The school library after hours felt like a pressure cooker ready to explode. The looming threat of the Midterm Exams made the air feel heavy. However, in the corner of the room occupied by Group 5, the atmosphere was entirely different.
Seiji Koroizumi placed a stack of papers in the middle of the table.
"These aren't your ordinary questions," Seiji said in a conspiratorial tone, his eyes glinting playfully. "These are 'Leaked Prophecies' from the past. Last year's exam papers, acquired through the diplomatic hard work of Kushida-san and Ayanokouji-kun."
Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki's eyes widened like dinner plates.
"Seriously?! The answer key?!" Ike exclaimed, almost shouting if not for Sudou's large hand immediately muffling his mouth.
"Not the answer key, idiot. Practice questions," Seiji corrected. "But there's a high probability the pattern will be exactly the same. So, today we won't be studying theory from scratch. We are going to do some reverse engineering."
Seiji distributed the papers.
"Sudou," Seiji called out.
"Yeah?" Sudou caught the paper with one hand, still spinning his basketball with the other.
"Look at question number 3 in the Physics section. It's about projectile trajectories," Seiji said. "Don't think of it as a cannon. Imagine it as a deep three-point buzzer-beater from half-court. The initial velocity of the ball is V-zero, and the shooting angle is Theta. You have to calculate where the ball will land."
Sudou stared at the question. The numbers that usually made his head spin now translated into a clear visual in his mind. "Oh... so if V-zero is too small, the ball will airball?"
"Exactly. And this formula..." Seiji pointed to the quadratic equation. "...is how you prevent an airball."
Sudou grinned. "Okay. Makes sense. I'll get it done."
Seiji moved on to Sotomura Hideo. The Professor was holding the World History paper with a sour look on his face.
"Koroizumi-dono, this humble servant does not see his waifu in these French Revolution questions," Sotomura complained.
"Of course she's there," Seiji countered quickly. "Remember the anime Rose of Versailles? Or Fate/Grand Order? Marie Antoinette is a key character. Question number 15 asks about the cause of France's budget deficit. It was due to the queen's lavish lifestyle and the cost of war."
"Ah! Expensive gacha!" Sotomura exclaimed, struck by enlightenment. "The citizens were angry because their taxes were used for the royal gacha!"
"A slightly flawed analogy, but essentially correct," Seiji gave a thumbs-up. "Memorize the date of the storming of the Bastille. That was the first server event that brought down the monarchy."
Next was Sakura Airi. The girl was staring at the English questions in a panic.
"Sakura-san," Seiji sat beside her, maintaining a polite distance so as not to scare the girl. "English is like a camera lens. There's manual focus (Grammar) and auto focus (Vocabulary). You don't need to memorize everything at once. Just focus on the main subject of the sentence."
Seiji circled a keyword in the reading comprehension question.
"See? This is your photo subject. The rest is just background blur (additional context). Don't let the blur ruin your focus."
Sakura nodded slowly, her shoulders beginning to relax. "Focus on the subject... I understand."
Finally, Hasebe Haruka.
"This is boring," Haruka muttered, twirling her pen. "Memorizing the answers from last year's test? That's practically cheating."
"Efficient," Seiji corrected. "And remember my promise. The Supreme Parfait."
Seiji pulled a cafe discount coupon from his pocket and placed it on the table, right in front of Haruka's eyes.
"This is your entry ticket. But this ticket only becomes valid if your average score is above 70."
Haruka's eyes narrowed, looking at the coupon, then at the Chemistry paper in front of her. "Alright then. 70 points is easy." She immediately began working on the questions at breakneck speed.
Akito Miyake just shook his head at seeing his childhood friend being bribed with sweets, but he was grateful that Haruka was actually studying.
Within two hours, the seven "dwarves" had absorbed material that would usually take two weeks. Seiji's method of linking the lessons to their personal obsessions worked like magic.
"Alright, break time!" Seiji announced. "Your brains need a cooldown. Don't let them overheat."
