How Harao Masaki Came to Acquire His Profound Cultivation
～ Part 2 ～
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“Good grief, I was nervous.”
At lunch break, Harao Masaki who was as sleepy as ever was told so by Washio.
“Despite not listening to the lesson, you was able to solve that problem quite well.”
“T’s the difference in cultivation.”
Masaki lightly answered, he took out a lunch box.
Around Masaki, the usual lineup of Washio, Hakuba and Shokuzura gathered. Without preparing to have lunch, they surrounded Masaki and was having idle chitchat.
The association with Washio started around the 2nd half of 1st year? Basically, Masaki had a personality that made him easy to be isolated in the class, the first classmate to invite him to play was Washio. Ever since that event, Masaki felt just a tiny bit of friendship toward Washio.
“Oi, Hakuba, did you know? Harao was a runner-up in the high-school quiz tournament.”
“Quiz tournament?”
“Harao is in the quiz club.”
“Heh”, Hakuba and Shokuzura looked at Masaki with surprise in their eyes.
That’s a fact. Masaki belonged to the quiz club. Nearly half the reason for his piled up cultivation was because of club activity. Him being the runner up was no lie either. Only he couldn’t win against the sleepiness by all means and fell asleep during the match, thus failing to obtain the championship as a result.
Judging from Harao Masaki’s life, 1st year of high-school was a period with various turning points. The association with Washio mentioned above — naturally, his entering the quiz club was also caused by his homeroom teacher at that time.
“Certainly, Harao was invited by Sufi-chan. Ain’t that right?”
“That’s Kusunoki-sensei to you. Show respect.”
Unusual for Masaki, his gaze turned dangerous as he chided Washio.
“Kusunoki-sensei? Certainly, she retired in March for marriage?”
“Yes. My and Harao’s homeroom teacher in first year. She’s a teacher well-matched with glasses.”
Masaki silently continued his meal, he nodded.
Kusunoki Sufi. Born on August 16. Leo constellation, blood type A. The only woman who made Harao Masaki suffer a defeat in terms of ‘Cultivation’. A quarter of her blood seemed to descended from Egyptian, that was also the origin for her strange first name. “Answer the question.” was her favorite saying, a very strict teacher.
Show respect to your teachers, that was her teachings. At the same time, she was also the only adult other than family who recognized Harao’s lifestyle who couldn’t win against drowsiness unless he slept for more 12 hours a day. Harao, while respecting teachers, yet grandly snoring during class, was largely due to her influence.
If it’s possible, I wanted to learn a bit more under her, thought Masaki. Masaki had yet to give up the humiliation of the defeat against her.
“By the way Washio, are thee not having lunch? Eat thy three meals. Kusunoki-sensei has said it.”
“Ah, right. No, we are…”
Averting his gaze a little, Washio seemed awkward. Exactly at that time.
“Yaahoo–! Sorry to make you wait–, everyone–!”
The liveliness of the class, Himemizu Rin bounced her small body and cut in between Washio and Hakuba.
Masaki — without being perturbed in particular — was carrying the contents of his lunch box to his mouth with mechanical movements.
“Thank you for waiting. We finish our errand. Let’s have lunch as promised … are~?”
Rin smilingly said, but immediately noticing Masaki’s meal, she inclined her head.
“Perhaps, you ate first with Harao-kun.”
“T’s only me who ate.”
Muttered Masaki, his chopsticks movement didn’t slow down at all.
“Ah, really? How about it? We’re going to eat with Tsurugin and Ryuzaki-kun, how about coming together?”
“I will be sleeping now.”
Saying so, Masaki put away his lunch box and took out an eye mask from his bag.
He indeed felt grateful to Washio that he made a friend, but actually, associating with a large number of people was tiresome. On that point, Washio had a really sociable personality. With that personality, he should make a lot of friends.
“Ah, Ha–Harao. My bad.”
“Why are you apologizing?”
Masaki inclined his head to the slightly diffident attitude of Washio.
“Himemizu, look after Washio’s meal. This guy has an unbalanced diet.”
“Oh, understood understood. Leave it to me.”
Rin cheerfully nodded.
“Is that also Kusunoki-sensei’s teachings?”
“Umu.”
“Harao-kun, you really like Kusunoki-sensei, don’t you?”
“I respect her.”
Saying only that, Masaki put on the eye mask and looked up to the ceiling.
Exactly 3 seconds after wearing the eye mask. Masaki’s consciousness went to dreamland. Just before that, he knew that Washio and the others was leaving the surroundings of his deck a little reservedly.
Eat thy three meals. Eat well-balanced food. Show some respects for thy teachers. Treasure thy friends.
