Daily Life

After Kushida Kikyo left, Uesugi Hara lay on his bed, the questions from earlier gradually becoming clear.

It seemed Sakayanagi Arisu had likely discovered Kushida Kikyo's scheme of selling test papers.

After all, his own asking price was 30,000, while the other side was asking for 500,000; one didn't need to think twice to know something was wrong.

Logically, Kushida had been careful enough this time, even finding a senior student to handle the transaction, yet she had still been sniffed out by that girl. Uesugi Hara pondered to himself, unable to help but raise his danger assessment of that seemingly harmless little girl once again.

Don't let the fact that they occasionally joked around fool you; Uesugi Hara always kept his guard up against her.

After all, in the original story, she was never a pushover, her mind bottomless and unfathomable. Who knew when one might be plotted against by her, sold off, and still end up helping her count the money.

The next day.

On the podium, the teacher held the lesson plan and lectured on key points, the chalk scratching against the blackboard with a "rustling" sound, like some monotonous lullaby.

Uesugi Hara's pen tip paused, and he glanced at the next desk out of the corner of his eye—good grief, Kamuro Masumi's head was bobbing along to the rhythm of the teacher's lecture, dipping lower and lower, her bangs nearly brushing the textbook as she demonstrated a perfect "chick pecking at rice."

She probably hadn't realized it herself; her fingers hovered above her notebook, the pen barrel trembling gently with the sway of her head, as if it would slip from her grip at any second.

The teacher on the podium seemed long accustomed to this, not even lifting an eyelid as they continued to read from the lesson plan with fluctuating intonation. Uesugi Hara clicked his tongue in his heart; if this were a classroom in his past life, Kamuro's blatant napping would have seen her hauled up as an example, accompanied by the classic line, "You are the worst class I have ever taught." Yet, with that unyielding spirit of hers, she would undoubtedly have become the "fierce general" of the class, defying the rules in broad daylight.

His gaze swept across the classroom. Morishita Ran was looking down, busily jotting down key points, her pen scratching across the paper; Yamamura Miki was frowning, her finger tapping at a formula in the textbook, clearly pondering it earnestly. Looking back at Kamuro, her head suddenly sank as if startled awake; she blinked dazedly, scrambled to flip through a few pages of her textbook, but within seconds, she began nodding like a chick again.

Uesugi Hara couldn't help but mock her in his heart: This girl was puffing out her chest and bragging just a few days ago about how she had evolved into a "saltwater fish" capable of swimming freely in the ocean of knowledge after staying up late to review. How long had it been, and she was already "beached" in class?

It seems that no matter how impressive the fish, it can't withstand the relentless bombardment of dry, boring knowledge.

Uesugi Hara tore off a piece of scrap paper, crumpled it into a small ball, and with a flick of his wrist, tossed it—thwack—it hit Kamuro Masumi on the head.

Kamuro shuddered violently, her head snapping up as if a start button had been pressed. She subconsciously glanced toward the podium, thinking the teacher had come to rap her on the forehead.

But the teacher on the podium remained with their back to the class, writing on the board, the chalk dust falling onto their shoulders without them turning around. Kamuro let out a sigh of relief, and just as she was about to turn to find the "culprit," she met Uesugi Hara's gaze.

His face was expressionless; he merely lifted his chin and pointed his fingertip toward the blackboard. The meaning couldn't be clearer: pay attention to the lecture.

A heat surged onto Kamuro's cheeks, and the momentary annoyance at being disturbed was instantly replaced by embarrassment and shame.

She lowered her head quickly, her bangs falling to cover her eyes, and scribbled aimlessly on her notebook, as if trying to hide the awkwardness of being caught napping. Her ears, however, pricked up, and she finally dared not slack off again, forcing herself to shift her focus back to the blackboard filled with the teacher's formulas.

Watching her look so embarrassed that she wanted to bury her head in the desk, a trace of a smile flickered in Uesugi Hara's eyes.

He turned back, refocusing his gaze on his own notebook, his pen tip gliding smoothly across the paper.

In truth, he hadn't really intended to tease her; he had simply seen her so sleepy she was about to fall into her textbook.

He glanced at Kamuro's side, and seeing that although she was still looking down, her shoulders were held straight and the hand holding her pen was finally moving, he withdrew his gaze and continued organizing the points the teacher had just covered.

The breeze outside the window seemed to have died down, leaving only the sound of chalk rubbing against the board and the scratching of pen tips against paper in the classroom.

