A Tutor, Not a Girlfriend

Girlfriend? A girlfriend???

Qin Xiyao’s eyes instantly lost their sparkle, as if a bright moon had been swallowed by dark clouds, leaving behind only… endless darkness.

She stumbled back a few steps, turning her head with a robotic stiffness. Though the fierce wind still howled outside the window, Qin Xiyao suddenly felt as if the entire world had come to a standstill, her ears ringing with Grandma Zhang’s words, sharp as a dull knife piercing bone.

‘Girlfriend, girlfriend, girlfriend…’

It was well-known that Young Miss Bai loved to indulge in leisure, invariably bringing a large retinue of friends whenever she ventured out. Yet, despite her carefree nature and her consistent companionships with beautiful girls, Young Miss Bai had never once publicly declared any of them to be her girlfriend…

‘Even Grandma Zhang said so, so she must truly have a girlfriend, then?’

‘No wonder Xiaoxue had so earnestly told me earlier tonight that we should start as friends…’

‘No wonder Xiaoxue had inexplicably hung up the video call; it must have been because her girlfriend was right there, forcing her to end it!’

‘No wonder Xiaoxue had inexplicably grown so distant from me lately… Was it truly because she had found a girlfriend and needed to keep her distance from me!?’

All her past doubts seemed to find their answers in that single moment, yet Qin Xiyao felt only a heart-wrenching agony. This sharp, bitter pain was like an invisible hand, pressing down on her until she could barely breathe.

–I…–

Qin Xiyao took a deep breath, about to speak again, when a slightly flustered voice emerged from the other end of the line:

–Oh dear, oh dear, look at my memory! What ‘girlfriend’ are you talking about?–

–It’s a tutor, dear, a private tutor Young Miss specifically hired because her grades weren’t up to par!–

–Eh? A… a tutor?–

Qin Xiyao froze instantly, her intended words vanishing from her mind as she repeated, somewhat dazedly, –A tutor?–

–Yes, that’s right. Young Miss only arranged for the tutor last week.–

Though she was called a tutor, everyone in the Bai household knew perfectly well what Young Miss Bai, who had always been notoriously unacademic and capricious, was truly up to by hiring Shen Jingyi as her private tutor…

After all, if you’re looking for a tutor, there are countless excellent teachers available from schools or reputable educational institutions. To specifically hire a beautiful young woman, graceful and only a year older than yourself, as a tutor… isn’t that obviously harboring ulterior motives?

Such words, of course, could never be uttered to Qin Xiyao. Having served the Bai family for so many years, the elderly woman was no fool; she could only steel herself and cover for her Young Miss:

–Oh, Xiyao, you know Young Miss’s temperament. Catching up on lessons during the day is one thing, but how could she possibly study late at night? Besides, tutors need their sleep too, you know…–

–I see, so it’s a tutor, then. Ah, haha…–

Qin Xiyao offered an awkward smile as the suffocating sensation slowly receded. –Honestly, Grandma Zhang, please don’t make such jokes.–

‘That joke really wasn’t funny at all,’ the young woman silently added in her heart.

–Alas, old age simply brings with it a poor memory. Just like that one time I went out, I intended to go to…–

–Ah, speaking of which!–

Seeing that the elderly woman on the other end of the line was clearly about to embark on a lengthy chat, Qin Xiyao quickly interjected, fearing the conversation would drift too far afield:

–Um, what kind of person is this tutor Xiaoxue hired, exactly?–

–What kind of person, you ask…?– the elderly woman mused, falling into thought. –She’s probably around the same age as you, Xiyao, and Young Miss. She’s always very polite to everyone, tall and slender, quite a pretty girl.–

–Oh, and she should be a student at your school, shouldn’t she? Her name… I believe it was Shen Jingyi?–

‘Oh? Someone her age, I hadn’t expected that… And she’s even from the same school as me?’

Having successfully gleaned the answer she sought, Qin Xiyao bit her lip subtly, her fingertips unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes.

–Well, now that you mention it, that Miss Shen must be quite an outstanding person. If the opportunity arises, I’d truly like to get to know her.–

–Thank you for telling me all this, Grandma Zhang. It’s getting late, so you should get some rest soon.~–

Politely ending the call, the upward curve of Qin Xiyao’s lips slowly dissipated.

‘Why would Xiaoxue hire a fellow student from our own school to be her tutor…? If she truly wanted help with her studies, I could tutor her myself!!’

‘Then… it would naturally follow that I could… hold Xiaoxue’s hand while teaching her…’

‘Ooh-la-la, Xiaoxue, my dear, if you solve this problem, there’ll be a reward, but if you don’t, there’ll be a pun-ish-ment~’

‘Eek~ Xiyao, stop it~’

‘—Wait, wait, wait, what am I even thinking?! Stop it, stop it right now! How utterly shameless!’

Unspeakable, strange images began to surface in her mind, and her fair, delicate face visibly flushed crimson. Qin Xiyao hastily patted her cheeks, attempting to quell her racing thoughts.

She let out a soft sigh, her gaze drifting back to the poetry collection and notebooks lying quietly on her desk.

For some reason, she, who could usually spend hours engrossed in books at her desk, now found these very texts utterly devoid of appeal.

The elderly woman’s key phrases echoed ceaselessly in the young woman’s mind: ‘same age… very pretty… same school…’

‘Very pretty…’

‘Pretty, huh… If the opportunity arises, I absolutely must have Xiaoxue introduce us.’

‘Yes, I absolutely harbor no ill intentions; as Xiaoxue’s friend, it’s simply necessary for me to properly ‘vet’ her, to prevent any unsavory characters from getting close to her.’

‘No, I’m not jealous, I’m not overthinking things, not at all.’

‘As a friend, this is perfectly normal behavior. There’s nothing wrong with it.’

Qin Xiyao collapsed onto her bed, her right hand slowly extending towards the ceiling. Gazing at her own fair, delicate hand, she muttered to herself, as if lost in thought:

–Shen Jingyi… huh?–

****

In the amusement park corridor, Bai Muxue inexplicably sneezed, a deep chill running through her as if some indescribable malice lingered around her.

–Are you alright?–

Accompanying a crisp gunshot, a star-shaped bullet shot from Amber’s gun, piercing directly through the chest of the Nutcracker Guard still patrolling before them.

‘Shooting star-shaped bullets from a gun—that’s certainly very Magical Girl-esque… I just wonder whose weapon is more powerful: her gun or Teacher Shen’s bow.’

Watching the scattered fragments of the Nutcracker, Bai Muxue’s thoughts briefly drifted.

–Um… your name is Xiaoxue, right? Is there something wrong?–

Seeing the other person frozen in place, Amber blew away the smoke from the barrel of her gun, then turned to ask with concern.

The name ‘Bai Muxue’ carried a certain notoriety in Wangdu, so the young woman naturally couldn’t reveal her true identity to Amber.

–It’s nothing.–

Bai Muxue shook her head, glancing at the large group of soldiers not far away, and then spoke softly, as if an afterthought: –If I were to distract these guys, could Amber get close enough to that Calamity Beast to destroy it?–

–How could you!– Amber’s eyes widened slightly at her words. –It’s far too dangerous for you to go alone as bait!–

‘Ugh, she does have a point… Whether I could escape those soldiers without transforming is truly an unknown. If I were to get into trouble, Amber would have to turn around and rescue me, and wouldn’t that defeat the purpose entirely?’

–Yeah, I was just thinking aloud, Amber. Don’t take it seriously.–

Bai Muxue offered a perfunctory reply, all the while contemplating a new strategy.