Chapter 79: The Weakness of Superpowers
Sakurai Saki never thought he could be this unlucky.
Outside the library, he stood staring at the vending machine in front of him, lost in thought.
Normally, what are the chances of a machine breaking down? Especially right after inserting money and selecting a drink—maybe one in a thousand, or one in ten thousand?
(≖_≖ )
Sakurai Saki folded his arms and stared at the dispensing slot, then lightly tapped it.
After waiting a few minutes, confirming that this machine was unlike the TV at home—that no matter how many times you hit it, it wouldn't get better—Sakurai Saki figured it was time to take appropriate action.
"Three seconds from now, the vending machine in front of me will release a bottle of the drink it didn't give me earlier." Sakurai Saki muttered quietly.
A wave of invisible energy swept through…
Three seconds later.
"Clunk~"
A pleasant sound rang in Sakurai Saki's ears.
Whether or not the Word Spirit ability activates depends on the difficulty of the requested action. The simpler the task, the higher the success rate. Making a broken vending machine drop a can of coffee—of course, that's an extremely easy thing.
It's like a line of code written by some programmer—though the horse named [program] may have an abstract head, as long as its four legs are intact, it can still run. The vending machine's program encountered a similar kind of bug, so using Word Spirit to make it work wasn't difficult at all.
Grabbing the can of coffee, Sakurai Saki opened it.
No drinking or eating is allowed in the library, so energy replenishment had to be done outside.
The bitterness spread from his tongue to his brain, and Sakurai Saki glanced back at the vending machine.
He thought for a few seconds. The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he got, so he pulled another coin out of his pocket.
After inserting it, Sakurai Saki chose the same drink again.
"Clunk~!"
First came the sound of the drink dropping.
"Beep beep beep~!"
Then came the prize-winning sound from the vending machine.
Seeing that, Sakurai Saki raised his eyebrows. This was the first time he'd ever won anything from this machine.
The frustration from being messed with by the vending machine earlier faded a bit, and Sakurai Saki pressed the button once more.
"..."
A few seconds of silence. The vending machine jammed again!
"Fucking blow up already! You piece of shit!" Sakurai Saki cursed through gritted teeth.
Unfortunately, this time his ability didn't activate.
Sakurai Saki kicked the vending machine, then tossed the finished coffee can into the nearby recycling bin.
With his backpack on and a drink in hand, Sakurai Saki stepped into the library.
Two minutes after he left—
A male student ran up to the vending machine, selected a drink.
He bent down, surprised: "Huh?"
Why is there an extra can?
Lucky!
"Man, I'm feeling lucky today!" the boy said happily.
Wonder which unlucky bastard left that behind?
But hey, who would complain about free stuff falling from the sky?
...
In Class 2-F—
The Nakano quintuplets had packed their things and were now preparing to head to the library.
This year, all five of them were placed in the same class—maybe a setup from a certain father who supposedly "doesn't care much about meddling in his daughters' lives."
"Nino, why are you walking so fast?" Nakano Itsuki looked at Nakano Nino, who was walking in front, a bit puzzled.
Just last week she had that whole attitude of "if you make me let him tutor me, I'd rather die," and now she was this proactive?
Could it be that she's already "died" once and now regrets it?
"So what? I just want to see what his tutoring skills are like. Is that not allowed?" Nakano Nino snapped back.
Though her expression was cold, deep down she was really looking forward to seeing Sakurai Saki.
Nino outside: ( •̀ ᴖ •́ )
Nini inside: .o(≧∀≦)o
Today's tutoring subject was English—her strongest subject! She was determined to blow him away!
The five sisters walked together down the hallway.
In Yotsuba's pocket, a vibration rang out. She took out her phone.
A quick glance told her it was a call from a member of the girls' basketball club.
Sakurai Saki's words from yesterday suddenly flashed through her mind, and Yotsuba wasn't sure whether she should pick up the call or not.
[I need you, Yotsuba! ...Just assuming I wouldn't care, and leaving me behind like that… don't you think that's kind of cruel?]
Sakurai Saki's face and voice surfaced once more, and Yotsuba felt a little conflicted.
The basketball club needed her now—but Sakurai-san needed her just as much.
'What should I do?'
(ó﹏ò｡)
Wasn't there any way to do both?
She couldn't leave Sakurai-san hanging!
But ignoring the call would feel wrong too...
After thinking for a bit, Nakano Yotsuba decided to answer.
"Moshi moshi~ Kusaka-san~ what's up?"
As they walked down the stairs, her voice while on the phone wasn't exactly quiet, so the other four sisters all turned their heads toward her.
They all knew Yotsuba often went to help out with club activities, but as sisters, they never tried to stop her—because that was the lifestyle she had chosen for herself!
How the members of those sports clubs saw her—
That, Yotsuba definitely knew. Her EQ wasn't low—in fact, she was very good at reading people's expressions. Yotsuba was only dumb when it came to academics. To gain the level of recognition she had in the sports community, someone with low EQ could never have managed it.
