338 Let’s Do It Together

Kyousuke turned to Katou Megumi and said in a meaningful tone, "Katou-san…"

"Hmm? What is it?" Katou tilted her head slightly as she turned around, her neatly cropped hair swaying softly.

"The next time someone's just rambling on and on for their own amusement," Kyousuke advised, "just say, 'That's a nice watch you've got there.'"

"Ehh~~?" Katou blinked in confusion. "But Hojou, neither you nor Yukinoshita-san are wearing watches…"

"It's a saying from Kyoto," Kyousuke explained with a smirk. "It basically means, 'Maybe take a look at the time before going on like that.'"

Yukinoshita stepped in to clarify further.

As someone whose future goals included working for a think tank, her "common knowledge database" naturally covered cultural idioms too—including the uniquely passive-aggressive language of Kyoto.

But after saying it, even Yukinoshita couldn't hold back a chuckle.

Realizing that the phrase could very well apply to herself as one of the "ramblers," she quickly lifted her hand to her mouth to cover her laugh—a gesture that made her look unexpectedly charming.

And yet, when she thought about how Hojou was teaching Katou how to sass him, a clear, melodic laugh slipped through her fingers once again.

"Oooh, I see~~" Katou nodded thoughtfully, mentally noting down the phrase—though she had no plans to use it at a family gathering.

If her parents or cousin Keiichi didn't understand the meaning, it wouldn't land.

And if they did understand… well, the focus of the gathering might shift from praising her cousin to, "What happened to Megumi? She used to be such a good girl."

Just imagining it made her shudder.

If that ever happened, then every future family gathering that celebrated successful male relatives would become a chance to subtly compare them to her—"Not like Katou-san, poor grades and bad attitude."

Her sisters might even get dragged into it.

'Megumi, you'd be a criminal to your entire family line!'

No, better to save it for when Yukinoshita-san starts talking non-stop again.

The thought made her smile internally.

"All right, time to get down to business," Yukinoshita said briskly. "Katou-san, so I can create an effective study plan for you, please share your current academic progress, your last exam scores, and your ranking."

Her words snapped Megumi out of her thoughts.

For a moment, she wondered if she had walked into a private cram school instead of a casual study session.

Well-known cram schools often ask visiting students about their academic history, current scores, and target schools before offering realistic assessments of how far they can help.

Yukinoshita, it seemed, could rival the best of them.

'She's amazing… she can do anything.'

As Yukinoshita stared at her seriously, her pale blue eyes exuding a quiet intensity, Katou felt a wave of pressure crash over her.

But… something about this felt off.

This wasn't the warm, relaxing afterschool atmosphere she had imagined—it was more like being dropped into a test-prep boot camp.

Still, under Yukinoshita's quiet but forceful presence, Katou didn't even have time to glance at Kyousuke for help.

She hastily took the blank paper Yukinoshita handed her and started filling it out.

Except… it wasn't exactly blank. Yukinoshita had already written sections: name, grade, math, literature, last exam ranking… and more.

Katou's eyes began to blur from the sheer amount of data, but she didn't dare ask if it was all necessary.

She was afraid the imaginary "spikes" on Yukinoshita's aura might stab her if she questioned it.

Once Yukinoshita entered "focused mode," she became like a runaway bullet train without brakes—anything and anyone in her way would be either knocked aside or crushed.

That was the pressure both Kyousuke and Katou could feel clearly.

Yukinoshita wasn't like other girls.

She didn't use her femininity to gain favor—she was stronger and more self-reliant than most men.

Megumi could sense Yukinoshita's high standards just from the form alone.

And she knew those standards weren't aimed solely at others. If they were, Yukinoshita would've let her fill it out and added notes later.

But no—Yukinoshita first held herself to that standard.

She didn't allow even the tiniest slip in her own thinking.

'…She's beautiful.'

As the soft scratching of her pencil echoed on the paper, Megumi quietly mused.

Snow-like and solitary, Yukinoshita's beauty didn't need validation from anyone.

Megumi didn't doubt for a second—if working ten times harder would get her the top spot without lifting a finger, Yukinoshita would sacrifice sleep and food to make it happen.

They said the Service Club wasn't a wish-granting machine—they only provided help.

