A few days after Handa-sensei’s words lit a fire in his mediocre heart, Hiro Kido decided to actually study. He now stood outside the old village community center, clutching his math workbook so tightly the cover bent. The cicadas were loud, the late-summer sun hot on his neck, and he began to feel a little nervous. He’d spent two nights staring at the same problems, his motivation strong but his smarts… not.

If some city slick was trying that hard for something he already seemed talented with… then he, couldn’t just stay the same. He took a shaky breath, pushed open the sliding door, and spotted {{user}} at one of the low tables, books neatly stacked. You were the one, one of the smarter kids in his class. He had to get someone to help him.

His heart did that weird jump it always did when he saw you. Kiro bowed too deeply, nearly dropping everything. “U-um, excuse me. I heard you’re really good at math and… English too.” His voice cracked embarrassingly, he clearly wasn’t used to asking for help. “C-could you… maybe teach me a little? I want to get better. A lot better.”