Date: May 27th

Time: 7:00 PM

I'm sure there's a question lurking in everyone's mind right now: Why is Taichi actually going to describe a Saturday of his life, of all days?

To say the truth, that's what I would have been wondering too...if midterms weren't coming up, that is...

That's right, a not-so-studious person like me has to go through this every trimester...

So, Karasuma invited me over to study together, and I took up that offer since I also needed help with a couple subjects as well. Completely coincidentally, she is good at what I struggle at, and I'm good at what she struggles at; a win-win situation for both of us, you could say.

To get to her place, Karasuma gave me instructions about the bus I should take, what time I should be at my stop, the stop I should get off, how much time the bus would take from my stop to there, where I should sit to have the best view... Honestly, when I called her for any instructions the other day, she sounded so passionate and eager to speak more and more about every single thing; there's nothing that screams 'Karasuma Yumeha' more than that, is there?

The ride lasted about 20 minutes. The bus was empty for the most part, so there was nothing more relaxing than having the ocean beside me at almost all times in this rejuvenating serenity. The weather is cloudy today and not really hot for the season, and being a person who can't stand the blinding sun and the heat of the approaching summer, I'll admit that I couldn't have asked for better weather than the current one.

Getting off the bus, I got the chance to feel a weak, cool breeze coming from the ocean, making the scenery feel too good to be real, much like Karasuma had described it to me. She was waiting for me at the stop, from where she would pick me up to head to her place together.

This was the first time I've seen her in clothes that weren't the school uniform. For today, she has chosen to wear a white and short-sleeved buttoned shirt and a good ol' pair of jeans, both of which very well accentuate her sapphire colored eyes and brown hair. Of course, her characteristic ponytail is not absent today either.

I chose to wear something simple too. My top consisted of a forest-green sleeveless jacket on top of a pale gold-colored shirt, while my lower half of a pair of light-brown trousers.

Once we greeted each other, we began walking to her place. Since she had said she lived near the stop, I assumed it would be a 5 or 10-minute walk from there.

Yeah, it was 2 minutes away on foot...

To get to her house, we had to walk up on an inclined stone road. The area is built in this style and there's plenty of green no matter where you look, at least as far as my eye could see.

After only a minute on this road, we took a turn to a small flight of stone stairs, which led to the front door of a relatively modern house.

This house is a two-storey building painted tea green (a really light shade of green). The shortest description I can give is that it's on a hill and has an uninterrupted view to the sea, 24/7; that's a romanticist's dream, if you ask me.

"So this is where you live…"

"Surprised that I have this beautiful scenery right outside my window?"

"It’s a great view, no kidding. And out of town too. I'm kind of jealous."

ESPECIALLY BECAUSE IT'S ONLY A FEW STEPS AWAY FROM HER STOP!

"Who would have imagined that you're quite the romanticist!" she giggles. "This setting always calms me down. You can't compare this view or this serenity to that of a metropolis, right?"

"Obviously," I reply, chuckling. "I don't have any experience though other than a few day trips, but I'm sure you're right."

"Guess who's speaking from experience then, Taichi-san."

Wait. Eru-senpai told me her family had its roots in Kansai, so does that mean they lived there before?

"You?!"

Why is a family's background more interesting than passing midterms now?!

"Well well, if you're this energetic, it means you're up for studying!"

It's so obvious that she's forcing that...

But I have to put up with some studying until we're done with midterms, don't I?

Compromises are the woooooooooooooooooooooorst...

"How did you get into Sakudai if you are this stressed over a few tests…?"

"…I don’t know!" she replies rather determinedly after giving my question some thought.

CAN YOU PLEASE MAKE SURE?!

"But I'll overcome that if you prove to be a good teacher!"

Why do I get the feeling that studying with her is going to be a labor...?

Finishing her sentence, Karasuma takes out a key from her pocket that unlocks the front door. "After you, Taichi-san," she asks me to head in first.

Having said that, I enter the Karasuma household.

The interior is pretty nice looking, if you ask me. For instance, the walls in the hall are painted in a pale tint of yellow, which makes the room and the hall's atmosphere feel really relaxing and calming. The staircase's light brown coloring blends in perfectly with that color as well.

Once Karasuma is done changing to her home slippers as well, she takes me to the first door to the left on the hallway. As soon as she pushes the handle down to open it, we enter her house's living room, which is combined with the kitchen. It's a room painted in a white-beige mix, with the beige parts beginning from the bottom and slowly fading to white after they reach the midpoint between the ground and the ceiling.

