"No?"
To be honest, when Hakuto said this, Ichika, sitting across from him, was completely baffled.
The law of conservation of confusion: confusion doesn't disappear, it just transfers to someone else.
"If you never had it in the first place, then what exactly did you talk to Dad about?"
"About becoming your tutor, what else? And even if I wanted to get a copy of the grade reports, it would take some time."
Hakuto thought, doesn't making a phone call take time? Even calling Hiratsuka-SENSEI is exhausting, okay?
"Grade... reports??"
Ichika's imposing presence instantly vanished, and she slowly sat back down.
At this moment, she just wanted to find a hole to crawl into. She felt like she needed to switch planets to live on.
"So... I see now..."
NinO, who had been confused this whole time, finally realized what was going on. She couldn't help but give her sister a round of applause.
Hakuto as well—he had been caught off guard at first, so his brain didn't register it immediately. But now that he had a moment to think, it all made sense.
"So Ichika thought I had some dirt on Nino and was using it to threaten her?"
As soon as he said this, the already embarrassed Ichika became even more flustered, practically hiding under the table.
"N-no... that's not what I meant."
"I know my usual persona doesn't exactly make me seem like a saint, but I wouldn't stoop to being that devious..."
Hakuto felt completely innocent. This was how rumors spread—he was experiencing it firsthand.
Thankfully, this one got cut off before it could spread.
"I really..."
Ichika felt like she had no way to defend herself. It was her fault for jumping to conclusions and questioning Hakuto before getting the facts straight.
Hakuto waved his hand dismissively. Being misunderstood as a scheming villain was frustrating, but he didn't want to waste time on this.
"Forget it, Ichika was just worried about Nino. No need to dwell on it."
"Now, let's talk about the tutoring job."
"Didn't you say that wasn't the reason you asked me out today?"
"Things change. I didn't expect all five of you to be here."
Lies. Hakuto knew. That's exactly why he brought Nino to the café—because it was a good place to have a serious discussion.
"I already told you, we don't need a tutor."
Nino's attitude remained firm, just like it had been with every tutor who came before Hakuto.
She wasn't treating him any differently.
"Hold on, just listen to me first."
Hakuto tried to calm Nino down, as well as the other four sisters who looked ready to jump into the conversation.
"I don't have your official grade reports, but if my memory serves me right, all of you are at the bottom of your respective classes, right?"
Hakuto didn't sugarcoat anything and got straight to the point.
Even though he was telling the truth, the five sisters still looked a little embarrassed.
"So... so what? Our grades are our own problem."
But among the five, the one who took studying seriously had a different opinion—Nakano Itsuki.
"But... if it's Shiratori tutoring us..."
Before she could finish, Nino shot her a glare that made her stop.
Hakuto sighed internally as he watched. He hadn't expected Nino to be this against the idea of a tutor.
Was she still holding a grudge over how he rejected her in public? Hakuto thought that issue was long resolved.
"Toyosaki is one of the top schools in the country. If your grades don't improve, forget about graduating—you might not even pass some of the upcoming exams."
Hakuto knew that tutoring them wasn't impossible.
Looking at each of them individually—
Ichika had dreams of becoming an actress, so she wasn't focused on studying.
That was easy to solve. Hakuto was confident that as long as she didn't resist, he could at least get her to pass.
As for acting... Well, Hakuto had a solution for that too, but it would cost extra.
Miku was actually interested in history, particularly the Sengoku period. As long as he played to her interests, guiding her would be easy.
Yotsuba was the easiest. She couldn't say no to people. A little bit of pleading, and she'd give in.
Itsuki was the simplest case. She genuinely wanted a good tutor, and she had no issues with Hakuto personally.
In summary, if Hakuto could convince Nino, the tutoring gig would be set.
After all, in the original story, this was the girl who drugged someone. Hakuto had to stay on guard.
"Alright, everyone. I told Nino that tutoring wasn't my reason for asking her out today, so let's not focus on that right now."
Hearing this, the five sisters were taken aback. They hadn't expected Hakuto to drop the topic voluntarily.
Yotsuba was the first to jump in and change the subject.
"Shiratori, can I ask you something?"
"Yotsuba, please use proper titles while working."
She scratched her head, momentarily confused.
"What do you mean?"
"If I'm going to be your tutor, what should you call me?"
Yotsuba suddenly understood. Nino also realized what was happening and was about to stop her, but Yotsuba spoke first.
"Wait..."
"Alright, Shiratori-sensei, can I ask you a question?"
Seeing this, Nino sighed and rubbed her forehead. She had wanted to fight to the bitter end, but her teammate had already surrendered.
Hakuto smiled and gestured for Yotsuba to continue.
"Go ahead."
"Shiratori-sensei, why did you decide to take down all those delinquents?"
In the past, Hakuto might have answered with a joke, something like, 'Since I was afraid of being bullied, I just bullied them first.'
But this time, he decided to share something from his past.
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