Childhood Friend Heroine V1 Chapter 2
Chapter 2 : Friends
The day after the entrance ceremony and its flood of congratulations, the school seemed eager to bring its students back to reality. As if to temper the excitement of the previous day, regular classes began immediately.
First up was mathematics, taught by Hayama-sensei, Saito’s homeroom teacher. While the scratching of pencils filled the room as students tackled the problems on the board, one boy’s hand moved as slowly as a turtle.
Crap, I don’t get any of this.
That student’s name was Minazuki Saito. Normally bright and curious, he approached everything with a sense of joy—everything, that is, except studying. He’d been frowning at his textbook since the moment class began, trying his best to solve the problems on his own. But with so much information thrown at him at once, the formulas were just a jumbled mess in his head.
There are way too many formulas… sine, cosine, sine squared… And isn’t this class moving way too fast?
It was too much to cram into his brain. As expected of a preparatory school, the level was on a completely different plane from what he was used to. A wave of anxiety washed over Saito as he wondered if he could possibly keep up.
“……How’s it going, Saito?”
As if sensing his distress, his childhood friend Lily, who sat in front of him, turned around to whisper.
“Not good. I’m completely lost.”
“I figured as much.”
“He’s throwing out new formulas one after another.”
“Want me to help you?” she offered, her expression showing she understood the gravity of his situation.
“Please,” Saito pleaded. At this rate, he could already see a failing grade looming in his near future. If that happened, his precious summer and winter breaks would be devoured by supplementary classes—a fate he had to avoid at all costs. He jumped at her offer without a second thought.
“Good, you’re being honest,” she said with a small smile. “So, where are you stuck? Tell me when it started”
“Probably from the very beginning.”
“Got it. Then first, try writing out all the formulas that came up today in the corner of your paper.”
“Okay.”
He took out a fresh sheet of loose-leaf paper and scribbled down the formulas as she’d instructed.
“Done.”
“Alright. Now let’s start with a simple problem. The one that uses the equation to find sin θ.”
“Got it.”
“Oh, wait a second,” she added. “It’s fine to look at the formulas, but before you solve each problem, write down which formula you’re using.”
“Isn’t that a pain?”
“Don’t complain. Just do it.”
Just as he was about to start, Lily gave him another instruction: write down the formula before solving the problem. It was a simple step, but doing it for every single question sounded like a hassle. Saito’s face soured in protest, but she paid him no mind.
“Ugh, fine. I’ll give it a try.”
He wasn’t thrilled, but she was going out of her way to help him. He might as well do as she said. With a sigh, Saito wrote down the formula, then solved the problem.
Whoa, I’m actually starting to get it.
After a short while, his pencil began to move with surprising speed. By writing down the formula each time, he was finally starting to understand which situations called for which equation. He was still slower than the other students, but in exchange, the formulas were steadily cementing themselves in his mind. If he kept this up, he might not even have to cram before tests.
“……I guess there are no shortcuts, huh?” he muttered to himself once he reached a good stopping point.
“There are no shortcuts in studying,” Lily agreed, her expression turning troubled as she glanced toward the teacher’s platform. “But you might want to panic just a little bit right now.”
“Next, Minazuki-kun, please give us the answer to question two.”
“Huh? Y-Yes! Um──”
Suddenly called on by his homeroom teacher, Saito panicked. He’d completely forgotten they were being called on in reverse order of the student roster. He’d been so absorbed in his work that the possibility of being put on the spot had slipped his mind.
This is bad.
His eyes darted across his loose-leaf paper, but he was so far behind that he hadn’t even gotten to the specified problem yet. As a cold sweat broke out on his brow, he heard the faint tapping of a mechanical pencil on a notebook from the seat in front of him. He looked up to see ‘four seventeenths’ written in slightly large letters.
“──Four seventeenths.”
“Correct. Thank you, Minazuki-kun. You may sit down.”
He immediately recited the answer, and his teacher smiled, pleased. He had somehow scraped by. The moment he was told to sit, Saito collapsed onto his desk in relief.
“……Nice one, Lily. You really saved me.”
“You’re welcome. You’re quite a handful today, Saito.”
“I have nothing to say to that.”
He offered his childhood friend a heartfelt thanks for her quick thinking. He could see her shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter, clearly amused by his earlier panic. He wanted to tell her not to laugh, but he was in no position to complain. He made a firm resolution to study hard so it wouldn’t happen again.
Ring-a-ling, dong-a-ling.
A short while later, the chime finally rang, signaling the end of class.
“Ahh, I’m exhausted.”
Between the long-overdue return to classes and the chaotic math lesson, fifty minutes had left him completely drained. Saito leaned back, tilting his chair and stretching his arms wide.
“Good work, Saito.”
As he rocked in his chair, a short boy with naturally curly hair spoke to him. His name was Akashi Kai, the same kind boy who had shown him to the bulletin board the day before. They had realized they were in the same class during self-introductions that morning and had quickly become friends during break time. He was a quiet, artistic type with a unique worldview—a type of person Saito had never met before, which made talking to him all the more interesting.
“Good work, Kai. Were you able to keep up?”
“More or less.”
