Yukinoshita Yukino stared at Tanaka Masao. She could more or less guess what he was thinking.
For some reason, she couldn't help but ask,
"What, are you scared?"
Meeting Yukinoshita Yukino's calm gaze, Tanaka Masao felt a little nervous and couldn't help swallowing.
"Of course I'm not scared."
At a moment like this, regardless of whether Yukinoshita Yukino liked him or not, answering "not scared" was the only correct choice.
If you don't even have the courage to face rumors about yourself and her, then what's there to talk about?
"Is that so."
Yukinoshita Yukino withdrew her gaze and turned around.
"If you're not scared, then don't hide behind me. Just walk properly, openly."
"Alright."
The two of them walked side by side toward Tanaka Masao's house.
...
"I'm home."
"Sorry for intruding."
After getting home, Tanaka Masao took out a brand-new pair of slippers for Yukinoshita Yukino to change into.
As she bent down to put them on, he subconsciously glanced at her feet.
Black stockings—nice.
The bent-over Yukinoshita Yukino didn't notice Tanaka Masao's gaze and followed him into the living room.
In the center of the room was a large low table, the kind they usually used for games, studying, or crafts.
In winter, this table would be swapped out for a kotatsu, becoming a bottomless pit of human laziness.
Tatami mats covered the living room floor, with seat cushions placed nearby, so chairs weren't necessary—they could just sit directly on the floor.
That was the custom here.
The only drawback was that without a backrest, sitting too long could make your lower back ache.
Yukinoshita Yukino took a cushion and sat down in a refined side-sitting posture.
With that posture, even in a short skirt, nothing would be exposed.
Tanaka Masao set down his schoolbag and asked,
"What would you like to drink, Yukinoshita-san? Juice, milk, coffee, or black tea?"
"Juice is fine."
"Okay, just a moment."
Tanaka Masao went to the kitchen to prepare drinks and snacks.
While he was at it, the front door opened, and a lively voice rang out.
"I'm back!"
Jahy entered the living room and spotted Yukinoshita Yukino.
"Oh, Yukino, you're here."
Tanaka Masao had already told Jahy yesterday that Yukinoshita Yukino would be coming over to help her study.
So today she had deliberately come home a bit earlier.
Yukinoshita Yukino nodded in response. "Jahy, long time no see."
[It's only been a few days, but little Jahy is still just as cute.]
"Come over and sit."
She motioned for Jahy to sit beside her.
Jahy didn't think much of it and sat down next to Yukinoshita Yukino, then shouted toward the kitchen,
"Masao, I want orange juice! And bring lots of snacks too—I'm hungry."
Tanaka Masao's voice came from the kitchen.
"We're still having dinner later. You can't eat too many snacks."
"You should trust me. Even if I eat snacks, dinner will be absolutely fine. And if I don't eat enough, how am I supposed to focus on studying?"
As she spoke, Tanaka Masao came over carrying two glasses of juice.
"No means no. There's a daily limit on snacks—you can't eat more than that."
Ignoring Jahy's puffed-up cheeks, Tanaka Masao went back and returned with two pieces of cake.
One was large, one was small.
The large one went to Yukinoshita Yukino; the smaller one went to Jahy.
Jahy compared the two cakes and immediately felt indignant.
"Why aren't the two cakes the same?"
"Because you're a kid. Kids have smaller appetites, so you eat the smaller one."
"My appetite isn't small! I want the big piece too!"
Before Jahy could continue making a fuss, Yukinoshita Yukino proactively switched cakes with her.
"Here, Jahy, take this one. It just so happens I don't want to eat too much."
Seeing the suddenly larger piece of cake, Jahy's eyes lit up instantly.
"Thank you, Yukino! I like you the most!"
Then she made a provocative face at Tanaka Masao and happily started enjoying her cake.
Tanaka Masao felt a bit helpless.
"Yukinoshita-san, aren't you spoiling Jahy a little too much?"
Jahy's casual "I like you the most" was enough to completely fill Yukinoshita Yukino's satisfaction meter, and she replied unconcernedly,
"It's not that big a difference. Letting Jahy eat a bit more is fine."
If she weren't worried about cake being unhealthy in excess, she might've even given Jahy her own portion as well.
Yukinoshita Yukino scooped up a small bite of cake and put it in her mouth, savoring the sweetness.
She then looked at Tanaka Masao.
Unlike the juice prepared for the two girls, his cup contained bright green vegetable juice.
And what he was eating was a piece of jerky that looked incredibly tough.
Both were suitable foods for dieting.
But taste-wise… that was another matter.
Vegetable juice didn't need much explanation—most people didn't like it.
The jerky tasted okay, but it was way too hard.
One stick could take an hour to finish.
Even Jahy refused to eat it—it was just too exhausting.
Watching Tanaka Masao pinch his nose, take a sip of vegetable juice, and slightly twist his face in discomfort, Yukinoshita Yukino suddenly felt that he looked kind of pitiful.
That said, she had no intention of sympathizing with him.
Since he had decided to lose weight, pain and sacrifice were only natural.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many people who failed at dieting.
...
After more than ten minutes, the three finished their afternoon tea, tidied up the table, and began today's study session.
Tanaka Masao first took the short test Yukinoshita Yukino had prepared for him.
It was to check how effective his studying had been.
While Tanaka Masao was working on the test, Yukinoshita Yukino assessed Jahy's actual level.
Only by doing so could she come up with an appropriate plan.
After a round of checking, she realized that something about Jahy's situation was… odd.
It was very obvious that Jahy's foundation was poor—there were many things she didn't know at all.
But as long as it was something written in the textbook, she could answer it.
After thinking for a moment, Yukinoshita Yukino came to a conclusion she wasn't entirely confident about.
"Jahy… have you memorized everything in the textbook?"
Hearing this, Jahy replied matter-of-factly,
"Of course. I read the book once, so I remembered everything inside."
Unlike what Tanaka Masao had imagined—Jahy being an idiot—
As the second-in-command of the Demon Realm, Jahy's intellectual talent was absolutely top-tier.
Even though she had lost her powers now, that didn't affect her brain in the slightest.
Photographic memory was trivial for her.
(⊙o⊙) What?!
Tanaka Masao, who had been working on his test, suddenly looked up.
"What did you say—you're a genius with photographic memory?"
"What, is there a problem?"
Seeing Tanaka Masao's shock, Jahy wore an expression that said wow, you've really never seen the world.
What was there to be surprised about over something so small?