Uesugi Hara gave a light scoff in his heart: This girl, she finally looks a bit like a student.

After school.

At the milk tea shop.

"How has your review been going lately, Airi?" Uesugi Hara's voice sounded gently beside the table.

Sakura Airi sat opposite him, cradling a cup of warm milk tea, her fingers unconsciously stroking the side of the cup.

She kept her head slightly lowered, her long eyelashes casting a faint shadow under her eyelids. Compared to the timidity she showed when they first met—when she almost wanted to shrink into her chair—she still carried a bit of reserve, but the corners of her mouth were quietly curled into a very slight arc, as if she were trying hard to relax.

"It's... okay..." Airi's voice was soft, as if she were afraid of disturbing something, her fingers subconsciously twisting the wrapper of the milk tea cup.

She raised her eyes to glance at Uesugi Hara quickly, then hurriedly lowered them again.

The young girl was still quite shy.

"Kikyo sent over the past years' test papers yesterday, and I tried doing them... I didn't understand some of the math problems, so I plan to ask the teacher tomorrow."

Speaking of this, she seemed to suddenly remember something and added in a low voice: "What about Hara-kun? You must be almost done with your review, right?" Her tone carried a hint of imperceptible probing, as if she both wanted to know the answer and feared hearing a response too impressive, which would make her seem too clumsy.

"Me?" Uesugi Hara tapped his fingertip on the table, his tone devoid of much fluctuation. "I've gone through the key points, and I've flipped through my collection of mistakes." He looked up at Airi, his gaze falling on the milk tea she had barely touched, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "As for the math problems, if it's inconvenient to ask the teacher tomorrow, I have some organized notes and problem-solving methods here. You can take a look."

He intentionally softened his tone when saying this, as if afraid of appearing too proactive and making Airi feel pressured, and added: "Of course, the teacher's explanations are more systematic. Just ask if you think they'll be useful."

Airi looked up abruptly, a flash of surprise in her eyes, as if she hadn't expected him to offer help voluntarily. Her cheeks flushed a faint red, her fingers gripping the milk tea cup tightened, and her voice became even thinner than before: "Is, is that okay? Would it be too much trouble for Hara-kun?"

She lowered her head, her gaze falling on the pearls floating in the milk tea, her voice carrying a small hint of excitement, yet she tried hard to suppress it so it wouldn't be too obvious: "Then, then I'll go back and mark the mistakes... if Hara-kun isn't busy..." By the time she finished the last few words, her voice was so light it almost melted into the air, the tail end of her sentence trembling imperceptibly, as if she had summoned great courage to say it.

"It's no trouble. If you're free during lunch break tomorrow, just bring the mistakes over. If that's inconvenient, you can also ask me on the Terminal." He spoke intentionally casually, as if discussing something perfectly ordinary, though his gaze swept over her reddened earlobes, and he understood.

Airi nodded vigorously, her bangs swaying gently. "Mm! Thank you, Hara-kun!" The excitement hidden in her voice could no longer be fully suppressed, the tail end of her sentence rising slightly, like a small stone warmed by the sun, landing softly in the air.

She took a quick sip of her milk tea, the pearls crunching in her mouth, as if using the action to hide her overflowing happiness.

The air remained quiet for a few seconds, save for the faint sound of Airi sipping her milk tea.

She slowly relaxed, her spine no longer held so taut, and her hands holding the cup loosened; the warm sensation traveled through the cup to her fingertips, making her feel at ease.

Uesugi Hara didn't bring up the review again, turning instead to other topics—a newly opened cake shop in the Commercial District that tasted quite good; the lemon-flavored hard candies that had just arrived at the convenience store downstairs, which were so sour they made people frown, yet were unexpectedly refreshing... His voice was not loud, like the afternoon sun in winter—not blinding, but warm.

Airi listened with pricked ears, occasionally responding with an "Mm" or "Is that so," the arc of her mouth slowly becoming clearer.

She found that she no longer needed to rack her brain thinking about what to say; as long as she listened quietly and occasionally looked up at the slight movement of his brows when he spoke, she felt relaxed.

The sweet fragrance of the milk tea mixed with the scent of grass drifting in from the window, slowly rippling through the small space, making even time seem to move a little slower.

She peeked up and saw Uesugi Hara looking out the window, the lines of his profile appearing very soft in the sunset. At that moment, Airi suddenly felt that this time, where she didn't have to rush to do anything or force herself, was actually quite comfortable.