Ore wo Suki nano wa Omae dake ka yo - Chapter 2 Part 4

Chapter 2 Part 4

 

We ended up going to the library later than we previously planned. When I entered the library, Pansy was looking at me with an indifferent look.

 

“You’re late. Very late.”

“I texted you about this, didn’t I?”

“Yes. Now, this is all the people I previously expected you’d bring with you. Glad to see that you’ve made up with all of them.”

 

She just casually spewed some venom at me. Everything was resolved already, so I’d appreciate it if she’d spare me.

 

“Hey, Pansy-chan! I’ll be in your care today~!”

“Hello, Pansy-san. I’ll also be in your care today.”

“Likewise, Hinata-san, Akino-senpai.”

 

Surprisingly Himawari and Cosmos seemed to treat Pansy nicely.

 

I thought there would be at least some air of awkwardness between those three. Well, I guess that was how girls’ friendships work?

 

“Hello, Oga-kun.”

“U-Um, Sanshokuin-san… S-Sorry for causing you much trouble the other day…”

 

Unlike the two of them, though, Sun-chan couldn’t act as comfortable. He bowed his head awkwardly as he mouthed an apology to her. I told him that Pansy wasn’t angry anymore, but it seemed like my words didn’t erase his guilt.

 

“Don’t worry about it. I don’t care anymore.”

“B-But… T-To you, I…”

“You tried to do something bad to me. But in the end, it didn’t end up happening, so don’t worry about it.”

 

Why couldn’t she act as kindly to me?

 

Normally, girls would treat someone that they liked nicely, you know?

 

It was so annoying to see her treating another guy nicely while treating me like trash.

 

“But, I’d appreciate it if you keep it as a secret.”

“Of course! I swear in Nomo’s name, I’ll keep it as a secret!” (T/N: He referred to Nomo Hideo, a retired pro baseball pitcher who’s a legend at this point. His legacy carried on from NPB, which is the Japanese’s baseball league to the MLB.)

 

Was that really the right person to swear to? Well, I guess that was how much he loved Nomo.

 

I remembered the time when he cut his eraser’s case in half then rearranged the word on it and said, ‘It’s Nomo eraser!’ Good times. Since he loved Nomo that much, I guess it wouldn’t be weird to see him swear in his name. (T/N: So, you know those erasers come with the paper package with the brand name and ‘do not eat’ warning on it? That’s the eraser case Joro is talking about. Also, one of the bigger eraser brands in Japan is Mono, so what he’s trying to say is that Sun-chan cut the Mono logo in half and rearranged it to Nomo.)

 

“Listen to her, Sun-chan. She said she doesn’t care about it, so stop worrying.”

“O-Okay!”

 

When I patted his back as encouragement, Sun-chan looked back at me happily.

 

Look at that smile, it was so bright it was hurt to look at.

 

“Anyway, let’s go to the reading space. We’ll help Sun-chan and Himawari with their studies, but…”

“If you don’t mind, I can help you two teach them, Joro-kun, Pansy-chan! I’ve prepared myself properly!”

“Okay, we can use your help, Prez. I appreciate it.”

“Leave it to me!”

 

Wait, if she had prepared herself properly, that meant she already knew that we would be studying here.

 

Her face was beaming as she scribbled on her pink note.

 

*   *   *

 

As we entered the reading space, all five of us took our seats.

 

The seating order was: Pansy and Sun-chan on both of my sides, Himawari and Cosmos right in front of me.

 

Pansy prepared some cookies and brewed tea for all of us.

 

While I appreciate the gesture, I didn’t particularly appreciate that if we were to put our two cups together, it’d make a heart.

 

“Alright! Let’s start with giving out some tips and methods for studying! Starting with math!”

 

When everyone was ready, Cosmos stood up.

 

Well, since she was in the top three ranks, I was quite curious about what kind of tips she’d give us.

 

“Studying is mostly about memorizing things and math is no exception to this rule! Math is all about applying the right formula to the right problems. In other words, all you have to do is to memorize the formulas and the patterns that the problems have. The best way to do this is to solve a lot of math problems! You’ll remember everything in the process!”

 

Oh! That was a reliable method! I guess I could count on her to teach us, huh?

