[Thre3]

 

“Miss Mana…” Keiko spoke slowly, trying to figure how to inform Miss Mana about how she was feeling.

“Miss Mana,” Keiko repeated, “I am sorry that I am not capable to answer all of your questions as quickly as you wanted me to. However, Mathematics had always been my weakest subject. I have been working very hard and am also home-tutored for this subject only. Even though I am working hard and that my results are not really improving tremendously, I did not give up. In fact, I think that improvement takes time. Also, it is not just about solving all the problems quickly, but the skills involved in the problem-solving, isn’t it? It is through this subject that we gain and sharpen our analytical skills and logical thinking.”

Keiko took in another deep breath and continued, “Therefore, as a teacher, I think that you should not demoralize or try to spite your students to make them achieve better results. People feel demoralized and humiliated. I am feeling so, right now, right here…”

Tears were in Keiko’s eyes…

She recalled what had had happened during the lesson earlier.

“Keiko! Did you hear about the news that our Maths teacher is absent?! I wonder who the relief teacher will be…” Yeon chirped as she sat beside Keiko.

“To me, there is no difference. It is still Mathematics.” Keiko rested her head on the table.

“Come on, Keiko! Cheer up! Maybe the relief teacher will be a more relaxed person. Plus, we had sat through so many boring Mathematics lessons. I suppose sitting through another one hour will not hurt or harm.” Yeon put on a motivating smile and showed support for Keiko.

Keiko braced up and smiled sweetly.

Suddenly, gasps could be heard. Keiko and Yeon hence turned to look at what was going on.

Sakurai Sho was walking to their classroom and with a swift turn, he was in.

“Oh my god!”

Many such gasps could be heard.

“Oh my god too! Keiko, I am suddenly having a terrible stomachache! I have got to go! Survive! You can do it! I support you!” Yeon quickly ran off to the front and briefly informed Sakurai Sho.

Yeon was gone. Keiko was alone but Keiko was more worried for her best friend than surviving through the Maths lesson.

“Class, please keep quiet!” Sakurai Sho commanded in a cheerful tone.

The class instantly became silent and all eyes were on him.

“Thank you very much. Your Maths teacher is absent today and hence I am put in charge of your class. I will be learning from another teacher how to teach Mathematics. With that, I will let you students be under the care of a respected teacher, Miss Mana. She just came back recently and would not be teaching in this school. This time round, she is just here to help. So please show some appreciation.”

The class clapped and welcomed a lady wearing formal office attire. With rectangular black spectacles, the Miss Mana looked professional and very strict.

“You can stop your clapping. Let’s just get started.” Miss Mana spoke firmly. The class quickly flipped open their textbooks and notebooks.

“You do not need your textbooks!” Miss Mana commanded, “You just need your brains.”

The atmosphere in the class was very tense at Miss Mana’s sharp words.

“We will just have a simple exercise now. Can the whole class please stand up?” Miss Mana ordered sternly.

The class turned to eye one another. They were not used to such teaching style.

“Quickly! Do not make me repeat myself!” Miss Mana stared at the class.

The class immediately stood up.

Sho was observing a particular someone all these time…

“Good. We will start with some simple mental sums first. Whoever put up your hand first will get to answer first. You will face increasing difficulties… Alright, first question. Integrate ln x!”

“What?” The class was bewildered.

“That sounds familiar…” Keiko thought but while she was recalling, the top student in Mathematics had already raised up her hand and had answered correctly, gaining permission to sit down.

“Next …”

This session went on for about forty minutes. Despite Keiko’s efforts in trying to respond quicker, she just seemed to not catch up with her classmates. In fact, at times, she was sure that she was the first one to put up her hand but Miss Mana ignored her. Some of the questions were the exact same questions that Mr Sho had went through with her.

Now there were only five of them left standing.

Keiko could felt her pulse race and the tension in the class. Nobody would want to be the last one standing. With Sho’s presence, none of the girls would want to embarrass themselves in front of him as well, though not Keiko.

She was nervous and worried for herself.

She felt that all this was a major set up against her but she did not know how and why this could happen.

Furthermore, Yeon was still not back. Keiko felt alone and tired too.

“Now, there is a change. I am going to write down one question on the board and the five of you will do it on a piece of paper. If you get it correct, you may sit.” With that, Miss Mana turned to write the question on the board.

Sho scrutinized Keiko. He knew that some of the girls had already noticed his fervent gaze on Keiko during the period. However, Keiko herself had no idea. This made Sho feel that she was so adorable.

“She looked very different indeed… But me too!”Sho grinned to himself.

“Mana is such a tough woman. I hope Keiko won’t be frightened. Hey, wait, Sho! Why would you not want her to be scared? That is the main purpose of Mana’s visit here. She is to test whether Keiko can make it… Why am I hoping so much that she can make it?” Sho wondered. Perhaps, with all the tuition lessons, he had already fallen for this pretty woman who cannot figure out Mathematics.

“Onew, I wonder how Keiko is doing…” Yeon sighed.

“Come on, Yeon! Don’t you have faith in your best friend?” Onew cheered Yeon up.

“Of course I do! But that Mana cousin just looked so scary!” Yeon pouted. “Onew, I won’t have to face such a scary woman who will test me out if I want to be with you, right?”

Onew kept a straight face on, “If you have to, will you get frightened and run away?”

Yeon looked down on the floor. They were both in the comfort room. Yeon was not to be around for Keiko when Keiko was to be tested. The Sho family wanted to examine the strength of Keiko’s character.

“I don’t know. I most probably will be frightened but I know I won’t give you up that easily. So I suppose I will just face the scary examiner and try to pull it off.” Yeon stuck out her tongue at Onew then.

