Chapter 13. [At the School Library]

 

Sixth grade classroom.

It’s getting troublesome, I sighed.

“Iroha-chan, that’s amazing! Another perfect score!”

“Ah, yeah. Well.”

A sixth-grade classroom.

Mai peeks at the returned test and shouts in praise.

Following that, the surrounding students’ gazes turned to us.

“What’s going on with you lately, Iroha-chan?”

“I don’t remember that girl being that good at studying.”

“She’s changed her character, hasn’t she?”

They whisper about me.

I played with my hair with my fingertips to cover up my embarrassment.

Like my long hair, I now enjoy the status of an elementary school girl, but inside I am an old man.

I feel uncomfortable playing the fool against a child.

[It feels good to beat up a kid one-sidedly!]

It would be easy if I thought about it.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the nerve to be as bold as Ah-nee.

“Iroha-chan, are you still planning to take the junior high school entrance exam?”

“Yes, that’s it! That’s the problem!”

“Eh, um, yes.”

Mai takes a step back at my sudden momentum.

I let out a loud sigh and shit down on my desk.

Lately, the pressure from my parents has been incredible.

Every chance I get.

[Why don’t you test yourself?]

[I heard that this school does interesting things in class.]

[The building is beautiful, and the facilities are excellent.]

And other things like that.

No, that’s not true. It’s not that I’m not smart.

My test scores are good because it’s my second life, and my language proficiency is due to some mysterious force I don’t understand.

There is no way I can explain it.

I can only vaguely misrepresent it.

“If I go to a higher education school, I’ll drop out immediately.”

Above all, and this is the biggest problem, if I spend all my time studying, I have less time to look at my oshi!

That was the only thing that mattered to me.

＊　　＊　　＊

So, when I was talking about this in the chat stream.

>Parents’ motivation and children’s perseverance are the keys to success in junior high school.

>Are you okay with revealing your identity?

>You should keep quiet about which school you’re applying to.

“Thanks for your concern. But I just pulled past papers from a well-known junior high school for the achievement test the other day, and my candidate is from another school, so I’ll be fine.”

>Good.

>Iroha, you’re so literate that I can’t believe you’re still in elementary school.

>I’d think the average livers are not literate enough to be considered an adult. Oops, looks like someone’s here.

“I’m going to take the entrance exam at a school within commuting distance from my house, has English subjects, and has as high a deviation as possible. Can’t I go to the low one?”

>What’s the point of taking a junior high school entrance exam? wwww

>You put the cart before the horse LOL

>Whether you take the entrance exam or not, you’d better study.

“Ugh, the righteous punch hurts my ears!　But if I spend more time studying, I’ll have less time to watch VTuber’s delivery and clippings. Even if it’s just the delivery that’s cutting my time.”

>Streaming is a hassle LOL

>That’s an uncharacteristic comment for a VTuber.

>You’re a top-notch fan, you know.

>It’s not about “I hate studying”, but “I don’t like spending time studying”. haha

“No, is there anything more important in this world than watching your favorite stream? Ah, you mean going to see your oshi live performance!”

>LOL

>We’re the same, aren’t we? wwww

>Why do you suddenly become idiots when VTubers are involved? wwww

“Whatever it is, I wish there was some way to study efficiently. Any recommendations on how to study?”

>sleep study

>I became a lover of society after reading history through manga.

>If you want to study hard for a difficult junior high school, you should go to an entrance exam cram school.

“Cram school! But it’s expensive, right?”

> It was quite expensive.

>Besides the monthly fee, you’ll need to pay for textbooks and classes.

>For a 6th grader, it’s about 1,000,000 yen including everything else.

“What? That’s impossible!”

>I’m sure you can get by with the earnings from being VTuber.

>During this time, survive through monetization

>5,000 yen school fee

“Thank you for the tuition. No, that’s the thing, actually, thanks to everyone, I was able to monetize it, but it’s still a long way from becoming an income. It will take about 2 months before it goes into my pocket as money.”

>I didn’t know that.

>Heh~

>That would be tough.

>Just buy the materials for now and study on your own.

>Or you could take the summer course first.

>Let’s get a project from the exam school and have them teach you for free.

“What? If I get a project, I don’t have to study?”

>????

>？？？？？？

>What you’re saying is so messed up. LOL

>Do you want to study or not? LOL

>You’re speaking your native language (space language).

>Why don’t you borrow some textbooks from the library?

“It’s Japanese! Ah, but you’re right. I think I’ll go to the library at school or in town and borrow some books for now. I haven’t even decided if I’d take the exam yet, and I don’t want to buy it.”

>That’s realistic.

>I’m sure your parents would pay for as many books as you want.

>You’re like an independent member of society, not an elementary school student with a sense of money.

＊　　＊　　＊

The next day after school, my feet were not going downstairs but upstairs.

There was no group drop-off today, so as long as my classes were over, I’m free for the rest of my day.

“Iroha-chan, the shoe box isn’t that way, okay?”

“I know! I just thought I’d drop by the library.”

“……? There’s no shoe box in the library, okay?”

“I know!”

“I, I’m sorry. I thought it prank, Iroha-chan.”

“Oh, wait a minute? What does Mai think about me? Do you think I have that kind of common sense?”

“Yes.”

“You’d better remember that.”

I went up the stairs to the library thinking, I’m going to make a story out of this.

By the way, I left Mai behind. She said, “Don’t leave me here.”, but it was the natural thing to do.

“Excuse me.”

I rattled open the door and went inside.

The smell of old books filled the room.

It was a smell that made me feel nostalgic in a double sense.