"Yeah, Tamaki! If you hadn't played, the girls' volleyball team might have been eliminated in the preliminaries!"
"So you need to do your best on your make-up exams!" Miss Ozu still spoke with the same boundless energy, giving off a vibrant, youthful feeling.
"You have to do your best." Miss Ozu was still very worried. After all, being able to meet such a good teacher during one's school years was one of the happiest things for any student.
"Okay." Tamaki answered flatly, then changed the subject. "Volleyball is a team sport. Everyone can manage without me."
"Momoka." Ozu completely disagreed with her self-abandoning attitude. "Having teammates you can rely on is a good thing. And while volleyball is indeed a team sport, no one can replace you. It might feel like pressure to you, but you have that kind of ability. Everyone acknowledges you. You need to be stronger and more confident. Don't so easily think about giving up your position."
"Yes!" Tamaki finally perked up a little.
After they left, Miss Ozu could not help muttering to herself.
"She's clearly so capable. Is it that she has no ambition? Why does she have so little confidence in herself?"
A teacher who worked so diligently and tirelessly could never stand by and watch her students fall apart. After all, her greatest wish was for these children to have a high school life without regrets. Their entire high school experience would also have a profound impact on the rest of their lives. Many teenagers had yet to form and establish their outlook on life, values, and worldview. That was why it could have such a huge effect on their lives. Adolescence could make a person's life, or ruin it.
Ozu had always felt that teachers of adolescents bore a tremendous responsibility.