Watching her hurriedly run into the classroom, Sasaki scratched his head and followed her inside.
Not thinking about this brief interlude, he settled into his seat, and glanced at Chifuyu Tsukimi, who was still engrossed in writing, oblivious to the world outside.
Thinking for a moment, he straightened his back and took a quick look around.
Although most of it was obscured by her flowing hair, Sasaki still caught a glimpse of what she was writing.
It wasn't complete enough to form a coherent sentence, but he could recognize a math problem when he saw one.
Considering it was Thursday, Takagi's tutoring day, Sasaki quickly realized that this idiot Chifuyu was preparing problems for Takagi.
But...
Looking at the few sheets of paper weighed down by her arms, he couldn't help but shake his head inwardly.
Based on his first impression of Takagi, he doubted he could even finish half a sheet, let alone five or six.
That would surely be overkill.
While Sasaki felt that Chitose was wasting her effort, he didn't want to outright dampen her enthusiasm, so he decided to distract her a bit.
No sooner said than done.
He stood up and walked over to Yasui Sara's desk.
Leaning forward, inhaling the pleasant scent of her shampoo, Sasaki playfully covered her eyes with his hands.
Feeling the warm, smooth movement of her eyes under his fingertips as she panicked, he lightly brushed her soft, delicate eyebrows.
Knowing well whose large, warm palms covered her eyes, Chifuyu Tsukimi, holding her pen, tapped her foot anxiously, which was sheathed in pure white stockings:
"Fuyumi, I'm busy right now~"
"I know," Sasaki replied, removing his hands from her eyes and lightly tapping her resilient waist through her clothes. "I see you've been busy writing all morning. Asking me would be better than burying yourself in your work, you idiot~"
Twisting her supple waist, the girl turned sideways, her head bowed, and handed him a sheet she had just finished writing:
"Today is Takagi's tutoring day. I thought I should prepare well for him… so I wrote some problems."
Taking the sheet from her, Sasali casually placed it on the table without looking at it.
Instead, he frowned at the girl, who seemed to want to bury her face in her melon field.
"Lift your head up."
Upon hearing the inquiry, Chifuyu Tsukimi, who knew she couldn't fool him, twirled her delicate white fingers, and her eyes flickered up to her face, which was slightly duller than usual.
Looking at idiot Chifuyu's slightly swollen eye bags that were incompatible with the surrounding skin tone, Sasaki didn't say anything.
After a glance, he stopped looking at her and turned his attention back to the paper.
Not receiving the expected reproach or inquiry, Chifuyu Tsukimi, who was slightly surprised, raised her head cautiously.
Looking at Fuyumi, whose expression was as calm as a still lake, she felt a twinge of injustice well up within her.
Before she could hide this sudden feeling of grievance, she heard his somewhat amused voice.
"I haven't said anything, and you're already pouting."
Shifting his gaze from the paper, Sasaki pinched her soft cheek: "You make all this effort for other guys, yet expect me to pamper and care for you. I didn't know you were so bossy~"
Hearing this, a flurry of emotions rose within her, but unable to pinpoint why, Chifuyu Tsukimi frantically covered her face and whimpered.
"Uh~"
Desperate for the care and attention she didn't receive from her boyfriend, she increasingly longed for the feeling of being cared for.
And Sasaki, who had unexpectedly stood by her as a friend, was providing the care and companionship she craved, naturally making her subconsciously desire more.
Although she was unaware of it, her actions were unconsciously demonstrating this longing.
For instance, she was still working on the problems when Sasaki was nearly at school, and she didn't bother to wear makeup to cover her fatigue when she left the house.
These might not have been deliberate displays.
But deep down, she truly hoped he would notice her unusual behaviour and care more for her.
.
.
To Sasaki, these actions seemed as childish as a kid staying up late to study, hoping to get more attention from their parents.
If he really considered her just a friend, then from a friend's perspective, he should indeed offer words of comfort and advise her not to overexert herself.
After all, it's normal for friends to show concern for each other.
But did Sasaki regard her as a pure friend?
With his own ulterior motives, Sasaki saw her childish actions and indeed felt pity as one would for a child staying up late to study, but the reason she did this was for Takagi and his grades.
This was just like when parents saw their children stay up late to study, but the reason was that school would start tomorrow, and the teacher would check their homework—it was both heartbreaking and frustrating.
Because of his ulterior motives, Sasaki didn't mind pouring his concern and attention into her.
Because he really liked her.
But he minded that she, harbouring his concern and attention, would go to such lengths for another guy—even if that 'other guy' was her... boyfriend.
To teach her a lesson, he, of course, had to put on a stern face to scare her.
Unswayed by her adorable and pitiful whine.
Sasaki, with a face as rigid as ice, pinched her soft cheek slightly harder:
"Knowing I'd be upset to see you distress yourself, you still act this way. Do you think it's fun to toy with me?"
"Of course not~."
Hearing Fuyumi's sympathy for herself, Tsukimi Chifuyu felt her panic and helplessness lessen slightly after her secret thoughts were exposed.
Then, through the gaps between her fingers, she looked at his stern face and explained softly:
"I just wanted to help Takagi improve his grades."
He didn't say anything like, 'You made me feel bad just to improve Takagi's grades'.
Knowing that saying this was pointless and would only make the idiot Chifuyu uncomfortable, Sasaki rolled his eyes and released his grip that had pinched her little face red:
"Have you forgotten who gave you the method before? You could ask me first before causing trouble, fool~"
"It's not that I didn't want to bother you… It might make you feel…" Rubbing her own cheeks, Tsukimi Chifuyu's words were cut off by Sasaki before she could finish.
