Chapter 5

After I escorted Yuki-chan to her dorm, I made my way to the library. To be honest, I haven't been there, not even once. I've not needed it since my grades were good enough and I studied pretty well on my own, but that appears to have backfired on me. Now, I'm stuck helping tutor my classmates who have done pretty poorly on their last quiz, and with the midterm a couple of weeks away, there isn't a lot of time to work on improving their academics so that they can get straight A's. With a stroke of luck, these classmates might be on the right track, and all I need to do is nudge them in the right direction. I walked into the library and looked around. I saw Yoshikawa-kun at the far table with a bunch of other students. He waved at me and I walked over. As I got closer, I realized two things: One, it appeared that there were about 4 others at the table, and 2, they were all girls. I took a deep breath and continued to walk over to Yoshikawa-kun.

"Hey, Fukushima-kun. How are you? I'm glad that you can make it."

Everyone turned to look at me. There was an unpleasant aura in the air, and I could feel like those girls did not want me there. Because of this, and my problems with large group settings, I went straight to the point.

"So, who am I helping out?"

Yoshikawa noticed my tone right away and responded.

"Right to business I see. Well, you are going to help those three out."

I looked at the girl standing to his right.

"What about her? Is she going to be participating as well?"

Who? Oh, no. She came here to help me out a little while we were waiting for you. She has other things to do, so she can't stay."

"I see."

With that, I sit down in front of the three girls. The girl next to Yoshikawa-kun started speaking.

"Now that he's here, I think it's about time for me to take off. I'm sorry that I can't stay any longer, but I promised my friends I would hang out with them today and I'm already running late. It's nice to see you all though. I hope you all do well. See you later."

Everyone except me said their goodbyes.

"Oh, I almost forgot. It would be rude if I didn't introduce everyone here. You all know my name, Sho Yoshikawa. Fukushima-kun, these are Miki Okimoto-san, Kasumi Hironaka-san, and Mizuki Yamane-san. Girls, this is Tetsuo Fukushima. He'll help you study better."

The girls all looked at me. The one on the left was Miki Okimoto-san. She was small with long blue hair tied into pigtails. The one that sat directly across from me was Kasumi Hironaka-san. She was relatively average height, had dirty blonde hair, and was looking at me with a mischievous look in her eyes. The one that was sitting on the right-hand side was Mizuki Yamane-san. She was a bit bigger than the rest, especially around her chest. She had pink hair and averted her gaze every time I locked eyes with her. Hironaka was the first to speak up.

"I don't know, Yoshikawa-kun. He doesn't seem too interested in helping us out. What about you, Okimoto-chan?"

Okimoto-san spoke up.

"I don't particularly care as long as he can help me with improving my grades."

"Oh, what a dull answer. What about you, Yamane-chan? How do you feel about this?"

I looked at Yamane-san and she was looking away from the group.

"Um…I…don't care either. I just…want to improve my grades."

"Come one, lighten up. There's no need to be shy. Well, I guess since he's a boy there is a need for concern. You never know what he might do to us when you are gone, Yoshikawa-kun."

She directed that last comment at him as if trying to gain a reaction out of everyone at the table. Okimoto-san showed indifference and Yamane-san's face turned red.

"That's enough girls. I would like to think that Fukushima-kun isn't like that. Am I correct in that assumption?"

He directed that at me now.

"Believe me, I just want to get this over and done with. The last thing I want to do is waste time trying to smooth talk you three." 

"That was harsh. You could at least look a little embarrassed."

"Here."

I reached into my bag and pulled out a few papers.

"What's this?", Hironaka-san asked.

"I took the initiative and made copies of the quiz we took last week. I would like you to take it again and see how well each of you does. That way I can gauge your academic ability and tutor you accordingly."

"Oh come on. We came here to study, not take quizzes."

"Did you not hear what I just said?"

Hironaka-san smirked.

"I did. Man, you are interesting. Don't you think girls?"

Neither of them answered her. 

"Well, it seems like you got everything situated here. I have to go and check up on the other study groups. I'll be back in a little while, so do as much as you can."

"Of course. I'll help them as much as possible."

"Well then, good luck."

Yoshikawa-kun left with the girl who was at his side.

"Okay girls, start your quizzes."

