The Heroines Want to Confess

Sakurai stepped into the apartment alongside the five sisters.

He scanned the space—he'd been here once last week.

The first floor had a living room and kitchen, along with a staircase leading to the second floor, where the sisters' bedrooms were.

"Sensei~ I'm sleepy, so I'm going to bed."

Nakano Ichika flashed a relaxed smile, waved her hand, and disappeared upstairs.

"Scumbag! Our home has no place for you! If you know what's good for you, get lost!"

Nakano Nino crossed her arms, looking at him with pure disdain.

Nakano Itsuki didn't say anything. She simply took out a book and mumbled:

"I'll study by myself. Just call me when you start."

Nakano Miku nudged Sakurai's arm.

"Sakurai-kun, let's play a game instead."

Nakano Yotsuba raised her hand energetically.

"Sakurai-kun, when do we start studying?"

Five completely different personalities.

Five students with terrible grades—if he split his own grades into five parts, they'd probably still be higher than theirs.

Five equal parts?

Five horses…

That sounds familiar.

Oh, right—Lord Shang also divided people into five classes back in ancient China.

No wonder it felt familiar.

Sakurai had random historical thoughts as he sat on the living room couch and removed his glasses.

He glanced at the remaining four sisters and spoke.

"Originally, I wanted to give you all a placement test today."

"But since not everyone is here, there's no point."

Then he turned to Nino.

"So, why are you still here?"

The next moment, she glared at him.

If looks could kill, Sakurai would have died at least hundreds of times in the last few seconds.

The two of them stared each other down for a full minute.

Miku and Yotsuba watched in amusement but didn't interfere.

"Nino, can you move farther away?"

"It's uncomfortable having you stare at me."

"To be honest, I hate girls with your kind of personality."

Sakurai flashed a bright, charming smile—

But his words were anything but charming.

This fake smile was something he only used for his rental boyfriend job—a professional facade.

At school, Sakurai was usually expressionless unless he was giving speeches or in necessary situations.

It was one of his methods of controlling his superpowers—by keeping his emotions neutral, he could suppress power surges.

Another ten seconds passed.

She still didn't say anything.

Sakurai dropped his smile.

Seriously?

Holding a glare for this long?

That's got to be a talent.

…A completely useless talent.

Please don't waste your potential on this, Nino.

Seeing that she wasn't responding, Sakurai softened his tone.

"If you don't want to study, you can just go to your room."

"Rather than sitting here sulking, wouldn't it be better to do something else?"

Nino huffed and turned toward the staircase.

"Hmph!"

"You can forget about ever teaching me!"

"Not for an hour! Not for a minute! Not even for a second!"

Sakurai ignored her and pulled out his teaching materials.

"Has she always been this annoying?"

"That overinflated ego of hers needs fixing."

"Nobody cares about someone they just met."

Sakurai muttered to himself.

"I could drop this tutoring job anytime.

It's not like I need the money."

"Sakurai-kun, your expression just now was kinda scary," Yotsuba noted.

"If a guy can stay calm while a girl insults him, he shouldn't be a tutor."

"He should become a monk."

Sakurai sighed.

"I kinda want to quit."

Although… the pay was decent—

25,000 yen per day for five students wasn't bad.

But honestly?

In Shuchiin Academy, who else would take this job?

The top-ranked student, Shirogane Miyuki, had already turned it down.

He straight-up said he wasn't good with girls.

His reasoning made perfect sense—

This was a group of five high school girls.

The second-ranked student, Shinomiya Kaguya?

The principal wouldn't dare ask her.

Even if he did, her odds of accepting were close to zero.

The fourth-ranked student, Shijo Maki?

She didn't seem like the type to lower herself to tutoring others.

Most students at Shuchiin Academy were the elite children of politicians and business moguls.

Why would any of them take a part-time job tutoring for just 10,000 yen an hour?

They had clubs to attend.

Their own studies to focus on.

Nobody had time to tutor random students.

Unless it was one-on-one tutoring, maybe.

But five students?

No way.

"Your grades belong to you."

"If you don't care about them, I won't either."

"If you're fine graduating as a middle schooler and going out into society, that's up to you."

Sakurai glanced at Nino, who had paused halfway up the stairs.

"Even if all you care about is getting a good-looking boyfriend…

Keeping a relationship interesting requires good conversation skills."

"And for that, you need to study literature."

Sakurai continued.

"Nino, I do have a question for you."

"Why do you keep calling me those weird nicknames?"

"I think I'm pretty well-known at Shuchiin Academy."

Nino turned her head slightly, eyeing him.

"What nonsense are you saying? Why would I know you?"

"As the Student Council's treasurer, are you proud of playing with girls' emotions?"

Oh.

So she did know him after all.

Clever girl.

"Oh? I thought you were just obsessed with looks."

"Since you've been staring at my face this whole time."

Sakurai smirked.

"But I guess I was wrong."

"Shut up! I just like looking at things, okay? What's wrong with that?!"

Nino slammed her palm against the wooden staircase railing.

A sharp crack echoed through the room.

She was clearly pissed off.

Who does he think he is?

First time meeting, and he's lecturing me?

Just because he's handsome, does he think he's special?

Total scumbag.

Nino scowled.

Sakurai remained calm.

"If you focus too much on appearance…

Your standards will drop."

"Hope you don't end up dating other scumbags, Nino."

"GET OUT!!!"

She pointed at the door, yelling.

"Getting mad when hit with the truth?"

"You're like an unevolved monkey."

"Your grades are barely above failing, yet you refuse to study."

"Even when someone offers to teach you, you act all high and mighty."

"At this rate, your life is going nowhere."

Sakurai wasn't joking.

A girl this dumb would probably get tricked by ten different playboys before she learned her lesson.

If he really wanted to, Sakurai could probably win her over in a week.

Without lifting a finger.

Nino whipped around—

Stormed straight toward him—

Grabbed his bag.

"All you ever talk about is studying!"

"Is that the only thing in your damn brain?!"

"You're just a boring idiot!"

She marched onto the balcony—

Flung his bag over the railing.

…All in one fluid motion.

Miku and Yotsuba froze.

Crap.