Dango's Bizarre Problem-Solving Method

"Yui, the tutoring starts this afternoon," Izumi Kotomi reminded.

"Huh!? This afternoon?"

"Why do you look so surprised? You're the one who decided the tutoring would start today."

"Oh, right! I almost forgot. From this afternoon onwards, I'll be in your care, Teacher Izumi~"

"If your grades improve after the monthly exams, remember to treat me to some cake."

"I could even bake one just for you!"

When Yui Yuigahama mentioned baking a cake just for her, Kotomi felt a flicker of anticipation.

A cake made especially for her...

Uh… maybe because she'd read some colorful comics before bed last night, Kotomi's mind instantly filled with some rather unspeakable images when Yui said she'd bake a cake just for her.

What a pervy thought!

Throughout the day, Yui managed to stay awake for at least three classes.

Hiratsuka Shizuka was shocked when she noticed Yui actually paying attention to the blackboard.

Was she still half-asleep and dreaming? Yui wasn't dozing off in class today?

This anomaly could easily make it into a "Busted Myths" TV special—three episodes, at least!

To check if she was dreaming, Hiratsuka decided to call on Kotomi to answer a question.

Kotomi: ????

After school, Yui headed home first, while Kotomi stayed for an hour of art club activities before leaving Sobu High School and making her way to Yui's house.

Following the address Yui had sent, Kotomi arrived at the Yuigahama residence, a relatively small two-story house.

It was also quite close to the dango cake shop.

Well, "close" was a bit of a stretch; it was only slightly closer, but the route was still pretty winding.

Kotomi rang the doorbell, and when Yui saw it was her, she hurried out to open the door.

"Kotomi, welcome to my home!"

"I'm not here to play—I'm here to tutor you. You're not helping out at the cake shop today?" Kotomi asked while removing her shoes at the entrance, placing her brown loafers neatly to the side. Her feet, clad in white pantyhose, stepped onto the floor.

"The cake shop isn't always busy, and today there wasn't much to do. Besides, when my mom found out you were coming over to tutor me, she gave me the day off to focus on studying."

Yui grinned and pulled out a box of egg tarts.

"My mom also sent these to treat you!"

"Your mom is being way too considerate."

Entering Yui's second-floor bedroom, Kotomi noticed how simple and a bit sparse it was, not at all what she expected from a high school girl's room.

There was a bookshelf, a desk, a chair, and a single bed against the wall. Tatami mats covered the floor.

The small bedroom made Kotomi think about how living in such a compact space might encourage someone to be more creative with how they use it.

Since there was only one chair in the room, Yui asked Kotomi to wait while she ran downstairs to fetch another chair from the kitchen.

"Sorry, my room's a bit cramped."

"Not at all. I actually like small, cozy single bedrooms. On rainy days, being tucked under a blanket, listening to the rain and wind so close outside—it's a really comforting feeling."

"Oh, so you like rainy days, Kotomi?"

"Don't you?"

"... My dad died in a car accident on a rainy day."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. So many years have passed. People have to learn to move on eventually. My mom is really strong—she was the first to come out of the shadow of that loss. She stayed strong while taking care of me and my little sister, Yuka. My sister and I realized that we had to pull ourselves together too," Yui said with a brave smile.

"Yui-san is really amazing," Kotomi said with admiration.

Yui's mom, Tomoka Yuigahama, didn't seem like a particularly strong person, maybe even a bit soft.

But perhaps motherhood brings out strength.

For the sake of her two daughters, she felt she had to stay strong and hold the family together.

That day's homework had already been copied during the last period's self-study session, using Kotomi's as a reference.

Kotomi pulled out a high school math textbook, which not only explained the concepts but also provided practice problems. It was highly recommended by parents and teachers alike.

"Let's start with math today. Do you have any areas you don't understand?"

"I don't even know what I don't understand..." Yui sheepishly stuck out her tongue, embarrassed.

"Then let's have you try this set of diagnostic problems. I'll see which concepts you haven't learned well or didn't grasp fully."

"Okay!"

Yui responded confidently, but when she took the textbook and saw the test sheet, her expression immediately turned into one of misery.

Sin, COS... what on earth do these mean!?

Why are there English letters in math problems?

Then she looked at the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions.

Gasp—

Why did it feel like either every answer was correct, or none of them were?

As for the fill-in-the-blanks, she couldn't even figure out what the question was asking!

She could understand each Japanese word individually, but once they formed a math sentence, it became incomprehensible.

Why did every question hit her knowledge blind spots!?

Staring blankly at the math problems that seemed like a foreign language, Yui was completely lost.

Was this the despair known as Ultimate High School Despair?

If it were an actual test, Yui would've just given up and chosen A for every multiple-choice question, hoping for good luck.

As for the fill-in-the-blank questions, she would have scribbled random numbers.

And the graphing question? She'd just draw a random graph from one of the other problems.

As for the word problems, she'd heard that if you wrote a lot, the teacher might give you a point or two.

So, she would copy the problem itself and write down random formulas from the multiple-choice section, even if they didn't make sense—just to make it look like she tried.

This was Yui Yuigahama's foolproof strategy for handling math!

But now wasn't the time for an exam; it was a tutoring session.

If she resorted to her usual tactics, it would be a complete waste of Kotomi's time, especially since she was giving up her after-school hours to help her.

After staring blankly at the math problems for a while, Yui finally looked at Kotomi with a pitiful expression, almost on the verge of tears:

"Kotomi, why is every single question exactly from my blind spots!?"

"Because your blind spots cover too much!" Kotomi said, feeling like she could facepalm. She had expected Yui's academic performance to be weak, but she hadn't anticipated it to be this bad!

Luckily, it had only been a few weeks since they entered high school. If they started working hard now, there was still time to catch up.