CH 26

Mob High School Student holds a study session

After we entered the library, we head to the dining space on the second floor.

“Hmm, as expected of the city library. It sure is big.”

As she was probably impressed by the large collections of books here, Ichinose-san said so in a loud voice.

The first thing we see after we entered were bookshelves packed with books and rows of reading desks.

“Ichinose-san, the first floor is a reading space so make sure to keep your voice down.”

“Ah, sorry.”

As this library belongs to the city, it boasts a huge collection of books.

Academic books and novels can be found on the first floor with silent reading spaces surrounded by bookshelves.

It’s not exactly a private room but it does give the feeling of separated seats in Tonkotsu Ramen stores you can find in the Kanto region. I think that it is good for single person use.

By the way, my favorite is around level 3 of spiciness.

“Have you been here before, Hiura-san?”

“Yeah, I came here to study for the last exam.”

“That means you always come here whenever there’s a test right.”

“That exam covered a lot after all. You can’t prepare for it if you don’t study on weekends too huh?”

“…….yeah.”

In the last test, I went home from school after studying at the school library as usual but since I wanted to head home before it gets dark, my study time was cut short.

When it gets dark and cold, the road will freeze over so it’s dangerous to walk home if my hands are occupied by groceries.

However, since I returned early, I didn’t have enough time to study. With the exam covering so many subjects, I had to study on Saturdays and Sundays too.

It was warmer in the library than at my place and my phone battery runs out pretty quickly in the cold so I didn’t stay at my place much except for food and sleep.

……there’s nothing to be done about that since I can’t handle the cold even more than how I can’t handle the heat.

“Unlike the first floor, the second floor is like this huh.”

“Alright, let’s settle down around here.”

“Okay, let’s hog this entire desk for us then.”

Unlike the first floor, there are many wide desks on the second floor where you can spread out large-sized materials.

The books here are also different from the first floor. You can find books for children and donated picture books here so you can see a lot of families using this place.

You can use this place as a dining space too but you are forbidden from bringing the books from the first floor here.

If anything, this place is often used for people who want to have a study session among friends like we are doing now or middle schoolers to study for their group projects.

“Well then, I and Seiya will sit on this side and Eihashi-san opposite Seiya? I want to ask Seiya to teach me what I don’t understand you see.”

“Nn? Then Eihashi-san would be better than me for that right? Wouldn’t it be better if you sit opposite to Eihashi-san instead?”

“Oi, Seiya, lean over.”

When I told him what I thought, Masato urged me so with a fed-up expression and whispered to me.

“…..hey, even like this I am barely able to keep it together when I talk to Eihashi-san you know.”

“……keeping it together?”

“…….of course. I’m so flustered I might end up exploding alright. Having me asking her questions would set the bar too high you know. Besides, I only came here because you asked okay, I’m already satisfied with my current grade after all. So you can just ask her to teach you alone.”

Mysteriously, I can kind of understand his point.

It is true that the original members here were me, Eihashi-san, and Ichinose-san. Besides, I want to improve on some subjects too so let’s agree with Masato’s seat arrangement.

“Alright, let’s decided our seats as Masato said. I will basically ask Eihashi-san what I don’t understand but will that be okay with you?”

“Yes. it was I who originally asked Hiura-san to join us today so please feel free to ask me anything.”

“I will be relying on you okay, Reika!”

We decided to have Eihashi-san lead us this time

In this case, the test will feature a lot of mathematical problems that can be solved if you know how to solve one of them. It will help a lot if we get the solving method down first.

We take a lot of time on one question but we can see where we went wrong by comparing our calculations with each other. You can finish your homework quickly with help from others so, with four of us here, we managed to solve the problem relatively fast.

The concern here was when we have to tackle the problems alone during the test but we can overcome this by getting used to it with the four of us each solving similar problems.

By the way, the one who answered correctly the most is Eihashi-san follow by me, Ichinose-san, and Masato. Apparently, Eihashi-san is real good at math.

“….let’s take a break shall we?”

“Uhh, eh? It’s already 2:30? Right, we already finished two problems each after all. Let’s take a break and move on to the next subject.”

“Nnn, since we meet up around noon……wow, this is the first time, I’ve been studying for 2 hours straight.”

“I didn’t feel that much time passed though……is this the power of study group…..”

“……Seiya, I think that it was because of the members this time that you lost your sense of time even while studying you know…….it might be because of the study method too but from my experience, people would start looking at their phone after an hour right.”

Certainly, Masato can talk to Eihashi-san much more smoothly now too. This study session might be unexpectedly good huh.

…… I can’t say it for sure since I never participated in study sessions like this before. It might have been a waste huh.

Back at my parents’ house, I always have a study session in my room though. With my sister that is.

Come to think of it, when I went back to visit them during golden week, my sister told me that she was aiming to get into the same school as me so she might become my junior next year.

“By the way, What rank does Eihashi-san usually get in an exam?”

“Me? Last time……I think I was in second place. No, I think I always have been in second place.”

“Wow, I’ve heard that you are smart but you are even smarter than I expected……”

“Right! I don’t know who always takes first place but I think that it is the same person who always places on top Reika you know.”

At our school, the ranking is not publicly announced for privacy reasons.

Until a few years ago before we entered the school, it seems that only the 1st to 100th places were announced. Nowadays, the test results will be returned to us after the test but it’s only a paper with a raw score written on it. The complete score and ranking will be sent to us by email after that.

“How about you Hiura-san?”

“I was 28th last time. Masato was at 103rd right?”

“Oi! Don’t say my rank out loud just because you don’t have to be ashamed of yours alright!”

“AHaHaHaHa! Don’t worry Shiraki-kun! I was in 50th place myself you know!”

“How can I not worry after that!”

Masato’s score is better than average but he probably got some red marks in the last exam. He said that he is already satisfied with his score but I can’t imagine him studying at all.

Wait a minute, I’ve just noticed. Isn’t the guy that took first place is completely unknown to everyone?

That’s it. That’s the kind of mob I am aiming for.

Wh…..what a splendid Mob Soul! If I get to know him someday, I’d like to exchange business cards with him.

Even though I still think that he is so cool by taking first place without anyone knowing his identity, he is still a mob in the end.

“Alright! I think we already took enough break, let’s move on to the next subject!”

“Right! Rather, for me, this subject feels like the real challenge you know.”

“Alright let’s go! KANJI!”

“Well, let’s take a break until 3 pm and start on that.”