“Pa!”
Just as Haruto was spacing out immersed in his memories, a piece of chalk flew like an arrow from a bow.
With a “thud,” it accurately hit his head.
Haruto was startled and instantly snapped out of it.
On the podium, Teacher Katsuko Kurose had her arms crossed, her expression quite displeased, her brow furrowed, and a hint of severity in her eyes.
Since Haruto came to her to apply for a club yesterday, she had been paying extra attention to this kid.
She thought she should keep a close eye on him, and as a result, she caught him spacing out in class today.
With this kind of study attitude, he still wants to rank in the top ten of the grade?
In her view, it was simply a pipe dream.
“Sawamura-san, why don’t you come up and solve this problem?”
Katsuko Kurose slapped the blackboard hard, the sound exceptionally loud in the quiet classroom.
The problem on the blackboard was an absolute value inequality, a difficult problem from the elective courses.
The dense formulas and symbols were enough to give anyone a headache.
She didn’t believe Haruto could actually do it and wanted to take this opportunity to suppress this kid’s arrogance, so he would focus on studying and stop thinking about those messy things.
Before Katsuko Kurose could finish her sentence, Haruto had already walked slowly to the podium.
He even mischievously avoided taking a piece of chalk from the box and instead quickly snatched the chalk from Katsuko Kurose’s hand.
“You…”
Katsuko Kurose was about to get angry, but unexpectedly Haruto had already started writing rapidly on the blackboard, the chalk making a “shasha” sound as it rubbed against the board.
“Transform the original inequality into |x – 3| – |x + 1| – 1 < 0, construct the function f(x) = |x – 3| – |x + 1| – 1, then Y…”
As Haruto wrote, he muttered his problem-solving logic under his breath.
His logic was exceptionally clear, and he quickly wrote out the solution set for the original inequality.
“Isn’t this quite simple, Teacher Katsuko Kurose?”
Haruto returned the chalk to Katsuko Kurose, even raising an eyebrow and letting a smug smile play on his lips.
This kid…
Katsuko Kurose’s eye twitched wildly.
She was secretly shocked, but she had to admit that she really had underestimated this boy.
However, she didn’t let him off easy verbally: “Pay attention in my class and stop spacing out!”
Haruto ignored her, simply waving his hand dismissively with an air of effortless cool.
Are you kidding?
Who had time to listen to these elementary-level problems?
Seeing Haruto’s nonchalant attitude, Katsuko Kurose was fuming, her chest heaving violently: “Come to my office after class!”
This guy really needs to be taught a proper lesson!
…Katsuko Kurose had always been quite fond of Haruto as a student, but precisely because of this fondness, as his teacher, she held higher expectations for him.
She hoped more than anything that Haruto would succeed in his studies and shine brightly on his future path; she feared that he might ruin his academics and his life due to a moment of negligence or playfulness.
Inside the office.
She gently set down the textbooks she was holding, stood still in front of her desk, and looked at Haruto with a gaze that was gentle yet carried a hint of sternness.
“Haruto, didn’t I tell you yesterday? You need to pay attention. Why were you spacing out in class today?”
Katsuko Kurose frowned slightly, her tone laced with a trace of worry.
Haruto, however, looked relaxed.
With a slight curl of his lips, he said, “I already know how to do those problems, so why should I waste time listening? Katsuko-sensei, I have more important things to do than listen to a lecture. I hope you can understand.”
Hearing this, Katsuko Kurose’s frown deepened, her eyes filled with confusion and dissatisfaction: “More important things? What could be more important than paying attention in class? Your primary task right now is to study. Only by studying hard can you become a successful person in the future and have more choices and opportunities!”
Haruto scratched his head in annoyance, thinking to himself that this was just great.
How should he explain it to her?
Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration and changed the subject: “By the way, hasn’t the position of director of academic affairs become vacant recently? Does Katsuko-sensei have any thoughts on that?”