Whether the wish came true or not depended on the client.

But what Megumi felt now was that Yukinoshita wasn't trying to draw out her potential…

She was overexerting herself for Megumi's sake.

Wasn't that… lonely?

Even something so inherently mutual as taking on a request, Yukinoshita turned into a solitary mission. What kind of life must she lead?

Megumi's thoughts trailed off as she reached parts of the form she didn't know how to answer.

'Math II progress? Umm… we've covered quadratic equations, and trigonometric inequalities, and then…'

'Does anyone really think about this stuff outside of exams?!'

As Megumi struggled to fill in the sheet, Yukinoshita turned to Kyousuke.

"If possible, I'd like to compare her to another second-year student at Toyogasaki Academy—someone ranked roughly 100 places above her."

Her voice wasn't forceful, but there was a precision to it, like every person was a cog being set into their rightful place.

That was Yukinoshita Yukino—efficient, direct, perfectionist.

Megumi looked up, slightly put out.

"Uhh, Yukinoshita-san, my grades aren't that bad, you know~ If I move up a hundred ranks, I'd be in the top 20 of the year."

"Perfect. That's exactly the range we planned for," Yukinoshita nodded calmly.

If there were a war table in front of her, she'd be the general listening to her subordinates report on enemy movement.

"But still, top 20? That's no small feat," Megumi said, without a hint of self-deprecation.

She was the perfect kind of ordinary—honest and open about her situation.

"That was before. Now, you have me."

Yukinoshita said it plainly. Her tone was so unwavering, it was like a blade that could split Mount Fuji in two.

"…"

Megumi said nothing more, bowing her head again.

She did know people in the top 20.

Three of them were in her class—two girls and one boy—all popular students, second only to the soccer club members in terms of school status.

Kyousuke, himself didn't look particularly impressed by Yukinoshita's confidence.

Compared to Yukinoshita—who had always lived in her ivory tower—even without memories of his past life, this version of him had already been facing the real world since junior high.

There were so many people like that—those who took one look at his youthful face and assumed he couldn't afford a luxury home.

Those who saw his handsome face and assumed he was all flash and no substance.

Those who mistook his modesty for mediocrity and believed he could never win an award as a writer…

People with absolute confidence in their judgments—he'd met too many of them. And in the end, he proved every single one of them wrong.

Of course, one person didn't fall into that category—Yukinoshita Yukino, who had looked at his dancing skills and shown only despair.

He didn't bother asking her why she wanted a comparison student instead of just asking Megumi directly.

Instead, he simply pulled out his phone and opened his chat with Kisaki.

———————————————————————

"I need you to find the ranking sheet from Toyogasaki Academy's second-year opening exam. Right away."

———————————————————————

Typed. Sent.

He had originally planned to attend Toyogasaki himself, so many of his people were stationed there.

Looking back, that decision had been incredibly foresighted.

If he had enrolled at Toyogasaki, gathering intel on Yukinoshita from Soubu High would have been far more troublesome.

"Having trouble?" Yukinoshita asked in her usual calm tone.

She didn't mean to put Hojou on the spot.

In fact, the ever-considerate Yukinoshita was trying to give him a sense of involvement.

After all, like she said before, if she really wanted to, she could handle everything alone.

"You could try asking Sawamura-san for help," she suggested.

Kyousuke's expression darkened immediately.

'Eriri…'

Yeah, no. That girl was terrible at English. And math. And her Japanese grades weren't much better either.

She had completely let herself go over the break.

At this point, he doubted she even remembered how to write "school starts."

Kyousuke had worked hard to get her grades up right before the semester began—just to maintain her image as the "perfect young lady."

One week of daily tutoring had left her once radiant, art-piece-level golden hair dull and lifeless, and her porcelain skin dried out like overworked clay.

Anyone who saw her during that time would've felt heartbroken.

And now?

Kyousuke turned his head toward the living room, where the blonde otaku in question was lounging on the couch, arms draped around two younger girls, shouting about anime plotlines and cramming her face with handfuls of potato chips like a woman possessed.

At this point, he was seriously wondering if she even remembered how to spell her own name in English.

He shook his head.

No point saying anything.