All of which were Kusunoki-sensei’s teachings. Masaki’s father who was the city councilor never paid too much attention to his family. Was it related to how he was a premature baby at birth as well? Since the time he became aware of his surroundings, he felt that he was raised up relatively overprotected by all of his relatives. That kind of family circumstances had raised Masaki to a slightly arrogant boy.
As the eldest son of a distinguished family, Masaki had acquired all cultivations. He could study, he could play piano. Painting and calligraphy was also above average. He dabbled in martial arts as well. The one who took him down a peg was Kusunoki-sensei.
«Harao-kun, I heard it. They say you enrolled with the top cores in your grade.»
Soon after enrolling, Masaki who had become a notorious problem child was called out.
As mentioned above, Kusunoki Sufi was his homeroom teacher. She was a brown-skinned female teacher well-suited to the suit and the thin-rimmed glasses.
Since those days, Masaki was an arrogant student. While other teachers was at lost how to deal with him, Kusunoki who was homeroom teacher made a proposal.
«Harao-kun, will you have quiz match with me?»
In the quiz match, if you cannot answer, you have to listen to whatever the opponent say once, that condition was attached. Honestly, rather than that kind of thing, Masaki wanted to sleep quickly, but convinced that his sleep would never be disturbed again if he was to win, he decided to accept the match.
Masaki had entered the public school in deference to his relatives, but actually, he had plenty of room to aim for better private institutes, he was also confident he had accumulated miscellaneous knowledge on the level not to lose to adults around these parts.
His head was certainly excellent, but Masaki at that time didn’t understand well how terribly lacking in the thing called flexibility he was.
Then, the first question Kusunoki issued was this:
«What goes on 4 legs, then 2 legs, and finally 3 legs?»
This seemed like a joke but Masaki couldn’t answer that. His nose — like that of the Sphinx was cruelly smashed. The words Kusunoki said to the frustrated as she lifted her glasses, Masaki still remembered it clearly.
«It’s the difference in cultivation, Harao-kun»
A promise is promise. Masaki hadn’t fallen so low that who would break it. He officially entered the quiz club.
After the entering, various quiz battles between Kusunoki and Masaki unfolded. Parallel thinking quiz, cipher quiz, graphic quiz, trivia quiz. The questions Masaki issued were all cleared, whereas for a short while, Masaki was unable to deduce the correct answers to the questions Kusunoki take out at all. When Masaki sulkily fell silent, Kusunoki tightly lifted her glasses and said this:
«Harao-kun. Answer the question/»
After three months, Masaki also became able to answer Kusunoki’s quiz fairly well. But the number of the defeats he had piled up until then was many. During that time, Masaki was made to listen to ‘orders’ such as «eat your meals properly», «treasure your friends».
When he was taught that she was going to retire for marriage, it was around the end of the 2nd semester. Masaki obediently blessed her, at the same time, he further exerted to deepen his cultivation. Until the time limit, I want to defeat her at least once, thought he.
Neither before nor after this that he shaved his sleeping time.
But still, Masaki never could produce a quiz that Kusunoki couldn’t answer. No matter how he deepened his cultivation, her spring of knowledge was far deeper than Masaki’s. Masaki’s cultivation had grown to the extent that no one in the same year could match him, even so, he was no match for Kusunoki-sensei.
Suppose he could outwit her even once, if he could make her do what he say.
What the heck am I going to ask her?
Even now, he was thinking that kind things, but in the end, he couldn’t find the answer.
Answer the question. I can’t even answer the questions within myself, so in the end, I may still have a long way to go.
I need not doing it now. If someday I was to get the answer, I want to have a quiz battle with Kusunoki-sensei again.
Masaki thought so inside his dozing consciousness.
“It seems to be quizzes.”
“Q–quiz … you say?”
This is going to be difficult, with that preface, Katsubushi Dashihiko who promptly contacted the former teacher Kusunoki, said so at the very beginning.
“Apparently, Kusunoki-sensei used quizzes to make Harao obedient. The one who can’t solve it have to do whatever the opponent say, that kind policy.”
As expected, Tokiwa was also astonished. Just as he thought what masterful method did she use, it was that kind of thing.
No matter how it was conditionally, for a teacher to «do anything» told by a student. As expected, it wasn’t something praiseworthy, was it? Tokiwa Renjurou grimaced.
“Iyaa, it’s envious, isn’t it?”
“Katsubushi-sensei?”
“Sorry.”
But apparently, so far, Kusunoki had never lost in a quiz against Harao.
“But well, I think Harao has also grown quite a lot. He was the runner-up at the high-school quiz tournament, you know.”
While saying so, Katsubushi was relatively enthusiastically looking at the memo.
Although there were worries that it might go a little too far, Katsubushi was a wonderful teacher overflowed with love for the students. That was why he contacted Kusunoki before anything else. On that point, even Tokiwa was forced to recognized.
