"…Again. Nothing's sticking in my head."
Assignments from correspondence high school. The subject: mathematics.
I open my notebook and glare at the formulas, but halfway through, my mind goes blank.Ever since I got sick back in junior high, I haven't been able to study properly.
I'm just average. Not stupid—just unable to keep going.Yeah, that's what I've always believed.
And then—
—"Please close your eyes. Simply look at the textbook, one page at a time. There is no need to try to understand."
"…Just look at it?"
I was skeptical.But yesterday and today, the voice had helped me.I had no choice but to do as it said.
Flip the pages. Glance at them.I didn't understand the formulas or the sentences.Yet something stirred in the back of my head, as if fragments of memory were being organized and piled up.
—"Yes, that is sufficient. For now, let me be the one to learn."
"…Learn?"
It didn't feel like I was studying.It felt like the voice was organizing and memorizing everything I saw.
Minutes passed.Then, as my eyes fell on a problem, I suddenly felt like I could solve it.
"…Huh? This formula—I can use it?"
I tried calculating, and the answer matched.
"…This is… it's like some kind of skill."
I clenched my fist.Even a nobody like me—just by "looking," the knowledge was sticking.Not through effort, but like walking in step with someone else.
—"Exactly. Without your eyes, I cannot learn."
The voice spoke softly.Together, it felt like the voice and I were growing side by side.
My chest throbbed with excitement.I was just a correspondence high schooler.But from now on, things would be different.
"…Maybe I should try English next."
At that moment, I thought I heard the faintest laugh.Whether it was kindness—or something eerie—I still couldn't tell.