Ike and Yamauchi immediately collapsed onto the table. Sudou stretched his muscles. They were exhausted, but their faces no longer showed despair. They had hope.
Seiji let his students rest. He grabbed a thick book from the library shelf—an Encyclopedia of Deep-Sea Biota—and sat at an empty, separate table near the window.
The afternoon sunlight warmed his face. He savored this quiet moment. Teaching was fun, but it was also draining.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Light footsteps approached. Seiji didn't need to turn around to know who it was. The scent of old paper and gentle lavender shampoo gave it away.
"May I sit here?" a soft voice asked.
Seiji looked up. Shiina Hiyori stood there, hugging a leather-bound mystery novel.
"Of course, Shiina-san," Seiji smiled, sliding his book over slightly. "The library belongs to everyone."
Hiyori sat across from him. She didn't start reading immediately. She gazed at Seiji with her clear purple eyes.
"I saw you teaching earlier," Hiyori said softly. "The way you explained history using a gacha analogy... it was very unique."
Seiji chuckled. "That's the only language Sotomura understands. You have to speak the listener's language if you want to be heard."
"You're a good teacher, Koroizumi-kun," Hiyori praised sincerely. "It makes me jealous of your classmates. In my class... Ryuen-kun only teaches us how to hit people."
"Every class has its own curriculum," Seiji replied diplomatically. "What are you reading today?"
"Agatha Christie. And Then There Were None," Hiyori showed him the cover of her book. "A classic. It's about ten people trapped on an island who die one by one according to a nursery rhyme."
"A rather grim choice for a bright afternoon," Seiji commented.
"Perhaps," Hiyori offered a faint smile. "But I like the puzzles. By the way, Koroizumi-kun... it's been a long time since we read together like this. Not since middle school."
"True. Time flies."
The atmosphere between them was calm and comfortable. A bubble of intellectual silence that separated them from the outside world. Hiyori opened her book, and Seiji returned to his encyclopedia.
However, that peace didn't last long.
"Ara? Koroizumi-kun?"
A cheerful, charismatic voice broke the silence.
Seiji turned his head. At the end of the bookshelf aisle stood Ichinose Honami. She was surrounded by a few Class A (formerly B) students who also seemed to have just finished a study session.
Ichinose walked closer. Her smile bloomed when she saw Seiji, but it faltered slightly when her eyes caught sight of Hiyori sitting across from him.
"Ichinose-san," Seiji greeted. "Finished tutoring your troops?"
"Something like that," Ichinose tossed her strawberry-blonde hair. She stood beside Seiji's table, her positioning slightly dominant. "We just finished going over Advanced Mathematics. And you? I saw you were busy with your... colorful group."
"Just making sure they don't sink," Seiji answered humbly.
Ichinose's eyes shifted to Hiyori. "And Shiina-san from Class D (formerly C), right? Are you two... studying together?"
There was a subtle interrogative tone beneath that friendly voice.
Hiyori slowly closed her book. She looked up at Ichinose. The book-loving girl was usually passive, but her feminine instincts picked up on Ichinose's competitive frequency.
"We're just reading," Hiyori answered calmly. "Enjoying the peace and quiet. Koroizumi-kun has been my discussion partner for a long time."
The words "for a long time" were emphasized slightly.
Ichinose's eyebrow twitched. For a long time? she thought. I've known him for a long time too. He was the one who saved me.
"Oh, what a coincidence," Ichinose's smile widened, but her eyes didn't crinkle. "I also have a lot of things I want to discuss with Koroizumi-kun. Especially about... the business strategies he once taught me."
Seiji felt the air temperature around him drop drastically, even though the library's AC was set to normal.
Hiyori smiled innocently. "Business? That sounds exhausting. We prefer discussing literature and science. Things that are eternal."
"Reality is also important, Shiina-san," Ichinose fired back.
Their gazes met in midair. Imaginary electrical sparks flew.
Seiji broke into a cold sweat. What is this aura? This is more terrifying than facing heavily armed hitmen.
The situation was about to get even more complicated.