On top of that, Tokiwa thought. If I can win a quiz match, I can correct Harao’s arrogant behavior.
Tokiwa Renjurou was a mathematics teacher. Decades had passed since he immersed in the bewitching abstruse world of numbers. He had finally arrived here … as a bachelor.
He had zero intention to lose in a quiz so easily.
“Katsubushi-sensei, right now, who is the quiz club’s advisor again?”
“Certainly, there should be no advisor. Because Kusunoki-sensei retired. The students as well, there’s only Harao remaining.”
“Hou…”
Tokiwa let light gleamed on the seemingly high-strung glasses and said this:
“Then I will be the advisor for the quiz club.”
“Ahh, as I thought, it became like that.”
The next time Masaki woke up, it was already after-school.
The teachers responsible for 5th and 6th periods, didn’t try to wake the languished him, also at ending homeroom, the teacher in charged — Katsubushi-sensei was busy and didn’t show up, so it seemed to have ended with only Ryuzaki the class rep conveying the necessary matters.
On top of Masaki’s deck, a simple letter written with information was put. It was a piece of paper. This way of well-ordered writing was probably not Washio’s. He didn’t know who wrote it. Only that it was easy to read letters.
Masaki picked up the note and put it away in his bag.
There weren’t so many classmates remaining in the classroom. The evening sun was shining from the window.
Now that it was after-school, there was only one thing to do. Grabbing his bag, Masaki left the classroom.
Washio and the other’s figure were nowhere to be found. That guy is in the baseball club so he must be busy. I too, as the only remaining member of the quiz club, have to properly protect the clubroom.
Kusunoki-sensei retired, the third years graduated, the quiz club’s clubroom had become excessively wide.
Someone issuing a question, or be issued, the competition with the depth of one’s cultivation was also gone. Masaki never became especially sentimental regarding that. To continue protecting this profoundly memorable place by himself wasn’t so bad either. Even the royal tomb forgotten in the sand and the king who slept there had happiness in his own way.
Besides, no matter how much he wished for it, Kusunoki-sensei was no longer here, even if she was to be reappointed, it was all but impossible while Masaki was still in school. The passed days probably wouldn’t come back.
When he headed straight to the empty classroom that was turned into the quiz club’s clubroom, Masaki noticed that there was shadow of someone else in the room.
“……?”
He felt doubt, but he wasn’t timid. ∗Clatter∗, Masaki opened the door.
Thereupon, a seemingly high-strung glassed middle-aged man was sitting, even then Masaki wasn’t too surprised.
“Tokiwa-sensei.”
“You came, Harao.”
“This place is the quiz club’s clubroom, but why is Tokiwa-sensei in mine clubroom?”
Entering the room, arriving at his seat, Masaki asked.
Tokiwa Renjurou — without answering that — softly put out a sheet of paper.
“Harao, that’s a mathematics quiz I prepared. Try solving it.”
“Tokiwa-sensei, answer the question. Why is sensei in mine clubroom?”
“…Starting from today, I am the quiz club’s advisor.”
Tokiwa said that in a voice like having swallowed a bitter bug, so Masaki was also a little surprised.
“Sensei is?”
“Any complaints?”
“No, there’s none.”
Masaki stared at the paper he was presented, he took out a pencil from his pencil case. I see, indeed like a mathematics teacher, a well-ordered yet nasty quiz. But I don’t feel it so difficult. I feel the questions Kusunoki-sensei made were much more difficult.
But, it’s been a long time since I solve a quiz other people issue. Even so far, I have done the mini test in class several times, being made to come to the blackboard to solve problems, but those times feel just a little different.
Why? He thought and suddenly understood.
“Sensei, the quiz club has one tradition.”
“What is it? Harao.”
“In case you can’t solve the questions, you have to do what the opponent say once.”
Saying so, Harao took out a big notebook from his bag.
“Sensei as well, let’s have sensei solve the questions I though up.”
“Wa, what…?”
Tokiwa faltered. But Masaki didn’t pay attention to it and forcefully pushed the note to him.
“You cannot? Kusunoki-sensei delightfully solved it though?”
“D–don’t compare me to her. But, fun, well, well–, I guess it’s fine.”
“You can choose one page you like and solve it. If you can’t, I don’t mind you switching to other pages.”
While saying so, Masaki felt a little fresh to the fact that himself had become so talkative.
When he glanced up, Tokiwa had opened a page with the same high-strung face as ever and was trying to run his pen on it. However, shortly after that, Masaki understood that his face turned blue.
“T’s the difference in cultivation. Tokiwa-sensei.”
Saying so, Masaki made a smile and smoothly solved the quiz Tokiwa thought up.
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