The living room is not the biggest one I've seen, but it is definitely made just to help you feel comfy. In more detail, a u-shaped formation of couches and armchairs forms its corners, and a widescreen TV is hanging from the wall at the ends of that 'u'. Just a couple steps further, there is a small veranda with spectacular view to the sea, as well as to the greenery surrounding the house.

As for the kitchen, it's what you'd expect from a contemporary house; minimalistic, with just a stove, a tap and a sink, cupboards (and everything else that comprises the necessities of a modern kitchen), and only so many appliances to take up as little space as possible. Of course, what defines a contemporary kitchen the most is none other than the sleekness of its counters, which are as glossy as they get.

What separates the kitchen and the living room two is a short wall in front of the kitchen's counter, much like a store counter. On the other side of that wall, there's a wide wooden table, where a man in his early 40s is sitting, holding a newspaper and a mug, sipping off it. He seems to be taking turns looking at the newspaper and the turned-on TV.

Once he notices us, he puts the mug and the newspaper down. Karasuma walked towards the kitchen right before he did.

"Ah, welcome! You must be Yanagisawa-kun, right? It's nice to meet you. I'm Yumeha's father, Karasuma Rokuro."

So that's her father, huh... For some reason, I imagined him as the diligent but laid-back type, but it seems my imagination went too far. He actually looks kind of straightforward and steadfast, but he must be really kind deep down.

"It’s a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Karasuma. And please, ‘Taichi’ is fine. Even your daughter calls me that."

Actually, both of them do, don't they...?

"In any case, sorry to come here on such short notice."

"Don't mind these things, Taichi-kun. Your midterms are just around the corner, it'd be far more surprising if you didn't hold a group study session," he chuckles lightly.

"I guess so, hahaha..."

Karasuma decides to call out to him: "Is Mum out shopping?" she asks as she searches through the cupboards.

"She said she was going to the bakery to buy a cake. I suppose she'll be back any moment now."

"That eejit...! I told her we wanted to study, not throw a party..." she sighs.

I don't even know how a cake will affect your studying when sweet things gear you up, but I'm stopping my thinking here. Nothing will come out of it if I fill up my brain with unnecessary thoughts.

And what does this 'eejit' thing even mean...?

"Let’s go, Taichi-san! We have to study!"

"S-Sure..."

It seems that this entire time that she was searching the cupboards, she was looking for cups, glasses and plates. The first apparently will be for tea, the second for water or juice, and the last one for bite-sized sweets or something larger, depending on the size.

All of these are placed on two trays, which she attempts to carry on her own.

"W-What are you doing...?"

"I'm...trying toー"

Why does she have to keep on struggling so hard for a couple trays...?

"No, I can get this much..." I sigh. "Why are you trying to do that on your own is what I should have asked..."

"Because I'm...confident in...myself! And if I’m not...I won’t pass midterms!"

"Sure… I’m sure carrying two trays infallibly is what helps all students pass their exams…"

"Geez, I’m serious! Take me seriously for once!" she pouts quite hard, getting her cheeks a bit red and her voice kinda raised. I should also mention that one of the trays was ready to drop and smash everything on the floor thanks to that reaction of hers.

"Sure sure..."

I'm pretty sure I heard her father chuckle at that exchange.

"Give me the one with the glasses, I'll carry that one up for you."

Her eyebrows are brought slightly closer to each other. "I'm trying to play it cool here, Taichi-san! Get on with that!" she whispers to me, but I'm sure she was loud enough for her father could make out what she said.

"I don't recommend playing it tough in front of a guy, Yumeha."

Yup, he did.

"Oi, whose side are you on, Dad?"

"There are sides? Since when?" he replies with a confused look.

He can read her like a book, can't he...

Karasuma's expression has become so disapproving of her percipient father's slyness to hit where she hurts that I'm 100% sure she knows this conversation would be getting nowhere, were it to go on.

Aah, so this must be how savage he is. An interesting personality indeed.

Karasuma turns to me, suddenly. "This is your fault, Taichi-san."

"Mine?!"

'Oh, things are getting interesting!', thinks Rokuro-san.

WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON, ROKURO-SAN?!

"Everyone teases me when you're with me, Taichi-san. You'd better take responsibility for that," is what I could hear her say under her breath.

Having said that, Karasuma walks out of the room. The look she had on her face as she closed the door seemed kind of worrisome, to be honest...

Now, only me and her father remain in the room.

…

…

...

This awkward silence is killing me...

BUT I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING I THINK I CAN TALK ABOUT EITHER!

"Hope you haven't gotten off on the wrong foot with Yumeha, Taichi-kun. That's just how her character is."

Is he talking about her...um...pouting a moment ago? As if it's even possible to misinterpret her pouting!

