"Make a wish!"
"I must make a wish!"
"Only if today's wish comes true again can it prove the diary's magical power."
"But today's wish has to be a bit smaller..."
Recalling the 'flying trapeze' experience in mid-air yesterday, Anna still felt some lingering fear. She vaguely sensed that having a wish fulfilled required paying a certain price.
"Perhaps it's because the wish I made was too big that it ended up being super dangerous?"
Amidst her wandering thoughts, a voice suddenly rang out:
"...Yanami-san."
Poke—
A girl reached out a finger and secretly poked the daydreaming 'Inmate Eight'.
"Ah..."
Anna finally snapped back to reality and hurriedly stood up.
The math teacher on the podium pushed up his glasses, unhurriedly unscrewed his thermos, and took a sip of water:
"Yanami-san, come up and solve this example problem."
Anna: "..."
Who am I?
Where am I?
Aside from knowing it's a trigonometric function, I don't understand anything else about it!
Anna subconsciously turned her head, looking pitifully at Sora, her eyes pleading for help:
"Sora, emergency rescue needed!"
"You're beyond saving. Go stand in the hallway with a bucket of water."
Sora indicated there was nothing he could do to help.
Math problems require steps to solve. Even if he told her the answer, it would be useless!
At this moment, the math teacher pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose, and his slow voice rang out again:
"Izumi-kun, you come up and solve this problem."
"..."
In the quiet classroom, a burst of good-natured laughter suddenly erupted.
Anna never hid her fondness for Sora, and the entire class already knew they were childhood friends. Now that the math teacher had called on them, the gossiping classmates naturally started jeering.
Hearing the surrounding laughter, Anna's pretty face quickly flushed red. She shamefully lowered her head to look at her desk.
Sora, however, remained composed. This little bit of laughter was like a gentle breeze brushing past; he completely paid it no mind. He stood up, walked to the podium, and cleanly solved the problem.
Trigonometric functions?
Of course, it was a piece of cake.
Qian Xuesen once said two famous quotes:
"No matter how stupid a person is, can they still fail to learn calculus by age fourteen?"
"Anyone with normal intelligence can master higher mathematics."
Sora felt his intelligence should belong to the level of a normal person, because he genuinely understood calculus and higher mathematics.
"Izumi-kun's solution process is perfectly correct. Next, let's discuss this problem..."
The math teacher's slow voice rang out. After explaining the problem once, he pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose:
"Yanami-san, you may sit down. Don't stare blankly at Izumi-kun during class. You can look at him as much as you want after class."
"..."
The classroom erupted in laughter again, the air filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
"I wasn't staring blankly, I was clearly pondering a problem..."
Anna muttered to herself in her heart. Unfortunately, she completely didn't dare to say it out loud, and hurriedly sat down with a blushing face.
In the corner by the window.
Angel-sama lightly bit her lower lip with her pearly white teeth, her gaze looking toward Anna, her eyes full of apology.
I'm sorry, Anna...
Thinking about the kiss at the amusement park yesterday evening, Mahiru always felt she had somewhat betrayed her friend.
But the encounter between people is a miracle of one in eight billion, so... I will not yield...
Finally making it to the end of class, Anna finally figured out today's wish.
Taking advantage of the break between classes, Anna took out the Losing Heroine Diary and stealthily wrote down her wish:
"I want Sora to carry me on his back for a walk..."
"Today's wish isn't a kiss, so it definitely won't be dangerous, right?"
"..."
The day passed in a flash.
In the blink of an eye, it was time for school to end.
"Sora-kun, what do you want to eat tonight?"
Angel-sama's sweet, pleasant voice rang out quietly.
Sora looked up: "I'm not going back for dinner this evening."
"Eh?" Mahiru blinked her bright eyes, her voice curious. "What is Sora-kun going to do?"
Sora told the truth:
"Anna is treating me to ramen tonight."
"Mmm..." Mahiru pursed her pink, moist lips, saying softly, "Is it because Sora-kun helped find the bracelet?"
"...That's right."
Treating him to ramen was actually 'Inmate Eight's' way of 'taking responsibility'.
"I understand." Mahiru nodded gently, her voice soft. "After Sora-kun finishes eating ramen, remember to go home early."
"Okay."
"Um... do you want to go running together tonight?"
Angel-sama pursed her beautiful lips, extending an invitation:
"There's only half a month left until the Sports Festival starts. We signed up for so many events, we must improve our physical fitness."
Physical fitness is different from grades. Cramming at the last minute has no effect at all; instead, it will leave your whole body with sore muscles, so there's no need to train in advance.
"I really do need to train properly." Sora naturally wouldn't refuse and nodded in agreement.
"We'll head out at eight o'clock tonight and run until nine o'clock?"
"No problem." Mahiru raised a hand to tuck the stray hair by her ear, gracefully turned, and left.
"Sora-kun, I'll head back first. See you tonight."
"..."
Watching Angel-sama leave, Sora sat in the classroom, quietly continuing to read and recharge.
School ended a little past 3:00 PM, which was way too early to go eat ramen, not to mention Anna still had serious business right now—
At Japanese sports festivals, a cheerleading squad is an essential presence.
Anna didn't like running, but she was very interested in the cheerleading squad and often participated in it during middle school. She had already gone to training.
Time quietly slipped by.
The light and shadows in the classroom shifted quietly. Unknowingly, a ray of golden sunset quietly spilled in.
Bang.
The door was pushed open forcefully.
"Sora, sorry to keep you waiting."
Before the person entered, the girl's crisp voice rang out first:
"I'm so hungry, I feel like I'm going to starve to death."
As the voice rang out, a blue-haired girl briskly walked in. It was Anna.
Anna must have just washed her face, as the unevaporated moisture was still visible. Her skin was fair with a rosy tint, smooth and supple. Without the need for any makeup, the youthful vitality unique to a high school girl, along with that sweet, cute aura, had already rushed over.
Sora stood up while packing his schoolbag:
"You only trained for an hour, you shouldn't be that hungry, right?"
"But I really am super hungry."
Anna arrived at her desk, took out her backpack, and quickly pulled out a box of Pocky biscuit sticks. She expertly poured one out, then parted her pink lips, her pearly white teeth expertly biting down on it.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
The sound of a hamster cracking sunflower seeds quickly rang out.
A biscuit stick over ten centimeters long vanished in a few seconds under Anna's "hamster eating method".
"Phew..."
Anna tilted her pretty face up, her eyes curving into joyful crescents:
"Matcha flavor, the eternal god!"
After finishing, Anna offered a biscuit stick to Sora:
"Sora, here's one for you."
For the gluttonous girl, being willing to share snacks was already the highest level of special treatment.
Sora didn't hold back. He casually took a biscuit stick and left the classroom with Anna after eating it.