Cycle 1-7: Study Buddy (Patreon)

Kaitlyn slid into one of the bench seats, practically vibrating with the effort of hiding her excitement. Finally, FINALLY a guy I have an excuse to meet up with regularly! Yes! He can help me, I have his number, and I have his name! This is already way better than any other encounter I’ve had. Geez, I needed a lucky break like this. Seriously.

As she set her backpack down, Philip unzipped his own backpack and began pulling out notebooks and flashcards. The faded and worn mustard fabric seemed strangely at odds with the rest of his relatively formal attire.

“Let’s begin then. I will inform you that I will have to leave promptly at 1 PM. However, know that any material we don’t cover during our session can be revisited or expanded upon in further sessions, if you wish.” He flipped to a marked page in one of the notebooks. “For today, I’ve set out the following lesson plan.”

As Philip explained, Kaitlyn’s eyes widened. In front of her sat an itemized lesson plan listing all of the topics that she’d sent along a few days ago. They were written neatly in a pair of tiered, bulleted lists, one for each subject, and highlighted in various colors.

“Based on your areas of focus, I’ve prioritized the core concepts first to ensure that we form a solid foundation before proceeding to the more specialized topics. I plan to cover the green topics in their totality today. If we have additional time, then we can begin working on the yellow ones as well. The orange ones will likely require additional sessions for us to get to, but it all depends on your preferred pace and learning ability.”

He deftly flipped a few pages further. “After covering the conceptual basis of the topics and determining where exactly your understanding falls, we will walk through a few curated practice problems based on your areas of improvement. If you demonstrate adequate understanding, we may skip this step. Rest assured though, I’ve prepared copies of both the practice problems and a summary of notes for each topic for you to take home.” He held up a thick stack of flashcards. “Before we move on, do you have any questions or objections to this lesson plan?”

She gaped, searching for words. “This is… This is a lot. It’s, ah, m-more than I expected. How…?”

Philip’s cold gaze met hers. She found herself stopped dead. “You sent a lengthy list of questions and subjects of concern. That means that we will have a proportionally large amount of study materials and workload.”

“N-no, I meant! I-I meant that you put a lot of effort in. I-Into this.” Geez, he’s intense. And I thought it was hard to talk to people before…

“That’s my job.” He shrugged. “From my experience, it’s simply the best way to get results for the majority of students. Generally, it’s much better to start the process earlier rather than just before midterms.” He shot a pointed look across the table, causing Kaitlyn to wince. “However, I will do the best I can given the current situation.”

Kaitlyn slumped slightly where she sat. She had tried studying earlier - it just hadn’t worked so well. Plus, the classes were just too hard… Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she nodded at Philip. “Ok. I-I’ll try.”

***

The tutoring session went surprisingly well. Despite Philip’s obvious disappointment at her procrastination, he never made her feel dumb for asking a question or failing to understand a concept. Though his cold, stern stare made it difficult to tell whether he was silently judging her on the inside. The only time she felt any frustration from his part was when she got distracted.

Although the session only went for an hour, Kaitlyn found her mind occasionally drifting towards thoughts about Philip himself. As a result, she’d try to slip in personal questions between topics. However, her efforts were consistently met with a firm reminder to focus. They only had so much time before midterms, and even less for tutoring. Even then though, he patiently worked through each example with her, even when the effort ended up being laboriously slow.

At the end of the hour, they had only managed to cover a fraction of the lesson plan. They hadn’t even managed to complete all of the green topics Philip had laid out. Kaitlyn felt like an even bigger failure, but reprimanded herself. No, at least I’m trying right? Gotta start somewhere. And I mean, this is even more reason to schedule more follow-ups, right? She blew out a long breath. Here’s hoping that this stuff actually sticks though… I mean, it makes more sense now, but who knows if I’ll remember it?

Philip set a small stack of notecards in front of her - the promised take-home materials. “That’s all the time we have today. If you require additional tutoring, we can schedule more sessions in the future. Please let me know and I will give you my availability.”

“T-thanks.” She tucked the cards away. “I really appreciate it. This was helpful. S-sorry that we didn’t get through everything…”

He fixed her with a steady look. “As I mentioned, the lesson plan was simply a guideline. Your preferred pace and learning ability are the determining factors for how much we accomplish.”

