Chapter 2: Friends
The day after the celebratory entrance ceremony,
regular classes began, bringing a sobering tone to the students who were still reveling in the extraordinary.
The first subject of the day was mathematics,
specifically the third period, taught by their homeroom teacher, Mr. Hayama.
As classmates diligently solved the crunchy math problems, one student, moved his hands sluggishly, resembling a slow-moving turtle.
（I don’t get it.)
His name is Saito Minazuki.
Saito, known for his cheerful demeanor and curiosity in most things, seemed to have an exception when it came to studying.
From the beginning of the class, he wore a puzzled expression, eyes fixed on his textbook.
Attempting to solve the problems on his own, the influx of information overwhelmed him. The numerous formulas, including sine and sine squared, cluttered his mind.
“Sin and sin squared formulas and all that jazz… there’s just too much. And seriously, is the pace of this class too fast?” Saito muttered to himself.
The amount of information crammed into his head was overwhelming. It truly lived up to its reputation as an advanced school.
Saito wondered if he could keep up with the demanding curriculum.
“…Saito, how are you feeling?”
Lily, his childhood friend sitting in front of him, turned around as if she could hear his thoughts.
“No chance. It’s over,”
“I thought so,” Lily concurred.
“The next formula comes in too quickly,”
“Wanna learn it?” Lily offered.
Lily must have sensed that it would be pretty bad if Saito explained the current situation concisely.
Lily proposed to teach him.
“Please.”
If things continued like this, she could see Saito getting a failing grade in the not-so-distant future.
If that happened, Saito would lose the precious summer and winter breaks to make up for it.
That was something he absolutely had to prevent.
Saito eagerly jumped at the suggestion.
“Honesty is good. So, where do you not understand?”
“Probably from the beginning.”
“Got it. Then, try writing out all the formulas that just came up on the side for once.”
“Exactly.”
Saito took out a new loose-leaf sheet and diligently wrote down the formulas as instructed.
“Done.”
“Alright, let’s start with an easy problem. Find the expression for sinθ,”
“Got it.”
“Wait a moment. Before you start, though. It might be a hassle, but write down which formula you’re going to use before solving,”
“That’s a pain, isn’t it?”
“No complaints. Just do it. Come on, give it a try.”
Reluctantly, Saito agreed. He sighed, acknowledging the advice.
It’s a simple thing, but doing it for every problem would be quite a hassle.
Saito protested with a reluctant expression, but he didn’t get a decent response.
“Sigh, well, let’s give it a try.”
Though he wasn’t thrilled about it, Lily had offered advice. He might as well do it.
Letting out a sigh, Saito wrote down the formulas as Lily suggested and began solving the problems.
He began to follow Lily’s guidance, writing down the formulas before attempting to solve the problems.
“Oh, I’m gradually catching up,”
After a while, Saito’s hands started moving more rapidly.
He had written down the formulas just before solving the problem, so that he finally understood which formulas were used in which situations.
Though still a bit slower compared to others, he felt more confident.
Writing down the formulas had helped him understand when to apply them.
By repeating this process, studying before the test might not be necessary.
“…Guess rushing and taking shortcuts is no good after all.”
“There are no shortcuts in studying, but maybe a little urgency is good for now?”
After reaching a certain point, he muttered.
Hearing that, Lily agreed and pointed towards the teacher’s desk with a troubled expression.
“Next, Minazuki-kun, please provide the answer to the second major question here.”
“Huh? Oh, um…”
Saito was suddenly called by the homeroom teacher and got flustered.
Come to think of it, he was currently being called in reverse order of the attendance numbers.
Focused on solving problems, he completely forgot the possibility of being called to answer.
(Let’s see…)
Glancing at his loose-leaf paper, Saito, who started quite late, still hadn’t solved the specified problem.
As he was nervously sweating, he heard the sound of a pencil tapping on a notebook from the front seat.
Looking over there, he saw [Seventeen over Four] written in slightly larger letters.
“…It’s seventeen over four.”
“Correct. Thank you, Minazuki-kun. You can sit down now.”
He answered the number on impulse, and the homeroom teacher smiled, saying, “Well done.”
He somehow managed to get through it.
The moment the teacher told him to sit down, Saito slumped onto his desk.
“…Thanks, Lily. You really saved me.”
“You’re welcome. Saito today is quite a handful.”
“No words to return.”
For now, he sincerely thanked his childhood friend who came to the rescue with quick thinking.
Maybe she found his flustered state from earlier amusing; she was shaking her shoulders.
He thought not to laugh, but given that she had helped him, he couldn’t say such things.
He firmly resolved to study hard to avoid such incidents in the future.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
Ding-dong, ding-dong.
After a while, the chime signaling the end of the class finally rang.
“Ah, I’m tired.”
It had been a while since the last class, and with everything that happened,
Saito felt quite exhausted. He leaned back in his chair and stretched.
“Good job, Saito.”
As he relaxed, a small, naturally permed boy approached and greeted him.
His name is Kai Akashi.
This was the same friendly boy who had shown him the location of the bulletin board yesterday.
Having realized they were in the same class during the morning self-introduction, they struck up a conversation during break and quickly became friends.
Kai was an artist type with few words, possessing a unique worldview. His presence was refreshing, as Saito hadn’t encountered anyone quite like him before.
“Good job, Kai. Did you manage to keep up?”
“I’m doing okay. No issues.”
“Really? Impressive. I didn’t think I could keep up with that pace.”