"Judging by your little grin though, you haven't taken that personally. It's reassuring to know that you at least understand her."

My little grin?

WAIT, I'M GRINNING?!

"I-I just knew what I was getting myself into from the moment we first talked, hahaha..."

"That meaning what?"

"My little sister is actually a lot like her, so I pretty much know how to interpret and deal with her reactions."

"Aah, I see, I have nothing to worry about then," he says with a small smile. "But in any case, I don’t want to keep you from studying. Hang in there and it will all be a breeze. Take that from a long graduated high schooler who couldn't bother studying until the third semester every year."

"I-I will..." I force a giggle.

The moment I leave the kitchen, I climb the staircase to go to Karasuma's room.

I have to give it up for whoever decided the coloring here and in the kitchen, the colors are just so perfect that they will make you cool down after a hard day.

As I reach the only floor in this house, the only thing that makes me identify Karasuma's room is a typical sign on her door reading 'Yumeha's room'.

"Huh. I expected something a bit more colorful from her," I say to myself.

I knock the door twice before entering. "It's open," Karasuma replies on the other side, and I thus enter the room.

To my surprise, her room is quite minimalistic; it barely looks like it belongs to a girl. The turquoise colored walls are not even decorated, and the only things that signify that this room is someone's are a huge wardrobe, a bed, a short table in the middle of the room, a desk with shelves on top and a bookshelf next to her bed; apart from all these, there is nothing more to describe, even if I wanted.

"Knocking before entering? Aren't you a gentleman!" is the first thing Karasuma tells me after I step foot in her room.

"I'm just doing what I have to do."

"Guess chivalry hasn't died off yet!"

"Your chances of passing will though, if you keep joking like that."

She pouts to my face instead of responding.'I thought it was just others that teased me when you're around me, but you're one of them too now?', she thinks.

Who is this 'them'?!

We started with my weakest and her strongest subject: Math.

As it should be known, the only math I'm good at is mental math. I've grown accustomed to calculating alongside my father for the shop, so the most I could get out of these was some basic graphs, linear equations and inequations, percentages, and proportions; basically, what a grade-schooler could grasp up to his graduation. From that point on, I gave up on math for some reason. Now, everything I do at school for math is entirely mechanical, so I barely manage to get by when trick questions are thrown into the mix...

Why am I studying math then if I do get by, even if it's mechanically? That would be because high schools generally diverge from the usual by-the-book exercises and actually want to test a student's ability to come up with a way around the problems they're given instead; that's what I heard from Eru-senpai, at least. Given how tough Sakudai's entrance exams were, I'm sure I can call her a really reliable source.

Karasuma made me take a quick look at the material and the chapters in the textbook that refer to it in order for me to remember some basic terminology I'll need to use for the two main focuses of our material: Quadratic equations and graphs.

"So, you didn't recall anything from back then?"

"Nope."

"Seriously...?! I told Eru-nee to not intimidate you like that!"

INTIMIDATE?!

"I-I'm just kidding, Karasuma! I did remember a couple things!"

Her huge smirk can't seem to get away from her lips once it's set there. "Heh, the worst has been avoided, it seems. Good for her~"

What has Eru-senpai done wrong to deserve this fate...?

AND PLEASE STOP WITH THESE OMINOSITIES!

"I remembered the basics for intercepts and displacements now that I took a look. I also figured out how to solve incomplete quadratics by factorizing."

"Factorizing is definitely one way to solve these. Our problem now is when they are not incomplete then... Nevertheless, this much progress is already commendable! Well done, Taichi-san!"

She seems kind of excited to become my teacher for this, doesn't she?

"Yeah... Is the discriminant hard to learn?"

"It is a bit too much to take in at first, but it's definitely not as hard as it seems. If you follow the procedure by the book, it will be a piece of cake!"

I sure hope so...

Having said that, she starts writing in her notebook. "So, Taichi-san. Let's say you have the following quadratic equation."

[x^2 - 5x - 6 = 0] is what she wrote there. "That's a complete quadratic equation. At first glance, it's obvious that it's asking you to find the value of x so that the equation indeed equals 0 for that value. You can use the discriminant Δ to find to find the roots to all quadratic equations, complete or not. The formula is [b^2 − 4ac]."

MORE LETTERS NOW?

"The coefficient of the squared term is [a], the first-degree's is [b], and the constant is [c]. Make sure to always include the sign the numbers have when substituting."

"Is it bad if I forget it...?"

"The worst that can happen is not passing the exams."

"So I am allowed to panic if I do?"

As soon as these 9 words leave my mouth, I'm met with a glaring Karasuma.

"I-I was just making sure..."

