Chapter 21 | Kouhai's Plan

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“Didn’t Reina-san tell you not to contact me without permission?”

I replied with a slight guard up after being suddenly called out to by Ria.
Now that more than three weeks had passed since that incident, I couldn’t see why Ria would be talking to me.

“It’s fine if I have clear intentions. I just came to warn you today.”

“Warn me…?”

When I looked at her suspiciously, Ria whispered quietly into my ear.

“You should be careful of Sora-chan.”

“…What do you mean?”

“…Who knows? What do I mean? Anyway, you won’t believe what I have to say.”

Ria looked away with a bad look on her face.

More than whether or not I trust Ria, I can’t think of a reason why I should be careful of Sora even if she tells me to be careful.

If there was one thing that I should be careful of, then…

“You mean I should be careful so that Sora doesn’t fail?”

“…Fail?”

Ria made a face that said she didn’t understand what I was saying.
She doesn’t know what failing is, as expected of a straight-A student.

“Failing is a failing grade. As someone who has never failed before, you probably don’t know what that is, Ria.”

It’s not like I’m bragging or anything, but if it’s about the number of times I’ve failed a test, then I’m confident that I can beat anyone.
After all, I’m a guy who managed to make it through all of my regular tests in middle school with failing grades.

“I know what failing is. It’s because there was a person near me who kept failing… I’m not talking about that. You should be careful of Sora-chan!”

“…That’s why, why?”

“Because you can’t trust her.”

“Can’t trust her? What’s the basis for that?”

“For example, this current situation.”

“This current situation…?”

This time, it was my turn to make a face that said I didn’t know what she was talking about.
After looking at this current situation, did Ria find something incomprehensible that made her not trust Sora?

…I don’t understand.
Even if I analyze this current situation calmly, I don’t see anything that makes Sora seem suspicious.

While I was thinking about it, Ria opened her mouth while looking at me with a knowing look.

“Then, I’ll ask you. Why did you start studying with Sora-chan?”

“Eh? It’s because Sora was going to fail on the next test, so she asked me to help her study.”

“Sora-chan was going to fail? Shinse, do you not know what grade Sora-chan was in on the last midterm test?”

“Well… wasn’t she close to the bottom?”

Judging from her personality, she might have been at the bottom.
When I was in first year, I was the lowest in my grade in the first midterm exam, so I can’t say anything great about that.

“It’s the opposite. Sora-chan was third in the grade on the last midterm exam.”

“…Seriously?”

“If you think it’s a lie, then why don’t you ask one of your juniors in the club?”

It doesn’t seem like Ria is lying.
If I ask another first-year, then the truth will be known right away.
Even so, I don’t know what Sora’s motive for lying like that is.

For now, I decided to get up and ask a junior from the soccer club who was nearby.

“Hey, Yoshida. Sorry to bother you while you’re studying. I just have a quick question.”

“…It’s actually perfect since I also had a question I wanted to ask you, Asahioka-senpai.”

Yoshida narrowed his thin eyes even more.
For some reason, he looked like he was angry.

“A question you want to ask?”

“My question can wait, please ask your question first, senpai.”

“Um, was Sora third in the grade on the last test?”

“That’s right. Takanashi-san is really smart, you know.”

“So, it was true…”

I looked at Ria with surprise, and Ria made a face that said, “See?”.

“Now, it’s my turn to ask senpai a question.”

“Hmm, go ahead.”

Was there something that he didn’t understand?
I took a peek at the reference book that Yoshida had opened.
Yoshida was studying math.

When it comes to math, I started by memorizing formulas…

“To put it bluntly, what kind of relationship do you have with Takanashi-san, Asahioka-senpai?”

“…Huh? What kind of relationship… we’re just senpai and junior in the club.”

“…Is that really it?”

Yoshida narrowed his eyes even further.
He was completely glaring at me with those eyes.

“W-What’s wrong? What are you trying to say?”

“…Never mind. Thank you for your time.”

