As Igni and his friends were eating lunch, <BAM!> Elina slams the table with both hands and stood up.
Elina: “Igni! Is there anything that’s troubling you?!”
Igni: “SーSomething troubling me?”
Igni was caught off guard by the question and couldn’t come up with an immediate answer.
He was a little concerned that he wasn’t as popular as he wanted to be after winning the [Tournament], but there’s no point saying that to Elina.
Elina: “Yes! For instance, do you need help with studying?!”
Igni: “Studying……? I mean, yeah, I could use help in all aspects but….”
Elina: “Perfect. Then if that’s the case, starting today, I’ll study with you!”
Igni: “Study?” It is one week from the beginning of exams, and all club and even the Student Council activities are temporarily on hold. So everyone will be pretty much busy studying. Igni is a special kind of student though where written examinations do not affect his ability to move up a grade, but he doesn’t want to look bad by getting a low score.
A guy who looks bad…….doesn’t necessarily mean he can’t get Popular, but it will be <HARDER> to become Popular. As a human begin, it’s natural to want to take the path of higher chances of success.
So Igni was ready to begin preparing to study himself butーー
Elina: “In other words, Igni. I will be teaching you, so you can ask me anything. By teaching you, it’ll help me learn myself!”
What Elina is trying to do is called “Active Learning.” Instead of being taught by someone, Elina knew from experience that she would learn better if she was teaching someone else.
Elina: “So how about it, Igni? Would you like to study with me?”
Igni: “Yeah, it’s true that you’re really smart. Let’s study together.”
Alicia: “She is 2nd in the school after all.”
Elina: “Ugh……….”
The comment came from Alicia.
As soon as she said “2nd,” Elina immediately froze in place.
Igni: “HーHey, Alicia. You know it bothers her to hear about it, so maybe you shouldn’t mention that in front of her…..?”
Alicia: “What’s wrong with what I said? It was a compliment after all.” Igni whispered quickly to Alicia, but Alicia didn’t seem concerned at all.
Igni: (Is this why they call her “Hurricane” Alicia?)
…….was the stupid thought crossing Igni’s mind.
Alicia: “Besides, why are you inviting someone from another class? Don’t you have people you can invite in your own class?” Elina: “Ugh………..thーthat’s…….there’s a reason for that……..”
Elina regained her movements and took a bread with deep concerns surfacing on her face.
Alicia: “What? Are you having a hard time facing them since you became 2nd in the school?”
Elina: “........no…..” Elina shook her head side to side.
Elina: “It's just that.....Igni…..is my only friend.” And sagged her shoulders after the comment.
Igni and Elina do meet occasionally during the lunch break, but they rarely run into each other within school. They sometimes run into each other when they have a combined lesson with C Class (Igni is D Class), but they rarely talk during that time. And besides that, Igni is usually in a solidified group with Yoori, Alicia, Lilly, and Sara, so intruding into that circle would be difficult for anyone.
The only one that doesn’t seem to care is Edward.
Alicia: “OーOh, I see. I didn’t know. I’m sorry for asking such a silly question. Please forgive me.”
Alicia, who is part of the same “Fortune Telling Club” as Elina, quietly apologizes. Igni watches them as he remembers how there were many members in that club. During the Student Council Training Camp at the beach, there was an incident where all the Fortune Telling Club members fell unconscious, so Igni remembers seeing at least 20 or more members at that time.
If there are that many members, you may have people you can talk to but not necessarily become friends with ー or something like that could happen. So asking people if they want to be tutored might come off as arrogant.
Elina: “It’s okay. Don’t worry about me…..”
Since Alicia was the one who first sent Elina spiraling downwards, she felt a pang of guilt and pity and apologized to Elina again. Elina responded with dead eyes and a half-smile so she seems to be taking it quite hard.
Igni: “ThーThen please tutor me, Elina.”
Igni also felt pity towards her now and asked Elina.
Igni: “I’m pretty worried about this test.”
Popularity Etiquette No. 13 ーー “When in need, ask people you can rely on.”
Elina: “Okay, if that’s the case, you can leave it to me!”
Elina regained her vigor with Igni’s words and stood up tall.
Elina: “This time, I’ll take the No. 1 seat and Igni, you’ll take the 2nd. We’ll both cross the finish line as the Top 2!”
Igni: “OOOHH!! That sounds great!!”
And the idiot (Igni) immediately got on board.
Yoori: “Oh, can I join that session too? There’s some questions I wanted to ask.” Elina: “Of course! No problem!”
Elina gladly accepts Yoori’s request. She puffed out and pounded her chest.
Igni: “Do you want to join too, Alicia?” Alicia: “I’ll pass. It’ll be faster if I study on my own.”
Iris: “I’ll pass too, Sir Igni.” Igni offered the same opportunity to Alicia, but she rejected the offer with a bitter face.
Iris also held her hands together apologetically and said no.
Igni: “What about you, Lilly?” Lilly: “I also prefer studying alone.”
Igni couldn’t argue with their reasoning. So now, it ended up with just the 3 of them, but Elina looked slightly concerned.
Igni: “Do you want more people to join?” Elina: “YーYeah. I’m a little worried if I have all subjects down.”
Igni: “Then, there’s one more person who might come but…….should I invite him?”
Elina: “WhーWho?! I’d like to include him if possible.”
Igni: “It’s Edward.” But as soon as he finished speaking, Elina noticeably detested the suggestion.
Elina: “.........no, not him.” Igni: “WhーWhy?” Elina: “I can’t borrow help from a Noble’s son…….besides, I don’t think he’ll want my help either…” Igni: (I see. So it’s Noble politics related.)
It was the exact thing Lucas loathed, and the world which Igni escaped from before he knew it.
And as they continued their discussion, the rumored person arrived on scene.
Edward: “WA HA HA. How are you guys?”
Igni: “Hey Edward. You’re looking well.”
Edward: “Yeah, I’m always doing well.”
And Edward smiled broadly as he spoke.
Igni: (I wonder what he came here for?)
But as Igni wondered, Edward sat in the seat beside him.
Edward: “It’s almost Summer Break, right? Do we all want to go somewhere to eat after the exams are done?”
Apparently, he wanted to invite them all to dinner.
Igni gladly accepted.
Igni: “Yeah, that sounds like fun. Let’s definitely do that.”
Alicia: “That sounds great.”
Alicia liked the idea and accepted as well. With that, everyone around gladly took to the idea and accepted, and Edward looked very pleased.
Edward: “Do you want to come too, Owlight?” And calling her by her family name, Edward invited Elina too. Elina froze at the offer and looked alternatively between Igni and Edward.
Igni: “You might be able to make more friends, you know?” ーーwas Igni’s thought.
Elina: “Okay, then I’ll go!”
Edward: “Got it. I’ll put in the reservation for the restaurant.”
With his business complete, Edward went back to his minions.
Igni: (I thought she said she doesn’t want to borrow the help from another Noble…..?)
But Igni immediately shut the words back into his heart since he was the one that invited her in the first place.
