I Was Hired As A Tutor By A Cute Little Devilish Junior - Chapter 17 Cheering

“Sorry, I can’t tutor tomorrow.”
“Eh~ Come on. Why not~?”
“I’ve got some business to attend to.”
“Some business?”
“Yeah.”

It was the last weekday evening of the week.
On my way to Shiina’s house to tutor her as usual, I told her about it.

“Actually, Satsuki has a tennis match tomorrow. I’m going to cheer her on.”
“I didn’t know that. Hmmm…”
“What is it?”
“Nothing. I don’t care if you’re going to meet other women without me.”
“Don’t try to twist the situation. Give me a break for one day. I can tutor the day after tomorrow, okay?”
“I’m not twisting anything~”

Shiina puckered her lips and turned away.
It was obvious that she had twisted the situation by at least 90 degrees, at minimum.

But I can’t give in this time.
The last time Satsuki had a match, I had planned to go and watch it as usual. However, Kanade caught a cold at that time and I couldn’t go because I had to take care of her.
That was why I’ve already promised Satsuki that I would be there tomorrow.

“Or rather, Imai-senpai was in the tennis club. I didn’t know that at all.”
“She’s surprisingly strong. She was a regular last year as a first-year.”
“Is that so? That’s really surprising when she usually acts that way.”
“Hahaha…”

What a poor person, to be called out even by a junior…Well, it’s what she deserved.
Satsuki might appear like that to others, but to me she’s an important childhood friend that I’ve known for a long time. I naturally want to at least cheer her on.

“Well, that’s why I can’t do it tomorrow. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. It’s not fair for me to have you all to myself during the weekends.”
“Not fair?”
“It’s none of two-timing Senpai’s business. Don’t worry about me, just support Imai-senpai.”
“I feel like I’ve been called a really rude name…Thank you, I’ll do that.”
“Yes.”

I couldn’t help but look away as I saw the same loneliness in Shiina’s smile as before.

　＊　＊　＊

The morning of the weekend.
Normally, I would sleep in and eat breakfast and lunch together as one meal, but lately, I had been leading a regular life even on holidays.
The reason for this was, of course, to tutor Shiina.

There were times when I was called upon by Shiina-sama from a certain early hour.
I wondered how much I would be paid if I were a real tutor, tutoring after school on weekdays and even on my days off.

Speaking of salary, it had been a while since I started tutoring Shiina, but in the end, the topic of salary had been vague.
It was a contract between two high school students, not with the consent of their parents. As you can imagine, I felt it was not right to charge money, and I didn’t want to make money in the first place.

Some time ago, I was treated to dinner in return, but I didn’t feel comfortable doing that every time.
I didn’t want Kanade to feel lonely if I had dinner at Shiina’s house that often. I shouldn’t do that. It would hurt her in the long-run.

To tell the truth, I’m not tutoring her because I want something in return.
If you ask me what I’m doing it for, I honestly don’t know myself.
It’s true that at first, I agreed to do it because it was hard to refuse, but there must be a reason why I haven’t quit yet.

I found it surprisingly interesting to teach someone how to study. That must be one of the reasons.
Teaching others was also a way for me to learn. That could also be a reason.

Or, I simply enjoy spending time with Shiina…That might be a possibility.
Anyway, the reason for this was vague, but I was not looking for any kind of reward or salary at all.

However, Shiina might not approve of that.
From the very first day, she proposed 100,000 yen, which was a far cry from a high school girl. She even said that she would pay me with her body if I didn’t accept it.
If I were to say to such a person that I didn’t want anything in return, she would definitely object with all her might.

That’s why I had to find some kind of clear reward, but of course there was no way I could find it right away.
In the end, I’ve been spoiled by the peaceful life with Shiina.

“Riku? What’s wrong, you had a difficult look?”
“Oh, no, it’s nothing. I was just thinking about something.”
“Thinking? Yeah, you’re thinking about whether you’d rather prefer bloomers or spats with the girls’ gym clothes.
“I was trying to figure out what to do with your head.”

The voice of my childhood friend walking next to me brought me back to reality and I came back to myself.
Today was the day of Satsuki’s tennis match. This time it was a practice match within the school.

“Thank you for today, Riku. Thank you for coming to cheer me on.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m here because I want to be. I’m also thanking you for the lunch.”
“Thanks again. I’m going to show Riku how cool I am today.”
“Yeah, I’m counting on it.”
“Oh, but I’m not wearing panties under my skirt. Sorry about that.”
“Oh, but I wasn’t expecting it from you anyway”

I walked along the way to school, treating Satsuki as usual in an appropriate manner.
I think it has been a while since I went to school with Satsuki like this.

“It’s kind of refreshing to go to school with Riku.”

Satsuki seemed to be thinking the same thing and said so while smiling.

“True. It’s impossible to get up at the time of morning practice every day.”
“Riku, you’re not a morning person. I thought you might sleep until noon today since it’s your day off.”
“Well, I’ve been waking up early on my days off lately.”

“Really? I thought you were so excited about going out with your beloved childhood friend that you couldn’t sleep.”
“Yes, yes, right, right.”
“I can’t feel any love from that at all.”

Well, even if I don’t love her, Satsuki is my one and only childhood friend.
For that reason, it wasn’t much to wake up a little earlier in the morning.

When we arrived at the station and boarded the train, the car was quite empty since it was a holiday.
We sat down together on a seat that was not usually available.

“It’s kind of like a date, isn’t it?”

She laughed and clung to my shoulder.

“It is. But it’s negative 30 points for a girl to wear a jersey on a date.”
“Mou! It’s a club activity, so it can’t be helped, right?”

She tapped me on the shoulder, which she had been leaning against.
I ignored her and looked out the window.

Sometimes it might be worthwhile to spend a relaxing day off with Satsuki like in the past.
Thinking about this, I secretly changed the negative thirty points into a positive one in my mind.

　＊　＊　＊

We got off the train. Like usual, I was engaged in conversation with Satsuki about trivial things, and soon we arrived at the school.
As an outsider, I was naturally not allowed to enter the club room or tennis court, so I watched from outside the tennis courts through the fence.

After waiting for about ten minutes, the club members who had changed their clothes started to get ready.
They proceeded to prepare the courts, greet each other, and do some preparatory exercises.

I found Satsuki on the court at the far end of the diagonal from where I was standing.
I moved right up next to her and just watched her as she returned the ball brilliantly.

She had never missed a day of club activities since middle school, and her form was so beautiful that even an amateur like me could tell.

Satsuki had always been very athletic.
In kindergarten, no one could catch or escape from her in a game of tag.
In elementary school, she was always in first place in the running race. She was also the anchor of the group relay.

I, on the other hand, was a cultural club member and a super indoor person.
My hobby was reading, and my grades in physical education were always below average.
I really wondered how my relationship with Satsuki continued. But then again, maybe that’s what rotten relationships are all about.

Suddenly, Satsuki noticed my gaze and waved her hand towards me.
She waved happily, and I waved back.

Then, the club members who were around Satsuki looked at me suspiciously.
They looked at me as if they were looking at a criminal and whispered in each other’s ears.
Even though I hadn’t done anything wrong, I felt uncomfortable.

However, Satsuki didn’t seem to care at all about the eyes around her, and continued to wave her hand with a smile.
Seeing her smile, I surprisingly didn’t care about the eyes of others.

As long as I’m here to support Satsuki, I can’t afford to be discouraged by something like this.
I regained my composure and waved my hand back with a smile.