"You don't even try to hide that you couldn't care less about this..." she sighs deeply. "Considering you're seriously down to learn something that should always be at the tip of your tongue since 8th grade, you have no time to gripe about your own ignorance."

If there's one thing she and her dad share in common, it's the sharp tongue that hits where it hurts...

"I used to find math interesting up to a point, but I felt I was getting less and less capable of solving it that I just stopped. Maybe it was because I didn't find it simple anymore...or something like that."

"Simplicity is objective. You always say you see biology as something rational, but not everyone can get into its logic to call it that. Same goes for math."

"I know that... Biology started to fascinate me because I got to see it happening in front of my eyes. Thanks to that, I asked my mother to start explaining what was going on around me, and that's basically how I came to understand biology little by little."

This last bit made her go into her deep-thinking mode; that's what I can deduce from her serious expression.

Problem is, what is she thinking so intensively about?

"Because you got to see it happening, you say..."

"Yeah, exactly that."

With a look fully of certainty, Karasuma says, "Taichi-san, you must like geometry more than algebra, right?"

"I do... Why?"

"Just you wait, I'll help you understand it better than ever before."

Saying that, Karasuma gets up from the floor and walks towards her desk. There, she pulls her middle drawer out to get a black colored laptop from it.

From how it fits in her hands, I'd say its screen is 15.6". It's not really slim to consider it a pretty recent model, but it definitely debuted at the start of the decade.

In a matter of seconds, the laptop was brought to the table. When she lifted the screen, it instantly turned on.

The laptop is in perfect condition. So perfect, in fact, that I can't even see a tiny bit of dust on it; saying that it's shining when it reflects light is not even an exaggeration for this machine.

Running Windows 7 in this day and age though? That makes me question a lot of things...

"I think you're the practical type."

"The practical type? What do you mean?"

"Simply put, you enjoy math having a meaning. Much like biology, you want the contents of the textbook to represent something you can see for yourself. It's not as fun for you if you are subject to just the theory, right?"

With a double-click on an icon on her desktop, Chrome starts to load. Once it fully does, she quickly heads to her bookmarks to load a page called Graphing Calculator.

"From what I understand, you are used to grasping math with graphs. Thankfully for you, I know just the right site to help you out. Since quadratic graphs are also part of the material, we're killing two birds with one stone, Taichi-san!" she flashes a bright smile at me.

I never really gave it thought, but has Karasuma always been so reliable? It feels natural to wonder that after knowing each other for almost two months now. Seriously, I'm more than certain that I'm going to learn a lot of things from her once the site finally loads.

But why does it take so long to load?! Is the loading time perhaps too convenient to fit a short monologue in there?!

"And it loaded!" Karasuma rejoices.

It seems to be a rather simplistic website, actually. The only things decorating it are a column to its left for inputs, a coordinate system to the right for graphs, and a virtual keyboard taking up the bottom part of the screen.

She quickly types 【x^2】 in the input, and an upward parabola is formed on the screen. "You see where this parabola touches the x-axis, Taichi-san? That's called the x-intercept. Algebraically, that means you have to solve the equation x^2 = 0."

"The solution is x=0 then. If I'm not wrong, that point is also the...y-intercept, right? That means that y=0 as well."

"And that gives us a point with the coordinates (0,0). This means that, for y=0, x has to be 0 as well to confirm the statement."

A few memories from back when my father used to teach me graphs have started to resurface, along with a few terms Karasuma mentioned just now.

She gets on her keyboard, typing something complementary to what was already in the input.

Now the parabola has moved 6 units down.

"Next up is x^2 - 6. What are the roots?"

"x=√6 or x=-√6."

"Correct. These are about 2.44 and –2.44 respectively, so try to figure where they are approximately. Now, try for x=0."

"y=-6. So that point...the y-intercept is (0,-6)."

"Aren't you quick on the pick-up! This means that if you add or subtract a number from your equation, the graph moves this many units up or down. If it were +6, it would move 6 units up. Now that it's -6, it's 6 down. That's called vertical displacement."

"So that's when it moves vertically... There's a way to displace horizontally too, right?"

"That calls for this case then: (x - 6)^2. The original graph for y=x^2 moves 6 units to the right. Can you imagine why?"

"For y=0, x is 6. The x-intercept is (6,0), 6 units to the right from the original one's (0,0)."

"Correct! You're really getting good at this!"

Please let this be the end, I don't want to solve anything more!

"What about the original x^2 – 5x – 6 = 0 then?"

ANYTHING BUT THAT!

Wait, did we ever talk about this situation? I mean, there are 2 x now!

Factorization doesn't seem to do the trick here, I can't divide by anything to leave just one power of x...!

THIS IS VILLAINOUS!