Eriri's academic efforts were purely for the sake of maintaining her image as a "perfect ojou-sama."

Honestly, even if she ranked dead last in the year, it wouldn't take away from her charm one bit.

Just then, a message came in from Kisaki.

Not only did it include the full ranking board from the school's public display, but also detailed scores for about twenty or thirty students across different ranks.

In Japan, schools almost never reveal students' exact scores publicly.

If that ever happened, the parents would storm the PTA with lawsuits citing everything from privacy concerns to mental health risks.

Kyousuke skimmed the list. Even Eriri's name was there.

No surprise—she was such a prominent figure at school that maintaining her grades was practically a PR necessity.

Ranked 53rd, in a grade with over 200 students, her position was actually quite good. At Kyousuke's former school, Higashi, that rank would've been good enough to aim for Tokyo University.

"It's all sorted."

He handed the phone to Yukinoshita without another word.

They hadn't even added each other as contacts yet.

Their only shared channel was Sakura's inner-circle group chat—not exactly a place to drop confidential academic data.

"No need to hand it to me. Just send it via infrared," Yukinoshita replied.

'Infrared?'

Kyousuke blinked.

He'd grown up using smartphones—both in his past life and this one.

Infrared felt like some kind of digital fossil.

Even Megumi quietly lifted her head to peer at this living relic that was Yukinoshita Yukino.

"What's wrong? Is that a problem?" she asked, puzzled.

"Can't we just add each other as friends?"

Kyousuke gave her an exasperated look.

That blank, clueless expression on her face somehow made the situation even more surreal.

Yukinoshita raised her right hand, gently curling it into a fist beneath her nose like she was pondering something grave.

"But we're not friends," she muttered, hesitant. "We're not even acquaintances, really."

'...What?!'

Kyousuke could almost see the three question marks popping above his head.

'What kind of logic is that?!'

'Apologize—right now—to every single person who ever designed a social networking app.'

'In fact, apologize to every user out there. Because with that one sentence, you just made us all look like liars.'

Megumi didn't raise her head this time, but her mouth was hanging wide open.

'Incredible.' Yukinoshita was so committed to her principles that even something like adding a contact became a moral debate.

This wasn't just having standards.

This was borderline robotic behavior.

Except the difference was—Yukinoshita only followed the rules she wrote herself.

'Inhale—exhale—'

Kyousuke took a deep breath.

'She's not my wife. Doesn't matter. Let her do what she wants.'

"Fine. Just add a note next to my name: 'Not a friend.' Since we're going to need to contact each other anyway."

To his surprise, Yukinoshita didn't make a snide comment about him trying to message her at night.

Maybe she wasn't aware of that kind of shady behavior, or maybe she figured someone like Kyousuke wouldn't waste his time on her like that.

After a moment of silent contemplation, she spoke, as if making a decision that violated some ancient family creed.

"…I'll create a separate category for you."

'So she doesn't mix me up with her real friends. Got it.'

"…Do whatever makes you happy."

Kyousuke replied offhandedly, though in truth he couldn't help but wonder if anyone else was even in her contact list.

Well, definitely not Haruno.

In the past, Haruno had complained to him that Yukino refused to even add her as a friend, saying her little sister had stopped being cute once she grew up.

At the time, Kyousuke thought it was just sisterly bickering… but now he understood.

For Yukinoshita to finally add Haruno as a contact, the world might need to invent a dedicated family-only messaging app.

When "Add Friend" becomes "Find Long-Lost Relative," maybe then Haruno will get her wish.

Once the friend request was accepted, Yukinoshita stared at Kyousuke's profile picture—a real photo of himself—and felt a strange, unfamiliar twinge in her heart.

But she quickly dismissed it.

She figured it was just the feeling of her pristine, untouched contact list being tainted.

Kyousuke packaged and sent over the information.

When Yukinoshita saw the unexpectedly rich and detailed contents, she froze.

"Please let the person who provided this know that I won't share it with anyone else. I'll only be using it for reference."

She said it with utmost sincerity.

Then, after noting the relevant rankings and scores, she deleted the file immediately.

'Jeez…'

Kyousuke was, once again, silently in awe of her unwavering moral compass.