Onew chuckled and pulled Yeon into a tighter embrace. “That is one of the reasons why I love you so much. Cute and strong… Don’t worry. Most probably you will not be faced with this experience…”

Yeon smiled and laid her head on his shoulder. “Keiko! Go, go! I am supporting you here, girl!” Yeon cheered for Keiko.

Back in the classroom, Keiko was trying to figure out the question. However, she was stuck. Sho walked over and watched Keiko.

“Try this instead…” Sho whispered gently.

Keiko tilted her head up and gazed at Sho. He sounded familiar.

Sho then nodded his head, giving a reassuring smile. “Just try it!”

Keiko then smiled back, showing her appreciation, and then turned to continue solving the question.

“Sho, get back here! Keiko, I am sorry to inform you that even if you answer this question correctly, it doesn’t count.” Miss Mana reprimanded.

“What?” Keiko could not believe it. For the other four classmates, they had already discussed with the classmates who sat down. Sho merely helped to enlighten her and her answer would not count.

“Why is this so unfair?” She wanted to ask loudly but decided against it. Afterall, it would be better that she should respect the elders.

She bit her lips and continued solving the problem.

Sho glanced at Mana, with his lips curved upwards. Mana merely nodded her head, with a sly smile, which only Sho caught sight of.

Sho could feel his lips curved upwards even further. Mana’s coy smile revealed that she was satisfied with Keiko, not impressed yet, but Keiko was definitely eligible to be his future wife.

Sho knew that he was in for it as well, upon the realization of how happy when he understood that Mana had approved Keiko.

Then later the second question was written. There were only three of them left.

Keiko was denied the permission to sit down because she was using a pencil to do her workings. Many of her classmates turned to give her a sympathetic glance upon Miss Mana’s words.

Now Keiko was the only one remaining.

Miss Mana then wrote a question on the board and timed Keiko, saying that she only had only ten seconds as the question was not hard at all.

(x-a)(x-b)(x-c)…(x-z) = ?

To those fast thinkers, answering this question quickly and correctly was an easy feat.

However, Keiko was a different case.

“Time’s up! Your answers please, Miss Kitagawa?” Miss Mana emphasized on “Kitagawa”.

Keiko could not come up with an answer.

Miss Mana shook her head and explained, “The answer is zero. (x-x) will surface and it is a zero. So eventually, the product of all these brackets will be zero. It seems that your Mathematics has a lot of room for improvement…”

“Miss Mana…” Keiko spoke slowly, trying to figure how to inform Miss Mana about how she was feeling.

“Miss Mana,” Keiko repeated, “I am sorry that I am not capable to answer all of your questions as quickly as you wanted me to. However, Mathematics had always been my weakest subject. I have been working very hard and am also home-tutored for this subject only. Even though I am working hard and that my results are not really improving tremendously, I did not give up. In fact, I think that improvement takes time. Also, it is not just about solving all the problems quickly, but the skills involved in the problem-solving, isn’t it? It is through this subject that we gain and sharpen our analytical skills and logical thinking.”

Keiko took in another deep breath and continued, “Therefore, as a teacher, I think that you should not demoralize or try to spite your students to make them achieve better results. People feel demoralized and humiliated. I am feeling so, right now, right here…”

Miss Mana then clapped her hands and smiled. “You finally defended yourself. You have been tolerating. Thank you very much. Can the class please thank Miss Kitagawa as well? Lesson has ended. Please be prepared for your next lesson.”

The entire class applauded as instructed but Keiko was at a loss.

Sho walked over to Keiko once more.

“You can sit down now, Keiko. Rest well and we shall meet soon again. You are really cute!” Sho whispered his words into Keiko’s ears.

The class was watching them. They could all sense that Sho and Keiko were very close.

With that, Sho swerved and followed Mana out of the classroom quickly.

Keiko lost all her strength and sat down immediately. She could feel the heat in her face.

“Keiko! Are you alright?” Yeon flew into the classroom at this point of time.

“Yeon! Are you feeling better?” Keiko asked in concern.

“Of course I am! Oh my god! Keiko, are you sure you are fine? You looked like you have cried before. Your eyes are watery and your face is so red! Are you sure you are fine? You know you can tell me anything and everything!” Yeon spoke like a bullet train.

Keiko did not know to laugh or to cry. Based on Yeon’s words, her face was red. Keiko felt embarrassed. She knew that she was blushing because of Sakurai Sho’s words and close proximity just then.

She wondered what his words meant as well. However, she had to tell Yeon about that Miss Mana.

Outside, Sho and Mana were walking side by side.

“Alright, my dearest cousin, so how is my future potential fiancée?” Sho asked in anticipation.

“She fails.” Mana replied curtly.

Sho’s face fell immediately.

“That was a joke! Look at how concerned you are for her. Look at how much you wanted her to be approved by me. She is a good one, Sho! A worthy one. Despite knowing that her answers do not count, she continued her work. She is not a quitter. Despite my obvious bias, she chose to only answer me back at the end. She shows great respect and tolerance. She is definitely not a bimbo or just a pretty vase. She passed her test with flying colours.” Mana smiled graciously. She was very pleased with that Keiko Kitagawa.

“I know it!” Sho punched his fist in the air. Now he had to think of how to pursue Keiko and asked for her hand for marriage.

It might seem hasty but to Sho, he knew he had to make sure that Keiko was his, as quickly as he could.

“Keiko…” He loved to call her name. It felt so right, though it might seem cliché to say so.

-

ENJOY &&& COMMENTS PLEASE! :PPP

CHEERS.

CRUNCH.