"Umu. Sorry, I have something important to take care of today, so…"
As she stepped off the last stair, Yotsuba hung up the phone.
She glanced at her sisters and found all of them looking surprised.
"Yotsuba, did you just turn them down?"
(°〇°)???
Nino asked in astonishment.
Having lived with Yotsuba since the womb, Nino knew her personality inside out—Yotsuba was the type who found it extremely hard to say no. If any close female friend asked for help, she would almost certainly agree.
"No way! I just postponed it to tomorrow." Nakano Yotsuba replied, flashing a slightly awkward smile.
At first, she had intended to outright refuse, but in the end, she couldn't bring herself to go through with it, so she chose to delay it by a day.
After all, this was the only way she could help both the basketball club and Sakurai-san!
Tutoring only happened from Monday to Wednesday. Thursday was off. Yotsuba figured as long as she didn't leave Sakurai Saki hanging when he needed her, it would be okay. As for other requests, she still couldn't bring herself to flat-out reject them.
But... that counts as progress, right?
Sakurai Saki's words from yesterday really had affected her. Still, for Nakano Yotsuba to learn how to say "no" would take more time—or rather, it meant that Sakurai Saki's position in her heart wasn't strong enough yet.
At the shoe lockers.
Nakano Miku was holding her phone, sending a message to Sakurai Saki.
She glanced at his reply.
Miku spoke: "Saki-kun's already at the library."
The moment she said that, her four sisters froze like stone—like a group of straw scarecrows.
All four had the same question: 'Since when does Miku have his Line contact!?'
Everyone knew that last year the two of them seemed rather close, but if they were texting each other on Line, then their relationship couldn't just be that of ordinary classmates. Even if they were in the same class, exchanging Line contacts between a guy and a girl—clearly that held a special implication.
If Miku were the lively, extroverted type with a wide social circle, the others might not have been surprised.
But Miku was the quiet type, a "super bookworm" who rarely went out, and yet she had exchanged Line with a guy!?
"Miku, why do you have sensei-chan's Line?" Nakano Ichika couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Yeah, why?" Nino echoed, unable to suppress her curiosity either.
Just thinking about the possibility that Miku and Sakurai Saki had been close behind the scenes made Nino's chest ache.
"He gave it to me, proactively,"
( ,,⩌'︿'⩌,,)
Miku replied with a blank expression.
Nino: Σ(°ロ°)
He gave it to her?
Proactively?
This is bad. I'm getting a stomachache!!
He's always so cold to me, and yet he offered it to Miku…
Nakano Itsuki guessed, "Maybe it's just to make tutoring easier?"
"Ah! So it's because of studying~"
（´∇｀''）
Nakano Nino let out a sigh of relief.
Miku gave her a sideways glance and said calmly, "He gave it to me last year."
Nino's hand froze as she was changing her shoes. She clutched her stomach.
"Nino, are you okay? Is your illness not better yet?" Nakano Yotsuba asked in concern upon seeing her.
"I'm fine…" Nino forced a strained smile. "Just a little stomachache."
ദ്ദി ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ )
Part of it was from emotional stress, but mostly it was the result of her irregular eating habits the past week.
So technically, she wasn't lying—her stomach did hurt a bit.
"Want something to eat?" Nakano Itsuki asked as she rummaged through her bag and pulled out some cookies.
"Umu, thanks." Nino accepted them from her.
Despite being cared for like this by her sisters, Nino couldn't bring herself to feel happy.
She really had developed feelings for Sakurai Saki, but she wasn't close enough to him to gain any special attention from him. And now suddenly someone had told her—"I've been secretly messaging Sakurai Saki for a whole year now." The fact that the person saying this was her own sister—that made it even harder for Nino to accept!
In Nino's eyes, this wasn't just being a step ahead. This was an early start! And not just early by a few seconds—it was a whole year ahead!!
'Aahh! I totally regret it!'
ᕙ( ᗒᗣᗕ )ᕗ
Nakano Nino recalled the argument she had with Sakurai Saki a week ago.
Right now, all she wanted was to go back in time and punch herself in the face!
(=O •`０´•)=O (ﾉ´ᗒoᗕ)ﾉ
...
Inside the self-study room of the library.
Sakurai Saki put down his phone and glanced at Ishigami Yuu, who was intently reviewing key points for the exam.
What had driven Ishigami Yuu—a guy who usually neglected everything—to suddenly become this diligent, even showing up on his own to study?
Was it Shinomiya Kaguya's threats? Or perhaps the expectations of Shirogane Miyuki? Or maybe… he just didn't want to keep falling apart?
The answer to this question was likely people's expectations, right?
Never needed by anyone, never having anyone place hope in him—what Ishigami Yuu lacked wasn't capability, it was confidence. He wasn't someone who couldn't try hard—he simply lacked a reason to.
Good academic results could help build confidence. The reason Shirogane Miyuki could rightfully hold the position of student council president, wear that solid gold emblem symbolizing two centuries of Shuchiin Academy's weight, was also thanks to being top of the year.
