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This chapter has been has been one that I have been looking forward to posting ever since I came up with a simple concept and it blew up into this whole chapter. I know this will probably feel a tad different from the rest of the story up this point but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!
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Chapter 9:
"So this is my new restart point. Honestly, not that bad, could have been much worse."
Fuutarou had to pause for a second to contemplate the fact he had already become so accepting of this strange phenomenon. However, there was no time to worry about his deteriorating sense of normalcy; he needed to get to work on correcting his mistakes from the last loop and he knew exactly how to do so this time.
"Well it's about time you got here Itsuki, thought you might have gotten lost. Also, it seems you brought your sister that you introduced to me during lunch. Hello again Miku."
The two girls greeted him and sat at the booth. He could tell that Miku was still being really apprehensive so his first goal would be to break down that barrier dividing them.
"Let's work on the practice problems the textbook gives us, and Miku please don't hesitate to ask me any questions you might have. I'm here to make sure you understand everything thoroughly," the boy said to the third sister with a comforting smile, causing her to smile back. It wasn't a smile that accompanied blushing cheeks, like he would usually see on Itsuki's face. This was a thankful smile; one that indicated a burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
Itsuki noticed Fuutarou only addressed Miku but decided to ignore it. He was probably just trying to make her feel comfortable. She knew she could always ask questions too.
Fuutarou waited patiently for Miku to open up and ask a question since she ended up having so many during the first loop. That's why, after 30 minutes of silence and not even a single glance directed at the boy, he started to feel clammy as his anxiety began acting up. During that time Itsuki did raise her hand once, setting off a false alarm in Fuutarou's brain which involuntarily caused his smile to drop when he noticed it wasn't Miku who was asking for help. To his credit, he quickly realized this and retrieved his smile as he began helping his friend. However, that initial look of disappointment was unfortunately burned into the poor girl's memory.
The young man would have to endure 20 more minutes of excruciating silence before the timid girl finally called for him.
"Fuutarou... would you mind if I asked y-you a couple of questions regarding s-some problems?" Miku asked tentatively, as if she didn't know if it was even okay to ask questions despite him literally telling her it was fine at the beginning. It didn't matter to him though. He practically jumped right out of his seat and sped over to Miku's side of the booth as soon as he heard her request for help.
The first thing the boy noticed was that Miku had already gone through all of her problems before asking for assistance. This was consistent with her actions during the first loop when she waited until the end of the study session to start asking him questions. It seems that her stubbornness to do things herself was a trait he couldn't sway, but thankfully he got her to relent to him much quicker than last time.
As he got caught up in answering questions and explaining problems, he missed the change in Miku's expression. That look of reluctance and uncertainty that she arrived with had been traded out for one that was absolutely glowing. This was the first time she ever met someone whose level of passion for something rivaled her own. She could even tell that this was not his limit; this boy was still holding back and that absolutely fascinated her. For that reason, she probably only processed half of what the boy was saying because her brain kept drifting off trying to imagine what he would be like at 100%.
Whether it was love or just admiration, it didn't matter to Itsuki. What did matter was that Miku was falling for her friend at record speed. She felt compelled to interfere and before she realized it, she had accidentally dragged the tip of her pencil over one of her answers, crossing it out. This gave her an idea as she flipped her pencil and erased her answer to that question. Then she interrupted Fuutarou while he was giving Miku a tip for one of the formulas they had to know.
"Fuutarou, can you help me with this problem? I'm currently stuck and don't know how to proceed," the youngest sister asked innocently enough.
Fuutarou took one look at her sheet and noticed the scratch work she had neglected to erase. He promptly pointed out that she had arrived at the correct answer already and then swiftly transitioned back to instructing Miku.
Fuming at this point, Itsuki decided to excuse herself from her seat before she did something she might regret. However, in order for her to leave the booth, Miku would need to get up first. This became an issue since Fuutarou wasn't paying much attention, instead being too focused on explaining what he would consider the most difficult of the formulas they needed to learn. Thus he didn't notice Miku getting up in time and felt his chest collide with her shoulder.
This collision was very minor, which meant the ensuing numbness that accompanied it and spread through his entire body before disappearing was extremely out of place. Yet he knew exactly what this meant. This was concrete evidence that confirmed the existence of a "trigger" and proved that it activated upon first contact regardless of whether or not the contract was already made in a prior loop. Having figured out a key part of this mystery, the young man couldn't help but give a very subtle fist pump. It was so subtle that Miku didn't even notice it even though she was standing right next to him, but the same couldn't be said for her sister.
