Chapter 1: The Genius Trio of Trouble

Yuuto Kanda adjusted the strap of his backpack nervously as he stared at the imposing double doors of Sakuragaoka High’s study room. The principal’s words echoed in his mind:

"These girls are geniuses—but their weaknesses could destroy their futures. Your job is to tutor them. Don’t mess this up."

Easier said than done, Yuuto thought. He had no idea what he had gotten himself into.

Pushing the doors open, he was immediately hit with the scent of freshly polished wood, faint perfume, and… chaos. Three girls sat at a large table, each absorbed in their own world, and all of them radiating brilliance… and danger.

The first, a girl with sharp glasses and a stern expression, was hunched over a thick textbook. Her brown eyes scanned a page with the intensity of a laser. “Yuuto Kanda?” she asked, voice crisp. “You are the new tutor, yes?”

“Yes,” Yuuto replied, bowing. “I’m here to help with—uh—studies.”

She tilted her head. “I am Rika Hanabira. I excel in all sciences, but literature is illogical nonsense. I hope you are prepared.”

Before Yuuto could respond, a shy voice piped up from the other side of the table. “I-I’m Mizuki Onodera… um… I’m great at literature, but math… not so much…” She fidgeted with her pencil, her face red and timid.

“And I’m Akari Shinozuka!” the last girl shouted, bouncing slightly in her chair. Her long ponytail swung behind her as she grinned. “I’m amazing at sports! Academics… not so much. But don’t worry—I’ll try my best!”

Yuuto gulped. Three geniuses… three disasters. This was going to be harder than any exam he’d ever taken.

He cleared his throat. “Alright, let’s start with a simple review. Uh… Rika, why don’t you read a passage from this literature book?”

Rika’s eyes narrowed. “Why? Literature is full of emotional fluff and meaningless words. It does not adhere to logic. Why must I waste time on this nonsense?”

Yuuto opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by a sudden, bizarre spectacle. Akari had balanced a pencil on her nose, wobbling it precariously.

“Look, Yuuto-kun! I can balance it for five minutes straight!” she announced proudly.

Yuuto blinked. “Th-That’s… great, Akari-san, but can we focus on studying—?”

Before he could finish, Akari leaned forward to show him the pencil, and her ponytail brushed against his shoulder. His heart skipped a beat.

“Ah—w-wait!” he stammered, trying not to react. But it was too late. The moment was awkwardly intimate, and his face turned red.

Mizuki, witnessing the incident, gasped and clutched her chest. “Y-Yuuto-kun… your face!”

Confused, he touched his nose and realized blood was trickling down. “M-My nose…!”

Mizuki’s eyes widened. In a panic, she stumbled backward, tripping over her chair and landing on the floor with a dramatic thump. “Ahhh!”

Rika pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. “This is ridiculous. Both of you are completely incompetent!”

Yuuto bent down to help Mizuki up, his own face still red. “I-I’m fine! You—”

But before he could finish, the door slid open. In walked Sensei Amamiya, the homeroom teacher, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Well, well… Kanda-kun,” she said, tilting her head. “It seems your first tutoring session is going… exactly as I expected.”

Yuuto froze. “S-Sensei! I—I can explain—”

Amamiya smiled, clearly enjoying his panic. “Oh, I don’t doubt it, but I must say… seeing you flustered like this is… rather entertaining. Don’t let the girls know, though. They might tease you even more.”

Akari, undeterred by the commotion, hopped onto her chair again. “Yuuto-kun! Look! I can roll the pencil on my nose now!” She nudged him lightly with her elbow for “balance purposes,” sending his heart racing again.

Rika groaned audibly. “This is hopeless. How can someone possibly tutor such frivolous students when their tutor is as frazzled as this?”

Mizuki, still flushed, muttered, “I think… maybe we all need to calm down…”

Yuuto wiped the sweat from his brow. “C-Calm down? Yes… yes, let’s… start with a simple warm-up problem…”

But chaos had already taken hold. Akari’s pencil wobbled dangerously again, Rika glared at the book in front of her, and Mizuki, still recovering from her faint, clutched her notebook like a shield.

Sensei Amamiya leaned against the doorway, crossing her arms and smiling. “Ah… young love, awkward bodies, and flushed faces. What a perfect start to tutoring.”

Yuuto groaned internally. “I’m going to need a miracle to survive this semester…”

As he looked around the table, he noticed the small, subtle moments: Rika’s occasional glance in his direction, Mizuki’s hesitant smile despite the chaos, and Akari’s boundless energy that somehow made even this disaster… charming.

One thing was already clear: tutoring these geniuses would be the hardest—and most embarrassing—thing he had ever done. But deep down, he felt a strange excitement. Somehow, amidst the chaos, there was… something worth learning.

And that was the beginning of Yuuto Kanda’s journey with the Genius Trio of Trouble.