The next day, for some reason, Elysia wasn't talking to Shiraha. She looked a little troubled on her own, the hem of her skirt, which she usually made a point of swaying, now hung still.
"Did you sneak a kiss from me last night?"
Kiana leaned in close to Shiraha, lowering her voice.
Shiraha slowly typed out a question mark, also lowering his voice. "Did you have a wet dream?"
Don't slander the Omnipotent One. Shiraha would never do that before establishing a relationship, what if it suddenly dropped affection?
Kiana's lips twitched. "I felt all groggy last night, and my lips felt wet."
"I think I saw you too."
In her hazy memory, Shiraha seemed to have his eyes closed too, could she really have had a wet dream?
This discovery made it hard for Kiana to describe her expression.
She also looked troubled, oh no, she didn't think she had any interest in that kind of thing yet. She just wanted to make money and eat good food.
Shiraha: ….
After dealing with Kiana, Shiraha turned to his Nee-chan.
Elysia finally turned to face him, her starry eyes reflecting his image, her tone drawn out. "Loved."
Shiraha: ?
His Nee-chan sighed. "It was a sneak kiss, but it was Sirin."
That girl looked a little shy, though she talked tough, once she got close to someone, she could only rely on her sharp tongue to maintain her image.
"When?"
"Late at night."
Shiraha gave an "oh", whether he believed it or not wasn't clear. He'd always been about building affection, and he didn't think his relationship with Sirin had progressed that fast.
Even with Mei and Kiana, he didn't believe they were that close yet, they were all still building affection, collecting the whole set.
If it came to talking about a lifetime, even Mei, who considered herself the boldest, would stutter and blush for a long time before giving a real answer.
"Are you secretly smirking?" Elysia suddenly leaned in. "After all, a girl that pretty snuck over to kiss you in the middle of the night."
Shiraha shook his head and asked, "…Why didn't you stop her?"
He still didn't quite believe it, but thinking about it, it wasn't entirely out of character for Sirin.
Elysia, put on the spot: …
Her voice was flat. "I couldn't reach."
She couldn't push her away.
She'd thought the ghost form had so many advantages, she could tease Little Shiraha freely.
But she suddenly realized she couldn't do anything, it was personal relationship stuff; she couldn't hurt those girls.
So she could only watch helplessly, bite her handkerchief… oh, she didn't have one, she could only bite the blanket.
And because Little Shiraha was sleeping so soundly, she couldn't even shake him awake.
Ugh—so bitter!
Shiraha listened to his Nee-chan's lament and didn't know how to comfort her. He stood on tiptoe and gave her a hug.
"It's fine, next time, wake me up. I'll go teach her a lesson."
Elysia didn't answer. Wake him?
She didn't know what a normal Herrscher girl should be like, but putting herself in her shoes, if she were a flower-like beauty with such intense feelings, and that thin veil got pierced, it might lead to a future no one wanted.
Sigh... forget it, just kick Sirin out of the ally list. She still had plenty of good friends in the Elysian Realm.
What about Mei? She had her childhood friend.
At school, the hallway was crowded. Bronya stood frozen at the classroom door, staring blankly at the scoreboard.
Bronya: (ᗜ‸ᗜ)
"What's wrong, Bronya? Grades not great?"
Shiraha walked over quickly. As he moved, the crowd visibly parted around him.
As he got older, the reality of his mental condition was making ordinary classmates more afraid of him.
Maybe not exactly afraid, more like a distant reluctance to be involved.
Bronya's voice was numb. "A little less than ideal."
The quiz scores were posted on the classroom door, black on white, clearly printed.
Bronya stared blankly at the list.
Why were there two perfect scores?
Ignoring everything else, how did someone get a perfect score in Japanese?
This was the "pass" mission she'd fought so hard for.
Bronya's voice was wooden. "How did you get a perfect score in Japanese?"
Shiraha glanced at the list, he was still first. Because of alphabetical order, he was above Fu Hua.