After being freed from the booth, Itsuki nearly sprinted for the bathroom, doing her best to hold her emotions in check. Her anxiety was starting to get the best of her, as she could only interpret the boy's action as him being happy she was leaving the two of them alone. As she stormed into the girls restroom, she parked herself in front of a sink and began to wash her face. She needed to calm down.
Miku also needed to calm down as she wasn't the only one who felt a tingling sensation when she bumped into Fuutarou. When she felt his chest, something went off in her brain. Until that moment, her feelings of admiration and respect towards him were strictly those of a pupil towards their sensei. That moment when she was enveloped in his chest, her entire perspective had changed. There was nothing supernatural happening to the middle sister; she was simply developing feelings for this passionate, intelligent, handsome, and caring young man.
The waitress awoke Miku from her daze when she came to the table for drink refills. When she asked what they were drinking, Fuutarou declined as he had barely touched his drink yet. On the other hand, Miku decided to change up her drink order. Originally she wanted Matcha Soda but the cafe didn't carry it, so she elected for green tea instead. However this time she asked for a regular cola, which was what both Fuutarou and Itsuki were currently drinking. The waitress noted it down and two minutes later brought her the new drink and removed her tea cup.
Not noticing Miku had gotten the same thing as him, he absentmindedly picked up the glass nearest him and drank from it to help his throat, which had become parched from his constant talking while answering Miku's questions. It wasn't until he tried putting it back toward his side of the table and nearly knocked over the glass already there that he realized he drank from someone else's glass. After seeing Itsuki's glass placed in her spot, he began to realize who this drink belonged to.
"Oh my bad Miku, must have been too caught up in explaining that problem, I'll order you another one." However, before he could get the waitress' attention, Miku grabbed a hold of the arm that was holding the drink and she shook her head.
"That isn't necessary, really," she reassured him while hiding her blush. "It's no big deal, my sisters drink from my glass all the time. Come on, you were just about to explain what I do with "y" in this problem."
While he was inclined to point out how her reasoning didn't make much sense since she was comparing a relative stranger drinking from her glass to that of her sisters doing the same, he let it slide because he was just so excited by her enthusiasm to learn after how difficult it was to get her to talk in the previous loop.
Itsuki had exited from the bathroom just in time to hear their conversation. The young lady did her best to steel herself as she approached the booth and waited for them to move so she could reclaim her seat. She too wanted to point out the flaw in Miku's logic but knowing her sister, it was probably just her way of trying not to be a burden. She'll probably just ask the waitress for a different drink later and leave that one alone.
Upon returning to her spot, Itsuki first planned on filling in the problem she had previously erased. The lead of her pencil had barely scraped the surface of her paper before she reflexively snapped her pencil in half upon seeing her sister prove her wrong. Miku was drinking from the same glass Fuutarou accidentally drank from, and was wearing a giddy expression while doing so.
"Huh, I'd expect you to have better pencils than that. The ones I buy are pretty cheap too but you're free to borrow mine," Fuutarou said to Itsuki with a surprised look on his face. He was willing to share his pencil with his friend, but considering it was the only one he brought, he was a tad concerned she might break it too since it was even more cheaply made than her previous one. Still he wasn't about to deny her a writing utensil.
"Ahh how sweet, thank you so much Fuutarou!" she said way more enthusiastically than what was necessary for the situation. She grabbed the one he had been using on his own practice problems and cradled it in her hands. "I'll make sure to always take good care of this present!"
"I only said you could borrow it, but okay, whatever," Fuutarou quickly retorted with an unamused expression. Itsuki started to feel a little embarrassed but that embarrassment ran away when she saw Miku take out a pencil and hand it to Fuutarou.
"Here you go, Fuutarou, you can have one of my pencils to replace that one." Miku then gave a disappointed look at her younger sister for acting so childish. This nearly caused Itsuki to snap this pencil too, but she barely restrained herself.
As Fuutarou continued to explain to Miku how to identify when to use each formula, Itsuki couldn't help but start to feel legitimate anger, especially since Miku seemed to be enjoying herself way too much. It was official: she was regretting letting Miku join them.
Fuutarou wasn't completely blind to Itsuki's current disposition, as he made sure to help his friend as much as she needed during their last bit of remaining study time, but like during the last loop, he ended up having to separate from them while leaving one of the sisters with a ton of remaining questions. He told Itsuki to text him her remaining questions, which caught Miku's attention as she promptly asked the boy if they could exchange numbers as well, in the event she had more questions too. Itsuki was about to ask how in the world she could still have questions but held her tongue as her sister exchanged contact info with her friend.
