Goto Hitori looked at the message from Tanaka Masao, lost in thought.
She thought of how she felt when flipping through her photo album; seeing her old photos indeed made her recall the experiences from that time, and...
Tanaka Masao said 'many years from now,' ah, he was actually willing to remain friends with her forever, which was wonderful.
"Alright then, Tanaka, you can keep it, but you absolutely must not show it to anyone else."
"Don't worry, Bocchi-chan, shall we create more interesting memories?
To commemorate us, how about we name it 'Bocchi-chan's Collection of Dark History'?"
"Tanaka is a bad guy! I don't want any 'Collection of Dark History'!"
Tanaka Masao shook his head. Goto Hitori was just so timid; she didn't even dare to have a collection of dark history.
Just imagine the exhilarating and blood-boiling shame of one's dark history being dug up years later.
Oh, of course, the excited person wouldn't be the one with the dark history, but the one revealing others' dark history.
"Bocchi-chan, no matter what, I think you should study hard."
"Why?"
"Don't you know that if you fail your exams, you'll be kept at school for Make-up classes (make-up classes) during summer vacation?
Instead of a leisurely summer vacation, you'd be stuck at school for make-up classes, especially with Bocchi-chan's house being so far from school.
Or does Bocchi-chan's school not have such a rule?"
"There is... it seems there really is such a rule."
Goto Hitori thought about such a painful summer vacation and immediately felt like life wasn't worth living.
"Tanaka, what should I do? I don't want to have make-up classes during summer vacation. Should I just drop out?
Anyway, I wasn't too keen on going to school in the first place. I might as well just stay at home all day, hehe..."
"Hey, hey, Bocchi-chan, snap out of it! Staying at home all the time will make you useless."
"But I don't want to have make-up classes during summer vacation."
"Cough, cough, Bocchi-chan, since you've encountered a difficulty, why don't you ask the amazing Tanaka?"
"Tanaka, you have a solution?"
"Cough, cough, humble me got a perfect score on this midterm exam, so tutoring you is more than enough."
"What's a 'perfect score'? Is it delicious?"
A person cannot imagine things beyond their cognitive scope. Getting a perfect score on an exam clearly exceeded Goto Hitori's mental comprehension.
"Bocchi-chan, a 'perfect score' means getting every single question right."
"Seriously, Tanaka, you're joking again. How could something like that happen?
Ah haha, I won't be fooled by you every time."
"Oh my, Bocchi-chan, you don't believe in my abilities? Well, just you watch."
Several photos were sent over, which were Tanaka Masao's test papers.
Looking at the striking three-digit number on the test paper, Goto Hitori felt her eyes were about to go blind because it was too dazzling.
"Ah, what is this? Why does such a sacred thing exist in the world?
Tanaka, you're not actually human, are you? You're a god."
"It's not as exaggerated as you say, Bocchi-chan. A perfect score is simple.
My two friends, the two you just saw in the photos, also got perfect scores on their exams.
So, this kind of thing is quite common."
Tanaka Masao only knew a few people in total, and three of them got perfect scores on their exams. How could it not be considered common?
Goto Hitori was also a bit stunned. Was that unattainable perfect score really so common?
It must be because she had no friends and too little experience.
Speaking of which, is my poor academic performance now due to not having friends? After I make friends, I should also be able to get perfect scores easily.
Goto Hitori began her fantasy time again.
Making friends, getting perfect scores on exams, becoming popular, and from then on, reaching the pinnacle of life...
"So, Bocchi-chan, do you need me to tutor you?"
"Then I'll leave everything to you, Teacher Tanaka."
"My teaching and guidance, Teacher, are very strict, Bocchi-chan, so you must persevere."
"Mm, I will try my best."
Tanaka Masao successfully enticed another good child who loved learning and yearned for improvement.
Should he put the two of them together or separate them?
Only children make choices; as an adult, he naturally chose to have them all.
He would conduct individual tutoring, and when the time was right, he would also bring them together.
Cough, cough, Tanaka Masao wasn't doing it for anything else. Teaching separately was for individualized instruction, and teaching together was to improve efficiency. This was very demanding.
Tanaka Masao was like this; Goto Hitori and Kawasaki Saki just had to accept it obediently, while Tanaka Masao had much more to consider: reasonably arranging time, allocating resources...
During the next class, Tanaka Masao still chose not to listen and continued chatting on his phone.
Compared to Fujiwara Chika, who was not yet willing to completely degenerate, Goto Hitori was much more self-aware.
Anyway, she couldn't understand the class, so she might as well chat with Tanaka Masao to deepen their relationship.
While the two were deepening their relationship, Fujiwara Chika, perhaps finding class boring after getting a perfect score, also couldn't bear the loneliness and came to chat with Tanaka Masao.
Although dealing with two people at once made Tanaka Masao's fingers a bit tired, seeing the two girls so happy because of his efforts made him feel that any hardship was worth it.
...
Soon, it was time for school to end. Tanaka Masao, for the first time in a while, came to the Service Club, intending to resume his weight loss journey.
Yukinoshita Yukino smiled as she watched Tanaka Masao walk in.
"Oh, it's Tanaka-kin. You ran out crying at noon, so I thought you wouldn't come back after school.
Isn't this what they call 'saying no with your mouth, but your body is very honest'?"
Tanaka Masao raised an eyebrow.
"Let me state upfront that I didn't cry. Also, Xuezhixia Classmate, where did you hear that phrase?"
Could it be that Yukinoshita Yukino secretly reads those kinds of books in private?
My Xuezhixia Classmate couldn't possibly be that vulgar.
Yukinoshita Yukino tilted her head.
"I saw it online while playing on my phone. Is something wrong with it?"
Looking at Yukinoshita Yukino's expression, Tanaka Masao breathed a sigh of relief. So, she was just an innocent person who didn't understand the innuendo.
"Nothing's wrong, it's just that I didn't say no with my mouth."
The innocent Yukinoshita Yukino couldn't understand the hidden meaning in Tanaka Masao's mind, which was full of vulgar thoughts.
She still remembered the humiliation of Tanaka Masao completing a 'gekokujō' (overthrowing one's superior) and calling her 'Yukinoshita Second Miss'.
During class that afternoon, she had already formulated a comprehensive and reliable (inhumane) training plan.
"Enjoy it, Tanaka-kin."