The Celestial Phoenix? Just another flat-chested girl who couldn't even get first in middle school.
Ahem. Shiraha straightened up, looked at Bronya, and explained simply, "Once you figure out the pattern for reading comprehension, you won't stray too far from the standard answer. And if you leave a good impression on the teacher, even if there are slight differences, they won't penalize you as long as your reasoning is sound."
Bronya's expression remained frozen like a wooden duck, encountered a study monster, fought with all her might, lost the first-place bonus.
She quickly calmed down, it's fine, it's fine, there's still PE. She'd at least get first in something.
If she worked a little harder on her academics, she could still do well.
PE,
Bronya believed in herself. Her trained body was no worse than anyone else's.
That was what she told herself… Bronya glanced at the others, then sidled up to Shiraha. "Do you get a bonus for being first?"
Shiraha blinked, what a strange question. "Do you get a bonus for being first?"
Bronya nodded firmly, for money, no shame.
Shiraha's lips curled slightly. "Then work hard, I'm sure with Bronya's talent, you can get first."
Bronya let out a long "eh", with Shiraha's good-guy personality, shouldn't he offer to help?
Shiraha took two steps, then turned back. He thought for a moment. "If you want tutoring, in today's study session, I can go over the Japanese teacher's habits with you."
He glanced at the scoreboard, Bronya wasn't that high, just third.
Sometimes he really envied these geniuses. He pointed at the scores. "I'm sure with a little work, you can get perfect scores in the other subjects too."
With that, Shiraha waved and left.
Bronya wasn't disappointed, asking someone to go easy was cheating, even if she didn't mind cheating that much.
Behind Shiraha, Yuna followed, using his "keep away" aura to quickly scan the club members' scores.
Shiraha, Fu Hua, Bronya… then Yuna, Mei… and Kiana, seventh from the bottom.
Pretty much the same as always.
Back at her seat, Yuna was about to join the group when she suddenly remembered how serious Mei had been yesterday.
She paused, grabbed her book, and approached Shiraha. "I still don't get these formulas, every time the problem type changes, I don't know how to apply them. Shiraha…"
She suddenly stopped and quickly added, "Do you have time right now?"
Terrible, she'd gotten so comfortable lately she'd forgotten to respect others' time.
Shiraha paused. Elysia glanced at Yuna and sighed again, she really didn't know what Ryoma Raiden was thinking, suddenly coming up with this incentive program.
Even her school time wasn't as enjoyable anymore.
"Of course I have time, but Yuna, the next class isn't math. Are you sure you want to ask now?"
Yuna thought about it. Her pale eyes showed a hint of hesitation, Shiraha was right. The next class wasn't math, and with a Japanese class in between, she'd easily forget.
But then she thought about being left behind by her friends.
She still nodded firmly.
"Yeah, that way, after Japanese class, I can test whether I've forgotten it."
What a diligent kid.
Shiraha had the time.
He always had time.
Bronya wasn't idle either, it wasn't time to exchange intel yet; she just wanted to make money.
The last class of the day was PE. Bronya looked around, a prestigious school like Chiba Academy was bound to have all kinds of activities.
"I'll start by getting first in PE."
Ten minutes later, Kiana stretched lazily. The teacher's little warm-up didn't even count as a warm-up to her.
"Phew... PE is more my thing."
The Kaslana family's physical strength was undeniable.
She glanced at Bronya, who was questioning her life choices, then walked straight over to Shiraha in the corner.
"Come on, more tutoring."
Kiana reached out, her smile bright and clean.
"If you'd had this kind of drive before, you might've been first in the grade long ago."
Shiraha sighed helplessly, once Kiana made up her mind, she rarely gave up.
…
Days passed. Everyone's grades were steadily improving.
When the final exams ended and results came out, Elysia's expression could only be described as… so-so. After all, holidays weren't really fun for her.