Fuutarou thanked Itsuki for footing the bill and told them to meet him at the public library at noon tomorrow where he would give them an extensive practice test, since they ended up spending all of their time today on the practice problems from the book. As he parted from the sisters and walked home, he tried to figure out how he could speed things along since they were technically behind compared to the last loop.
However his train of thought was interrupted when he felt his phone vibrate. He figured Itsuki was already texting him her questions, so he flipped open his phone to get a look at them first so he could answer them as soon as he arrived home. However, what was waiting for him as he checked his messages was texts from his newest contact Miku. It appears she was now comfortable enough to ask what he assumed was her initial reason for wanting to be tutored by him.
[Hey Fuutarou, I was just wondering how much history do you actually know? I absolutely love history and would be happy to discuss anything with you whenever you like, especially the Sengoku Period.]
It seems he underestimated the third sister. Apparently she wanted to discuss social studies with him as if they were equals. He found this amusing and decided to test her knowledge as both of them walked to their respective homes.
Much to his surprise, she got nearly everything correct, even correcting him on a few statements he purposely sent incorrectly to try and trick her. She really was passionate about the subject like Itsuki had told him.
"How in the world did she only manage a 67 on the last test?" he pondered as he got closer to his home. "She's clearly very intelligent, and like her sister is capable of vastly improving her weaker subjects as she showed today, even if those questions were way easier than anything that will be on the actual test. Does it have to do with motivation? If so, I definitely think I can help her with that. I'd hate to see such a promising student go to waste."
Just as he was about to put his phone in his pants pocket, he got a text from Itsuki. It was the questions she still had, and man there were a ton of them. As he entered the front door of his apartment, he headed to the table and took out the pencil Miku had given him. After staring fondly at it for a few seconds, he went right to work answering them all.
"Sorry we are late dad, Itsuki and I were out studying with our friend. He's extremely smart and also very kind."
Miku's words reverberated through the apartment as they affected certain people differently.
"Our friend?" Itsuki wanted to yell but kept to herself. She had a sneaking suspicion that Miku was texting Fuutarou on their silent walk home, and this basically confirmed it for her. Miku was getting way too friendly with Fuutarou.
"Wow Fuutarou, you really are amazing," thought Yotsuba with a melancholy smile. "I can't remember the last time Miku was this forward in expressing herself in something that wasn't history."
"Oh my! Miku, do you also have a crush on Fuutarou-kun?" Ichika was barely able to contain herself from squealing. The same boy who had obviously had an effect on Itsuki had now melted Miku's heart as well? She absolutely HAD to know more about this boy, whether he liked it or not.
"Itsuki you damn liar," Nino muttered to herself under breath as she was nearly seething. "It's a good thing Miku slipped up and mentioned it was a boy so Papa can end this once and for all!"
However, Nino did not get the response she had hoped for from her father.
"Is that so?" was all that was uttered from their father over the phone. Perhaps it was the shock that Itsuki and Miku had made friends with a boy in just a few days. That was the only explanation Nino could think of as to why he didn't have a bigger reaction.
"Father, he's amazing! He actually helped me study for my Social Studies test and I got 78!" Itsuki immediately blurted before her dad said anything else regarding Miku's earlier statement. "I think he would make a great tutor!"
"Hmm, I see," Mauro said very slowly, as if he was actually considering Itsuki's proposal. "I'm sure you all are aware how I feel about you girls being that close with high school boys but I can't say I'm not intrigued. A 78 in social studies is an eye-opening improvement for you Itsuki-kun."
Mauro leaned back in his chair at his office desk as he fiddled with the cord to his office phone in his hand. It was very unusual for him to be this agitated, but he was extremely conflicted as this sounded like a golden opportunity, especially after hearing that Miku also vouched for the young man.
"Considering I have had nothing but trouble trying to find a good tutor for everyone, as well as the fact it seems he's had success helping multiple of you at the same time, I might actually give him an interview to see if I can trust him with tutoring all of you."
His words sent shockwaves through the apartment, as Nino was about to vehemently protest before Itsuki cut her off.
"I'm sorry father, I should have clarified when I said he'd make a great tutor. I meant he'd make a great tutor for me."
The atmosphere grew extremely heavy as all four of Itsuki's sisters just stood in place with their jaws hanging down, especially Miku, as the youngest sister continued.
