I had resolved to hit the books hard and planned to lock myself in my room to study. While I had only missed a week, when you added up all the subjects, the amount of material I needed to catch up on was significant. Still, I figured a few days of intense studying would be enough to get me back on track. Worst case, I could borrow notes from my friends, right?
"So... I think you guys should go without me today," I told my friends.
We had planned to go shopping at a new store after I was discharged, but I decided to skip out so I could catch up on my studies.
"No way! We've been waiting just for you, Elys!" Annie protested immediately.
"I'm really sorry, but I need to catch up on all the missed lessons. I promise we'll go some other time," I pleaded.
I felt bad for making them wait an extra week because of my hospital stay, but this was unavoidable. Sure, missing just one day wouldn't be the end of the world, but if I postponed it today, what's stopping me from doing the same tomorrow? It was better to start now while I had the momentum.
"But if you don't come, it's not the same..." Cilly added, clearly disappointed.
Her crestfallen expression was starting to make me feel guilty. Maybe I could let it slide just for today...?
"Well... what if I help you study?" Yuri suddenly suggested.
"Huh?"
"If we study together, you'll catch up faster. Doesn't that sound like a good idea?" she continued.
Honestly, having Yuri help would be great. But at the same time, I felt bad about taking up her time.
"You don't need to waste your time because of me. I'd just feel more guilty..." I began, trying to decline her offer politely.
However, Yuri, usually soft-spoken, raised her voice a little—something she rarely did. "You've helped me plenty before, Elys. Let me help you now. Unless you think I'll get in the way...?"
Her voice softened again by the end, making me feel even worse.
"No, no! Of course not! I'd love your help. Please, let's study together!" I quickly reassured her.
Once I'd said it, I couldn't take it back. I had no choice but to accept.
"Really?" Yuri asked, her eyes lighting up as she clasped my hand eagerly.
Sigh. At this point, I might as well lean into it and accept Yuri's help.
"I'll help too! I'm good at teaching," Cilly added suddenly, grabbing my other hand as if to compete with Yuri.
"What? I'm not going to be left out! I'll help too!" Annie chimed in, wrapping her arms around my waist from behind.
"Helping classmates is the duty of the class president. I suppose I'll assist as well," said Lena, the class president, who had just come to drop off some paperwork and overheard our conversation.
"Huh?"
Then, out of nowhere, Fresia showed up, having come to check on me after hearing the commotion. "I'm the best when it comes to teaching magic. Leave it to me," she said, her small figure still managing to radiate authority.
???
Without much regard for my input, my friends had all decided they were going to help me study. Seeing how determined they all looked, there was no way I could turn them down now.
"But... wouldn't it be more effective if we studied one-on-one?" I suggested cautiously, trying to ease the growing crowd.
"Yes, 'one-on-one' is definitely more efficient. In that case, I should—" Cilly began.
"Hey! No hogging Elys all to yourself, Cilly! I'm helping too!" Annie cut in.
"W-What? I didn't mean it like that!" Cilly stammered.
"I'm still the best at teaching magic!" Fresia added.
"I'm no slouch with notes either!" Annie boasted.
The conversation quickly devolved into a chaotic mess as everyone argued about who would help me first. Watching this unfold, Lena clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.
"What if we take turns? Each of us can help Elys on a different day," she suggested calmly.
Everyone stopped to think for a moment. Lena's proposal was reasonable, and soon enough, they all nodded in agreement.
...Was I the only one whose opinion didn't matter here?
* * * *
[Time with Yuri]
In the end, it was decided that each of my friends would help me on a different day. Of course, I didn't dare voice any objections, knowing I would just be drowned out. So, I quietly nodded along.
Knock, knock.
While tidying up my room, I heard a knock at the exact time we had agreed to start studying. It was almost as if Yuri had been standing outside waiting for the clock to strike the exact moment.
"Come in," I called, opening the door.
"Hi, Elys," Yuri greeted me with a soft smile as she stepped inside.
"Thanks for coming. Sorry to take up your time like this," I said, a bit embarrassed.
"If you apologize one more time, I'll get mad," Yuri said, puffing out her cheeks like a small, adorable animal.
Her reaction was so cute that I almost wanted to tease her. But then an image of her force-feeding me apples popped into my mind.
