"Hey, Kyou-kun, what a nice coincidence to see you so early in the morning!" Her fake smile couldn't fool anyone. This had happened before. A few times, actually. Ai would arrange to work beside Kyou just to try to outwork him and then ask for 'compensation.'

Kyou looked around the classroom and noticed that there was no dust left, the windows were clean, and the large digital screen used as a whiteboard looked as good as new. In other words, he had nothing left to do. This realization made him bring his palm to his face in disbelief, clearly annoyed that he had come for nothing.

As his mood started to sour, Ai continued, "Well, look at that! It seems the class isn't so dirty right now, so maybe we can do something else... together." She batted her eyelashes like a fake shy maiden, and at this point, Kyou just sighed heavily. "Give me a break! What is it? What do you want?"

Seeing this as a sign that she had won him over, she showed her true colors. "You see, we have a math test next week, right? So, maybe I need some help understanding some math problems I might not be able to solve right now..."

As expected. What Ai had in cheerfulness, she lacked in academic skills. But something was off. After helping her study a few times, Kyou noticed that even if her grades were usually low, with just a few days of study, she could achieve an above-average score. That probably meant she was a fast learner when she felt like it.

"You're just not paying attention during class, are you?"

Ai looked away with an embarrassed smile, without saying anything.

Sighing again, Kyou put his bag on the teacher's desk and turned on the screen to start writing with a touch pencil.

"Okay, this test will have these equations right here. Memorize them. Now. I'll give you five minutes."

"What?"

He looked at her, puzzled. Why was she startled? Five minutes was a lot more time than he needed to memorize that.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Ai looked at the screen and back at Kyou. "Would you mind explaining the equation first? An example, perhaps?" Her meek voice showed she was troubled but didn't want to impose. Kyou looked at the board, checked that the equations were correct, then looked back at her. "Why?"

Ai was flabbergasted! Putting her hand over her face, she began, "You know, Kyou-kun, it's really cool and all to be the top student in the school, but how about not comparing yourself to us, the plebeians, like that? It just makes us angrier, facing the truth that you're smarter than us."

Kyou just looked at her, saying nothing, but Ai could already read his eyes, which seemed to say, Why the heck should I care about your feelings? She just shook her head a little and turned to the screen. But then Kyou started writing some examples and developing the equations, while Ai just stared at his back, surprised that, in fact, he cared.

While writing his explanation, which required no effort from him, Kyou started thinking about how things had come to this.

It was not hard to remember, though. It all began when he started elementary school at six years old. During a visit to the school, he overheard his mother talking to another parent, and he clearly heard her say, "Well, I would be relieved if my son had good grades." He didn't need to hear anything more. He knew what he had to do to bother his single mother as little as possible. She was a wonderful, loving mother, and even at just six, he knew she was going through a lot of trouble to raise him alone after his dad died from a heart attack when he was just one year old.

With his mission clear in his mind, Kyou started studying and mastering everything teachers would bring to class. To avoid being taken by surprise, he would finish all textbooks in the first weeks of school. No surprise, this contributed to a life deprived of challenges and filled with boredom. But that was the price to pay, and so he would. Whatever his mother said today wouldn't change anything. He needed good grades to get into a good public university and not burden his mother anymore, taking a job at a company he couldn't care less about, to work the rest of his life doing something he would never enjoy, in a meaningless continuous existence until he would finally die and be free. The future was as dark as it could be.

"Oh, I get it now! So THIS is how you do it!" Ai's energetic voice brought him back to the classroom, and he faced her with some curiosity. He hadn't been explaining anything. He was writing on the screen and letting her deduce what he was doing and why he was doing it. Was this the perfect method to teach her?

Ai was taking notes on her tablet, then asked, "Okay, Kyou-kun. I got it. Please explain the next one." Kyou smiled slightly at her dedication and turned to the screen again to go to the next equation.

They still had half an hour. It should be enough to cover everything.