The three girls began writing. I took this time to examine each of them: their facial expressions, the fidgeting of their feet, and their mannerisms. I want to see how they act during times of concentration to determine whether or not the behavior they displayed would need to change. After about thirty minutes, they all finished their quizzes and I examined them.

"Hmm."

Hironaka-san was the first to speak up.

"Well, how did we do?"

"It seems like all three of you have got the same problems wrong, and your answers are relatively the same as well for each of them. If I wasn't paying attention to you guys, I would assume you three were cheating."

"Hey, wait a minute."

"I'm just joking. Anyway, with this, here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to teach all three of you like you are one person since you three seem to be having the same problems."

"Great. Why am I lumped up with them?"

Surprisingly, Okimoto-san spoke up and protested my proposal.

"Well, whether you like it or not, you three are suffering from the same issues, so I'm going to solve them at the same time. This is something that I'm not backing down from, so I'd suggest you get used to it."

All three of them were looking at me. Okimoto-san looked pissed, Hironaka-san had a determined look on her face, and Yamane-san looked concerned and scared.

"Okay, let's start with this."

After a few hours, I ended the study session.

"Okay, I think that's enough for now. You guys should get some rest."

"Ahh. Thank God it's over. I don't think I could've continued if it went on any longer."

Hironaka-san exclaimed her views loudly. I'm not surprised, given her academic abilities. From what I noticed, she is below average but is the most determined among the three. 

"You guys have grown and improved a little, so you should spend the rest of the day chilling out and recharging your batteries."

Hironaka-san spoke up.

"Thank you for your help, Fukushima-kun."

She packed her things and got up. 

"I hope to study with you again, right gals?"

"I don't care. I'm here to get better. It doesn't matter who is helping me."

Okimoto-san said that monotone. I get her: she feels embarrassed to be with us. It's an emotion that people feel when they are supposed to be better than others but end up falling behind. It's a sinking feeling you get in your gut. I know, because I've experienced that feeling before, I changed, and I never felt that way again. I could force her to change and not experience that, but…

"What about you, Yamane-chan?"

Hironaka-san directed that comment at her.

"Me? I..um. I wouldn't mind if Fukushima-kun continued to tutor me…us. I mean us."

"Oh, Yamane-chan. What did you mean by that?"

Hironaka-san said that in a teasing tone toward Yamane-san.

"Nothing! I have no ulterior motive! I just…I think that he tutors well, and I think that I can understand what he says, so I would want him to help me…us. I mean us." 

Yamane-san's face turned red. She was embarrassed to the point where she didn't look me in the eyes.

"Oh, you guys are done?"

Yoshikawa-kun walked over to our table.

"Yeah. Yamane-chan was just talking about how she wanted Fukushima-kun to continue tutoring her."

"Us! Continue tutoring us!"

"I'm just fooling around."

"Well, how about it Fukushima-kun? Would you be willing to continue tutoring them?"

He and the two girls looked at me. Given the current situation, it would be beneficial to help them in the long run, but I need to make sure that it doesn't interfere with my schedule.

"Ah, I don't know. It would depend on my schedule."

"I see. Well, thank you for helping out today."

Yamane-san looked sad and Okimoto-san looked slightly disappointed. 

"Well, that sucks, but we understand. Thank you for helping us out today. C'mon girls let's go home."

All three of the girls were up and left the library. I was going to as well, but 

Yoshikawa-kun stopped me.

"Fukushima-kun, do you have a minute?"

"I guess."

Both of us sat down at the table.

"So, how are they doing?"

"Well, from what I can see, they are suffering the same problems. They have made a lot of headway today, but unless it is a constant flow, it'll be very easy for them to fall again."

"I see. The girls seem to want you to continue to tutor them, so how about it? Would you be willing to do that?"

I figured that he would ask me that. While it's something that I don't want to do, if it will benefit the class in the long run, then it's something that I would probably have to do. 

Besides, it would be interesting to see their growth, if they are even able to grow.

"I'm gonna be honest. I don't know. I would have to see my schedule and see if I have time. I walked my sister home at night, and today I got lucky because I convinced her to go home early. I don't think I can get lucky with that again."

"Hmm, I see. Well, thank you again for helping us today. I get that you have your own life you need to tend to. I'll see if I can accommodate, but if you change your mind, feel free to give me a call."

"Yeah."

He gets up and walks away. I didn't exactly lie to him, but I was withholding information. I figured it wasn't important to mention. I got up and started walking home.