Long fingers flipped through a few pages of material, making that distinct paper sound.
After a moment, Haneda Kimu looked up at Uesugi Sakura:
"Hmm, your grades have remained stable, even gradually improving, but do you know why your deviation value has dropped?"
There are, of course, many reasons, but Uesugi Sakura doesn't like to find problems in others. A decrease in deviation value means the gap between his grades and those of his classmates has narrowed.
"English dragged down the average score."
"Yes and no,"
Haneda Kimu lightly tapped the white paper twice with his index finger, making a crisp, short clicking sound,
"Compared to your other subjects, English is indeed slightly lagging, but it's not a big deal. The main issue is that many students are attending supplementary classes and using their spare time to improve themselves together.
"With the overall improvement in student performance, your deviation value naturally drops, so you can't fall behind either. My idea is to start a study group after school, using free time to make up for each student's weak points.
"Of course, the number of participants can't be too large."
Haneda Kimu paused here, looking at Uesugi Sakura.
"Organized by me?" Uesugi Sakura asked uncertainly.
"That's right,"
Haneda Kimu nodded with satisfaction,
"I remember you haven't joined any clubs, right?"
"No, I haven't."
Since he hadn't decided on joining the Kyudo Club, Uesugi Sakura could only answer no.
Haneda Kimu showed an unsurprised expression: "Then it's better to join one. After school, you can't sit alone in the classroom waiting for others to finish club activities, can you?"
"..."
Uesugi Sakura fell silent, acknowledging the issue, though he also felt fine reading alone in the classroom.
"Okay."
Seeing Uesugi Sakura agreed, Haneda Kimu, being his homeroom teacher, was somewhat pleased in his heart and smiled:
"That's good. I've noticed that in the last semester, you haven't made many friends, being too focused on studying. If this continues, it might evolve into autism."
Autism...
Is it that serious?
Uesugi Sakura thought Haneda Kimu was exaggerating a bit. True, apart from Goto, Tsubokawa, and Hanabi, he hardly spoke to other classmates.
Most of the time, it was the other party who initiated the conversation, and he responded perfunctorily.
"Don't believe me?"
Haneda Kimu saw through Uesugi Sakura's thoughts,
"Hmm... though it might be a bit arbitrary, from what I observe, you're always sitting alone after class, and you go home alone too, making you an edge outlier."
"Besides, you live with that Hanabi kid, right? Childhood friends and classmates, and yet you hardly talk at school? Did you not get along well since childhood?"
"..."
"Not really," Uesugi Sakura denied.
They usually had more interactions after school. Whenever he treated, he would see Hanamaru Hanabi carefully holding the food.
Haneda Kimu glanced at the electronic clock on the desk corner and said to Uesugi Sakura:
"Maybe the teacher had a subjective perception; I'll leave the study group up to you. Let's set it at six in the afternoon, class is about to start, you should head back."
Uesugi Sakura walked out of the office, pondering the study group issue on his way back to class.
Study group?
A meeting composed of students studying together to address each other's weaknesses.
How many people should be invited to this thing?
Speaking of which, who should be invited?
This is really troublesome...
"Ouch—"
"Sorry."
Snapping back to reality, Uesugi Sakura realized he had bumped into someone and bowed his head to apologize to the girl in front of him, but his tone was casual, seeming insincere.
"You!"
The girl with an in-ear earphone frowned tightly, very dissatisfied with Uesugi Sakura's tone,
"Is that an appropriate attitude for an apology? You..."
She took a closer look at the taller Uesugi Sakura, finding him somewhat familiar, and after a moment recalled, a smile grew on her lips:
"Ah, you're that guy from the Kyudo club yesterday." The girl referred to Uesugi Sakura as "that guy" instead of using his name.
Her arched eyebrow seemed a bit cheeky, chewing gum non-stop, appearing restless.
Uesugi Sakura, however, remembered her name; after all, everyone introduced themselves at the briefing yesterday, and unless one's memory was really bad, they would leave a deep impression of this girl.
Because she's very pretty.
He looked at the girl in front, emphasizing:
"My name is Uesugi Sakura."
"Hehe,"
Chitose Mai showed a brilliant smile, revealing her delicate, almost painted-like features,
"I know that, but I just don't feel like using your name."
"Suit yourself,"
Uesugi Sakura didn't want to entangle more with her, and looked at his watch face.
"Class is about to start, goodbye."
With that said, he turned around to head towards the classroom.
"Hey hey!"
Seeing Uesugi Sakura about to leave, Chitose Mai hurriedly pulled out her right hand from her pocket and held onto him.
Uesugi Sakura stopped and looked back at the still-smiling girl, asking:
"What now, is there something else?"
Uesugi Sakura unintentionally noticed she held his right hand with an old lace elastic band.
Chitose Mai looked at Uesugi Sakura's face, feeling since yesterday he seemed somewhat cold, going back alone, with not many friends.
"You really think so? What about the apology?"
"Didn't I just say it?"
"That doesn't count."
"You say it doesn't count, so it doesn't count?"
"Of course!"
Chitose Mai puffed her somewhat heaving chest a little, displaying a confident look, justified, saying:
"You bumped into me; you're in the wrong. If I say it doesn't count, it doesn't count."
Ring ring ring...
The class bell suddenly rang, and students nearby went back to their classrooms in twos and threes, with some curiously glancing at the two frozen in place.
Uesugi Sakura looked at the hand still gripping his right arm and said with a hint of helplessness:
"Class has started."
"You're Uesugi, right?" Chitose Mai gave a curious smile at him.
"So what if I am."
"Nothing, nothing, it's just that recently I've heard some small rumors about you."
"Because I'm handsome, but actually a jerk?" Uesugi Sakura said.
Chitose Mai laughed: "Not quite, but there's a kernel of that meaning. Though I think you just come off a bit cold."
Saying so, she jogged backward a few steps, pocketed her left hand, saluted with her right, and tilted her head to squint and smile:
"See you later, Uesugi from class 2-4."