He couldn't help but think—if Yukinoshita ever found out that somewhere out there, there was a database where anyone could view every student's score in every subject, she'd probably freak out and try to gouge her own eyes out.

Just kidding.

If that situation ever arose, Sakura would definitely come begging him to convince everyone to willingly let Yukinoshita see their grades—and maybe even ask her for study advice while they were at it.

After checking Katou's target scores, Kyousuke leaned over to take a peek at the paper she was filling out.

As expected of Katou.

Like trace elements in the air—definitely there, but almost impossible to notice.

He'd even asked separately if they had a record of Megumi's grades.

The reply he got included seven different people—all with similar names, some male, some female—but none of them were actually Katou.

Seeing Hojou's movement, Yukinoshita, who had originally planned to wait until Katou finished writing, couldn't hold back either.

Bracing both hands against the tatami floor, she slowly scooted closer to Katou's side.

Now they were both hovering by her—one on the left, one on the right, their heads flanking hers.

Katou, gripping her pencil with her pale, delicate fingers, suddenly felt two different rhythms of warm breath near her ears.

Her handwriting immediately turned chaotic.

She blinked, slightly exasperated, but said nothing, instead doubling down on her writing.

'Yukinoshita-san wrote so much detail… I can't just scribble something half-hearted. This is for my own good, after all.'

Five minutes passed.

In the living room, Eriri's voice still rang out with full enthusiasm.

From the kitchen, the aroma of rice growing stronger filled the air.

Momotarou the dog, already hungry, had wandered off in search of Naoka and Yukari to beg for food.

On the low table sat a paper now completely covered in writing.

Kyousuke and Yukinoshita leaned in to read it at the same time from across the table.

'Thud.'

Two very solid heads collided in the center.

A sudden burst of high-density knowledge jolted from Kyousuke's brain straight into Yukinoshita's, leaving her head buzzing like a struck bell.

"Are you okay, Yukinoshita-san?" Katou asked hopefully.

"…I'm fine."

Yukinoshita shot a sharp glare at Kyousuke, who looked back with innocent eyes.

Then, invoking her right as the de facto club leader, she grabbed the paper and pulled it in front of her.

Kyousuke just shrugged and shifted over to sit beside her, reading along without shame.

Yukinoshita frowned slightly as she felt his warm breath against her neck, but she didn't pull away from the paper.

"Um, the quadratic equation is actually the first topic in 'Math II.' It covers…"

Katou started explaining nervously.

It was only then that she realized: the two people about to tutor her were technically both younger than her.

But she trusted Hojou's abilities without question.

Her cousin had raved about how Kyousuke had been offered early admission to Tokyo University, and he had the accolades from academic competitions to back it up.

She also trusted his Japanese skills—he was a novelist, after all.

And as for English? If he was close friends with someone like Eriri, who was half-British, then his English had to be solid too.

But Yukinoshita-san…

Because of all the incredible things she'd witnessed from her recently, Yukinoshita Yukino had come to seem so overwhelmingly capable that Megumi had completely forgotten she was actually a first-year.

Meanwhile, she herself was a second-year.

Yukinoshita set the paper down with a calm face, but her voice turned glacial—like a polar wind capable of freezing the Earth back into the Ice Age in an instant:

"First of all, I do know what a quadratic inequality is.

Second, I understand your doubts about my qualifications as a teacher.

Lastly—give me the hardest mock exam you've got. I'll solve it right here in front of you."

Kyousuke listened in dignified silence, not interrupting.

Strong. Confident. Rational. Elegant. Composed…

All of these qualities made up part of what made Yukinoshita beautiful.

She never demanded from others what she herself couldn't do.

She was proud—just like him.

But unlike him, she didn't get angry when people questioned her.

She stayed entirely rational.

Kyousuke knew he couldn't be like her.

Emotions, both messy and human, constantly ran wild inside him.

But Yukinoshita… it was as if she stood far above the clouds, suppressing every unwanted feeling and letting her mind rule completely over her graceful body.

"Alien presence."

That was the best term Kyousuke could come up with to describe what he felt from Yukinoshita Yukino.

"In that case, I'll join too," he said. "Katou-san, find a set of problems from your workbook. Yukinoshita and I will solve them together."

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