It was right before the mid-term exam.

There were a few changes that happened around Shishio.

The first thing Usa had recovered was, and he returned to the literature club. While it was quite awkward at first, everyone welcomed him warmly, making him in tears, and he cried. After all, he also didn’t want to quit the literature club, and even if he kept it inside his heart, he still had a feeling toward Ritsu, but it was impossible for him to say it now.

Still, Usa didn’t really understand why he was being rejected, but he knew it was hard to talk about this problem to Ritsu, especially when their relationship wasn’t that close to begin with, and it was just so damn hard to talk with her.

The second thing was the fact that everyone started to study hard.

Even Maiko, Mea, and Nanami, who wasn’t used to studying, also studied hard, especially with Shishio and Nana beside them.

Nana wanted to beat Shishio on the mid-term exam, and she worked really hard to do it.

So they decided to make a study group at the Wagnaria, all of the members of the literature club, except for Usa and Kiriya.

Shishio knew he was being unfair, but who cares, right?

After all, most of the members of the literature club were his girlfriends, so Shishio wanted to monopolize them more.

Still, for a few people, it was their first time visiting Wagnaria.

Whether it was Mai, Maiko, Mea, Rui, Momo, or Ritsu, they were speechless when they saw a waitress with a katana on her side and an elementary school student waitress. However, they must admit they felt reassured to stay in this place since they knew they would be alright and no one would try to bother them, considering a katana might slay those who tried to bother them.

“I am not an elementary student! I am a high school student!” Popura complained.

“I am sorry.” Mai apologized helplessly and looked at Shishio to see if what this girl was saying was true. Shishio nodded, which made her slightly at a loss.

“A parfait! And french fries!” Shiina ordered what Shishio usually ordered.

“Alright.” Mahiru Inami wrote the order. Even if Shishio was there, she mostly took the orders of his women, and he didn’t talk to her, and his position was surrounded by many women, so she was alright even if she had androphobia.

Still, whether it was Inami, Popular, or the others, they felt weird at the fact that Shishio could sit among all the beautiful girls. However, the thought most of them were his girlfriends never crossed their minds since if that really happened, they must admit he was really amazing.

Everyone placed their order before they started their study.

It might seem weird, but a family restaurant could be said to be one of the favorite places for a student to study. After all, in this place, there was a free drink menu where one could drink soda, tea, and many others with free refile at a low price. If they got hungry, they could also order the food in this restaurant too. The price was quite reasonable, had quite a big portion, and tasted nice, so it was understandable why this place could be called one of the most places visited when a student was studying, right?

The restaurant was fairly quiet, considering not many people came to the restaurant at this time.

Unlike the humid temperature outside, the temperature in the restaurant was quite comfortable because of the air conditioner. The slightly stiff sofa didn’t make them uncomfortable. Instead, it made them focus on their studies more. However, the aroma of the food that drifted to their tables made them hungry. Still, neither decided to eat since they decided to eat at home later after they finished their group study.

Personally, Shishio felt it was better to study at his apartment, but they wanted to visit the Wagnaria, so he just agreed. He glanced at Mai, who wore a facemask while studying. She covered her face with a facemask since even though she was a public figure and it was troublesome if the group study was interrupted because her fans came and took her picture, or came to ask her for photographs, or did other annoying things.

With his guidance, the study session went smoothly.

It should have been before Maiko was frustrated by the math problem. “Argg! What’s wrong with the math?!” She felt her head was almost split because of the math problem.

“Math is fun, you know?” Shishio said.

“Yes. It’s fun.” Nana nodded in agreement.

Maiko looked at Shishio and Nana as if they were perverts and asked, “Why do you two like math so much? Don’t you think it is complicated?”

“Complicated?” Nana shook her head and said, “I think it is the clearest if not the most fun class ever!”

“…..” Everyone.

They looked at Nana with a complicated gaze since they had never thought of mathematics as a fun thing. If not because of school, they might just forget about mathematics.

Even Mai, who was good at learning, also didn’t really like mathematics.

“Calm down, Nana. What you’re trying to say is what’s so good about spicy food to someone who isn’t good at eating one.”

People only liked to learn something that they were interested in. If they didn’t have an interest, they wouldn’t bother to listen to it, and they would show a perfunctory reply. It was also the reason why one needed to explain the way the other would take an interest. It was hard and troublesome, but it was necessary if one wanted to take on the same interest.