"Koroizumi-kun!"
A third voice appeared. This time, coming from the entrance.
Horikita Suzune marched in with confident strides, followed closely by Kushida Kikyo and Karuizawa Kei. Class C's leading female trio seemed to be looking for Seiji for a study progress report.
Suzune's footsteps faltered when she saw the scene at the table near the window.
Seiji sat in the middle. Hiyori across from him. Ichinose standing beside him.
"What's going on here?" Suzune asked coldly, her eyes sweeping over Hiyori and Ichinose with a guarded glare. "A cross-class meeting?"
"Horikita-san!" Ichinose greeted amicably (or feigning it). "No, just a chance encounter."
"An interesting coincidence," Kei commented cynically. She walked right past Suzune and immediately stood on the other side of Seiji, effectively blocking Ichinose's access to him. "Seiji-kun, you promised to check my English answers earlier."
Kei deliberately used his first name, "Seiji," without any honorifics—a bold claim of ownership.
Ichinose and Hiyori's eyes widened slightly in surprise.
Kushida, observing the situation, smiled in amusement. Her eyes sparkled at the sight of this emotional chaos. Ah, what delicious gossip material, her dark side thought. But outwardly, she put on a concerned face. "Wow, it's pretty crowded here, huh."
"Koroizumi," Suzune called out sharply, ignoring the teenage romance drama (or at least trying to). "We need to discuss the distribution of the Physics questions for tomorrow. Your time for... socializing with the enemy is up."
The word "enemy" was clearly aimed at Ichinose and Hiyori (though Hiyori was more neutral).
Seiji closed his encyclopedia. He felt like a deer surrounded by a pride of lionesses of entirely different species.
Hiyori (The Quiet Type): Waiting patiently yet possessive over her reading time.
Ichinose (The Charismatic Type): Leveraging their past and emotional closeness.
Kei (The Aggressive/Protective Type): Physically claiming territory.
Suzune (The Tsundere/Professional Type): Using work as an excuse to monopolize his time.
Kushida (The Agent of Chaos Type): Enjoying the show.
"Ah... well..." Seiji tried to find a diplomatic way out.
As Koro-sensei, he could split himself into multiple afterimages to attend to every student simultaneously. But as the human Seiji, he only had one body.
"I suppose..." Seiji stood up slowly. "The reading session and business discussion will have to be postponed. My duties as the supervisor of Group 5 aren't finished yet."
He looked at Hiyori.
"Sorry, Shiina-san. Let's continue our book discussion another time."
Hiyori nodded, slightly disappointed but understanding. "Alright. I'll be waiting."
He looked at Ichinose.
"And Ichinose-san, it was good to see you looking well. But I have to return to my class now."
Ichinose smiled, realizing she was at a positional disadvantage right now since this was Class C's territory. "Sure. See you at the exams, Koroizumi-kun. Don't go losing on me."
Seiji breathed a sigh of relief as Ichinose and Hiyori retreated.
But then he felt the piercing glares of the three girls from his own class.
"Must be nice being so popular," Kei teased, giving Seiji's arm a light pinch. "Having both the leader of Class A and the book princess of Class D come right to your table."
"Explain," Suzune demanded. "How deep is your relationship with them? I need to know for the sake of analyzing information leak risks."
"Just old friends," Seiji deflected.
"Old friends who look at you like you're a limited-edition book?" Kushida asked, giggling. "You truly are a sinful man, Koroizumi-kun."
Seiji threw his hands up in surrender.
"Listen," Seiji said seriously, changing the subject. "The most important thing right now is the Midterm Exams. If we fail, there won't be a future for romance or friendship. Focus."
Suzune scoffed but accepted the excuse. "Very well. Let's head back to the dorms. We need to formulate our final strategy."
They walked out of the library.
Seiji walked in front, followed by his "troops." He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Teaching 7 idiots is way easier than handling 5 smart, jealous girls, Seiji thought to himself.
This battlefield of Asura... might just be the toughest challenge I have to face in my second life.
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