But it couldn't get worse, because of this study group, her alone-time with Shiraha at school was already limited.
Kiana, using her physical advantage, pushed to the front of the crowd. Her eyes skipped past Shiraha and Fu Hua at the top, searching for her own name.
Bronya was third, Yuna ninth, Mei forty-first, Kiana… Kiana was…
She pursed her lips and squeezed out of the crowd.
"How'd you do? Impressed by your hard work?"
Shiraha couldn't see inside and didn't bother pushing through, the way people parted around him gave him a slight chuunibyou feeling.
Kiana hesitated. "Okay, first, don't be shocked."
Shiraha paused, then chuckled. "Alright, I won't be shocked."
Even Mei, who'd been about to check her score, stopped. Could Kiana actually have made the top ten?
No way, even she didn't have that kind of talent.
Kiana, making sure Shiraha was still in a good mood, added, "And don't get mad either."
Shiraha: ….
"Fine, I won't get mad."
A wave of defeat washed over him, so even the all-powerful Omnipotent One had limits?
Kiana really couldn't make the top ten, huh?
Kiana still looked uneasy. "Promise."
Shiraha was quiet for a moment, then calmed down completely.
"I promise I won't get mad."
The moment the words left his mouth, Kiana blurted it out, not giving him time to react. "Seventy-three."
Shiraha: ….
Mei, who'd been holding her breath, let her lips curl up, then she stopped caring about Kiana and went to check her own rank.
She needed to see if she'd made the top ten.
A minute later, Mei also quietly stepped away from the scoreboard.
Shiraha was still staring at Kiana, dumbfounded.
"Why is it so low?" He muttered, uncharacteristically uncertain.
His confidence was usually sky-high, but today, for once, he hesitated.
The exams weren't that hard, he was sure he'd explained everything on the paper to Kiana.
So why was her rank so low?
During their nightly tutoring sessions, hadn't Kiana understood everything?
He repeated, "Why is it so low?"
Kiana, her heart aching, pulled out her allowance. "Shiraha, I'm probably not going to the Americas. Remember to say thanks to Dr. Tesla and Dr. Welt for me."
Shiraha didn't take the money. He looked at Mei, who'd just come out. "Mei-nee, did you find the exams difficult?"
Never mind, asking Mei was useless. During study sessions, she always breezed through without ever asking questions.
Everything was explained once, and she'd nod in understanding, and she'd probably say the exams were easy just to spite Kiana.
Mei was quiet for a moment, then seriously corrected him. "Shiraha, is a person's worth really only measured by grades?"
"Besides, this exam wasn't exactly easy. Kiana just made mistakes, it doesn't mean anything."
Shiraha was forced to meet Mei's gaze. Her expression was serious, but if you looked closely, her cheeks were slightly flushed.
Shiraha was about to check the scoreboard when Mei turned his head back. "See, you're still so hung up on grades."
"Does a bad grade make you any less my little brother, or make Kiana any less our friend?"
Mei spoke with righteous conviction. Shiraha was momentarily speechless.
He looked at Kiana, who didn't seem particularly grateful, and instantly understood. "What rank did you get, Mei-nee?"
"That's not important."
Mei's voice rose slightly. "Do we really need good grades to visit the doctors in the Americas over break?"
"Obviously, visiting our elders doesn't require any prerequisites. So caring so much about grades is just uncool."
Kiana looked thoughtful. Shiraha exchanged a glance with his Nee-chan, Elysia's voice was light as she silently mouthed a number.
Why silently?
Atmosphere!
He repeated, "Forty-one?"
Mei's expression froze.
Kiana burst out laughing.
Mei shot her a glare.
"Don't look at me, I just didn't improve much. Unlike some people who actually went backwards after tutoring."
"Whatever." Kiana waved it off, then looked at Shiraha with an obedient smile. "Shiraha, if Mei can use the 'visiting elders' excuse to go to the Americas, I should be able to too… can I have my allowance back?"