“I think what’s interesting about mathematics is the fact there is only one answer. It is absolute and without contradiction. It seemed as though the secret of the universe had miraculously appeared right here at our feet, as though God’s notebook had opened under our bench.”

“God’s notebook?” Nanami was lost for words.

“That’s right.” Shishio nodded and said, “Do you know that no one knows a number appears? It appears beside us without us noticing it. Heck, I am not even surprised if a number has appeared before a human resides on earth.”

“……..” Everyone.

“You know, when I learned about a math formula, I feel like I have opened the pages and pages of complex, impenetrable calculations that might have contained the secrets of the universe.”

Shishio smiled and said, “In my imagination, I saw the creator of the universe sitting in some distant corner of the sky, weaving a pattern of delicate lace so fine that even the faintest light would shine through it. The lace stretches out infinitely in every direction, billowing gently in the cosmic breeze. You desperately want to touch it, hold it up to the light, rub it against your cheek. And all we ask is to be able to re-create the pattern, weave it again with numbers, somehow, in our own language; to make the tiniest fragment our own, to bring it back to earth.

“It is so much fun that I want to share it with you.” Shishio then looked at Maiko and said, “Still, I know that even if you learn math, it won’t help you with life, it won’t even help you to make a fortune, just because you’re able to solve this math problem.

“If there’s for the point of learning math, while it also helps you with school, you won’t get reprimanded by your parents for getting a bad score.”

“Then, what’s the point of learning math?” Maiko asked. While she must admit his words made her want to learn math, she wondered why he loved it so much.

“It’s because I can discover the truth with math. You might not understand it, but I’ll make you understand how fun it is to learn math,” Shishio said.

“Then, try it! Let me see if you can make me love the most hated lesson in my life!” Maiko looked at Shishio with a provoking expression.

“Good, come closer to me,” Shishio said.

“Eh?” Maiko was surprised, but she nodded happily, sitting next to him without hesitation.

“……” Everyone.

While Shishio taught Maiko, someone greeted them naturally after she heard about Shishio’s love for math.

“Shishiron really loves math,” Yui said in surprise.

“Shishiron?” They looked at Yui curiously.

“Ah, it’s his nickname. What do you think?” Yui asked while wondering which of those girls were Shishio’s girlfriends. After all, the fact he was a scumbag wasn’t hidden, but the identity of his girlfriends was quite a mystery, which made her curious.

They felt this name was really nice.

Mai looked at Yukino**a and said, “I wonder why you rejected our invitation before, but if you tell us, you can bring the two of them with you, you know?”

Yukino**a felt a bit embarrassed by Mai’s kindness. “No, I don’t want to trouble you after all.”

While they were talking to each other, Maiko suddenly beamed with a smile and said, “Yay~! I have solved it!”

“That’s great. Congrats.” Shishio patted Maiko while praising her.

“Hehe…” Maiko laughed and told Shishio that she could ask more questions. It might be only for a moment, but she was already in love with math already.

However, if they were taught by Shishio personally, they felt they could fall in love with math instantly.

Still, Shishio was surprised to see Yui, Yukino**a, and Totsuka were there and sat at the next tables where they could study closer to each other. He looked at them and asked, “You didn’t invite Hikigaya-senpai?”

“Huh? Why did you mention Hikki?” Yui asked in confusion.

“I mean, we’re all from the same club, right? If he suddenly appears here, won’t it be awkward?” Shishio asked.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m sure we won’t meet Hikki,” Yui said reassuringly.

However, the sound of the door opening was heard.

“Welcome!” Popura’s voice sounded.

Usually, they would ignore the guest that came to the restaurant and did their own thing, but this time, they didn’t know why they looked in the direction of the entrance.

There, they saw Hikigaya Hachima was there, watching them with his usual dead eye fish.

“……..”

Shishio didn’t say anything and just stared at Yui.

Yui didn’t know what to say, but she could only look at Shishio and say, “Te-he~~!”

“……”

Shishio must admit, if he was Hikigaya, he would say this girl was a bitch. Unfortunately, he wasn’t Hikigaya, so he would only push Yui to the bed and do something that shouldn’t be done.

Oops!

Shishio decided to put this matter aside since he knew Hikigaya’s mental damage was greater than one imagined.