After Kushida Kikyo left, Uesugi Hara lay on his bed, and the question from earlier gradually became clear.
It seemed Sakayanagi Arisu had probably found out that Kushida Kikyo was selling exam papers.
After all, he had quoted 30,000, while the other side had quoted 500,000. It was obvious there was something wrong.
By rights, Kushida had been careful enough this time, even getting a senior student to handle the transaction for her. Yet Sakayanagi had still tracked down the mastermind behind it. Uesugi Hara privately reconsidered his assessment of the seemingly harmless little girl, raising his estimate of how dangerous she was.
Although the two of them occasionally joked around, Uesugi Hara had always been wary of her.
After all, in the original story, she had never been someone to take lightly. Her schemes ran deep, and who knew when she might suddenly manipulate him? He could end up counting the money for her after she sold him out.
The next day.
At the lectern, the teacher held a lesson plan and explained the material, oblivious to everything else. Chalk scratched across the blackboard with a steady hiss, like some monotonous lullaby.
Uesugi Hara paused his pen and glanced sideways. Good grief—Kamuro Masumi's head was bobbing along with the teacher's lecture, dipping lower and lower until her bangs were nearly brushing her textbook. She was demonstrating the "chick pecking at rice" for the whole class.
She probably hadn't even noticed. Her fingers hovered over her notebook, and the pen in her hand trembled with each bob of her head, as if it might slip from her grasp at any moment.
The teacher at the lectern seemed used to it and didn't even raise an eyelid, continuing to recite from the lesson plan with practiced intonation. Uesugi Hara clicked his tongue inwardly. If Kamuro had been caught dozing off so brazenly in a classroom in his previous life, the teacher would've hauled her up as an example and thrown in a "You're the worst class I've ever taught" for good measure. With her stubborn streak, she would've become the class's fearless delinquent.
His gaze swept across the classroom. Morishita Ran was bent over, rapidly jotting down key points, her pen scratching across the paper. Yamamura Miki frowned, tapping a formula in her textbook as she studied it intently. When he looked back at Kamuro, her head suddenly dipped. She jerked awake and blinked blearily, then hurriedly flipped through a few pages of her textbook. But only seconds later, she was nodding off again like a chick pecking at rice.
Uesugi Hara couldn't help thinking, Just a few days ago, this girl was bragging that after staying up late to study, she'd evolved into a "saltwater fish" that could swim freely through the ocean of knowledge. How long had it been, and she'd already run aground in class?
Looks like even the strongest fish can't withstand a barrage of dry facts.
Uesugi Hara tore off a small piece of scrap paper, crumpled it into a ball, and flicked his wrist. It smacked Kamuro Masumi on the head.
Kamuro jolted, her head springing up as if someone had flipped a switch. She instinctively glanced toward the lectern, thinking the teacher had rapped her on the head.
But the teacher was still facing the blackboard, writing notes. Chalk dust fell onto the teacher's shoulders, but the teacher didn't turn around. Kamuro finally relaxed. Just as she turned to look for the "culprit," her eyes met Uesugi Hara's.
He wore a blank expression. He merely raised his chin and pointed a finger toward the blackboard. The meaning couldn't have been clearer: pay attention.
Kamuro's cheeks flushed hot. Her irritation at being disturbed instantly gave way to embarrassment and shame.
She quickly lowered her head, her bangs falling over her eyes. Her pen scrawled a couple of random marks in her notebook, as if she could hide the awkwardness of being caught dozing off. But her ears perked up, and at last, she didn't dare slack off again. She forced herself to focus on the blackboard, now covered in formulas.
Watching her look so mortified she might bury her head in the desk, Uesugi Hara let a hint of amusement flicker in his eyes.
He turned back and lowered his gaze to his notebook, his pen gliding across the page.
He hadn't really meant to tease her. She'd just looked like she was about to fall face-first into her textbook.
He glanced toward Kamuro. Though her head was still lowered, her shoulders were now rigidly straight, and the hand holding her pen had finally begun to move. He turned back and continued organizing the key points the teacher had just covered.
The breeze outside seemed to have died down. All that remained in the classroom was the scratch of chalk against the blackboard and the soft rasp of pens across paper.