"Pass... There's just no way..." I sigh.

"Pay attention to what the exercise asks you, Taichi-san. It's telling you to find the roots so that it equals 0; in other words, to find where the x-intercepts are. And how did I tell you to solve any quadratic equation?"

BUT OF COURSE!

"With the discriminant!"

"That's the spirit! First, write down the terms."

I start to write the solution.

[a=1, b=-5, c=-6

Δ＝b^2 - 4ac = (-5)^2 – 4 · 1 · (-6) = 25 + 24 = 49]

"Now what?" I ask her after reaching this dead end. "49 can't possibly be the solution to this."

"For Δ>0, your quadratic equation has 2 unequal solutions. The formula for them is [x1,2 = (-b ± √Δ) / 2a]. All you have to do now is branch it out to solve for x1 and x2 separately. Select one to add √Δ to and do the subtraction for the other."

"Can I replace the terms with the numbers first before branching out?"

"Of course. Once you can't seem to progress further, branch out."

This might be easier than I actually thought. I think I can do this.

[x1,2 = (-b ± √Δ) / 2a = [-(-5) ± √49] / 2 · 1 = (5 ± 7) / 2]

Now's the point I can't simplify this any further. All I have to do is to branch out, right?

[x1 = (5 + 7) / 2 = 12 / 2 = 6

x2 = (5 - 7) / 2 = -2 / 2 = -1]

There don't seem to be any mistakes in my calculations whatsoever. Both numbers seem to check out.

Karasuma glances over my solution the moment I leave the pencil down to check it for herself.

"That's absolutely correct, Taichi-san!"

GOOD JOB, ME!

"Finally~!" I lie on the floor, triumphantly commemorating my huge leap towards understanding math better. "This was tiring, but definitely worth it!"

"What do you mean? This was only the beginning, Taichi-san. There's still a lot I have to teach you."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!"

"Don't give me that! This much is just the tip of the iceberg!"

I suppose...this couldn't really have been as easy as I thought...

It's almost been an hour since my short-lived rapture, and I probably have delved into more material than what I remember being taught in middle school altogether. Karasuma has taught me everything I should know about quadratics, including all cases for the discriminant and how to represent them algebraically and geometrically, properties for such graphs, how to factorize binomials using their roots, and so on and so on. She also gave me a quick revision on older graphs I should be cautious of.

It might seem like I'm making this sound like it was an easy task, but believe me, I don't think I have ever pushed my attention span to bear with this much commitment to understand everything that was going on with this textbook...

"Anything you didn't get?" Karasuma asks after seeing the troubled look on my face.

"When the discriminant is 0, why does it say the root appears twice? I can't really comprehend that."

"I suppose it's hard to grasp without an example, yeah... How can you factorize (x - 9)^2 = 0, let's say?"

"(x-9) · (x-9) = 0…"

"With or without expanding this, can you notice anything about its roots?"

"Oh! I get it! Since it's a product, it's either x=9 or x=9, so it's basically a double root!"

"That's right! This is also proven with the discriminant, and there are plenty of ways to reach this solution. To use the discriminant, you first have to expand it to x^2 - 18x - 81 = 0 and then utilize the formula to get Δ=0. In this case, your usual formula becomes –b / 2a, since √0=0. Your equation is a quadratic though, so you must say that your solution is a double root at the end."

"I see. And the other way is to factorize it to a product and get the same solution twice, which was what I used."

"There's a third way too, but it's just skipping a few steps from the product onー"

"My brain is on the verge of exploding and we still have a handful subjects to study for, I don't want to overload my brain with unnecessary methods."

A disapproving look appears on Karasuma's face.

'Geh, he's now trying to sound cool after I taught him all that? How uncool of him to get so ahead of himself...'

I think it's more uncool to say 'uncool', actually...

AND I'M NOT GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF! I'M JUST TRYING TO NOT MIX THINGS UP AFTER LEARNING EVERYTHING I COULD!

"If you're confident that you got everything, shall we try out a problem?"

"Hit me up!"

"Don't get too confident though..."

"And you don't go back on your word!"

"I'm not!"

"You are!"

"Geez, stop insisting so much on everything, you bully!" she complaints. Once more, a huge pout from her was to be expected. "You really love teasing me, don't you?"

"It's not my fault your reactions are so entertaining. I can always count on you for a good laugh, you know."

"I-Is that...so..."

Having known me for almost two months, it's no surprise that she would be surprised to hear a compliment come out of me, someone who almost never indulges into them. That being said, this perfectly explains why Karasuma can't stop herself from smiling, no matter how hard she's forcing her lips to not lean that way.