“Eh, a-ah… yeah. You’re welcome.”

Although there was something that I couldn’t understand about my exchange with Yoshida, there was something even more incomprehensible than that.
Sora wasn’t stupid at all, and yet she was having me teach her how to study.

If that’s the case, then was everything that she was saying about not understanding a lie?

When I went back to my seat, Ria had a thoughtful look on her face with her arms crossed.

“I thought something was wrong when I was watching you and Sora-chan studying. Sora-chan kept saying that she didn’t understand anything.”

“But, why would Sora lie like that…?”

“I think you should ask the person in question to get to the bottom of it… But probably, it’s because she wanted to study with you.”

“Well, I guess the only reason why she would lie to study with me is because she wanted to study with me, but I don’t know why she would want to study with me.”

“Well… I guess you wouldn’t know, Shinse.”

Ria sighed as if she was exasperated and then stood up.

“…Hey, Shinse. Why did you decide to study here today?”

“It’s because this was the only place that was suitable for studying, I guess.”

“Whose suggestion was it?”

“It was Sora’s suggestion.”

“Hmm… I see. It’s like that, huh?”

Ria muttered meaningfully.

“Is there something about Sora choosing the library?”

“Who knows? But, if Sora-chan rejected studying anywhere other than the library, then maybe there’s something to it. It’s just a woman’s intuition, though.”

After saying that, Ria left.

It’s not like Sora had rejected studying anywhere other than the library.
It was Sora who had first suggested to study at the library.
But then, when I had tried to change locations because Ria was there, she rejected going to a cafe, but she did suggest to have a study session at her house.

So, it should have been fine for Sora to study anywhere other than the library…

No, is that really true?

Sora probably knew to some extent that I was in an awkward relationship with Shō.
Because it seemed like Shō’s feelings for Reina were known to Sora.
You can easily imagine how the relationship between the guy who ended up dating the woman you liked and you would be awkward.

Sora suggested a location, while proposing the most unlikely option, and she rejected my suggestion with a plausible reason.

If the result was that I ended up studying at the library, then…

If that’s the case, then what is Sora’s goal?
Could it be that she wanted me to meet with Ria who was here?
If she knew that Ria would be in the library after school beforehand, then she could have manipulated it so that I would meet with Ria.

But, why?
Now that I think about it, it’s also strange that she appeared just on a day where I wasn’t going to study with Reina.

Was it just a coincidence that she had come to me on that day?
I’m also curious about the reason why Sora lied about her test results and went as far as to ask me to study with her.

Once I start suspecting something, my suspicions will only get worse.

Even now, she’s still taking a long time in the bathroom for some reason…
She said she was going to go pee.
But, it’s taboo to ask a woman about this kind of thing, so I won’t.

While I was thinking about that, Sora returned while acting like nothing had happened.

“I peed a lot~”

“O-Oh, I see…”

I grimaced at Sora, who was saying that so cheerfully.

“Ah, please don’t look at me like that!”

“L-Let’s not talk about that. More than that, I have a question I wanted to ask you, Sora.”

“Are you asking about my three sizes?”

“Sora, you’re actually not stupid, right?”

I ignored Sora’s joke and asked her.
Then, Sora chuckled and replied, “Who did you hear that from?”

“It doesn’t matter who I heard it from. More than that, why did you lie?”

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s to get my beloved senpai to spend time with me, you know~”

Sora sent a kiss and a wink.
I do think she’s cute, but to me, she looks like a little devil.

“…What’s your true intention?”

“My true intention? I wanted to play a prank on you, senpai, since you don’t know my grades.”

“For you to make me believe that you’re stupid while you actually get good grades?”

“That’s right! And yet, who told you about that…”

Sora looked around the library.
I didn’t miss the fact that her gaze stopped at the spot where Ria was.

“…I’ll have to punish the person who told you about my scheme later.”

“P-Punish…?”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.”

Sora said while laughing, but her eyes weren’t smiling.

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