Chapter 156: The Exam Prep Papers
Ueno had disappeared somewhere along the way. The group, led by Tsukimi Komachi, arrived at the study hall that Yaoyorozu had specially prepared. In the center of the room sat a long table, large enough to seat more than a dozen people for a meal.
After everyone had taken a seat, Kira pulled several printed worksheets from his bag and distributed them to Kaminari, Ashido, Hagakure, and Sero, telling them to start on the problems while they waited for their host to arrive.
The moment he got the packet, Kaminari let out a cry of despair. "Kira! There are so many questions! The whole page is covered! This has to be four times the amount from the midterms!"
"These are all the fundamental questions for this subject. As long as you can master two-thirds of these, you won't have to worry about a passing grade," Kira said, taking a pair of anti-radiation glasses from his bag and putting them on. "It may look like a lot, but many of them are the same type of problem. You can easily apply the same logic to them."
"So this is your test-taking strategy, Kira? If we just learn all of this, can we get to the top of the class rankings?" Ojiro asked, curiously looking at the test packet he'd given Sero.
"No. This is just enough to pass the exam. It's just a shortcut," Kira said, pushing up his glasses. "A true academic prodigy is like Yaoyorozu, able to answer any question on any topic."
Speak of the devil, and she shall appear.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting!" Yaoyorozu said, pushing a small cart into the room. On the top shelf was an expensive-looking ceramic tea set and some pastries. The bottom shelf was piled high with a mountain of supplementary textbooks.
Ueno stood behind her, her arms crossed, looking thoroughly displeased.
"Everyone, I am so sorry!" Yaoyorozu walked to the head of the table and bowed without hesitation. "Miss Ueno is a designer hired by my family. She volunteered today to help me welcome my guests. I apologize for her rudeness!"
"If you're going to talk about it, it's really Kira's fault. Otherwise, she wouldn't have called him a pervert the moment she saw him," Jiro said, looking at the proud Ueno with curiosity. "But... a designer? For clothing? But can't your Quirk create anything, Yaoyorozu?"
"My Quirk can only be used on a physical level. But the support gear Miss Ueno designs... if I had to use one word to describe it, it would be 'black technology.' It's completely beyond the realm of common sense," Yaoyorozu smiled. "For example, the Mosaic Generator I use was made by her."
(When Yaoyorozu used her Quirk, her skin was often exposed. Whenever an object was created, a patch of rainbow-colored mosaic would appear to cover that area, not only protecting her from the prying eyes of perverts like Mineta, but also serving a practical purpose of concealment. It was a support item that was both beautiful and functional.)
Ashido looked up and raised her hand. "I know about that! Yaomomo, you told me!"
Kira rolled up one of the worksheets into a tube and tapped Ashido on the head with it, his expression flat. "This isn't something worth bringing up. Get back to your problems."
"Ow! I know!" Ashido shot Kira a resentful look and dove back into the sea of questions.
Kira smiled at Yaoyorozu. "I have a bit of a history with that little one. It's nothing to worry about. You, on the other hand, have worked so hard. Did you go and brew the tea yourself just now?"
"Who are you calling a little one!?" Ueno snapped, then stomped out of the room in a huff. "I'm not wasting my time on you!"
"No, I didn't do anything!" Yaoyorozu shook her head vigorously at Kira. "It's just a hobby of mine."
She felt her face getting a little red. To hide her embarrassment, she sat down opposite Jiro and said with a smile, "Jiro-san, you were having some trouble with factoring, weren't you? Let me teach you!"
Jiro glanced at Kira with a deadpan expression, then nodded at Momo. "Thank you for your help."
"Kira-kun, this problem is so hard! Can you explain it to me?" Hagakure said, pushing her worksheet in front of him in a wheedling tone.
Kira glanced at the paper and saw that she hadn't even finished the first side; there were still many blank spots. He said coolly, "The first secret to improving your score is to fill up the entire worksheet. Don't leave any blanks."
"Mr. Aizawa is worried you'll cheat during the exam, so he's specifically moved you to a corner of the classroom, with no one around you," Kira said calmly. "These are just the basic problems. If you can't even do these, you can forget about passing the final."
"But I really don't know how!" Hagakure said, her voice aggrieved.
"...Sigh. Alright, let me see." Kira sighed, took out a pen and paper, and began to explain it to her.
Kira was in charge of tutoring the four "academically challenged" students, while Yaoyorozu helped Ojiro and Jiro with the concepts they didn't understand. Soon, two hours had flown by.
"Alright, everyone, that's enough for now. You can take a break," Kira said, taking a sip of his tea.
"Is it finally over!?" Hearing Kira's words, Ashido dropped her pen as if she had been granted a pardon. She looked at her worksheet, which was covered in red X's and only a few circles, and said dejectedly, "Are my fundamentals really this bad? I'm so sad..."
"That's because you don't usually put in the effort. Now you're just trying to cram at the last minute," Sero said with a grin, looking at his own worksheet, which had many more circles. "This method of yours is really good for quickly gauging a person's learning level, Kira. It's much better than just reviewing."
"Don't get too happy just yet, Sero," Kira said coolly. "I remember you like to watch tokusatsu films and taiga dramas, right? If you fail your Japanese history test again, I'm going to seriously question if you're watching for the plot or just for the actors."
"Hehe..." Sero scratched his head with an embarrassed laugh. "Well, you're right. It's not really fair to compare my strengths to other people's weaknesses."
Ojiro and Jiro's fundamentals were solid. With a little help from Momo, it didn't take them long to start reviewing on their own. With the four slackers still drowning in the sea of problems and nothing else to do, Momo would read for a bit, then sneak glances at Kira's face.
Hearing Kira announce the break, she instantly stood up and said with a smile, "Um, if you all don't mind, why don't you have lunch at my house today?"
Ashido threw her hands in the air and cheered, "Eating at Yaomomo's house!? Yes, yes! I can finally experience the life of a rich person!"
Jiro said hesitantly, "Yaoyorozu, there are so many of us. Will we be a bother to your family?"
"Not at all!" Momo shook her head vigorously. "My family isn't home on the weekends, except for the chef and the servants. I always eat alone. I couldn't be happier to have you all!"
"I don't have a problem with it," Kaminari said, scratching his hair. "I rarely eat at home on the weekends anyway."
"...Kira-kun, is that okay?" Seeing that everyone else had agreed, Momo summoned her courage and looked at Kira.
Kira took off his glasses, rubbed his brow, and said with a smile, "It would be my honor, Miss Yaoyorozu."
"I'll go tell the chef to prepare the meal at once!" Momo said with a smile, running out of the room.
Not long after, once they had cleared the study materials from the table, a butler with white hair and several older maids came in, standing behind each of them to hand them a white napkin.
"Oh, thank you," Kaminari said, looking very familiar with this kind of service as he tucked the napkin into his collar. The others exchanged glances and followed his lead.
"If you would please wait a moment, guests, we will serve the meal shortly," the butler said, then led the maids out of the room.
Now, only the students were left. Ashido swallowed and said with an awkward laugh, "This is my first time getting this kind of treatment. I feel a little overwhelmed..."
The others all nodded. Ojiro sighed, "Yaoyorozu really is a high-society young lady. Her daily life is so formal."
Hagakure nervously leaned over to Kira and asked, "Kira-kun, I've never had a formal meal like this before. Do we have to follow some kind of dining etiquette?"
To be honest, Kira was also thinking about that. If their etiquette wasn't up to par, would it displease Momo? He said calmly, "There's nothing to worry about. We'll just follow Yaoyorozu's lead."
If we just copy her, we won't make any mistakes, right?
(End of Chapter)
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