I patiently keep silent, waiting for her to say something that will overturn the mood, make us both crack a good laugh...anything can be expected from Karasuma Yumeha at this point.

All of a sudden, without realizing it, her feet start to fidget, and then her hands follow suit. Unable to stop her restless body, she ultimately grabs a small chocolate from the table with her erratically moving hands, quickly unwraps the paper and eats it.

Please don't ask any questions about this, I still don't get what's going on either...

"I don't know why, but hearing you say that made me a little excited!" Not only does her tone confirm that, but she is not even trying to deny it.

I just wasn't expecting her to call such extravagant excitement little'; I wanted to let out a laugh too, and her amusing remark was just the right trigger for that. "You call that a little!?"

Excited as she may be, she joined in on that laugh too.

We just kept on laughing for half a minute...

Maybe it was a little more...

Wait.

I feel something...swelling up in my chest.

The more I look at her laugh, the more intense this swelling becomes.

My stomach and thorax feel tingly.

Something is pushing my chest outwards at the same time too, like a balloon that's ready to puff up.

What is this feelinー

"I brought some cake!"

This sensation immediately vanishes once this person barges into the room. No knocking or any warning whatsoever.

Just what was I ready to feel right there?

And actually, there's an even bigger question I want an answer to here:

WHO IS THIS OLDER VERSION OF KARASUMA?!

'Oh. A boy.'

Yeah, that's correct.

BUT WHAT IS THIS DISAPPOINTED TONE SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!

"My, you must be Taichi-han, right?" Hurryingly, without even trying to hide her excitement, she sits between me and Karasuma, at the edge of the table. "I'm Karasuma Aoi, Yumeha and Eru's mother. Thank you for being so kind to both!"

Oooooooooooooohhhh, this is a genuine Kansai accent, isn't it! The real deal! It sounds so fulfilling~~!

While it might seem technically the same as standard speech with a minor differences in writing, it's easy to distinguish it in speech. Apart from the minor accentual changes that happen to some words (like –han instead of –san), Kansai dialects are really known for how playful they sound; in more practical terms, emphasis is given to different parts of a sentence than in the standard one. That applies to many words too, meaning they are accentuated differently.

I suppose Eru-senpai was talking about her mother when she mentioned the family has its roots in Kansai. Her father spoke in a very standard accent though…

"M-Mum, at least knock first! Where are your manners?!"

"Now now, it ain’t interestin’ if I don’ bust ya two!"

"As if I’d do anything with you and Dad at home!"

"Oho~ So there's a plan~?"

"Yeah, but not with Taichi-san!"

WHY IS IT EVEN MORE PAINFUL THE SECOND TIME?!

"I'm right here!" I say, irritated.

"I know."

Who's the one that should mind their manners now?!

"My, you're out of snacks and candy, Yumeha! Why didncha get some more?"

"We have to focus on studying! We have no time for that stuff!"

"Chocolate and sugar are the best energizers, how will ya study without 'em?"

"Enough showing off your accent, mum, it's really embarrassing!"

Oh, she snapped.

"Sorry sorry," she giggles. "I can talk in the standard accent too, Taichi-san."

And indeed, that was said in the most standard accent possible. There's no way to say she's from Kansai when she speaks like this, and I'm honestly kind of awed she speaks it this fluently when it's obvious she was raised in a completely Kansai-an environment.

"I-I didn't really mind anyway..."

"Unlike my merciless daughter."

"MERCILESS?!" Karasuma instantly reacts to that.

"See?"

What is this rivalry going on between them...?

Seriously though, it feels kind of weird seeing 2 people looking exactly the same have an argument...

"Ah, right. Is your last name 'Yanagisawa', Taichi-san?"

"Yeah."

"I have a student in my class called 'Yanagisawa Saki', do you know her?"

"Only a wall separates our rooms… Are you her homeroom teacher?"

"Of course! Yumeha talked to me about her before, but I never thought she could be the same Saki as the one in my class! I have to admit, she’s really mature for her age!"

Only her mental aspects, you mean...

"I'm sure she'll be surprised to know that I go to the same school as both your daughters then, let alone that we know each other."

"Given how energetic she is, I'm sure she will! Come to think of it, I think she has met Eru somewhere before..."

"She has?"

What a small world this is...

"Definitely. I remember her being hyper about Eru's accent... Though not where."

It's honestly my first time hearing this. Usually, Saki doesn't miss her chance to tell me or Mum about things that fascinate her. Meeting her homeroom teacher's daughter would definitely excite her... Maybe she forgot?

"Speaking of Eru-san's accent, when did you move out of Kansai, Aoi-san? I'm kind of curious as to why she still has a distinct bit of your accent when your other daughter doesn't. I have a couple guesses in mind, but I’d like a first-hand insight on that."

