A Monster's Influence: Route B

Volume 1 - Chapter 9

Ayanokouji's POV

"Ayanokouji-kun, why haven't you studied, yet?"

"Who says I haven't?"

Himeno and I were relaxing in my room. She was taking a moment's respite away from studying, but she didn't want to stay in her room to relax. I invited her to my room, which she accepted. She lounged on my bed, laying on her stomach and kicking her feet up behind her, fiddling on her phone. I had finished making some snacks for both of us to enjoy, two yogurt parfaits with strawberries, blueberries, and granola. I handed her one of the parfaits and both of us dug in. Her eyes widened upon tasting the dessert I gave her.

"Wow, this is actually really good!" she complimented, "I can say this is even better than the parfaits served at the Pallet Cafe in the mall,"

"And cheaper, too. You know they charge extra for the service aspect. I don't blame them, because the baristas have to be paid somehow,"

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. What do you mean that you've studied? From what I've heard and seen, you've just been spending time in the Tea Ceremony club or wandering the school grounds. Hoshinomiya-sensei told us about the change of topics to review. Are you telling the truth? Can I see the review sheets Ichinose printed out for everyone?"

"Yeah, sure, go ahead," I replied. I walked over to my desk and took out several of my notebooks and threw them all at her like shuriken.

"Ow! Piss! Damnit Kiyotakaaaa!"

I couldn't help but let out a snort when I saw her pout. She's cute when she's indignant, that's for sure. Since this was the first time she used my given name, I guess it's fine for me to call her by hers? Whatever, I'll think about it later. I walked over to her and unceremoniously dropped the review sheets in front of her. She flipped through my notebook for the sciences and reviewed my unfinished work.

"See, you've barely star—" she paused and her eyes bugged out before she trailed off, "—ted..."

"How exactly do you know this? Ichinose has been wracking her brains trying to figure out these questions,"

I yawned and sat next to her on my bed before sleepily replying, "Don't worry about it. Sensei hasn't taught us this content. We're not really expected to know this stuff yet. You don't have to aim to get everything right, just focus on reviewing and understanding the majority of the content. Every question is worth the same amount of points, anyway."

"Well, it's not like it's my problem that you're not trying that hard in class. I understand why you'd rather keep low rather than show off your talent. It honestly would be a hassle to tutor the others, given the amount of stress they seem to be under. I guess for these three weeks you have been relaxation personified."

"Well, if you need any help with anything, you can just ask. I don't have any problems with any arrangements if it doesn't involve me doing something like tutoring a bunch of people,"

"Alright, so can you help me with math? I think I have everything in English and Japanese down, but I'm having trouble with math in general."

"Alright, I have some blank sheets somewhere. We'll first check your foundation before we start getting into it."

We both left the bed and sat at my coffee table, bringing over the materials for me to teach her.

"First, we'll start off with the basics," I started, "I'll write some problems down for you to solve. After—"

"Can I record the tutoring session?" Himeno asked, which I agreed to. I believe it definitely will be helpful if she listens to my explanations more than once if my tutoring isn't solid for better comprehension. It could also help serve as a guide if she forgets the proper steps written on her paper. She laid her phone against my coffee table decor on its side and we got to work.