“O-oh.” Was that supposed to be encouraging? It sounded kind of like an insult. “Um, ok. I-I’ll probably need some more help, so I’ll reach out. Oh! U-um, how do I pay you?”

“Whatever you’d prefer.”

After settling the bill, they both stood to go their separate ways. Philip was about the same height as herself, making him a tiny bit shorter than the average guy. Kaitlyn thanked the severe student once more as he nodded and left.

Well… That didn’t go as expected. I guess I found one more romance target, at least. But… He’s really something. Head swirling with thoughts of math and Philip both, she hefted her backpack and turned back towards the dorm.

Her stomach grumbled loudly. Oh. right. She pivoted towards the entrance to Cappy’s Cafe.

***

That night as she lay in bed, Kaitlyn considered the five male leads. Four of them she had already met, or at least seen. There was still one more she had yet to find - the blonde rebellious guy - but she had no clue where he might turn up.

The first guy, the one with the brown hair, was the biggest mystery so far. She didn’t know his name, major, classes, interests, or even what he sounded like. Nothing. The only impression she had was this kind of quiet, shy charm about him somehow, peeking through even from the brief glimpses she had gotten.

The red haired guy was only a little better in that she knew one of his classes. He was more mysterious, but seemed almost outdoorsy. He was fit, but not in an athletic way. Between his arms and the strangely tan skin for a ginger, he had to spend a lot of time outside doing… Something. Still, her brief encounter seemed to indicate that he was more standoffish than kind.

She sighed. As much as she wanted to know more about those two, she still had no idea of how to approach them. As much as she hated to admit it, she really had no way forward with either of them right now. She had been hoping for a group project or something in her biology class, anything to give her an excuse to talk to the ginger, but nope. It was possible that she had missed some encounters and was locked out of those paths now. At least, if this game was like any of the dating sims she knew of. Maybe she could still befriend them.

Philip was different. She knew more about him, in a way - he was obviously intelligent, responsible, probably a stickler for rules, and honestly kind of intimidating. He also had absolutely no interest in getting to know her, or in her getting to know him. Even though she had a way to keep meeting up with him, it was on a strictly transactional basis. Maybe I can break through that formal, businesslike separation with enough time and effort. But… As helpful as the guy is, he kind of scares me.

The serious, severe type was a mainstay in any romance or dating sim. He would appear to have an impenetrable shell and insurmountable distance between himself and everyone else. Yet despite that, the MC would somehow soften his heart and expose the gentle, warm side of the icy prince.

They don’t mention that actually DOING that is WAY more intimidating in real life, she grumbled to herself. She rolled over in bed. Seriously, the guy is terrifying. It’s like I’m being judged for simply existing. He’s helpful, yeah, but…

Really, there was one guy that stood out among all of them. Alex. He had been nothing but friendly to Kaitlyn in the brief interactions they had - plus, he actually remembered her. She had managed to wave hello to him in passing a few times on campus and at practice, a huge milestone for her. Most of all though, she really just wanted to be around him more.

Of course I like him. He’s nice, he’s positive, he’s super athletic, and I feel like I could actually maybe talk to him. I mean, if I could find a situation where we hung out. Or just ate at the same lunch table. Anything. I just want to get to know him better.

She still hadn’t figured out how to get to a cross country meet. Either there was a scheduling conflict with some class or assignment, or the meet was off campus. She had no car or friends with cars. Worse, this world apparently lacked any kind of useful public transportation. There were no buses, trams, trains, subways - nothing that would help her get from campus to any useful place outside of it. If she wanted to go somewhere, she’d need to walk. Or find someone with a car.

For what must have been the hundredth time, Kaitlyn considered whether she should have joined the cross country team. It’s definitely too late to join now. I don’t have time to take that on anyway. I think I made the right choice staying away. Still… It would have been a good excuse to hang out with Alex more.

Closing her eyes, she resolved to figure out how to trigger more encounters with Alex. Maybe she’d have to go out of her comfort zone a bit, ask him to hang out or see where he went after practice. It was a risk she’d have to take. Not right now, though. Right now, she needed to sleep and prepare for midterms.

After midterms are over. Then I can focus on the game again.

She had gotten far too caught up in college life lately. After all, what was the point of being isekai’d if she wasn’t going to take advantage of it?

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