Can We Really Not Study Together? Yeah, Right!

"Kotomi! Help me!"

The moment Izumi Kotomi entered the classroom, she was met with a desperate plea from Yui Yuigahama, who looked like a deflated balloon, her face full of despair.

Hearing that all-too-familiar cry for help, Kotomi immediately knew—Yui had forgotten to do her homework again!

"Don't panic, Yui. I've got you covered!"

Kotomi casually pulled out her completed homework from her bag.

"Ahhh, Kotomi, you're my angel! Thank you! I only remembered this morning when I woke up that I hadn't done any of my weekend homework," Yui said with a face that looked ready to cry, clutching Kotomi's homework like it was a divine artifact of salvation.

The gratitude and reverence in Yui's eyes were so intense that Kotomi wondered if she was about to sprout holy angel wings from her back. A six-winged seraph, perhaps?

Now that she thought about it, ever since school started, Yui had been copying her homework almost every day, right?

There was only one exception, where both of them had forgotten to do their homework, and they ended up "borrowing" Megumi Kato's answers together.

Still, Kotomi didn't really mind.

After all, the Yuigahama family's dumpling and cake shop was especially busy on weekends. Although Yui didn't need to help out in the shop as much as her mom, she wasn't exactly lounging around at home either.

There was still little Yuka to take care of. Even though Yuka was well-behaved, she was still just a kindergartener. At home, Yui had to divide her attention between helping her mother and keeping an eye on her younger sister, not to mention cooking meals for them both.

With all that going on, it was no wonder Yui often forgot her homework. Even if she did remember, she might not have the time to do it!

Kotomi figured that since she always completed her homework anyway, letting Yui copy it was just a small favor. It wasn't a big deal.

"Lucky for you I came to school early today. Otherwise, even if I lent you my homework, you might not have time to finish copying it before class," Kotomi said as she sat down at her desk.

"How about I treat you to lunch today?"

"Deal! I'll take two fried chicken rice balls," Kotomi said, holding up two fingers and subtly hinting.

"No problem. The cake shop did really well yesterday, and Mom gave me some extra cash as a bonus," Yui replied, nodding happily.

Talk about job satisfaction.

The so-called "bonus" was really just extra pocket money. Yui's mom, feeling guilty about being too busy at the cake shop to make Yui's lunch every day, would give Yui extra money so she could buy herself something good to eat at school. She also knew that Yui, after school, was often the one cooking for her sister and mother.

As a mother, Yui's mom felt a lot of guilt and self-blame for burdening her daughter with so much responsibility, so she made up for it by being more generous with Yui's allowance.

Over the weeks of copying homework, Yui had honed her skills, becoming much faster and more efficient at it.

At first, Yui had to think carefully about which parts to copy correctly and where to make deliberate mistakes. Now, she could easily decide which answers to get right and which to slightly mess up, mimicking the occasional careless mistake in the solution steps. Her speed at copying had also improved significantly.

Yui had gone from a homework-copying novice to a seasoned pro, second only to Kotomi herself.

—Weird skills acquired!

With five minutes left before class, Yui managed to finish copying the homework and handed it back to Kotomi.

"Thanks again, Kotomi," Yui said gratefully after returning the notebook.

"No problem at all. If you ever need to borrow my homework again, just ask. I'm used to it by now," Kotomi replied, then added with a smirk, "As long as you keep treating me to lunch or drinks, we're good."

"Deal!"

"Kotomi, Yui," Yukino Yukinoshita, who had been quietly reading, suddenly spoke up, "It would be better if Yui did her own homework. Sure, you can get by with copying every day, but when the exams come around, you'll get found out."

Yui froze, and then, as Yukino's words sank in, her expression turned bitter.

"Ugh! I completely forgot about exams. Didn't the teacher say we have midterms next month? What am I going to do? There's no way I can study everything in such a short time!" Yui exclaimed, on the verge of panic.

"I have some news for you," Megumi Kato chimed in with a soft smile.

"What news?" Yui asked, eyes wide with hope, as if Megumi had the solution to all her problems.

"Well, for starters, you've got the exam date wrong."

"Phew, that's a relief! So I still have enough time to study!" Yui sighed with relief, imagining the extra month of prep time she now had.

"And now for the bad news: the exams aren't next month—they're next week," Megumi added.

Pfft—!

Yui nearly fell out of her chair, looking weak and defeated. "Megumi… Please, next time, could you give me the good and bad news all at once?"

"No way."

"Ugh…" Yui groaned, feeling utterly deflated. "I was already stressed thinking they were next month. And now you're telling me they're next week?!"

"Don't stress too much about the midterms. After all, it's the first one since we started high school. The material is only going to cover what we've learned these past few weeks, so as long as you've been paying attention in class, it shouldn't be too difficult…" Yukino started to explain before pausing as a thought hit her.

Yui had either been dozing off in class or barely paying attention most of the time.

Yukino sighed and corrected herself, "Never mind. It's going to be tough. Forget what I said."

"Ughhh…" Yui groaned again, feeling hopeless.

"I could tutor you, you know," Kotomi offered casually.

"Really?! You'd do that for me?" Yui looked at her, wide-eyed with hope.

"Yeah. After all, if you fail miserably and the teacher questions how you manage to complete all your homework so perfectly, I'll be in trouble too."

"I'd never rat you out, Kotomi!"

"I'm not worried about that. But if your grades tank, they'll definitely call your mom in for a parent-teacher meeting. Do you think your mom has the time for that? If it were just a regular parent-teacher meeting, it'd be one thing. But if your grades are bad enough to warrant a special meeting, your mom's going to feel terrible," Kotomi said matter-of-factly.

"With how your mom is, she's going to blame herself, thinking she's the reason you're struggling at school," Kotomi added.

"My mom isn't holding me back—taking care of my sister is something I want to do," Yui quickly clarified.

"Do you think your mom sees it that way?" Kotomi countered, hitting the nail on the head.

Yui thought about it for a moment and realized Kotomi was right. With a serious expression, she bowed her head and said, "Kotomi, please help me study!"

"I'll tutor you, but I expect payment," Kotomi teased with a sly grin. "If you do well on the midterms, treat me to cake. I want Baumkuchen."

"Baumkuchen? I want some too!" Mashiro Shiina, who had been dozing at her desk, suddenly perked up at the mention of cake.

"If you really want to improve, then let's buckle down and review everything you've missed over the past few weeks. You can do it." Yukino placed her detailed, neatly written notes on Yui's desk.

When Yui opened the first page, she was met with beautifully written, perfectly organized notes that listed every point the teachers had covered in class.

By comparison, Yui's notebook was practically brand new, with barely a note in sight.

Who could blame her? She had been sleeping through most of the lessons.

But who could blame her for that, either? Every night, after putting her little sister Yuka to bed, Yui still had to finish the rest of the household chores. She always let her mother rest after coming home from the shop, taking on the responsibility of cleaning up the kitchen herself.

By the time Yui finished everything, it was often past midnight.

With so little sleep and waking up early every morning to prepare breakfast, get her sister ready for kindergarten, and head to school, it was a wonder she could stay awake at all in class.

So, of course, her notebook was practically empty.

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