Lonely Rock: Love Songs Dedicated to the Stars

"Me? I can't possibly pass the exam no matter how hard I try."

"Well, you seem to have some confidence in yourself, senior."

"This is something that can't be done simply by having confidence."

……

After that, with the goal of passing the final exams, Kenzaki Yuuma began tutoring Ijichi Seika.

"Hey, senior, I've been trying so hard to tutor you, how come you still failed your final exam?"

In Ijichi Seika's bedroom, Kenzaki Yuuma lay listlessly on Seika's bed.

Even though he had been tutoring Xingge for a long time before the final exam, Xingge's math score still didn't reach the passing grade.

She did quite well on the practice tests before the actual exam.

Yuzhen never doubted Xingge's learning ability; she learned things quite quickly. The reason her grades weren't good was that she didn't want to learn.

Xingge's thinking was simple: she preferred learning guitar to studying school courses. She felt that passing the school exams was enough.

The problem now is that she didn't pass the exam at all, and she was too embarrassed to tell Yuzhen about it at first. As a result, she failed the makeup exam as well, and now she will most likely have to repeat the year.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I couldn't sleep. I just fell asleep during the exam." Xingge sat on a chair in the room, her posture unusually upright, looking quite well-behaved. "I'll be more careful next time."

"You want a next time?"

Yuma sat up; he was genuinely a little angry.

During this period, in order to tutor Xingge, he would prepare a study plan for her every night when he got home, help her organize the key points of the exam, and find questions for her to do online and on test papers. As a result, she had insomnia the night before the exam, and when she saw the test paper in the exam room the next day, she was sleepy and fell asleep, which made all his efforts go to waste.

"Then during summer vacation, you should spend all your mornings studying with me at the library instead of working."

"But the exam is already over..."

"So what? You're not going to study anymore after the exam?" Yuzhen felt it was necessary to correct her attitude towards studying. "I've already been very kind by not making you study with me at night. You don't want to repeat a grade, do you?"

"Ok."

Faced with Yu-ma's resolute attitude, Hoshika had no choice but to give up her most anticipated summer vacation where she could sleep in until she naturally woke up.

The next morning, Hoshika felt someone shaking her by the shoulders. When she opened her eyes, she saw Kenzaki Yuuma by the bedside.

She checked the time again; it wasn't even eight in the morning yet.

"How is this any different from going to school normally?" She wanted to pretend nothing had happened and go back to sleep, but Yuzhen wouldn't give her that chance.

Yuma dragged her out of bed to wash up.

Fortunately, Kenzaki Yuuma is very good at making breakfast, and Hoshika, sitting at the table, felt that this was one of the few consolations.

Yuzhen also made breakfast for Auntie and Hongxia, who were still in bed.

"So how did you get in?" She looked at the two breakfasts and realized that her mother hadn't gotten up yet. How did Kenzaki Yuuma get in?

"You forgot?" Yuzhen took out the key from her pocket and showed it to her. "Didn't I already get this during the few days we lived together? I thought you remembered."

"What do you mean by cohabitation?! We just live and sleep together, don't make it sound so ambiguous."

"Senior, what you're saying is more likely to be misinterpreted."

"Stop nagging! Let's get going, what if there are no seats left in the library?"

Yuma felt like she'd heard the funniest joke of the year after hearing Hoshigo's words. How could the library possibly be full? Especially during summer vacation.

Half an hour later, Yuzhen's expression was very serious. He and Xingge had just come out of the library.

"The library is completely full." Yuuma's voice was full of disbelief. "How is this possible? It's summer vacation now. I actually saw a full library at nine o'clock in the morning during summer vacation? Are you kidding me!"

Yuma checked the time on her phone again.

"Keep your voice down. What kind of behavior is it to shout outside the library?"

Xingge returned to Youzhen's side and handed him a can of cola that she had just bought from the vending machine next to them.

"Come a little earlier tomorrow."

Yuma opened the tab on the Coke and said something that Hoshika would never have dared to imagine.

She almost spat out the apple juice she had just drunk.

"Don't be so fixated on this kind of thing." She nudged Yuuma's side with her elbow. "Maybe things will be different when we come back tomorrow."

"That makes sense. Well, we'll just have to accept our defeat today."

"That's more like it, one more day won't make a difference." Hearing Yuzhen's words, Xingge breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't want to have to get up at seven o'clock every morning like when she was in school. Thinking about it this way, getting up at eight o'clock wasn't unacceptable.

"But what are we going to do next?" Xingge looked at the library. "It's full, so studying here is definitely out of the question. Shall we go back to my house?"

"Forget it." Yuma shook her head.

'Great, if he didn't make any plans, I can go back to sleep.'

Xingge was still secretly pleased.