 

“That’s why, I’ve prepared 50000 math problems for you to solve! At first glance, you might think that it’s difficult to solve everything by today, but don’t worry, it isn’t that hard! If you solve one problem every two seconds, you’d finish everything in three hours! The hard part is that you can’t blink while you’re doing it or else, you’ll lose some time, but it isn’t that big of a deal!”

 

I’ll take back my words. Akino Sakura was the devil herself.

 

Not only did she come up with a plan to break someone’s mind, she also came up with one that could break someone’s eyeballs.

 

Pansy looked expressionless, so I didn’t know what she was thinking, but God, look at Himawari and Sun-chan’s faces…

 

They were horrified. Hell, they were literally shaking…

 

“Um… T-That’s a little…”

“I understand your concern, Joro-kun. Since it’s 4.20 pm right now, you think that if we were to spend three whole hours here, we wouldn’t make it before they close the library, right? Well, I, the student council president, had already asked for the teacher’s permission to use the library all night long!”

 

That wasn’t my concern at all! Also, how well-prepared were you?!

 

“Alright, then, let’s–”

“Please wait, Prez.”

“Hm?”

“Just in case, can I ask you something? Have you ever taught someone to study before this?”

“Hehe, what a foolish question, Joro-kun.”

 

Foolish question my a**! Stop looking so smug!

 

“Of course I have! I taught my classmates before!”

“And how did you teach them? The same way as what you’re doing right now?”

“Yes! Back then we borrowed the student council room and studied for a week without sleeping!”
“A-And the result was?”

“They liked it! Everyone was motivated by my teaching! They even said that they’d study hard on their own from then on! Also, I don’t know why, but they called me ‘Your Ladyship’ for a while. Isn’t it a perfect nickname for me?”

“No, it isn’t! ‘Your Demoness’ would be more perfect for you!” (T/N: A pun. 貴婦人/Kifujin literally meant ‘Noblewoman’ sounded the same as 鬼婦人/Kifujin, which meant ‘Demon Lady.’)

“Stop~ You’re making me feel embarrassed~!”

 

Okay, now how to deal with this Marie Antoinette? (T/N: The infamous Queen of France. In this context, Joro is taking a jab at Cosmos for her disconnection to reality, just like how Marie Antoinette was when she said the line she was infamous for, ‘Let them eat cake,’ when the people were protesting about not having any bread to eat.)

 

I glanced at Himawari, who was appealing with her eyes to make this girl stop. Meanwhile, Sun-chan had already taken a padmasana pose. (T/N: Padmasana, or the lotus position.)

 

Was he getting ready to do some yoga?

 

“Akino-senpai, I think it’ll be more efficient if we were to split the subjects separately, especially between the humanities and science subjects. I’ll be teaching Hinata-san Modern Japanese, what do you think, Hinata-san?”

“Sure! I’m really bad at Modern Japanese, so, I’d appreciate it, Pansy-chan!”

“I-Is that so…? W-Well, I guess it’s good to start from the subject that you’re bad at…”

 

Ah, those two were running away! How dare they just dumped this d**b thing on us!

 

What should I do now? I couldn’t even rely on my best bud here because he had started doing yoga for real!

 

“Then, Joro-kun, why don’t we—”

“Wait, Prez.”

“Hm? I feel like you’ve stopped me once already… What is it?”

 

Think! Come up with something so that I could get away from this evil plan!

 

“U-Um, Prez, you’re trying to teach all of us, right?”

“Yes, what about it?”

“But, there isn’t much time before the exam starts, so wouldn’t it be hard for you to teach all four of us at once?”

“That’s true, but if we all cut our sleep time to thirty minutes a day, we should manage to finish everything before the exam starts.”

 

At least get us an hour of sleep…

 

“No, we can’t bother you that much, Prez. That’s why I came up with an idea.”

“That so? Let me hear it.”

 

Why was she so smug? She came up with this kind of crazy idea, why the hell was she so smug about it?!

“U-Um… Y-You see, what about teaching us based on the questions that might come up in the exam?”

“Hm?”

 

Yes! Good on me! I managed to come up with something on the spot like that!

“Yes! What if you made a prediction of what questions that might come up in the exam? We can try to solve those instead!”

“Don’t worry, I’ve already prepared those too!”

 

Really?! How far had she prepared for this?!

 

“Alright, before we start doing those, I’ll help Sun-chan out with his studies. In the meantime, can you make some variations of those questions, Prez?”

