"Wait... is this random couple setup still going on?"
Byakuya couldn't help but ask.
"What's wrong? You don't like it? I actually think this setup is quite nice."
Eto said with a smile.
"Fine, as long as you're happy, Takatsuki-sensei."
Byakuya said nothing more.
...
Ward 20, Anteiku.
"Amaha, you're a student at Kamii University, right?"
Touka suddenly asked Byakuya this question.
"Yes, why?"
Byakuya nodded.
"No reason, I was just asking..."
Touka said.
"Speaking of which, Touka has university entrance exams next year. She's probably been studying for finals lately, right? Her shifts have decreased too."
At that moment, Kaya Irimi spoke up. "It just so happens that Amaha-kun is a top student at Kamii University. If you have time, I hope you could tutor Touka."
"Irimi-san!"
Touka immediately felt embarrassed.
Because Irimi had been too obvious about it, making it seem like her question about whether Byakuya attended Kamii University was because she wanted to get into the same school as him.
Although... that was indeed what she was thinking...
She wanted to give herself a clear goal; otherwise, she'd have no motivation to study properly.
"Alright."
Byakuya nodded slightly to Irimi.
"Hahaha, then I'll leave it to you, Amaha-kun."
Irimi said with a laugh.
"So, which subject is Kirishima-san weakest at?"
Byakuya then asked Touka.
"Actually... I'm not good at any of them... But if I had to say the worst, it's math."
Touka said somewhat embarrassedly.
After all, her grades were quite poor. Comparing herself to Byakuya, who had gotten into Kamii University, made it even more obvious...
"How bad is 'worst'?"
Byakuya pressed further.
"..."
Touka seemed to have difficulty speaking. She directly pulled a test paper from her bag and handed it to Byakuya. "See for yourself."
Byakuya took the test paper and immediately saw an unimaginable score.
「21」
"...Let me confirm first—what's the maximum score on this test?"
Byakuya immediately asked.
"The maximum is 100 points, so yeah, my math is really bad."
Touka used a nonchalant attitude to barely alleviate the awkwardness, as if she deliberately didn't want to study math rather than being unable to learn it.
"I see... Well, it's not that bad. There's a lot of room for improvement."
Byakuya said.
"You call that 'not that bad'?... You really don't need to console me."
Touka suddenly felt like she was being pitied. Comparatively, she felt it would be better if he just said her grades were too poor—that would actually feel better.
"I'm not consoling you. I'm speaking the truth. With so much room for improvement, you can build confidence and motivation more quickly."
Byakuya spoke in a serious tone. "Back when I first started, my scores were even worse than yours. On a test with 150 points maximum, I could only score in the low 20s. But after I corrected my attitude, I improved very quickly."
"Really? How fast did you improve?"
Touka immediately asked.
Although the 150-point maximum was strange for Japan, she didn't notice this detail. Her attention was completely focused on Byakuya's "improvement."
"I don't remember exactly, but it took about one or two months to go from 20 points to around 90 points. If converted to a 100-point scale, that would be improving to about 60 points. And I kept improving slowly after that."
Byakuya recalled. This was indeed something he had personally experienced.
"That's amazing! That would already exceed the average score."
Touka exclaimed in admiration.
Although that level was still far from getting into Kamii University, for her, just exceeding the average would already be great.
In Japan, passing grades weren't emphasized. More precisely, there was no concept of a "passing score line." What mattered was whether you reached the average, and especially a metric called the "deviation value" was most important.
"So, it's not difficult for you to exceed the average."
Byakuya said. "Based on my experience back then, scoring that low basically means you don't even understand the fundamental concepts. But fundamentals are easy to learn—you can basically handle them through self-study alone."
"And since the starting point is so low, the improvement is that much greater. When you see your results, you'll have more confidence and motivation, creating a positive cycle."
"Of course, the prerequisite for all of this is that you're willing to put in the effort. Suddenly transforming from a poor student to a diligent student who self-studies and practices problems every day isn't something you can maintain just by saying it. The fear is having only three minutes of enthusiasm."
Touka listened attentively to everything Byakuya said.
"I definitely won't have just three minutes of enthusiasm."
Touka said firmly.
"That would be best."
Byakuya said.
But if he remembered correctly, in the original story, Touka had also wanted to get into Kamii University, but in the end, she didn't make it...
Of course, it might have been because her scores weren't high enough, or it might have been because the disappearance of Anteiku had left her with no mood for it at all.
"By the way, what's your current 'deviation value'?"
Byakuya suddenly remembered that in Japan, university admissions basically looked at the "deviation value."
The so-called "deviation value" was simply a comprehensive score of students' learning ability and grades. Generally, the average was 50, with the maximum and minimum being 100 and 25 respectively.
He wouldn't go into the specific calculation, but basically, your overall grades were calculated together with everyone else's average grades.
To give a simple example, a deviation value of 65-75 was roughly equivalent to a domestic 211/985 university standard, 55-65 was roughly equivalent to a first-tier university, and 45-55 was roughly equivalent to a second-tier university.
If he could find out Touka's deviation value, it would be more intuitive.
"Deviation value... It's always been in the 30s, without much fluctuation."
Touka said.
"Hmm, that is a bit..."
Byakuya found it hard to comment. "But you still have a year. There's still a good chance."
"A good chance? I should say there's not much hope. But regardless, I'll do my best."
Touka said frankly.
"Study methods are also important, though I don't have any particularly good methods to teach you. This kind of thing should vary from person to person. For math, all I can do is work through problems with you..."
Before they knew it, Byakuya had been chatting with Touka while sitting together to study.
Enji Koma, Kaya Irimi, and the others didn't disturb Touka even when they had things to do, all for the sake of creating a good environment for just the two of them.
...
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