With his left hand propping his chin and his right hand tapping on the papers on the desk, he asked emotionlessly:
"Think you're a troublesome girl and then hate you?"
Glancing at the boy, who still had an emotionless face but a softer tone, she pursed her lips and nodded slightly.
Sighing, Sasaki took out a small pink amulet from his pocket, placed it in his palm, and presented it to Tsukimi Chifuyu.
Although he said nothing, knowing his intentions, the girl happily squinted her eyes.
Then, she lifted her head and pulled a similarly-sized blue amulet from the thin cord around her neck.
Seemingly to let Sasaki know she cared, Tsukimi Chifuyu slowly leaned down, placed a small watermelon cushion on the table, and then placed the amulet from her neck on top of the pink amulet in his palm.
Stroking the warm blue amulet, the boy smiled and then handed it to her.
His intention was to acknowledge her feelings, knowing she cared about him, and to let her keep it safe.
But whether out of laziness or something else, this idiot Chifuyu didn't straighten up and stuff the amulet back into her melons.
Instead, she slightly opened her pursed lips and gently bit the thin cord of the amulet.
Watching her blink her pure, bright eyes, joyfully biting the blue square pouch.
Sasaki's breath hitched, and then he took a deep breath, leaning back slightly.
He naturally wouldn't think that this idiot was deliberately trying to seduce him.
After all, if this fool were a seasoned charmer, she'd be at a very high level, playing the part too well.
But precisely because he knew she wasn't that kind of person, her unintentional actions were far stronger than those who deliberately flirted.
Exhaling, watching her straighten up with the blue amulet in her mouth, burying it back into the watermelon.
After putting away the amulet, Sasaki then said, "Bring the other papers over as well."
Knowing that he smiled and was no longer angry, Tsukimi Chifuyu obediently turned around and handed him the several test papers she had written on her desk.
Looking at the papers, complete with both front and back sides, covering all subjects, Sasaki glanced at them a few times and then placed them on the desk, looking at her helplessly:
"I know you want to improve his grades quickly, but you should know his level better than I do; just do a little at a time. Rushing like this will scare him away."
After thinking it through, Tsukimi Chifuyu also felt that she was indeed too hasty, so she looked at Sasaki with a pitiful expression.
And seeing this, the boy, said softly, "You need to first determine which subject Takagi is worst at."
"Um…" Thinking for a moment, feeling that his grades were poor in everything, the latter said, "Math, I guess…"
And you still hesitate so long over that…
Shaking his head secretly, Sasaki placed the math papers in front of her: "Then start with tutoring him in math; his math grades are the worst, and once he improves, it will be the most obvious and direct."
"That will be a great reassurance for his parents, because if he can improve so much in his worst subject, the other subjects he is better at will also be fine."
"If you can teach him the hardest subject, won't the easier ones be a piece of cake?"
"Oh~"
Nodding her head in agreement, the naive Tsukimi Chifuyu continued to ask, "Then how many problems should I let him solve at a time?"
Tearing~
Tearing the papers that had problems on both sides along the middle, he casually handed over half: "Just let him do one side at a time, take it slow. He can do the other side at home as homework."
Receiving the half sheet, Tsukimi Chifuyu, with a warm feeling inside, thanked him with a beaming smile: "Thank you, Fuyumi, you're really kind~."
No, I'm not kind.
Watching this idiot's joyful anticipation of the future, the boy mentally apologized and felt a guilty sense of bullying the naive.
Although what he said sounded reasonable at first, it was only reasonable at first glance.
Think about it more carefully, and you'll notice something off.
Ordinary people, when doing tasks or problems, always start with the easier tasks before moving on to the harder ones.
Especially with studying and improving grades, which are mundane and dull tasks.
Afterall, isn't it a basic teaching strategy...
From General to Specific, Simple to Complex, Concrete to Abstract, Whole to Part
After all, to improve grades, what should really be done first is to build confidence.
Do many people who are poor at studying really not want to learn?
No, that's not it.
It's just that they couldn't keep up with the teacher's pace from the beginning, and being slow in one step means being slow in all following steps, ultimately leading to them giving up and not listening.
If they could really learn, who wouldn't want to be a good student and make their parents proud?
Therefore, when tutoring underperforming students, the first thing to do is to choose some of the most basic and simplest things to boost their confidence.
Only when they realize, "Oh, this is how it works, it's not that hard," can you slowly introduce more challenging problems.
Choosing the subject for tutoring works the same way.
You definitely want to choose a subject they can understand first; there's a big difference between making double the effort for half the result and making half the effort for double the result.
He clearly understands math, but you insist on tutoring him in English first; isn't that just undermining his confidence and wearing down his patience?
Once his patience is worn down, at best, he'll give up and do nothing, at worst, he might get angry and throw things.
After all, if you force him to learn something that becomes more and more annoying the more he learns it, you are making him suffer.
Everyone has a temper, and there will always be times when he can't stand it.
Feeling that he was really bad, Sasaki shook his head and sighed, then straightened out the papers on the table and handed them to the idiot Chifuyu: "Half a page at a time, haste makes waste, take it slow. As long as he truly likes you, he will try hard."
"Well, okay~"
Taking the paper, Chifuyu Tsukimi nodded with a smile.
Seeing her being so obedient and not thinking about it at all, Sasaki felt even more guilty for bullying the little fool
Before he could say anything else,
A question from behind made him turn around.
"Hey~ Sasaki... classmate, are you sitting in my spot for a reason?"