“Sure, I can do that! I’ll make 20 variations of each question for you!”

 

This girl was as thorough as the Abashiri Prison… She completely blocked off all my escape routes… (T/N: It’s the legendary prison that was dubbed as the inescapable prison in Japan, as well as the most brutal prison there. The inmates that were placed there were forced to do what we’d call ‘community service’ in a really harsh condition; no food, barely any rest and a completely unsafe work environment that led to hundreds of prisoners dying in the process. In history, there’s only one inmate that managed to escape from the prison, Shiratori Yoshie.)

 

“But… You know what, I think you have a point. I don’t know everyone’s capability yet, so I’ll see what you can do first for today. I can make personalized questions for each of you afterwards.”

“Now we’re talking! I’m all for that! You’re the best, Prez! I knew I could count on you!”

“I-Is that so? B-Being praised like that made me feel embarrassed…:

 

Despite the cute face she made while being bashful, I knew that there was an evil demon deep inside her heart!

“Alright, it’s decided then! I’ll see what everyone can do first, then I’ll make questions that are appropriate for your levels!”

“Please do! Alright Dhalsi— I meant, Sun-chan, time to start studying!” (T/N: Dhalsim from Street Fighters. Sun-chan is still in the Lotus position, so this is pretty self-explanatory.)

 

I called out to Sun-chan who was about to ascend to the Nirvana next to me.

 

Cosmos was a smart gal, but at the same time, she was a big idiot.

 

And so, an hour passed since we started studying. Currently, I was teaching Himawari, while Pansy was teaching Sun-chan.

 

“Pansy-chan, your cookies are tasty!”

“Really? Thank you.”

 

Said Himawari happily while fiddling with the mechanical pencil in her right hand.

 

“Seriously, how did you do it? Can you teach me how to make them sometime, Pansy-san?”

“Sure.”

 

Cosmos also seemed impressed as she munched on the cookies with a delightful expression.

 

“Why don’t you eat some too, Oga-kun?”

“I’m more of a kushikatsu guy than a cookie guy.”

 

I guess he was trying to be considerate. I could tell that he wanted to eat the cookies though.

 

Honestly, when it came to the relationship between those two, I didn’t really need to do anything.

 

Sun-chan was a kind person and Pansy… was a kind person too, I guess.

 

Since Pansy was watching over his studies, it would be a perfect time for him to do something about it.

 

By the way, before we got here, I asked him a question about his feelings toward her. The answer he told me was vague, ‘I have something more important to accomplish in  my life,’ or something like that, but I could tell that he still had feelings for her.

 

It seemed like he was trying to form a somewhat favorable relationship with her. Instead of his formerly unsettling awkward show off tone, he had been using his usual hot blooded tone when he was talking to her.

 

“Sanshokuin-san! You know, lately, I got into jazz!”

“That so? Who do you listen to?”

“Aerosmith!” (T/N: For the zoomers out there, they’re a legendary rock band.)

 

In which multiverse Aerosmith’s songs were considered as jazz?

 

Or maybe rock jazz was a real thing now? (T/N: Jazz fusion was a thing, but Aerosmith definitely wasn’t one of the bands that explored the genre.)

 

…Anyway, at least they could have a conversation with each other.

 

“Am I doing it correctly, Joro?”

 

As I watched over them, Himawari suddenly leaned over to me while showing me her note.

 

“Yes, it’s perfect. Good job.”

“Ehehe~ I knew I could do it if I were to try hard enough!”

 

When I praised her, she puffed her chest proudly.

 

“I made some questions for you, Joro-kun. Can you look over it?”

“Sure— Wait, what the hell is this last question?”

 

When I checked the set of questions I received from Cosmos, the last question caught my eyes. Why? Because ‘What are the good points of Akino Sakura?’ had nothing to do with the exam. It was a completely pointless question.

 

“I was just playing around. You don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to.”

“Is that so?”

“That is so.”

 

Her face looked sketchy as she said that, but I didn’t utter a single word of complaint because I could tell that she was in a really good mood.

 

*   *   *

 

Time flew by. We were done with our studies, packed our stuff and left the school building. A certain student council president complained because she went out of her way to get us permission so we could use the library all night long, but everyone ignored her.

