Chapter 161 – To the Midterm Exam

“Huh, so you guys will be staying at Umi’s grandma’s place.”

The day after, the four of us gathered to listen to the report– no, the conclusion of the said negotiations.

Said result was that during the long weekend, we would visit Umi’s grandma’s house. The place itself was two or three prefectures away from here, so we would be going further than we previously planned.

Sora-san said that they would be holding a memorial service for a distant relative around that time. Originally, Daichi-san would be going there alone, but the sudden change in his work schedule made him unable to do so.

It was decided that aside from me, Umi and Riku-san, Sora-san would also go with us to help out with the memorial service. Sora-san would stay at her in-law’s house while the rest of us would be staying at a nearby inn. Riku-san would be there to watch over us.

Although they didn’t let us go on our own, there was a hot spring near the place we would be staying at, so at least we accomplished half of our initial goal.

Was I satisfied with this? Not really, but I really couldn’t complain.

“Well, there’s still a catch. They said that even if I can’t get first place, I still have to raise my grades for the midterm while Maki has to try to get into the top twenty. That’s why, Maki, let’s work hard, shall we?”

“N-No way… Ugh… Fine, I’ll do my best, Sensei.”

“Mhm!”

I didn’t actually have to get to the top twenty, but I still had to study nonetheless, or else I wouldn’t be able to start our vacation on a good note.

“Alright! Then, from now on until the midterm, we will all study together every day! We’ll help you out too, right, Ninacchi?”

“Mhm. I don’t really care about my grades, but getting higher grades wouldn’t hurt~”

““E-Eh?”

Just like that, they decided to hold a group study with the four of us. How did it turn out this way?

Of course there was nothing wrong with this. We did the same thing with Nozomu a while ago, but, having a group study every day?

“Huh? What’s wrong? You two look surprised. Is it really that surprising that I’m eager to study hard?”

“No, not really, it’s just… Every day? The four of us? Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I mean, Maki and I have to improve our grades, so it’s inevitable for both of us, but you two don’t really need to, right?”

Group study was beneficial and all, but the thing with group study was, the more people involved, the less studying there would be. If possible, I wanted to study with Umi only, that would make it easier for us to concentrate.

Those two looked stunned after hearing our words.

“…Jeez, look at those two idiots, Yuuchin. They haven’t noticed at all.”

“Ahaha… I thought if it’s the two of you, you two might understand what we’re getting at, but I guess we have to explain ourselves, huh?”

““Huh?””

What were those two talking about?

After that, they insisted that studying by ourselves wouldn’t be enough. We argued that we would be fine, it worked out last year, so it should work out this time too.

“Fine, let’s do it this way. I’ll let you two study together by yourselves today, but there’s something I want you to do. Keep track of how much time you spend studying and how much time you spend flirting, okay?”

“Fine, I’ll do whatever you say, Miss.”

“Nice attitude you got there, Missy. Let’s make a bet then. If what we were saying is correct, you two have to apologize to us! Got that, Rep?”

“Sure, but wouldn’t it be more helpful if you were to just tell us what would be wrong?”

“Nope. It would be better for you two to realize it by yourself. Don’t worry, you’ll notice the problem immediately, I’m sure of it.”

“O-Okay?”

According to those two, there was something that we weren’t realizing.

Well, we should try to do what they told us for now.

It had been a while since the last time we studied together, but there should be no problem, right?

TL: Iyo

ED: MaltedBarley