Kagami Toshiki POV
After arriving at our school, Keiji and I took the stairs up the main building.
While chatting, we ran into our math teacher along the way.
"Good morning, Imamura-sensei," Keiji greeted.
"Oh, good morning to you too, Newton," Imamura-sensei replied.
Keiji visibly cringed the moment he heard that.
"I'm only joking so don't give me that face, Sekiguchi," Sensei said with a light laugh.
He continued down the stairs and went on his way.
When we reached our classroom, I opened the door and saw Harada-san standing by the blackboard.
There was a piece of chalk in her hand.
"Morning, Rep," Keiji and I said in sync.
Hearing us, Harada-san turned toward our direction.
"Good morning, you two," she replied, giving us a small wave.
Curious about what she was writing, Keiji stepped closer to get a better look. I was a little interested too, so I glanced at the board and saw a word problem written there.
"Eh? Isn't this quadratic?" Keiji asked after reading it.
"Yep. It's an application of it," Harada replied while continuing to solve the problem. "I got curious after reading a book in the library."
"Isn't this way more advanced than what we're currently studying?" Keiji said with a wry smile.
Harada-san looked at him with a teasing grin.
"Oh? Is this too hard for you?" she said, adjusting her glasses with a challenging smile.
I swear I could see a vein popping out on Keiji's forehead.
He cracked his knuckles and grabbed a piece of chalk from the tray.
"Bet," Keiji grinned.
I left the two of them to their shenanigans.
I had no interest in whatever it was they were solving.
After putting my bag down at my seat, I stared at the girl sitting beside me.
She was staring out the window, looking as if she were deep in serious thought.
Given how she usually acts, something must be weighing on her mind for her to be making that kind of face.
After I took my seat, Kawashima-san let out an annoyed groan and tapped her finger against her desk like a broken machine.
Might as well try to start a conversation. I was curious about why she was acting this way.
"Bad morning to you, Kawashima-san," I greeted.
She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard my voice.
"Oh, Kagami-kun." She gave me a small wave in response.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
She tilted her head at my question.
"What do you mean?" she said, completely oblivious to what I was talking about.
Is this girl seriously asking me that right now?
"You're making a pretty funny face, you know," I said, resting my head on my hand.
Finally understanding what I meant, she let out a small chuckle.
"It's nothing, really. There's just something that's been on my mind lately," she said.
If I pressed her any further, I'd probably just sound annoying, so I decided to wait and see if she'd share it on her own.
Kawashima-san let out a sigh and turned her gaze toward the blackboard.
Which, by the way, was already a complete mess, with Keiji and Harada-san arguing over the correct way to solve the problem.
"I just finished a movie last night," she said.
A movie? Was she sad about the ending, maybe?
If that was the case, I could understand. I still remembered the last time I watched that animated movie from America with Aisa.
The scene where the dog finally reunited with his owner, only to pass away happily after his body gave out from a long, ruthless journey just to find him.
That made me let out a lot of manly tears.
"So you're sad about that? That's it?" I guessed.
"Yeah, I am sad. But not for the reason you think," she said, crossing her arms and shaking her head.
She began explaining the plot of the movie to me. Long story short, it was about a family who was given supernatural powers when they reached a certain age, all while living together in a magical house.
The main character was a guy with no powers, and he was quietly shunned by his own family because of it. Still, it turned out to be a touching story with a genuinely happy ending.
Or so I thought, judging by the way she wrapped up her summary of the film.
Now I was starting to get confused. If the ending wasn't the reason for her mood earlier, then what was?
"You know the girl who can make plants grow, right?" she said, tapping her temple with her index finger.
I nodded while opening my water bottle to rehydrate myself.
Ah, that was refreshi—
"What if she used her powers to run a weed farm?" she continued. "Think about it. So many money-making possibilities were wasted because of her narcissism." She nodded to herself as if she'd just come up with a brilliant idea.
"You know, build a whole cartel empire and make unlimited good stuff." She smirked, a strange glint flashing in her eyes.
I nearly choked the moment those words left her mouth.
"O-oi, are you okay?" she asked, clearly worried as she watched me cough.
Like hell I am. Who jumps from an animated movie to a full-blown cartel business plan?!
"Are you dead serious right now, you lunatic?" I said, giving her a completely deadpan stare.
"Think about it for a second, Kagami-kun. She could've used the full potential of her powers instead of making useless flowers that are only there for aesthetic reasons," she said, waving her hand at me like a wizard bestowing wisdom.
I crossed my arms and stared up at the ceiling.
You know what? Her idea sounded dumb.
Like really dumb.
But it did open up some interesting possibilities for plant manipulation.
What if I made a side villain who used plant-controlling powers to produce illegal stuff?
Wouldn't that be a more interesting application than boring old farming?
"Hate to admit it, but your idea sounds promising… despite being incredibly questionable," I said in a tone of surrender.
"Of course. I might be an academic dumb-dumb, but creativity is my forte," she said smugly.
That's really not something to be proud of, you know.
===============
"So who got it right, Sensei?" Harada and Keiji asked in unison, glaring at each other like cats and dogs.
"You two, could you please stop dragging me over just to be your referee?" Imamura-sensei sighed.
Getting called over by these two whenever they spotted him had already become a once a week routine.
Despite his complaints, he stared at the blackboard for a full minute before turning back to them.
Noticing a tiny blunder in one of the solutions that threw off everything, he found the winner of this round.
Without saying a word, Sensei grabbed Keiji's hand and raised it.
"Better luck next time, Ms. Class Rep," Keiji replied with a smirk.
"I'll get you next time, Newton," Harada said, raising her fist.
Imamura-sensei glanced back and forth between the two of them and smiled.
These two just need a little spark to solidify the chemistry, he thought to himself.
"No, we do not!" Keiji and Harada said at the exact same time.
"Don't read my mind, you two brats!" Sensei snapped.
The early students already present in the classroom could only offer wry smiles at the scene unfolding in front of them.