 67: I Really Do Love Studying
Early summer sunlight streamed through the windows, gently filling the living room.
Yu held Sasuko in his arms, patiently explaining the complex formulas of the Flying Thunder God technique.
Sasuko occasionally nuzzled his chest with her head, her delicate nose taking in his scent.
"Pay attention," Yu lightly tapped her forehead. "Don't act spoiled."
"Okay..." Sasuko responded verbally, but her gaze gradually drifted from the scroll.
Sunlight happened to fall on Yu's profile, dyeing his long eyelashes golden.
Sasuko watched Yu's focused explanation, unconsciously becoming mesmerized.
His moving lips, the slight tremor of his throat, and those gentle eyes—everything was more captivating than the obscure ninjutsu.
She seemed to understand why groups of girls used to pester Yu to explain jutsu to them, even though Yu was called dead-last back then...
"Sasuko," Yu finished a section, "did you understand that part?"
No response.
He looked down to find his sister staring at him with dreamy eyes, completely lost in thought.
The formulas on the scroll were no longer in her field of vision.
"Spacing out again?" Yu helplessly pinched her nose tip.
"Huh?"
Sasuko suddenly snapped back to reality, blushing as she frantically pointed at the scroll, randomly jabbing at a spot: "Here... I didn't understand this part!"
Yu gently pinched Sasuko's soft cheeks: "The formulas aren't written on my face—look at the scroll."
"Do you stare at your teacher's face and daydream in class too?"
Sasuko immediately flushed red: "I do not!"
"I was just thinking about this coordinate conversion problem..." her voice grew smaller and smaller.
Yu raised an eyebrow at her: "Then tell me, what chakra resonance frequency did I just explain for Flying Thunder God markers?"
"Uh..." Sasuko's eyes darted around, "About... the same as Great Fireball?"
"Not even close." Yu lightly flicked her forehead. "You were definitely spacing out in class, weren't you?"
Sasuko covered her forehead and muttered: "It's all because Yu..."
"Hmm?"
"Nothing!" Sasuko quickly sat up properly in Yu's arms. "Keep explaining!"
Seeing Sasuko's absent-minded state, Yu thought perhaps holding her was preventing her from concentrating.
He gently stood up and placed Sasuko on the chair across from him.
"Yu, what are you doing?" Sasuko urgently grabbed his hand, not letting go.
"Creating a study atmosphere for you." Yu smiled as he pulled his hand back. "Always staying in my arms, no wonder you keep spacing out."
Sasuko pouted pitifully, looking longingly at the suddenly empty embrace.
Though the chair had soft cushions, it felt much colder and harder than before.
She tried to protest with her eyes, but found Yu had already reopened the scroll with a businesslike demeanor.
"Now let's continue." Yu deliberately avoided looking at her spoiled expression. "We were discussing the stability of chakra markers..."
Sasuko swung her legs in defiance, but her attention actually began to focus on the formulas.
Though she'd occasionally steal glances at Yu who had suddenly become strict—he'd been gently holding her while explaining just moments ago.
When Sasuko got a basic question wrong for the third time, Yu finally tapped the table helplessly: "I really do need to supervise your studying."
Sasuko stared at Yu's shadow cast on the tatami and suddenly said quietly: "...I can't learn anything if Yu doesn't hold me."
Just as Yu was about to speak, Sasuko had already jumped down from the chair and snuggled back to his side: "This is perfect! I promise to listen carefully!"
Seeing her expectant expression, Yu found it both adorable and helpless—this child was far too good at acting spoiled.
He deliberately put on a stern face: "After I finish explaining, there's a quiz. If you can't write the answers, you'll have to sit properly and listen to lessons from now on."
Sasuko nodded repeatedly, eyes sparkling: "Mm-hmm! Don't worry, I'm super attentive in class!"
Yu pulled her back into his arms, his forehead gently touching her small head.
Sasuko's faint fragrance reached his nose as he softened his voice: "There, are you satisfied? Now you need to listen properly to class."
Sasuko snuggled contentedly against his chest like a satisfied kitten: "Mm-hmm!"
Sunlight cast their embracing silhouettes on the scroll as Yu continued explaining Flying Thunder God's key points.
This time Sasuko was indeed much more focused, though she'd still secretly nuzzle his chin with the top of her head, but at least she could accurately answer spatial coordinate calculation formulas.
When the clock pointed to eleven, Yu gently closed the scroll: "Now then—the quiz begins."
Sasuko suddenly came back to her senses, feeling as if only an instant had passed: "Yu, explain a bit more... I still don't quite understand some parts."
Yu raised an eyebrow at her: "Who was it that said 'I'm super attentive in class' just now?"
"Mmm..." Sasuko buried her face in his chest acting spoiled, "It really is difficult..." Her voice was muffled in the fabric with a coquettish nasal tone. "You said you studied it for a long time too..."
Seeing her acting spoiled, Yu couldn't help pinching Sasuko's little cheeks: "Fine, last 20 minutes. But..."
"If you fail the quiz, starting tomorrow you'll really have to keep your distance during lessons."
Sasuko immediately sat up straight, pretending to study the scroll seriously while secretly glancing at Yu's face.
When Yu resumed explaining, she quietly slipped her small hand into his palm—this way even if she occasionally spaced out, she could be pulled back immediately.
Warm times always passed quickly.
"Alright, time's really up this time." Yu gently placed Sasuko on the opposite seat, ignoring her reluctant little eyes as he decisively pulled back his gripped clothing. "Fifteen minutes to write out the key points I just explained."
"Fifteen minutes?" Sasuko exclaimed. "That's too short! What if I can't write it all?"
Yu chuckled, his fingertip tapping the table: "Then you'll sit properly for all future ninjutsu lessons."
Like a magic trick, he produced a timing hourglass and flipped it on the table: "Timer starts now."
The sound of fine sand trickling made Sasuko immediately nervous.
She hurriedly spread out white paper, but her pen tip hovered in mid-air—she'd been too busy smelling Yu's scent and couldn't remember some parts clearly.
"Coordinate conversion is..." She bit her pen and stole a glance at Yu, discovering he was watching her with an amused expression. She quickly lowered her head and pretended to write.
The sand in the hourglass grew less and less, making Sasuko sweat with anxiety.
Just as the last grain was about to fall, she suddenly had an inspiration and quickly scrawled the final formula.
"Time's up." Yu reached to collect the paper, but Sasuko pressed it down firmly: "Let me check once more!"
"No can do." Yu easily pulled away the test paper and glanced at it before laughing. "Miss Sasuko..."
He pointed to a barely dry formula: "This energy conservation equation—did you just draw an equal sign arrow for my original words 'chakra consumption is proportional to transmission distance'?"
Sasuko blushed and lunged forward to grab the test: "The meaning is about the same!"
Yu didn't let her succeed.
He continued carefully checking the paper, surprised to find that aside from that abstract equal sign arrow, all other key points were actually correct. Even the most complex spatial coordinate calculation formula was completely transcribed.
"Sasuko..." He couldn't help ruffling his sister's hair. "You're clearly very smart, so why do you always space out?"
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