"After all, he's just a highschool student like us. Having him teach all five of us is just too unrealistic of a task for even someone as smart as him. In fact, our pace really slowed down after we added Miku to the study session today."
Miku couldn't deny they hadn't achieved as much progress as she would have hoped but she didn't really care because there were still two more days and she was having too much fun. All she could do was stare at her sister as she continued with her argument.
"However, we know for a fact that he is able to help me improve my grades, plus he's my friend as well as my homeroom classmate. He already agreed to help me and said tutoring me helps him study too. Adding more people would just turn it into a distraction for him."
Mauro admitted she made a good argument, but the idea of her alone with a boy made him hesitant to agree on the spot.
"I have to go now girls, but we'll talk early next week. Itsuki-kun, if you score similar to how you did on your last test, then you have my word that I'll interview the boy for the position of your private tutor, but for now you'll need to have at least one of your sisters accompany you if you decide to study with him again this weekend. As for the rest of you, I'll get to work on finding a suitable tutor for you all. Goodbye."
The phone hung up before the girls could even respond. Not like anyone was going to respond as the thick atmosphere was nearly suffocating everyone. Miku could only glare daggers at Itsuki, who drowned her guilt in the fact she was technically correct. Fuutarou was just a teenage boy who had his own worries and responsibilities. There's no way he can tutor all five of them, leaving herself as the only logical choice to be taught by him. She sent a narrow side glance at Miku before turning up her nose and marching off to her room.
The best word to describe the trio's study session in the public library on Saturday would be "awkward". Even though both girls were at the library to study with Fuutarou, they sat at different tables and basically forced Fuutarou to run back and forth between them.
However, despite the pain and exhaustion, they were making much better progress. Though there was a moment during this divided lesson that Fuutarou wondered if it was a bad thing that they were improving. Wouldn't it be more beneficial to reset this loop to avoid the obvious tension that is currently blanketing this sanctuary of academia? His best bet to do that would be to cave into Itsuki's constant onslaught of questions and thus in the process just outright ignore Miku, but he just couldn't force himself to do that to her, especially after he worked so hard to get her to feel comfortable around him. He was still hopeful that he could mend this situation and get both of them to pass, though his hope dwindled each time he had to run to the other table
If all else failed, he still had one last ace up his sleeve if he couldn't fix their relationship, though he was super hesitant to use it. After all, it had been three years since he scored anything below a 60 on a test. What if this cycle right now only pertained to the Nakanos and he left himself with an ugly blemish on his academic record? That's why he'd only fail on purpose as a last resort; the risk was just far too great.
After Itsuki finished her final problem on the practice test, she leaned back and stretched in her seat, her everyday gentle smile finally appearing for the first time that day, giving Fuutarou the warm familiarity of his friend prior to this loop. When she finished stretching, she got her things quickly together and then just gazed at the boy longingly.
"That was a great study session, I learned a lot and had a lot of fun," Itsuki said as she then placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin on the back of her palms while keeping her eyes glued to Fuutarou. "To be one hundred percent honest, I was a little worried that you didn't enjoy being around me anymore. But I'm glad that's not the case."
Fuutarou could only scratch the back of his neck anxiously as he desperately wanted to escape over to the other table to check on Miku and see if she was doing well. It's not that he didn't like the attention he was getting from Itsuki, he was just a little unnerved by how possessive she was acting recently. Any time he left to check on Miku, she would stop working on her problems and wait for him to return before she continued. What was even more alarming was that she would monitor him like a surveillance camera the entire time.
"Hey Fuutarou, I just have a couple more questions," rang out the voice from the other table. Fuutarou looked over to the voice and then back at Itsuki to see her expression hadn't changed. Part of him just wanted to get up and walk over to Miku, while the other part was giving him an ominous warning that he should ask permission first. Ultimately, he ignored that strange warning as he thought it was just paranoia and got up to head over to Miku's table.
Less than a second after he stood up, so too did Itsuki as she followed him over to Miku's table. The older sister did her best to hide her disappointment and began asking her new friend some questions regarding the math problems.
"Fuutarou, I've tried at least four times but I keep coming up with answers for "y" that have several repeating decimals. Would it be okay to hint at what I'm doing wrong?"
"The 'y' in that problem equals 11.4," Itsuki swiftly answered while staring down her sister. "I asked him the same thing, there's no need to bother Fuutarou with the same question multiple times."
