Chapter 479: Aren't You Too Good at Picking Up Girls? (5)

"It seems like we came at the wrong time."

Yotsuba's head peeked through the door, the bow on her head bouncing like rabbit ears, giving her an adorable, slightly goofy look.

One by one, four other identical faces appeared behind her, each with their own distinct expression.

Ichika's face showed curiosity, while Itsuki glared at Sui, her expression practically spelling out "pervert." Nino scoffed lightly, her eyes filled with disdain, and Miku puffed out her cheeks in a sulky pout, her gaze holding a trace of resentment.

Utaha, feeling somewhat awkward, quickly climbed off Sui, smoothed her clothes, and returned to her usual composed demeanor as the quiet and elegant literature department student.

"Uh... what are you all doing here?" Sui asked, a bit confused.

"Oh, sorry! The door was open, so I figured I'd let us in," Yotsuba raised her hand and called out cheerfully.

"I asked them to come for a tutoring session today," Utaha explained, her face turning red. 'How could I have forgotten about that?'

'If they saw that, wouldn't my reputation be ruined?' she worried.

Sensing her embarrassment, Sui rolled his eyes at her. 'Reputation? When did you ever care about that?'

Feeling his gaze, Utaha's cheeks flushed even more. Out of embarrassment, she subtly stepped on Sui's foot under the table.

Still, she was pleased that all five sisters had shown up, making her feel more and more like a sensei.

"Um, Utaha-sensei, if you aren't done yet, we don't mind waiting outside," Ichika offered, raising her hand.

"No, we're done. Let's get started," Utaha responded calmly, standing up. She grabbed the prepared handouts from the desk and distributed them.

As she sat down, though, a creeping feeling of unease hit her.

'Wait... did I say something wrong?'

Sure enough, the moment she looked up, everyone—including Sui—was staring at her with a strange look in their eyes.

"The idea of studying here is making me feel sick," Itsuki grumbled as she took her seat with a disgusted expression.

"Are you sure this place won't have weird stains?" Nino asked with a grimace, wiping down her seat with a tissue before sitting down.

Utaha felt the heat rise to her face, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. She pretended not to notice their judgmental gazes and cleared her throat. "I'm very pleased that all five of you are here today. It shows that you're serious about passing your exams."

Sui couldn't help but feel a little weirded out by the situation too. While it made sense for Ichika, Yotsuba, and Miku to show up—they were usually cooperative—he was surprised to see Itsuki, who clearly had her eyes on the snacks. And as for Nino...

"Why are you staring at my stomach like that?" Itsuki puffed out her cheeks and glared at Sui, visibly irritated.

Sui sighed, feeling a little exasperated. 'Is she really that sensitive about her weight?'

"But Nino, I didn't expect to see you here today," Sui remarked.

"Hmph! Everyone else was coming, and I didn't want to be the only one left at home. That'd be boring, so I tagged along," Nino said with her legs crossed, her tone filled with her usual bossy attitude.

"Is that really the only reason?" Sui asked, clearly skeptical.

"Of course!" Nino snapped, turning her head away with a huff. After a moment of hesitation, a faint blush crept onto her face. "Oh, and... that rice ball you made last time was really good. I was thinking... it'd be nice if you could teach me how to make it. Not that I want to learn it for myself or anything, but Yotsuba and Itsuki have been asking for it."

Sui chuckled softly, finding her roundabout way of asking rather amusing.

He nodded. "Sure, but you have to finish today's tutoring first."

"Fine," Nino grumbled, crossing her legs again, her tone impatient but agreeable.

Utaha, who had been watching the interaction, glanced at Sui with her deep wine-red eyes but said nothing.

With a calm expression, she opened the handouts. "Let's start the session. If any of you have questions from last time, feel free to ask."

"Hey, Sui," Ichika called out, raising her hand with a mischievous smile. "Who do you think has the better figure—me or Utaha-sensei?"

"Ichika! You can't ask something like that!" Itsuki yelled, her face flushed with embarrassment.

"Is that really a question for class?" Utaha's expression darkened, clearly annoyed.

"Haha, I was just curious!" Ichika laughed, thoroughly enjoying herself.

The others perked up too, clearly intrigued, though they tried to act nonchalant.

"Well then, Sui, go ahead and answer Ichika's question," Utaha said in a deadpan voice. "But let's avoid asking such questions in the future."

Sui rolled his eyes. 'Yeah, like you don't want to know the answer too.'

"Well, if I had to say... it's about the same," Sui said after thinking for a moment. Utaha was taller, but Ichika was more, well, voluptuous.

"What kind of vague answer is that?" Ichika complained, dissatisfied.

Utaha pursed her lips, clearly unimpressed as well.

The others shared the same sentiment, but they let it slide.

With the initial Q&A out of the way, Utaha finally started the lesson.

Sui sat next to her, casually picking up a light novel to read while she taught.

Today's lesson was Japanese, undoubtedly Utaha's best subject. Although she usually read light novels, she had a broad understanding of literature.

However, today she found it hard to concentrate.

Because Miku kept staring at her, her gaze unusually sharp.

This puzzled Utaha. Normally, Miku never gave her much trouble. She neither cooperated nor resisted her lessons, making her a bit of a headache to teach. But today, there was something different—Miku was expressing some clear emotion for the first time.

'Why is that?' Utaha wondered. 'Maybe I should test something...'

She subtly leaned against Sui.

Immediately, Miku's lips puffed out in a pout.

Utaha then rested her hand on Sui's thigh.

Miku frowned, her eyes narrowing even more.

Next, Utaha placed her leg over Sui's.

Miku's face turned red like a steamed bun, and metaphorical steam almost seemed to rise from her head.

Utaha sighed inwardly. 'My dear kohai, aren't you too good at picking up girls?'