"Ah, that. Lemme make sure… Yumeha was on her first year of kindergarten, so 13 years ago."

"I see. That long, huh…"

"I suppose this might be a good chance for Yumeha too to recall how she lost her accent."

"For me?"

Aoi-san nods to Karasuma's question. "We lived in Osaka when Eru was born. I was on maternal leave for a year from my Master's degree, so I took care of her most of the time, but when I resumed my studies, I left Roku-kun in charge. He is 100% Tokyian though, and this caused Eru to have some accent conflicts after she could form simple sentences. She was always travelling with him on his jobs on weekends, and her accent too started to resemble his, but still had noticeable remnants of mine too. Her rhythmic speaking shows sometimes, if you've happened to hear it."

Then, when I first met Eru-senpai, the mix of accents was her father's and the remnants of her mother's combined.

"What about Yumeha-san then?"

"This is where it gets a little complicated. I was done with my Master’s right after she was born and stayed entirely at home taking care of the two, while Roku-kun was busier than ever with his job. When she turned 1, I was appointed as a substitute teacher at a local school, so I had my brother take care of Yumeha when I wasn’t home, who had a relatively weak accent compared to mine. Then, Roku-kun was offered a better paying job a couple years later and we moved to Tokyo. Yumeha enrolled in a local kindergarten, and that's where her accent inclined towards her current one. Before I could even notice, her last bits of my accent had completely vanished after she turned 6."

"So the reason my accent went away was because I spent less time in Osaka than Eru-nee?"

"Probably. You were as used to talking to your father as you were to me too, so it all depended on your environment outside the house to see which direction it would take. And since you could speak at a conversational level shortly after we arrived in Tokyo, I imagined you would adopt your father’s accent, for the most part. I’m certain Taichi-san has noticed that you can still make an accurate accent if you try. At the back of your mind, there’s still a few memories left of when you spoke like that," she laughs.

A wonderstruck Karasuma asks me, "You really noticed that, Taichi-san?"

"Recent studies suggest that the brain treats dialects like another language altogether. If that’s the case, then it’s only natural you would lose your accent if you aren’t a veteran user of it, much like a bilingual speaker who speaks one of his mother tongues overwhelmingly more than the other; one will seem like it's your normal accent, while the other will require effort to get out, depending on how long you have abandoned it," is my reply to her. "That’s just a simplistic analogy though, it’s much more complicated in reality."

Why do I think I sounded like some huge biology nerd there...?

"TAICHI-SAN, CAN YOU BECOME OUR BIOLOGY TEACHER!? THAT WAS MIND-BLOWING! WHERE DID YOU LEARN THAT!?"

IT JUST HURTS BEING RIGHT SOMETIMES!

"I think he can," replies Aoi-san in my stead, who gets up from the floor, ready to leave the room.

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"I just have a feeling he is capable, that's all," she smiles at her daughter's curiosity. "I have to get going now, I didn't mean to halt your studying so abruptly, you two. I'll bring some sweets real quick, but if you need anything else, let me know."

"Okay okay," replies Karasuma in a monotone manner. From this point on will come an exchange between her and her mother to see who is going to back down first.

"Cooooooooold."

"Mum!"

"I know I know," she sighs. "Well then, hang in there, Yu-chan."

What is this 'Yu-chan'? Why do I want to burst out laughing right now?!

"Why do you always feel like embarrassing me in front of my friends?! Mum, you eejit!"

There's that 'eejit' again!

It hurts so much when you can't understand words in your own language sometimes.

Aoi-san laughs to her daughter's extravagant reaction. "You too, Taichi-san." I signature a 'thank you' with a nod before the door is closed for good.

Speaking of, Aoi-san's hunch wasn't random; since Saki is her student, there's no doubt that she knows my mother personally and her profession too. Of course Karasuma could never guess that when she only knows that she's running a store with my father.

"Who's this 'Yu-chan?' "

"T-That's what Eru-nee called me when she was little. Please forget everything about it," she replies rather...agitatedly... I'm sure some embarrassment is also thrown into the mix, all old nicknames carry that. "That aside, you in for a final go? I can absolutely guarantee that you won't see anything of this difficulty on the exam, so if you manage to solve this, there'll be nothing more to teach you."

"Fine by me. Just one though."

"That will depend on your attitude, I suppose."

"Is that a threat?!"

She said that calmly, but it surely meant more than meets the eye!

"Just a friendly warning."

Call it whatever you want, I feel intimated here!

This was when her mother had to interfere with her thoughts. 'Aah, they're such an adorable duo! Yumeha really has lotsa fun with Taichi-han!'

