With the gentle persuasion of Hakuto, Nao, and the others, Otosaka Yuu finally entered Hoshino Umi Academy with anticipation.
The next day, he and his sister, Otosaka Ayumi, joined the high school and middle school divisions of Hoshino Umi.
Otosaka Yuu: Gentle? Anticipation?
But there was no other choice—joining Hoshino Umi Academy was the only path left for Otosaka Yuu.
If he returned to his original school, he would face expulsion, and he also needed some kind of protection for his status as an ability user.
After settling Otosaka Yuu's situation, Hakuto finally had time to take care of other things.
"Speaking of which, I should put tutoring on my schedule…"
Hakuto sat in the classroom, completely ignoring the teacher at the podium while casually scrolling through his phone.
Although he wasn't currently attending Hoshino Umi Academy, tutoring didn't necessarily have to take place at school, so it didn't really matter.
As the bell rang for the end of class, Nao, who was seated at her desk, was suddenly called out by a few girls.
Nao glanced at them but said nothing. She simply removed her earphones and walked out of the classroom, surrounded by them.
"What are they planning to do?"
Otosaka Yuu watched as Nao was called outside and instinctively asked the person beside him, Jojiro.
"Them? Well…"
"There's no helping it. That's just how Nao operates."
"Thanks to her ability, she can easily beat up anyone. But also because of her ability, to outsiders, she just looks like she's attacking people."
"Whether it's a security camera or surveillance footage, everything captures her every move... even though she only ever hits those who deserve it."
Hearing this, Otosaka Yuu rubbed his chin. The kick he took from Nao yesterday still ached a little.
He saw no reason to intervene, so he didn't.
"I've been meaning to ask—why is Hakuto, a student of Toyosaki, wearing the uniform of Hoshinoumi Academy?"
"He's an exchange student. A few months from now, he'll return to Toyosaki."
"We have exchange students in this school?"
"Hakuto is the first. There's no helping it—his ability is just too... overpowered?"
Jojiro struggled for a moment, unable to find the right word, and ultimately settled on "overpowered."
Hearing this, Otosaka Yuu recalled the moment, just a few days ago, when Hakuto saved him from being hit by a truck.
"What exactly is that guy's ability? Time stop?"
It had to be something powerful enough to save him from an oncoming truck. Time stop was the only thing that came to mind.
"Hakuto's ability is called Super Calculation. I don't know much about it, but he can calculate the outcome of everything."
"Then how does he manage to move like he's teleporting?"
"You'd have to ask him yourself."
To be honest, Jojiro was a bit envious of Hakuto. He, too, could perform something similar to teleportation—but every time he did, he got hurt.
Hakuto, on the other hand? Not only did he remain completely unscathed, but he didn't even lose a single hair.
"By the way... where is Hakuto?"
At that moment, in a secluded alley near the school field, Nao was grabbed by the collar and slammed hard against the wall by the girls who had called her out earlier.
"You—"
Nao wasn't really listening to whatever they were saying. She had an indifferent expression on her face.
It was unclear whether she simply didn't care about the situation or if she had just grown used to it.
Seeing her expression only fueled their anger further. One of the girls raised her hand, about to slap her across the face.
But just then, a black-haired boy suddenly appeared, grabbing the girl's wrist in midair.
"Hey, hey, hey—whatever the issue is, let's talk it out. No need to get physical."
The newcomer was Hakuto. He had been following them from a distance, originally just curious to see what was going on.
But he hadn't expected to witness a bullying scene firsthand.
"You're that exchange student? This has nothing to do with you. Get lost."
Hakuto swore, if this were Toyosaki and not Hoshino Umi, these girls would have already been strung up in a tree by now.
"If you don't want to have a nice chat, I do know a thing or two about fighting."
"What? You want to start a fight?"
"That depends on how you want to handle this."
Hakuto didn't want to start a fight at Hoshino Umi.
At Toyosaki, he had made it his mission to clean up the school's culture and eliminate bullying because he was going to be there for the next three years.
"Afraid of being bullied, so I had to bully others first."
But he was only staying at Hoshino Umi for three months. He had no reason—or obligation—to step in.
Seeing his determined attitude, the girls glared at Hakuto before storming off angrily.
As they left, Hakuto relaxed his stance and turned to look at Nao, who was sitting on the ground.
"You okay?"
Hakuto reached out his hand to her.
"That's surprising… I thought you'd just stand by and watch."
Nao took his hand and got up from the ground.
"Those girls probably hate you now."
"..."
"Huh? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Haven't you already investigated me thoroughly? Do you think I'd be afraid of something like this?"
Hearing this, Nao nodded, said nothing more, and simply pulled out the MP3 player from her bag, putting her earphones back on.
"Why didn't you fight back?"
"My ability only works on one person at a time. You should know that."
"So you didn't fight back because you knew you couldn't win?"
"Why would you think I could take on five people at once like you?"
...
Around 3 PM.
"Huh? Hiratsuka-sensei, you told Nino and the others about me being their tutor?"
"Hm? You didn't tell them? I thought they already knew."
Just as Hakuto was about to message Nakano Nino to discuss his plan, he received a call from Hiratsuka.
And she had just hit him with a bombshell.
"Was this something I was supposed to keep secret?"
"My plan!"
Hakuto sighed helplessly. His grand tutoring scheme hadn't even begun, yet his homeroom teacher had already ruined it.
"I originally wanted to do something different, but now I guess I'll just have to be a proper tutor."
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Check out the other translations too: [Mash-Up: I'm Not A Substitute]
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