“Hongxia and her aunt are both at home, so they might not be able to concentrate on their studies.”

Yuzhen finished the last sip of her cola and precisely threw the can into the trash can next to the vending machine.

"Come to my house, no one's home today."

"Is it... okay?"

Chapter 72 Let's Learn Together

After leaving the library entrance, the two walked together on their way to Yuzhen's house.

Hoshika followed behind Kenzaki Yuuma, wondering why she had agreed to his request. Now, the more she thought about it, the more suspicious she became. Why did this guy take her home, and why did he specifically emphasize that no one was home?

However, she didn't think Yuuma would do anything to her. Kenzaki Yuuma was all talk; when it came to actually doing something, he probably wouldn't be up to it. This guy was too innocent.

In reality, Yuma didn't really intend to do anything.

He only asked Xingge to go home with him because he wanted to find a quiet place to study. Since no one was home right now, they would definitely go home.

'Calm down, Hoshika Ichichi. You two have already slept together, there's nothing to worry about.' Hoshika reassured herself in this way.

Even though that's what they said, they still slept together through their pajamas. Xingge couldn't help but feel that their relationship was too innocent. She remembered a girl in her class who got married after dating her boyfriend for less than a month, something she couldn't even imagine.

Of course, if she actually made such a request, Yuuma would definitely advise her to cherish herself and so on. She looked at the tall figure walking in front of her, and although she kept denying it, Yuuma was actually protecting her all along.

'I don't want to be protected by him like this forever.' She lowered her head. 'I need to find a chance to make things clear with him. He doesn't really need to care so much about my feelings.'

Thinking this, she walked forward with her head down and bumped into Yuuma's back.

"Why did you suddenly stop?" She stopped and rubbed her forehead.

"We've arrived."

Xingge looked at the building next to her. It was a rather large detached house with a sign that read "Jianzaki" next to the door.

'So this is his home. It's more low-key than I expected.'

She followed Yuzhen inside and changed into slippers.

There was no one else at home, and she didn't see any maids or butlers like those in novels and anime, which was a little different from what she had imagined.

So, what's his room like?

Xingge was very curious.

"This is my room, please come in, senior."

Yuma opened the door to the room and went in with Hoshika.

The room was spacious and clean, with sunlight streaming through the windows onto the floor. Unlike Xingge's expectations of a boy's room, she had anticipated seeing unmade beds and unkempt snack wrappers.

Yu-zhen's bed is a double bed, with one side of the bed against the wall with the window.

In his bedroom, there were two display cabinets against the wall, filled with various toys, bone carvings, figurines, and other items he had bought. His two keyboards stood in the corner of the room.

However, Yuzhen doesn't buy every item he sees; he only buys what he likes and avoids overpriced items. He has a considerable allowance, but he doesn't like chasing after these things.

Xingge looked around and found a lot of Misaka Mikoto figures. This guy really likes this character.

"Do you really like this character?" Xingge pointed to the figurines in the cabinet. "You've bought so many different ones of the same character."

“I really like it.” Yuuma nodded. “I really like girls with a tsundere personality.”

Actually, it's because he's arrogant and has small breasts; he only said that he's arrogant to avoid certain troubles.

"Really? Tsundere, huh..."

Xingge would never admit to being a tsundere. But this guy seems to like tsundere types, so what would he think if she said she wasn't a tsundere?

"You're a bit of a tsundere too, I like that."

"I'm not being arrogant!"

“If senpai says no, then it is.” Yuuma nodded; the lessons she learned from anime about “understanding tsundere lines” were perfectly applicable to her now. “Then, senpai, do you like me?”

"Who, who likes you? All you do is tease me all day long."

“That means you like me.” Yuzhen looked at Xingge smugly. “I’ve figured out your pattern of speech.”

"Honestly, why bother getting so close to something so trivial?"

……

Ichika Hoshika sat on Yuuma's bed. His bed was quite soft and spacious; rolling around on it would definitely be fun. Speaking of which, it was a double bed…

Xingge suddenly remembered what Youzhen had said at the library entrance.

"Is no one home all day? Aren't you coming home tonight?"

"Probably." Yuzhen lay down on the floor and pulled out a folding table from under the bed. "No, Yuxing might come back tonight, but it's just a possibility. That guy is very free."

"I see."

Hoshika watched Yuuma fiddling with the table, still pondering his earlier words. In other words, unless Kenzaki Yuuki returned, it would just be the two of them there.

However, it seemed that Yuuma didn't do anything while the two of them were alone at Ijichi's house. Hoshika shook her head, deciding not to think about these things anymore and to let nature take its course.

Yuma set up the table and then found two cushions to put on the floor.

Although it was almost noon, the two of them were finally able to calm down and study for a while.