Uesugi Hara gave a quiet scoff to himself. At last, she's acting like a student.
After school that afternoon.
At the bubble tea shop.
"How's your studying been going lately, Airi?" Uesugi Hara asked gently from across the table.
Sakura Airi sat opposite him, holding a cup of warm bubble tea in her arms. Her fingers unconsciously rubbed the sides of the cup.
She lowered her head slightly, her long lashes casting faint shadows beneath her eyes. Compared with the unease she'd shown when they'd first met, when she'd seemed ready to curl up into her chair, she was still a little reserved, but the corners of her mouth had lifted into the faintest smile, as though she were trying to relax.
"It's all right..." Airi's voice was soft, as if she were afraid of disturbing something. Her fingers unconsciously twisted the paper sleeve around her cup.
She glanced quickly up at Uesugi Hara, then hurriedly lowered her head again.
The girl was still a little shy.
"Kikyo sent over some old exam papers yesterday. I tried doing them... I don't understand some of the math problems, so I was planning to ask the teacher tomorrow."
As she spoke, she seemed to remember something and added quietly, "What about you, Hara? You must be almost done reviewing, right?" Her tone carried a hint of tentative curiosity, as if she wanted to know the answer but was afraid he'd say something so impressive that she'd feel clumsy by comparison.
"Me?" Uesugi Hara lightly tapped the tabletop with his fingertips, his tone calm. "I went over the material once and looked through my book of mistakes." He looked up at Airi, his gaze settling on the bubble tea she had barely touched, and the corners of his mouth lifted a little. "As for the math problems, if it's inconvenient to ask the teacher tomorrow, I have some notes with solution methods you can look at."
He deliberately softened his tone, as if he were worried about sounding too forward and making Airi uncomfortable. Then he added, "Of course, the teacher will explain it more systematically. Just let me know if you think they'd be useful."
Airi raised her head sharply, surprise flashing in her eyes, as if she hadn't expected him to offer help. A faint blush crept across her cheeks, and her fingers tightened around the cup. Her voice grew even softer. "I-is that okay? Wouldn't that be too much trouble for you, Hara?"
She lowered her head, her gaze falling on the pearls bobbing in her drink. Her voice held a little excitement, though she tried hard not to let it show too much. "Then, then I'll mark the questions I got wrong when I get back... If you're not busy, Hara..." Her voice grew so quiet at the final words that it nearly melted into the air. A barely noticeable tremor lingered at the end, as if it had taken all her courage to say them.
"No trouble. If you have time during lunch tomorrow, just bring the questions you got wrong. If that doesn't work, you can ask me on the Terminal." He made it sound casual, as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world, but his gaze passed over the tips of her flushed ears, and he understood.
Airi nodded emphatically, her bangs swaying with the motion. "Mm! Thank you, Hara!" She could no longer hide her excitement; it crept into her voice, the final note lifting like a little stone warmed by the sun, landing softly in the air.
She quickly took a sip of her bubble tea, chewing the pearls with a loud crunch as if trying to hide how happy she was.
Silence settled for a few seconds, broken only by the soft sounds of Airi sipping her bubble tea.
She gradually relaxed. Her back was no longer so stiff, and her grip on the cup loosened. The warmth seeped through the cup to her fingertips, making her feel at ease.
Uesugi Hara didn't bring up studying again. Instead, he talked about other things—the new cake shop in the Commercial District, which had pretty good desserts; the lemon-flavored hard candies that had just arrived at the convenience store beneath the dormitory, so sour they made you grimace but surprisingly refreshing... His voice was quiet, like the afternoon winter sun—not dazzling, but warm.
Airi listened attentively, occasionally replying, "Mm," or, "I see," as her smile slowly became more apparent.
She realized she no longer had to rack her brains for things to say. She could just listen quietly and occasionally look up at the slight movement of his eyebrows as he spoke. It made her feel at ease.
The sweetness of the bubble tea mingled with the scent of grass drifting in through the window, slowly spreading through the little space. Even time seemed to pass more slowly.
She secretly looked up and saw Uesugi Hara gazing out the window, his profile softened by the setting sun. In that moment, Airi suddenly felt that this time, when she didn't have to hurry or force herself to do anything, was actually rather nice.