I quickly shook my head to clear the memory. Nope. I'm not remembering anything. Our sweet Yuri would never get angry!
"Elys?"
Seeing me shake my head frantically, Yuri looked at me curiously.
"N-Nothing! Let's get started!"
Thankfully, Yuri didn't seem to think my behavior was too strange. She tilted her head in confusion but let it go.
"This is my first time in your room, Elys," she said, glancing around.
"Is it?"
Come to think of it, I'd always greeted friends at the door, but I hadn't invited anyone inside. Having a girl in my room wasn't exactly something I'd experienced often, at least not since I'd become a girl myself. Any guy would probably get flustered, and I was no exception, despite my recent experiences.
...Yeah, okay, maybe I wasn't as composed as I thought.
Yuri wandered around, inspecting my room with a curious expression. I wasn't too worried since I had already hidden anything related to my past as an assassin. My only concern was whether she'd find the room too bare or boring compared to others.
"Well, I'll explore more later. For now, let's get to studying," she said, setting down her bag and pulling out a textbook and notes.
"Right. I'll be counting on you."
And so began my one-on-one study session with Yuri.
"For this part, you just need to apply the formula we learned before," she explained when I got stuck on a math problem.
"Like this?"
I followed her instructions and, sure enough, the problem became easier. People often say that being good at studying doesn't mean you're good at teaching, but Yuri was great at both.
"Wow, it worked!" I said, impressed.
"Now that you've got the hang of it, why not try this one? It's a harder problem, but if you can solve it, it means you've fully mastered this section," Yuri said, handing me a problem from her notes.
"This was something our professor gave us in class. There's an answer key too, so you can compare once you've finished."
"Okay, give me a moment."
I grabbed my pen and started working on the problem. As expected, it was much more difficult than the previous ones. Just figuring out which formula to use and how to approach it was challenging.
I mulled it over for a while, scribbling in my notebook, trying out different approaches, and erasing everything to start again.
Finally, after a long struggle, I found the key to solving it. From there, everything clicked into place. My notebook was filled with calculations, but I felt confident that I had the correct answer. Now, it was time to get Yuri's confirmation.
I pushed the notebook toward her, but she didn't respond.
"Yuri?"
I turned to look at her, only to see her jump slightly, startled.
"Huh? Oh, sorry!"
She seemed flustered, but quickly grabbed the notebook and started checking my work.
Had she... been spacing out?
I mean, who could blame her? Watching someone else study must be pretty boring.
Still, I was grateful that she had been helping me this whole time, so I waited patiently for her feedback.
"Perfect! You got it right. Now you've mastered this part," Yuri said, smiling.
"Ugh, why do we even need to learn math?" I groaned, stretching my arms and leaning back in my chair. I glanced at the clock and saw it was almost curfew.
"You should head back before curfew. I don't want you getting in trouble because of me. Thanks again for all your help today," I said.
I would've felt terrible if Yuri got a demerit because of me, so I hurried her along to make sure she got back in time.
"..."
But instead of packing up, Yuri just sat there, fiddling with her textbook and notebook, as if she had something more to say.
"Yuri?"
"Um..."
"Yeah?"
Yuri hesitated for a moment, then nodded to herself before speaking again.
"Would it be okay... if I stayed over tonight? Like when we were kids?"
"...Huh?"
My brain short-circuited for a moment before I finally understood what she was asking.
Wait, what? We're not kids anymore...
But before I could respond, I remembered my current situation. I wasn't the guy I used to be. I was Elysia, her childhood friend. To her, this was probably just a nostalgic request.
If I were really Elysia, I wouldn't hesitate to say yes, but with my memories of being a guy still intact, sharing a room with a girl felt... wrong.
I wasn't that much of a scumbag yet.
"I-I don't think that's a good id—"
"We're almost done with this section of math, and we can start on the next subject tomorrow."
"But—"
"Can't I...?"
Her eyes sparkled with hope as she looked up at me.
Of course, I should've said no. But seeing the eagerness in her gaze, I somehow found myself agreeing before I even realized what I was doing.
"Yeah... I guess it's fine...?"
By the time I realized what I'd said, Yuri was already smiling brightly and heading back to her room to avoid curfew.
...I'm not a scumbag. I'm not.