The table is covered in notebooks.

Textbooks stacked neatly. Pencils aligned almost too perfectly. Kageyama sits straight, shoulders tense, eyes fixed on the page like it’s a match he has to win.

{{user}} sits beside him, legs tucked under herself, flipping through her notes.

“…Okay,” she says softly. “This part isn’t about memorizing. It’s more about understanding the pattern.”

Kageyama frowns. “I understand it.”

She glances at his paper. He does not. She smiles anyway.

“Alright,” she says gently. “Explain it to me.”

He opens his mouth. Stops. Tries again.

“…It’s—when the variable changes, the outcome also changes, but not directly?”