204. Teaching Them

The next day, Izumi woke up a bit late due to overtime on his project. He just went to bed at 4 am and forgot to turn on the alarm. He woke up at 8:40, with only 20 minutes left until the exam started. He quickly got up and got ready to go to school.

Just before he left the house, his mother called him.

"Izumi, don't you want to have breakfast first?"

"No, I'm already late. Only 10 minutes left. I'm going."

"Ah, be careful on your way!"

Izumi, who was running toward the school, kept his speed under control. His running was so fast in the eyes of normal people, however, his speed was still considered logical to normal people in general. No one would think that he had superpowers.

With that, he arrived at the school's gate just 5 minutes from his house.

When Izumi was in the locker room to change his shoes, someone called him.

"Miyamura!"

The one calling out to Izumi was Tōru, his classmate. Tōru looked at Izumi with a sympathetic face, then he tried to pat Izumi on the head. But, out of reflex, he avoided it.

"What's up so suddenly? And what with that look of yours?"

"You bastard, are you so depressed that you even skipped school?"

Izumi kept his cool without changing his expression. Then, he tilted his head as if he didn't know what Tōru's meant.

"What the hell are you talking about? Where do I look depressed?"

"Don't pretend you don't know. Didn't you skip school after breaking up with Hori?"

"Ah, so that's what you mean? Well, I happen to have other things to do. It's just a coincidence. Seriously." Izumi denied it by waving his hand. His expression looked like he wasn't lying. However, what Tōru said was right. He just wanted to forget the bitter feeling that caused him to run away from earth. At least, he didn't feel that way at the moment.

Izumi already changed his shoes and walked toward his class. Tōru followed him from behind and asked.

"You're pretty good at making excuses, Miyamura. Anyway, what exactly happened, why did you suddenly break up?"

"Did you ask her already?"

"She didn't tell me."

"Then, why did you think I would tell you?"

"We are friends, are we?"

"Well, the exam is about to start, let's get to class!"

Izumi changed the subject while walking faster and left Tōru behind.

"Hey, wait!"

— — — —

Time went by.

The exam for the day was over. The students walked out of the class with various expressions. Some were happy, some were worried, and some didn't care about the exam earlier.

From Izumi's class, there were Tōru, Hiroyuki, and Shou who scratched their heads in frustration. It seemed this exam didn't go well for them.

Hiroyuki and Shou were Izumi's classmates as well. Hiroyuki had spiky black hair shaved on each side. And Shou was a tanned boy with black hair. The two were reserve members of the school football club's B team. Izumi was one of them as well.

Due to Izumi's good performance at the school sports festival, he got a direct invitation from the coach of the football club.

However, he always skipped training, so the coach still played him on a B team even though his football skill was good enough to join the A team.

Well, it couldn't be helped. Izumi himself didn't want to play seriously since he had other things to do besides playing football.

"What's up with you guys? Are there lice in your hair?"

In response to Izumi's question, Hiroyuki said,

"If I have, I'll throw them all to you."

Tōru saw Izumi's calm expression which made him ask.

"Didn't you have trouble with the exam earlier?"

Tōru's question caught the attention of Hiroyuki and Shou, and they both looked at Izumi simultaneously to wait for Izumi's answer.

"Trouble? Why should I feel troubled?"

"You..!!!"

"I don't remember that Izumi I knew was a smart person."

"Don't tell me you carelessly answer exam questions and don't care whether your answer is right or wrong?"

Hiroyuki, Tōru, and Shou felt that Izumi was being possessed. They remembered well that Izumi often slept in class. Not only that, but he also rarely held a book. So it was only natural that they felt strange toward Izumi's expression.

Well, they didn't know that Izumi could remember all the contents of a book's pages with a single glance. If Izumi said that to the three of them, they would be freaked out.

Just as he was about to answer, he saw Kyouko. At the same time, Kyouko also saw him. The two stared at each other for a moment. Izumi wanted to call out to Kyouko, but she immediately looked away as it was clear she wanted to avoid him.

"What the heck. Even if she doesn't want to date me again, at least don't act like that. This situation became awkward now." Izumi complained in his heart. Izumi himself wanted to try to make up. Not to date anymore, but to be friends. The two of them were in the same class. If she didn't want to make up with him, Izumi would feel uncomfortable being in the same class as her.

Tōru, Hiroyuki, and Shou noticed that Izumi was looking at Kyouko. They are sensitive to the situation so they try to be quiet. As Izumi sighed after Kyouko left, who seemed to be avoiding Izumi, they started talking. Tōru was the first one to ask.

"Seriously, what happened to both of you?"

Then, Hiroyuki and Shou followed after.

"Yeah, both of you seemed fine the other day. How come you suddenly broke up?"

"It's kinda weird if you broke up with her without reason."

Izumi didn't know what to say, so he said.

"Can you guys not talk about it?" Izumi smiled bitterly.

They looked at each other after they saw Izumi's expression.

"Well, if you don't want to talk now, that's fine. But let us know later, okay!" Tōru said while wrapping his arm around Izumi's shoulder. The others also followed suit to cheer him up. Meanwhile, Izumi changed the topic.

"By the way, you three look like you're having a hard time during the test. Do you need any help with the subjects for tomorrow's exam?"

"Are you sure you aren't trolling right now?"

"How can I? What do you think, Hiroyuki, and Shou? The football club will hold a summer training camp. If your test scores are not good, what will you do? You will be left behind because you have to take the remedial test."

Hiroyuki and Shou also knew that there would be a summer training camp. And what Izumi said was true. If they got a red mark, it meant they would be left for the summer training camp.

"Can you really help?"

In response to Hiroyuki's question, Izumi turned around and started walking home while waving his hand. Then, he said,

"You're free to judge whether I can help you or not. If you want, you can come to my house! If not, then try hard yourselves to not get a red score!"

Hiroyuki and Shou were a bit hesitant, today's exam was difficult but still manageable. Whereas tomorrow's exam would be more difficult for them. It wouldn't hurt to get help from Izumi after seeing his confident expression. In the end, the two of them followed Izumi. Tōru thought that studying together would be better, so he went together with them as well.

— — — —

They arrived at Izumi's house, the house looked deserted since his mother was at the shop and Mafuyu was still at school. Izumi invited them inside and led them to his room.

When Tōru, Hiroyuki, and Shou entered the room, they were shocked because Izumi's room was full of things like devices or mechanisms, which were Izumi's experimental items.

"Sorry, my room is a little messy. I haven't had time to clean it yet."

"Well, it's okay Miyamura, I'm just surprised that your room has so many things like this."

"Call me Izumi is okay, you know."

They weren't too suspicious of Izumi's things because those didn't look strange. After all, those were only used items from his experiments. Izumi also answered so when his friends asked.

For two hours, Izumi taught them everything for tomorrow's exam. At first, they were doubtful, but when everything that was taught by him was easy to understand, they believed in him. They just didn't think that Izumi was smart enough to teach them.

When they get a bit bored, they stop studying and talk about something. Izumi also brought them a lot of food and drinks too. Even though it was Izumi who ate more food.

"By the way Izumi, your body seems a little bit muscular. Or is that just my imagination?"

Unexpectedly, Tōru asked after seeing Izumi devour a lot of food. He was also surprised when he ate so much at school. Only at that time, he did not have time to ask.

"Hmmm, I'm certainly a bit more muscular than before." Izumi replied. Then, he added, "Or do you want me to be skinny forever?"

In response to Izumi's words, the three of them just laughed.