If Fuutarou wasn't so startled by Itsuki's sudden answer, he would have liked to have recorded her saying that so he could play it back in his memory during a later loop so he could soak in its irony. However, now was not the time for such whimsical thinking or behavior. He knew that Itsuki had been acting very differently today compared to yesterday, but this was different. Itsuki was beginning to become hostile.
"Sorry, how was I supposed to know that since we're sitting at different tables? Which, I only did because you adamantly requested we do so in the first place," retorted an annoyed Miku, who was starting to get fed up with Itsuki's attitude.
"Actually, if we did what I really requested in the first place, you wouldn't have come with us to the library," Itsuki coldly replied, with no hesitation or guilt about what she uttered. Fuutarou didn't know what he was going to say, but he needed to say something now before things escalated out of his control.
"Ladies, please! I'm here to help both of you and will do so equally. There's no need to fight."
Fuutarou quickly regretted his choice of words as both girls just stared at him. Replaying what he just said in his head, he kind of sounded like some playboy trying to stop two girls from fighting over him and wished he had rephrased his words better. He fully expected both girls to unite in yelling at him.
Only that didn't happen. Instead, Itsuki started laughing.
"That's a good one Fuutarou!" Itsuki began to cackle with an unnerving smile on her face. "Equally? You mean like yesterday, when you shoved me aside and gave all of your attention to Miku?" She then quickly pivoted to a stern and serious expression.
"If what you really want is to just tutor Miku, then just come out and say it. I'm a big girl, go ahead and tell me. It wouldn't be the first time someone befriended me just so they could get closer to one of my sisters."
Fuutarou could see the pain in Itsuki's eyes as she muttered that last part. This must have been the root of her jealousy. He couldn't imagine being used and betrayed like that in the past. His big brother instincts kicked in as he immediately went to comfort her with a hug, just like he would do for Raiha when she was upset. Maybe he could still fix this situation and keep this loop…..
No that ship had sailed.
Itsuki took advantage of the incoming Fuutarou and grabbed ahold of his arm before dragging him out of the library, leaving him with one final image of a distressed Miku sitting at her table before he was dragged out of sight
Fuutarou's mind was swirling. Was Itsuki's statement a lie to get him to feel sympathy and pick her? Or, was she not taking any chances on Fuutarou's incoming hug being a goodbye hug? Whatever was going on, he was stuck with Itsuki for the foreseeable future and no matter what he did, he couldn't escape her iron grip.
The next 30 hours were nothing but a blur for Fuutarou, not because they were fast-forwarded but because his brain simply wouldn't let him indulge in the activities he and Itsuki partook in during that time, most likely due to guilt. Guilt of leaving Miku behind. Guilt of ignoring Itsuki so blatantly and causing her to act this way.
The more he thought about Itsuki's sad words back at the library, the more this behavior made sense and the more he hated himself for causing this. To Fuutarou, it felt like he had known Itsuki for a week and a half. However, in reality he only knew her for a mere three days before he shifted his attention to her sister. Any way you look at it, Fuutarou gave the impression he had jumped ship almost immediately when the next girl came along. If this was something that has happened to her before, then her behavior, which had to that point seemed out of character, would make logical sense.
After a cyclone of events that included going to the park and the mall on Saturday, spending the night in a hotel (from what he recalled, they had gotten separate rooms on the same floor) and the carnival on Sunday, he now found himself right outside his front door with Itsuki clinging to his body beneath his chest and tears streaming down her face. It appears that he wasn't the only one feeling guilty.
All he could do was pat her head and tell her he needed to get ready for school tomorrow. When she asked if she could sleep over, he quickly mentioned that she also needed to prepare for tomorrow, specifically for that math test they spent zero time studying for on Sunday. He also wanted to bring up that her sisters were probably worried about her, but figured the word "sister" would cause too many emotions to erupt. She finally took a hint and released him. Then, right after she said her goodbye, she surprised Fuutarou one last time as she grabbed his shoulder to lift herself up just enough to deliver the boy a quick peck on the cheek. With tears still in her eyes and a subdued smile, she waved to him goodbye before leaving.
As he opened the door, with one hand still holding the cheek that was just kissed, he was immediately interrogated by his sister and his father, who apparently had no idea where the boy had been for the past day and a half.
After an endless stream of questions, not to mention teasing that bordered on harassment when it came to the lipstick that he was unable to remove from his right cheek, he finally was able to lay down on his futon and took in everything that happened this loop. That's when it hit him.
"Why haven't I fast-forwarded yet? Does that mean I was able to get both of them to pass? Do I honestly even want that to happen?