Saito sincerely admired his friend who managed to keep up with the class speed.
“If you’re free, wanna grab some drinks? I forgot to buy one on the way here.”
“Sure. I was thinking of getting something too.”
As Saito and Kai were about to head to the vending machines, the timing of Kai’s invitation was perfect.
Saito replied, took out his wallet from his bag, and stood up.
“Which vending machine are we going to?”
“The one in front of the cafeteria. They have hot sweet red bean soup there.”
“Haha, you’re out of sync with the season, Kai.”
Saito laughed at Kai’s natural comments, and together, they left the classroom.
“What will you get, Saito?”
“Milk tea.”
“Not what I expected.”
“That perception isn’t wrong. I usually go for cola or sports drinks.”
“Then why?”
“If I had to say, it’s a way of saying thanks.”
While Lily might not think she did much, Saito felt he owed her quite a bit.
So, to repay that debt, he decided to offer her milk tea.
Financially, he couldn’t casually treat someone to drinks, but he considered this necessary expense.
“Saito is quite diligent.”
“I was taught by my mom to always repay kindness.”
“Like a yakuza.”
“I used to be a delinquent, apparently.”
As they engaged in a lighthearted conversation, a male student walking in front of them collided with a beautiful senior who came from around the corner.
“Kyaa!”
“Whoa!”
Flap, flap.
The two collided and fell on their backs, and the senior’s numerous notebooks scattered all over the floor.
“Oops.”
“Aaaaah!”
Saito and Kai, both witnessing a disaster, simultaneously covered their faces with their hands, realizing they had messed up.
“My apologies! It was my carelessness.”
“No, it’s my fault. You are not to blame.”
“No, it was mine.”
“No, no, it’s my fault.”
The two who collided quickly stood up and immediately bowed their heads to apologize.
Whether each felt at fault or not, their gestures of apology seemed to prolong the situation. At this rate, they might even go beyond the break time.
“Kai, let’s go.”
“Alright.”
It seemed not only Saito and Kai but also other passersby would have trouble if this continued.
Unable to help it, Saito and Kai decided to step in between them.
“Hey, you two. It’s good to apologize, but wouldn’t it be better to pick up the things that fell? You’re blocking the way.”
“Blocking the way.”
“Ah!? Sorry!”
Having been addressed by Saito, they seemingly understood the situation.
Apologizing again and embarrassed, they started picking up the scattered notebooks, and Saito and Kai helped.
“Sorry about that. Thank you for helping. If you come to the student council room after school, I’ll prepare something for you.”
But even with the help, it took only a minute or two to gather the notebooks due to the four of them working together.
Deeply bowing her head, the senior expressed gratitude.
However, even in this simple act, there was an air of elegance and a sense of good upbringing.
She might be someone from a wealthy family or a refined background.
“I’ll take the sweet red bean soup.”
“I’ll go with Aquarius.”
“Hey, you two, that’s a bit rude to the senior, don’t you think?”
“Don’t take it seriously. It’s just a joke.”
“Huh?”
“…Kai, were you serious?”
While Saito intended to lighten the mood with a joke,
it seemed Kai took it seriously. Saito couldn’t help but be amazed at Kai’s natural audacity.
“Hehe, you guys are amusing. Since you helped me, I’ll treat you to drinks after school. How about that?”
But, perhaps the senior liked his brazenness, then promised to buy us drinks.
“Yay!”
“Seriously? Thanks, senior. We were just joking, though.”
“Joking.”
“…You really have no sense of reservation.”
In disbelief at the unexpected outcome, Saito and Kai exchanged a high-five, celebrating together.
The boy next to them sighed heavily, glancing at the two.
“Well then, we’re gonna hit the vending machine. See you around here.”
“Excuse us~”
“Thank you very much.”
Although they were going to be treated, it was already late after school.
Saito and Kai, eager for a drink, bowed to their senpai and headed towards the vending machine.
Descending the stairs, they reached the area in front of the cafeteria.
They located their desired items from the row of vending machines and each made their purchases.
With a sharp sound, as Kai opened the tab on his sweet red bean soup, the boy who had picked up the notebook with them earlier arrived a bit late.
“Are you here for the vending machines too? Oh, and you’re the guy who tried to catch a molester at the station yesterday, right? We’re in the same high school. Nice to see you again.”
“It’s been a day. Not just the same high school, but we’re also in the same class. Didn’t you hear our introductions yesterday?”
Upon closer observation, he realized that this was the boy he met on the train yesterday.
Surprisingly, they not only attended the same high school but were also in the same class.
“Seriously? My bad, my bad. I was spacing out until my turn came up. Didn’t pay much attention to the others. Sorry, but could you tell me your name again? I’ll make sure to listen properly this time.”
“I don’t mind. My name is—”
“Nishizono Haruki.”
“…Desu.”
Feeling a bit awkward, Saito asked the boy to tell his name again.
Reluctantly, as the boy was about to say it himself, Kai interrupted and said his name.
Feeling unsatisfied with the incomplete self-introduction, Haruki slumped against the vending machine in disappointment.
“Kai, it’s not cool to take over someone’s introduction like that.”
“Mengo, My bad.”
Despite the criticism, Kai shows no remorse and sticks his tongue out with a cheeky grin.
There’s really rude comment about how I translate this novel, because of that the next update…
Nah I’m Joking, I won’t do that shenanigan again, at least for this time. Chapter 3 will be out next week.
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