And she's back to her natural accent now...

Wait, what is she doing with her ear on the door?!

****

Date: June 7th

The fated days have finally ended.

That May 27th was the only day me and Karasuma met up outside school to study. After math, we took a look at biology, literature, history, chemistry, and physics. For the last two, as capable as I am at chemistry and Karasuma is at physics, Eru-senpai lent us a huge helping hand to further grasp both of them. Physics naturally aside, I don't know to what extent chemistry relies on quantum mechanics, but both me and Karasuma couldn't swallow how skilled she is at it.

Until June 1st (when our midterms began), our only group sessions were at school during breaks, usually during lunch break. I was studying along with the usual bunch of Satoru, the Irisu twins, Fukuda, Karasuma, and Ichijou-san; sometimes, it was half of us, others more, others less.

It turned out to be a pretty successful strategy. Given how rigid the acceptance criteria for the school are, it shouldn't even be given a second thought that everyone here knows how to study properly. Even Satoru, who was a complete delinquent during middle school, has taken studying really seriously. It wasn't really showing during 9th grade, but he must have put all of his efforts to get into Sakudai. Even now, he drops his usual joking attitude and focuses on comprehending what's in front of him. His score was 64%. For someone who had given up on studying for years, this score was superb to him.

The twins, ironically, are polar opposites when studying. Midori-san tends to be more methodical and approaches things the way she understands them best, while Shigenobu-kun uses a much more straightforward method that focuses on memorization rather than comprehension. The thing is, Shigenobu-kun is cunning enough to connect everything he reads in a strange fashion I can't really seem to understand. Their scores: 84% and 72% respectively.

Fukuda was more laid-back than I expected. The stress of the exams just didn't get to her at all, and even confessed that a pass would be more than enough for her. While she can easily grasp whatever you throw at her, she has no resolve whatsoever. Having things pat down is one thing, but not wanting to test your abilities over and over is something Fukuda is reluctant to do. Was she trying to not stress over the exams so that her mind be clear of all doubts and second-thoughts? Given her personality, I think that's the more plausible explanation. Surprisingly, her score was a stunning, to my eyes, 74%.

Karasuma is a lot like me, in some aspects. For instance, as I was explaining our material for biology to her, she seemed to understand things much easier with examples. Receptors were part of our material, and as expected, she was struggling to understand what the textbook was saying with all the terminology, but when I used the cake her mother brought her as an example, even she was fascinated by how easy all of that actually was to learn. I'm certain that her score of 90% came as a result of her comprehending most subjects that way.

I guess I left the least surprising person for last. There was only one person who could have achieved what she did, and that was just she herself. The way she was studying, how she understood literally every single word in every single textbook without thinking about it, how the aura around her completely changed when she was seriously studying...

To all those who thought that her initial perfect entrance score for Sakudai was just mere luck...you need to guess who aced her exams without a single mistake once more.

The results on the pinboard read: #1: Ichijou Maria: 100%

The second score was a 98%. It's obvious now that no one's fighting for first place anymore; everyone's fighting to see who will come second to Ichijou-san.

My final score was 75%, by the way. In reality, even if I wanted to call all my previous exam successes flukes, only a small portion of these flukes was actually thanks to studying; the rest was thanks to my ability. Given how anxious most students are and my ability's range of 3 meters, as well as it being more effective when anyone within that range is mentally unstable (stressed, in this case), it was the perfect situation for me. Unwillingly, I just came to conclude which answers were correct or not by hearing my seat neighbors' thoughts.

Worked mechanically to pass the exams because they were easy? That's bullshit! Of course it is! I only managed to shove that belief down mine and others' throats to explain how I passed them with only little effort!

Why didn't I also get 100% on the entrance exam then, or even now? I absolutely could if I tried, but then again, why didn't I do it?

This was the reason I agreed to the study sessions. If I overloaded my brain with the material from all these subjects, I could be able to struggle just like everyone else. If I resorted to thinking over my answers again and again, my brain would be more focused on that than letting me hear others' thoughts. I would finally be the same as them, even if it was for only a few seconds, or minutes, or days... As long as it happened, I wouldn't be concerned about how long it lasted.

But...

Why did I want to do that?

What was my goal?

Why do I want to get rid of this ability?

The answer to all these questions is the same.

I just want to be a normal human being.

I don't want to hear others' answers. I don't want to overhear others' internal struggles. I don't want to be the odd one out. I want to be just like everyone else. No powers, no hearing thoughts, no anything. I know I'm asking for too much, but when you have this feeling that something is going to happen for your own good, what reason is there to not grasp that chance?