The answer to that was an obvious no. Though it seems he had somehow started a relationship with Itsuki, he couldn't just "deal with it" like he did with Itsuki's crush at the conclusion of the first loop.
First of all, it wasn't fair to him as his guilt didn't even let him enjoy this weekend's activities. It was a bit selfish, but he wanted his first relationship, no matter who it was with, to mean something special to him. Secondly, it was unfair to Itsuki as she was basically forced to this point because of how Fuutarou treated her this loop. The way she acted and the things she did were nowhere near necessary and most likely only hurt her relationships with Miku and her other sisters.
Lastly, it was unfair to Miku. It was inescapable that Fuutarou was now responsible for Miku's grades too and he'd have absolutely no chance of helping her if he's cut off from her by either jealousy from Itsuki or animosity from the Nakano family as a whole. He also couldn't erase that final scene at the library where Miku sat at her table helplessly watching her tutor being taken from her forever.
Fuutarou quickly called Miku's phone but just as quickly hung up after clicking send. It would probably be a bad idea to give any kind of indication he was contacting Miku with Itsuki probably watching her like a hawk. His best bet was texting her, but he would need for her to be discreet for this to work. He'd also need to hope that he remembered correctly what Itsuki told him regarding what happened on Friday night.
[Hey Miku, it's Fuutarou. I know this is going to sound really counter-productive, but I need you to fail tomorrow's math test on purpose. My plan is that if you fail, you can blame the fact Itsuki prevented you from studying with me which we could use to convince your father to let me tutor you as well.]
There was a small tinge of guilt eating away at the boy for manipulating the poor girl like this, after all, if the "many worlds interpretation" was true he was damning her to deal with a failed score while he got a redo. To deal with this guilt, he had decided he would potentially sacrifice his academic record and also fail this test on purpose.
[I understand, I'll try my best to fail.]
The young man breathed a sigh of relief at Miku's willingness to go along with his plan. He probably only needed one of them to fail instead of both but with still many questions unanswered about the rules of his powers, he wanted to take zero chances. With these two weapons, Fuutarou went to sleep hoping for what every school kid wished: to fast-forward through Monday and get to Friday. Sure the Friday he wanted to achieve was from the previous week, but he felt an odd comfort in knowing he was slowly but surely starting to feel like a regular teenager for the first time in his life.
Suzuki-sensei was finally going to get her first vacation in a couple of years. Tomorrow would be her last work day for the next two weeks as she planned to travel up to the Kanto region to attend her childhood friend's bachelorette party and later her wedding. She was already starting to take it easy on her students after giving that test on Monday.
"Oh crap!" she cursed out loud to no one in particular. She had planned for her final day before vacation to be just them going over the test and giving them a defacto study hall, but she had forgotten the most important component of that setup: she hadn't gotten around to grading the tests.
She quickly put down the sake she was drinking and looked around for the students' tests. While she was able to locate all of the completed tests, the same couldn't be said for her answer key. She groaned at the idea of having to solve all of these problems herself and then check every student's answers while she was already a tad bit buzzed. Technically there was the option of heading to school super early tomorrow and grading them as fast as possible, but there had to be a better alternative.
Then, a moment of inspiration struck her. She waded through all of the individual tests until she finally found the one belonging to one Fuutarou Uesugi.
"Perfect!" the math teacher cried with the same enthusiasm one would give at finding buried treasure. "I'll just use this as an answer key, after all Uesugi-kun always gets perfect scores so this is as good as any answer sheet."
Using Fuutarou's test as her guide, she quickly sped through all of the second year's tests and finished in a little under an hour and a half. She didn't take the time to notice that many of Fuutarou's answers were comically wrong. She also brushed off the fact that basically everyone else "failed" the test except for one other student. She had already checked out in her head.
"Man, look at all these idiots I have to teach, I'm way overdue for this vacation," she sighed as she picked back up her sake. Then before turning on the TV, she looked at the only other passing test. "Thank goodness for the few smart kids like Fuutarou Uesugi and Yotsuba Nakano."
A/N: Wanted to apologize for the unintentional ambiguity caused by the last section of the chapter. It was meant to show the irony of Fuutarou's decision to purposely fail the test, and was meant to leave you on a laugh after a pretty tense chapter. Just to clarify, we are heading for a reset at the start of next chapter since everyone but Fuutarou and Yotsuba technically failed the test, which includes Itsuki and Miku. Sorry again for the confusion, hope you aren't too disappointed and thank you again for reading!