“Seriously? That’s amazing. I felt like I was drowning in there.”
Saito was genuinely impressed that his friend had so calmly navigated the rapid-fire lesson.
“If you’re free, want to go get a drink? I forgot to buy one on my way here.”
“Sure. I was thinking of getting something too.”
The invitation was perfectly timed. Saito grabbed 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, your sense of seasons is totally bugged out.”
Saito laughed heartily at Kai’s deadpan comment as they left the classroom.
“What are you buying, Saito?”
“Milk tea.”
“That’s not what I’d expect.”
“You’re not wrong. I usually go for cola or a sports drink.”
“Then why?”
“It’s a thank-you gift, I guess.”
Lily probably thought nothing of it, but Saito felt he owed her a great deal. A milk tea seemed like a small but fitting way to repay the favor. His wallet wasn’t exactly overflowing, but he’d write this off as a necessary expense.
“You’re a dutiful guy, Saito.”
“My mom drilled it into me growing up. You absolutely have to repay any favors you receive.”
“Like a yakuza.”
“She was apparently a delinquent back in the day.”
As they were chatting, a male student walking ahead of them rounded a corner and collided with a beautiful upperclassman.
“Eek!”
“Whoa!”
Flap, flap.
The two stumbled and fell to the floor, sending the massive stack of notebooks the upperclassman was carrying scattering across the hallway.
“Oh no.”
“Oh no~”
Witnessing the disaster, Saito and Kai instinctively put their hands to their faces in unison.
“I’m so sorry! It was my carelessness──”
“No, it was my lack of awareness. You’re not at fault.”
“No, I was──”
“No no, I was──”
After scrambling to their feet, the two began bowing and apologizing profusely, each insisting they were to blame. It didn’t look like the apology-off would end anytime soon, and at this rate, break time would end.
“Kai, let’s go.”
“’Kay…”
If this continued, it would be a problem for everyone trying to get through the hall. With no other choice, Saito and Kai decided to intervene.
“Hey, you two. It’s fine to apologize, but shouldn’t you pick up all this stuff first? You’re blocking the way.”
“Blocking it,” Kai echoed.
“Ah!? We’re so sorry!”
Saito’s words seemed to snap them back to the present. They let out flustered noises and apologized again before finally starting to gather the notebooks, with Saito and Kai joining in to help.
“I’m so sorry for making you help. I’ll definitely repay this favor──”
With four people working, the mountain of notebooks was collected in just a minute or two. The upperclassman bowed deeply to Saito and the others. Her every movement exuded a natural refinement, a sign of a good upbringing. She was probably a young lady from a distinguished family.
“I request sweet red bean soup,” Kai said plainly.
“I’d like an Aquarius,” Saito added with a grin.
“Hey, you two, that’s really rude to an upperclassman,” the other boy chided.
“Don’t take it seriously. It was just a joke,” Saito said, waving it off.
“Eh?”
“……Kai, you were serious?”
Saito had only been joking to lighten the mood, but it seemed Kai was entirely in earnest. He was appalled by his friend’s shamelessness.
“Hehe, you’re an interesting group,” the upperclassman said, a smile gracing her lips. “Unfortunately, I have an appointment right now, but if you come to the student council room after school, I’ll have some drinks prepared for you.”
Perhaps his shamelessness had struck a chord with her.
“Yes!” Kai exclaimed.
“Seriously? Thanks, upperclassman! I guess it pays to ask, even as a joke.”
“Yeah!”
“……You really have no sense of restraint, do you,” the other boy sighed.
At this unexpected windfall, Saito and Kai high-fived in celebration. Watching them from the side, the boy who had helped them let out a weary sigh.
“Well then, we’re heading to the vending machine, so we’ll be on our way.”
“On our way~”
“Thank you all so much.”
A free drink after school was nice, but it was too long to wait. Saito and Kai, wanting their drinks now, bowed to the upperclassman and continued toward the vending machines.
They descended the stairs and arrived in front of the cafeteria. After scanning the row of machines, they found what they were looking for and made their purchases. With a pop, just as Kai opened the tab on his sweet red bean soup, the boy who had helped them pick up the notebooks appeared.
“You after a drink too? Oh, hey, you’re the guy who tried to catch that groper at the station. I’m glad we could meet again. So we go to the same high school.”
“It’s been since yesterday,” Saito replied, then looked closer. It was the boy from the train. He was moved that they’d met again at the same school, but then he added, “And it’s not just the same high school—we’re in the same class. Weren’t you listening during self-introductions?”
“Really? Sorry, sorry. I was spacing out until my turn came, so I wasn’t really listening to the other guys. My bad. Could you tell me your name again? I’ll listen properly this time.”
“I don’t mind. My name is──”
“Nishizono Haruki.”
“──……”
Feeling a bit awkward, Saito was about to reintroduce himself when Kai cut in and announced the boy’s name. Unable to finish his own introduction, Haruki slumped against the vending machine, utterly dejected.
“Kai, you really shouldn’t steal someone’s introduction like that.”
“My bad,” Kai replied, sticking out his tongue with a playful ‘tehe,’ showing no sign of remorse whatsoever.
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