The math teacher ran the white chalk across the blackboard.
It was a problem that had come out during the Math II period, held in the morning.
I too had copied the formula in the copy, but I was blank on the answer.
I had no idea whatsoever.
People who were good at math would say that if you just applied the mathematical formula, you would be able to solve the problem.
However, even when I had applied the formula, for some reason, my formula was not able to bring out the answer.
As expected, it would seem that for someone like me who was from the humanities stream, it was a bit early to learn math.
The teacher walked around the classroom, as all students were trying to solve the problem at hand.
He must have been pondering as to who he should have, answer the question.
Amidst a class filled with students who were trying to solve the problem silently, I shifted my focus to the seat beside me.
“……”
Naturally, it was Kirasaka who was sat next to me.
After all, we didn’t have any shuffle in the seating order yet.
However, there weren’t any formulae in front of her.
What laid in front of her were innumerable square spaces, arranged vertically and horizontally next to each other. They had to be filled in, after solving the questions that came along.
It was a crossword puzzle.
If I ever came across any free time while class was still in session, I would spend it in an untiring manner; and yet, here was a girl who was solving crossword puzzles with such vigour, that it looked like she was writing her diary or something.
The mechanical pencil in her hand didn’t stop. Was it because she had a good brain, or was it because she had abundant expressive power?
She could solve a page of the puzzle several times faster than my solving this one math problem.
As she finished filling in all the boxes on the last page, she threw the pencil on the table and muttered.
“I can’t even kill any time with this”
She leant against the chair. This action further emphasized her abundant chest.
My eyesight had inadvertently journeyed downwards from her face. When I came to my senses, I immediately retracted my gaze to look at her face.
“Don’t solve it like you are solving elementary school arithmetic……moreover, that’s mine”
“Don’t fret over the small things, please……be that as it may, it is boring”
While resting her chin in her hand, Kirasaka looked fixedly at the blackboard.
Was she talking about the math problem, or was she talking about the contents of the teacher’s lesson?
Or was it the item that I had brought along, for my amusement?
If it’s the last one, let’s have them return the hundred yen to me.
I would be paying the hundred yen shop a visit and have them issue me a refund.
“Truly……it’s boring”
Muttered Kirasaka. A sigh escaped her.
If the classroom wasn’t quiet, I wouldn’t have been able to hear her.
Albeit, it had only been for a short while, she had expressed her feelings indifferently, yet clearly.
“Don’t you think so too, Shinra-kun?”
“I am, more or less, always bored……”
“That’s true. You were that kind of person”
After hearing my answer, her expression changed. She seemed a bit happy.
What’s so interesting, huh?
She wasn’t making the face of a bored person.
No one should have been able to hear our conversations. However, there was a student who was looking at our direction with a cold gaze.
Shizuku was glaring in my direction with sharp eyes.
No, she was glaring at Kirasaka.
Since when had you been looking at us?
Did she, perhaps, also notice the little episode of my male instincts surfacing just now?
It was seriously scary.
The students sitting in her vicinity seemed to have sensed something akin to bloodlust emanating from her, as they shuddered at the incomprehensible sense of danger lingering in the air.
In the first place, how did she even realize that the two of us were talking, when we were the ones sitting behind? How was she able to achieve that?
Maybe it was that? The thing called “the sixth sense”?
She was like one of those characters you would see in an anime or a manga, with a dark aura emanating from behind them. Kirasaka looked at her with a sidelong glance and continued in a low voice.
“Fufu, recently, that person became interesting”
“If that’s the case, match your expression and words”
She did say so, but unlike her words, her expression wasn’t one of delight.
The gazes of the two girls met, and sparks flew everywhere.
Pitiful were the students who were sat in between the two. They became collateral damage by being caught up in their staring contest.
The discomfort in the air could be painfully felt.
Today, I had plenty of spare time, which I used to spectate the movements of the two girls.
The questions of the students sat in the row adjacent to the corridor, had kept the math teacher occupied. So, he hadn’t noticed the movements of these two.
“Well then, this problem……Kirasaka, can I have you solve it?”
“……Yes”
After the teacher was done answering the students’ questions, he turned around and called out to Kirasaka.
She hadn’t even written down any of the formulae in her copy, not to mention, the problem. However, she stood up, no trace of hesitation in her movements.
She briskly walked forward, attracting the attention of the male students.
She was a pinnacle beauty. So naturally, she was popular.
When she was going to pass by Shizuku, it seemed like she had halted for a moment. However, she immediately proceeded towards the blackboard to stand in front of it and started writing down the answer to the question.
Her hand didn’t stop even once, just like when she was solving the crossword puzzles.
The teacher raised his voice of commendation at Kirasaka’s exemplary answer.
“As expected of Kirasaka. I thought it would be a little difficult, but I guess it was easy for you”
“No, well……”
After issuing only a short reply, Kirasaka returned to her seat.
Come to think of it, you are thoroughly cold towards people who don’t pique your interest, aren’t you?
She returned to her seat, glanced at my copy once, and nodded in a satisfied manner.
The answer that she had written on the blackboard was nine.
However, contrary to the correct answer, my copy had a different number in it. I had written down the number eleven, during the interval she had departed from her seat to go up to the blackboard to write the answer.
“……Don’t give me that triumphant look”
“In that case, next time, should I teach you mathematics?”
She chuckled, trying to hold back her laughter, and said to me this in an extremely polite speech.
I didn’t hide my discontent as I put on a sullen expression, and then, turned to look away from her.