 

“We studied a lot today, didn’t we, Sun-chan?”

“Yeah! If we keep this up, we’ll pass the exam no problem!”

 

Himawari and Sun-chan walked ahead from the rest of the group, clearly in a good mood.

 

They were happy because they made so much progress in their studies, something that they had been struggling with since forever.

 

“You’re amazing Pansy-san. You made modern Japanese look so easy.”

“You’re even more amazing than me, Akino-senpai. I can never make such precise predictions like you did.”

 

But, the best thing about today was still the fact that Pansy talked to everyone other than me for the whole study session.

 

Even now, she was talking amiably with Cosmos while walking right behind the high tensioned duo. I couldn’t guess what was going on in her mind, but at least I knew that she wasn’t shy around other people now.

 

“Pansy-chan! Are you going to make more sweets tomorrow?”

Himawari turned around and asked Pansy that question. It was clear that she was looking forward to her sweets.

 

“No. I won’t be joining the study session tomorrow. This is only a one time deal.”

“Eh, really?! Aww…”

 

Was she disappointed about Pansy not going to join us or was she disappointed about not getting to eat her sweets?

 

…Maybe both? 

 

“With Joro-kun and Akino-senpai around, I don’t think you’ll need me to teach you.”

“But, I want you to be there too, Pansy-chan! Your teaching method is fun and easy to follow! C’mon, can’t you just join us tomorrow? Everything will be more fun if you do!”

“I agree with Himawari-san. You’re more patient and polite than Joro-kun. I honestly think that you’re a better teacher than him.”

 

Like she was the one to talk. She was an even more horrible teacher than I was.

 

“Do you really think so?”

“Yes, I do.”

 

She was suited to be a student council president. When I glared at her, she didn’t drop her smile.

 

“What? Joro is fine! I like the way he taught me!”

 

As expected of my best friend. He understood!

 

“But, I…”

“Whatever excuse you’re cooking, it won’t work. You’re literally the one with the highest grade in our grade and you’re the top student in our school when it comes to literature.”

 

I wouldn’t let a good opportunity pass by, so I quickly interrupted Pansy’s words.

 

Since I’ve done that, I’ll leave the rest to Himawari and Cosmos.

 

“Stop bullying her, Joro! Jeez, I feel sorry for Pansy-chan now…”

“Can’t you word it more politely? Don’t you think you’re too harsh on her?”

 

Oi, I was literally on those two’s sides. Why the hell were they berating me?

 

“Well, that was on you, Joro.”

 

Even Sun-chan betrayed me?! D**n it!

 

“So, what do you think, Pansy-chan? Can you join us tomorrow?”

“It would be great if you can join us. I’d definitely want to get to know you better!”

 

Pansy still looked emotionless, but I could tell that she was having trouble trying to reject those two.

 

I wouldn’t lend her a helping hand. I wanted her to join our study sessions to begin with.

 

“Joro-kun?”

“What?”

 

After a while, Pansy nonchalantly called out to me.

 

“What do you want to eat tomorrow?”

“Huh?”

“I’m talking about sweets. I baked cookies today, but I want you to tell me what you want to eat tomorrow. Why don’t you tell me which sweets you like the most? I think it would be better if I were to bring the tastiest sweets so everyone could enjoy them together.”

“I see…”

 

That was a good point.

 

“Huh? Then, are you going to join us tomorrow, Pansy?”

“Yes, since Hinata-san and Akino-senpai treat me so kindly, unlike a certain someone.”

“Yay! You’re right, though! Unlike a certain someone, I am, indeed, kind!”

“I’m glad to hear that! Also glad to know that you think of me as someone kind, unlike a certain someone.”

 

Those guys… It was nice to see them getting along, but I’d appreciate it if they weren’t throwing shades at me.

 

“So, Joro-kun. Can you tell me what you want to eat?”

 

Pansy’s sweets, huh? Honestly, everything she made was tasty, especially…

 

“Macarons.”

“Oh, the sweets that a certain someone praised. I remember he said something like wanting to marry the person who made those sweets.”

“Shut up.”

 

I hated that she kept saying unnecessary things with that expressionless face of hers. But, since she did well today, I let it slide.

 

Despite going through a lot of troubles, I managed to create the situation that I wanted.

 

TL: Iyo

ED: Iyo

 

 

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