After a while.
"Hoshimi! Does your tutor usually sit on the student's lap during lessons?!"
"Yes, Yukino, aren't you the one at my house?"
"Get lost! Are you going to study or not?!"
"Of course, I will. I still don't understand the standard equation of an ellipse. Yukino, can you explain it again?"
"Hoshimi, you..."
Yukino, almost cursing out of frustration, angrily rubbed Hoshimi's head as a form of revenge.
The standard equation of an ellipse, huh?!
Let me first teach you what the standard equation of a circle is!!!
...
Four hours later, Yukino's small classroom session ended, and Hoshimi went to the beach to meet with Kotoko Iwanaga.
The first thing Hoshimi did when he saw Kotoko Iwanaga was snap his fingers.
Snap--
Instantly, the dress Kotoko Iwanaga was wearing transformed into a thin, translucent white shirt on top, with a fitted pencil skirt and black stockings below.
After examining Kotoko up and down, Hoshimi sighed in regret.
What a pity, Kotoko is just not suited for this kind of office outfit.
Kotoko's body is too petite, unable to bring out the charm and allure of the office look. Seeing her in this outfit is like watching a child pretending to be an adult—no matter how you look at it, it's comical.
As expected, Kotoko should stick to the cute style.
"Hoshimi, what you're doing right now is extremely impolite to a lady."
Kotoko Iwanaga, who had been forcibly changed into a new outfit, walked up to Hoshimi, dissatisfied, and poked his toe with her cane.
"Sorry, I just wanted to see if this office outfit suits you, Kotoko. Now I have the answer... Sigh~"
Hoshimi sighed softly and placed his hand on Kotoko Iwanaga's head.
With a thought, he changed her outfit to a black Lolita dress.
Hmm~ This is much better.
Hoshimi placed his hands under Kotoko's armpits, lifted her up, and smiled as he looked up at her, "Kotoko, are you ready to accept your punishment?"
"Hmm? Punishment?" Kotoko Iwanaga tilted her head slightly, puzzled. "Hoshimi-senpai, I don't think I've done anything today that warrants punishment. On the contrary, Hoshimi-senpai, you should be the one apologizing for your earlier rudeness."
"Heh~" Hoshimi chuckled softly and reminded her, "Sly comments, being overly nice... Kotoko, do you understand?"
"Oh... I get it." Kotoko Iwanaga picked up her cane and started thinking about how to knock on Hoshimi's head.
This guy, his sense of revenge is way too strong.
No way, if Hoshimi plans to take revenge on her, she must find a way to get back at him too.
"Kotoko, I apologize for what happened earlier."
Before the punishment, Hoshimi apologized to Kotoko Iwanaga once more.
"Oh, it's fine." Kotoko Iwanaga put down her cane and pouted slightly, complaining, "Hoshimi-senpai, while I have a big heart, I can also be very petty sometimes. Next time, don't try out the same tricks you played with Yukinoshita-senpai on me."
"My eyes are very sharp, no flaw escapes them."
As she said this, Kotoko Iwanaga dramatically covered her right eye with a strong sense of chūnibyō (eighth-grader syndrome).
"Oh? Is that so? Then, Kotoko, can you guess..."
"I won't guess."
Before Hoshimi could finish, Kotoko Iwanaga interrupted him directly, saying, "Hoshimi-senpai, let's not play guessing games anymore. I'm curious about how you're going to punish me. Can you tell me?"
Hoshimi blinked and then spoke two key words, "Yoga, splits."
Kotoko Iwanaga's expression froze, her pupils shaking.
She pressed down on Hoshimi's shoulder, speaking seriously, "Hoshimi-senpai, please don't do this. You might lose your little cutie!"
"Hehe~" Hoshimi responded to Kotoko Iwanaga with a simple, concise laugh.
In the next moment, the two of them disappeared from the beach, their destination unknown.
...
The next day, during the early self-study period in Class 2-J of Sobu High School, Shizuka Hiratsuka made a rare entrance just as the session began.
Clap--Clap--
Shizuka Hiratsuka clapped her hands, drawing the attention of the entire class, "Quiet down, everyone. I have an announcement."
"After next week's midterm exams, all second-year students will participate in workplace experience."
"The group formation for this experience will be the same as in previous years—groups of three, and you should form your teams as soon as possible so that you don't delay your exam preparations."
"Class president, make sure to get the group list to me as soon as possible. It would be best if you could hand it in by this afternoon, understood?"
The soft-spoken black-haired class president stood up and nodded helplessly, "Understood, Hiratsuka-sensei."
"Alright, you can continue your self-study."
With that, Shizuka Hiratsuka left the classroom as quickly as she had entered, leaving the soft-spoken class president with yet another task.
"Everyone~~" The class president, looking resigned, turned to face her classmates and said, "Let's take this self-study time to decide on our groups. Three people per group, and once you're ready, come to me with your team list."
"Got it..."
"No problem..."
"We'll do it right away..."
Several girls who were close to the class president responded.
Then the class broke into a flurry of discussions about forming groups.
"Yawn~" Hoshimi yawned, resting his chin on his hand as he lazily observed the scene in the classroom.
After watching for a while, Hoshimi turned to Yukino and asked, "Yukino, who should be our third member?"
"Whoever you like," Yukino replied without looking up from her studies.
"Alright then, let's wait and see if there's any poor soul left out, and we'll pick her up." Hoshimi was confident that the last person left would be a girl.
There were 40 students in Class J—36 girls and 4 boys. One girl was on long-term leave, so that left 39 students, which would divide perfectly into groups of three.
Considering the three other boys in the class would likely form a group, Hoshimi was almost certain that the last one left would be a girl who would end up in his and Yukino's group.
He just didn't know who this unlucky girl would be.
"Yawn~" Hoshimi yawned again, lying down on his desk, half-closing his eyes.
Before he knew it, Hoshimi had closed his eyes completely, letting his consciousness drift into darkness without entering a dream.
Ding-ding-ding~~~ Ding-ding-ding~~~
The sudden sound of the bell woke Hoshimi up. He opened his eyes and yawned as he sat up.
"Hoshimi."
"Mm?" Hoshimi propped his chin in his hand and looked towards Yukino by the window.
In the morning sunlight of May, Yukino's flawless, jade-like face seemed to glow with a soft, golden halo, as beautiful as a dream.
Waking up to such a beautiful sight... it's enough to make one's heart flutter...
If only it were a view from his bed at home instead of in class.
"Our third group member is decided; it's the class president."
"Oh~" Hoshimi wasn't particularly concerned about the news Yukino shared. He continued to admire the beautiful scene that would one day belong solely to him.
Yukino, remaining in the same position, let a faint smile slip across her lips unnoticed.
It wasn't until class began and Hoshimi fell asleep that Yukino changed her posture. She glanced at the sleeping Hoshimi and felt a subtle sense of pride.
Kotoko Iwanaga? So what? Even if there were three or five more rivals, it wouldn't matter.
The rule that guarantees my victory has already been established.
...
Meanwhile, in the dream world, Hoshimi was stunned by a single sentence from Kasumigaoka.
"Hoshimi, let's meet."
===
Enjoying the novel? If you'd like to read additional chapters, visit my Patreon page at - patreon.com/cherryblooming.
There are already more than 30 extra chapters available.