His academic performance was his lifeline—as long as he maintained his top rank, Shirogane Miyuki wouldn't be crushed by pressure. That was the confidence and foundation that good grades brought him!
Even in Shuchiin Academy, academic achievement was a key standard for measuring someone's abilities. Like Shirogane Miyuki—even though he was a "commoner," right now he could still command the respect of the "noble" students thanks to being top of the year.
Of course, Shinomiya Kaguya also played a big role in this. Yeah… maybe an even bigger one than his top-rank status.
Sakurai Saki glanced a few more times at Ishigami Yuu, then looked away.
The subject he would be reviewing with the five sisters today was English.
Speaking of which, English in Japan was seriously strange. Sakurai Saki found their pronunciation very hard to accept. Japanese people liked to use katakana to pronounce English words—it was sloppy, and sounded bizarre.
Some like: "Makudonarudo" "Toiletto" "Kitto Katto" "Dizunilando" "Sutabakkusu"
But since everyone around him spoke like that, Sakurai Saki just had to go with the flow. After enough repetition, even he had started to get used to it.
Sakurai Saki flipped through a few sheets of English test papers he had brought along. When he looked up, he saw the Nakano quintuplets walking toward him and Ishigami Yuu.
As soon as he saw Nakano Nino leading the group, a look of disgust appeared on his face.
He really didn't want to see this girl. If his tutoring job didn't include Nino, Sakurai Saki honestly wouldn't bother meeting her at all.
Not far away, Nakano Nino — having noticed Sakurai Saki's cold attitude — felt a bit intimidated.
But just a few seconds later, she saw him smile at her.
She froze in place.
Nino recalled what she had said to Sakurai Saki when she left his house.
Did he still remember? Was that why he smiled at her?
No, that doesn't make sense!
Her thoughts were a jumbled mess.
Then she heard Sakurai Saki's voice by her ear—
"Let's get started on today's lesson."
Nino snapped back to reality, only to realize that Sakurai Saki was still smiling brightly — but he was looking at the person standing next to her.
"Umu."
( ,,⩌'︿'⩌,,)
Nakano Miku, completely unfazed by Nino standing frozen in place, walked straight to the long table in the study room.
'So that smile wasn't for me after all~' Nino felt a little disappointed.
But a few seconds later, she also felt slightly relieved.
If Sakurai Saki didn't clearly remember what happened after she lost her sense of presence that day, maybe… there was still a chance they could mend things.
Nino followed behind the others and noticed that aside from her sisters, there was also a gloomy-looking otaku guy in the room.
But she didn't say anything, unsure of the relationship between this guy and Sakurai Saki.
Right now, Nakano Nino was extremely timid. She was afraid that her relationship with Sakurai Saki might become even worse.
Sakurai Saki, meanwhile, acted like she wasn't even there.
If his personality was still the same as before, then he definitely wouldn't go easy on her. If she deserved to be scolded, he'd scold her. He wasn't the type of guy who enjoyed being yelled at like some freaky masochist.
Given her attitude last week, Sakurai Saki figured that even if it were someone else, they probably wouldn't feel any goodwill toward her either. Even Shirogane Miyuki, though he might not say it out loud, would surely think: "This girl is annoying as hell."
He handed out the study materials.
During the entire process, Sakurai Saki didn't say a word.
"Sakurai-senpai seems to have a sore throat today." Ishigami Yuu explained as he took notes.
"I can still talk," Sakurai Saki replied.
He had already figured out how to deal with the side effects. The charm effect seemed to only work once, or more precisely, its strongest effect only triggered on the first target. After that, even if he kept talking, all it would do was make his voice sound pleasant to others.
As soon as he spoke, the five sisters sitting across from him — except for Miku — all lowered their heads at once. You could almost see hearts floating in their eyes, and their breathing noticeably quickened.
The Four: (๑♡⌓♡๑)(๑♡⌓♡๑)(๑♡⌓♡๑)(๑♡⌓♡๑)
Miku: ( ,,⩌'︿'⩌,,)♡ (Note: this is the only Kuudere face I could find)
At that exact moment, all of them felt that Sakurai Saki's face suddenly looked several times more handsome than usual! If the setting had been different, they might've thrown themselves at him right then and there!
Miku, on the other hand, had no special reaction. She simply thought his voice sounded nicer than before — much better than usual, in fact.
A few minutes later, Sakurai Saki tried speaking again. When he saw that everyone's reaction had significantly weakened, he began the lesson as usual.
Another hour passed.
They finished the test.
Sakurai Saki laid out each person's test score in front of them.
"I really wish you girls were just a little smarter."
A few seconds passed.
No reaction.
"Not too much — just a little smarter, in English only."
A few more seconds.
Still no reaction.
Sakurai Saki started to doubt his own superpower.
...Forget about what happened before! But he had clearly limited the scope this time — and it still didn't work?
What kind of worthless ability is this?! It can't even handle a trivial thing like this? Then what's the point of having it at all?!