Ch 197. Yukino, I'm Sorry

In a dream, Yukino finds herself in a library. The previous incident has been put behind them, and Hoshimi gently convinces Yukino to sit down in the reading area to begin their study session for the night.

He starts by producing study materials out of thin air, and then changes Yukino's clothes into a teacher's uniform. Lastly, he looks around, feeling like something is missing.

"Hmm~" Hoshimi ponders for a moment.

Soon, he has an epiphany. Role-playing with uniforms should involve both people, right? Since Yukino is now in a teacher's outfit, he should change into a school uniform to enhance the immersion!

"Snap!"

Hoshimi snaps his fingers, and his clothes transform into the black school uniform of Sobu High.

"..." Yukino, who has been watching the whole process, glances coldly at Hoshimi's attire. The icy aura surrounding her becomes even more intense. She doesn't want to think about what kind of mischief Hoshimi might be planning; all she knows is that she's very angry right now, and Hoshimi had better not cross her.

"Yukino, let's start studying~" Hoshimi, now dressed in a school uniform, smiles as he pulls out a math textbook.

The school uniform is just to enhance the study atmosphere; it's not for anything inappropriate. At least, that's the case until he can properly calm Yukino down.

"Hmph!" Yukino snorts, takes the math textbook, and begins tutoring Hoshimi with a stern face.

Time passes slowly, and before long, an hour has gone by.

At first, Yukino was secretly wary of Hoshimi pulling any stunts, but as the lesson progressed, her attention gradually shifted back to teaching. She had to focus completely on tutoring Hoshimi.

It wasn't because Hoshimi was too dull that she had to put in so much effort. On the contrary, it was because Hoshimi was too smart that she had to be fully engaged to keep up with his pace.

Yes, it was quite absurd—the teacher had to focus all her energy just to keep up with the student's learning speed.

Through this hour of tutoring, Yukino realized just how little effort Hoshimi had put in the previous two days. Compared to now, it was clear he hadn't been taking his studies seriously at all.

"Hoshimi, try solving this problem," said Yukino, her head aching slightly as she pushed a workbook toward Hoshimi.

"Alright." Hoshimi glanced at the problem, a complex question on planar vectors, and squinted, searching his memory for the solution.

After a moment, with a bit of an idea forming, Hoshimi began to write down his answer.

Yukino watched Hoshimi's smooth and confident writing, feeling a twinge of envy. Hoshimi was undoubtedly a genius—he grasped concepts quickly, mastered them even faster, and didn't just understand them but truly integrated them into his knowledge base.

If she didn't know Hoshimi's laid-back personality or that he had spent a year cooped up at home, she might really believe that Hoshimi had already gone through high school once before.

"Yukino, it's done~" Hoshimi said, pushing the workbook back to Yukino after completing the problem.

Yukino lowered her head to check the answer. The problem-solving process and final answer were flawless, matching the standard solution perfectly.

"Sigh~" Yukino sighed softly, feeling a sense of defeat rise within her.

She had taken nearly twice as long to solve this problem as Hoshimi had...

Yukino felt an inexplicable sense of loss. She had found someone she could be close to, only to lose so thoroughly in the end. This was...

"Yukino, is there a problem with the answer?" Seeing Yukino's reaction, Hoshimi asked suspiciously.

Was it his imagination, or did he detect a hint of jealousy in the air?

But would the upright Yukinoshita Yukino really feel jealousy? Probably not, right? It must be an illusion...

"The answer is fine; let's continue." Yukino picked up the workbook and textbook, continuing to tutor Hoshimi.

She made a decision! She was going to properly "train" Hoshimi, turning him into the kind of person she wanted him to be. She couldn't let Hoshimi's talent go to waste!

Such talent, if squandered, would be a crime!

She couldn't allow this laid-back guy to keep committing such a crime!

The tutoring continued!

...

After another two hours, Hoshimi straightened up and stretched comfortably after solving the final problem.

It had been almost four hours. It was time to switch gears and spend time with Kotoko.

"The answer is correct," Yukino confirmed after checking the solution, then glanced at the clock on the wall, knowing that Hoshimi's time with her tonight was about to end.

She closed the workbook, pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, and asked calmly, "Hoshimi, did your aunt give you a task?"

"Hmm?" Hoshimi raised an eyebrow, looking at Yukino with interest. "Yukino, how did you know?"

Yukino shot a sidelong glance at Hoshimi and said coolly, "If it weren't for some external factor, I wouldn't believe you'd study this diligently. And the only likely external factor recently is your aunt, right?"

Hoshimi's eyes curved with a smile as he cheerfully praised her, "My Yukino is so smart, seeing right through everything."

"..." Yukino glanced at Hoshimi sideways and asked coldly, "So, what did your aunt agree on with you? What made this laid-back guy suddenly take his studies seriously?"

"Nothing much," Hoshimi replied casually, waving it off. "She just asked me to get into the top five in the year. If I can't, she'll hire a private tutor for me. To avoid having my leisurely life disturbed, I had to put in a little more effort~"

"Oh, and..." Hoshimi added, "She also told me to aim for Todai. What do you think, Yukino?"

"..." Yukino didn't respond immediately. She quietly rubbed the cover of the book.

Tokyo University, huh? It shouldn't be a problem. As long as she didn't slack off, she was pretty confident she could get in.

"Yukino?" Hoshimi called her name again when she didn't answer.

Yukino glanced at him and said coldly, "It's been four hours, Hoshimi. Are you planning to stay with me for the rest of the night?"

Hoshimi raised an eyebrow slightly, stood up, and kissed Yukino on the forehead before whispering a goodbye in her ear.

"Yukino, see you tomorrow. And..."

Hoshimi paused, "... I'm really sorry."

After that, Hoshimi abruptly vanished from the library.

"..." Yukino, left alone in the library, furrowed her brows ever so slightly.

Hoshimi was apologizing? But for what?

Was it about that "marriage" incident? Or was it something to do with Kotoko? Or was it something she wasn't aware of?

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