Sleeping children grow up. True or false, it's an oft-repeated story.

　Harao City Councilman's son, Maki, was a premature baby. The cause was his mother's premature birth. He weighed only about 2,300 grams when he was born. He was the son of an heir to the famous Harao family, whose relatives were all prominent in the city. His birth threw many of those involved in the birth of the child into a crucible of anxiety, but afterwards, Maki did not suffer from any particular health problems or disabilities, and he grew up quickly and successfully.
　There are various factors, such as the good facilities at the city general hospital, which I entered through a relative's connection, and the skill of the doctor who was in charge. However, there are various factors that contributed to his healthy growth.

　Maki Harao slept well.




'Well, now let's get to the next question......Harao.

　Tokiwa Renjuro, a mathematics teacher at Kandai High School, is a typical example of a teacher who is disliked by his students like a snake. He is a gloomy, middle-aged man with glasses and a nervous disposition. On top of that, his classes are very strict and he rarely shows any kind of compassion during tests.
　Such is Tokiwa's class, and even though the class is made up of a group of individualistic sophomores and juniors, his attitude in class is very serious. Even girls like Harui and Snakeshizuka, who usually take the teacher lightly, face the notes with an earnest look on their faces.
　Even Himemizu Rin, the class's leader, seems to be uncomfortable with Tokiwa. She's not stupid by any means, but in her first year she got a terrible score on one of his quizzes and was made to cry during the make-up classes afterwards. Rin, who is now a sluggish student, actually shakes her shoulders whenever Tokiwa walks by.

　But in such a class of Tokiwa's, there is only one student who takes a nap with impunity.

Harao..... Hey, Harao, are you not going to be in class?

　Tokiwa looks up from the textbook on the teaching table and turns his gaze around to the classroom.

　There, Tokiwa discovered something unbelievable and wrinkled his eyebrows, with a twitch.
　He was seated at the very back of the classroom, by the window. The student he had just appointed, Maki Harao, was folded on her stomach, her body resting on her back as hard as she could, breathing pleasantly in the gentle spring sunshine that streamed in through the window. Her face was covered with an open math textbook.
　Ro Rohta Washio, sitting beside Maki, poked him in the arm with his pencil, but there was no sign of him waking up.

　A blue streak appears on Tokiwa Renjuro's forehead. There is a tension in the class.

''Ho, Harao........ You have good nerve to fall asleep in my class...''
Shit....

　The voice spun from Tokiwa's mouth was insinuatingly dark, with a twitchy mouth hanging up. Washio, looking somewhat impatient, poked Maki's arm hard.

''Mu........''

　Eventually, the textbook slipped off Maki's face.

　His skin was so healthy and tanned that it was hard to believe that he was a premature child at birth. A slightly chiseled, ethnic, beautiful boy. Maki's eyes snapped open there, and he sat up without missing a beat or stretching.
　Harao Maki looked around and asked Washio, who was sitting beside him, in a deep and calm voice, "Ar.......

''Ah......... Washio, are you the one who has disturbed my sleep?''
Pah.... Dammit, Harao. Read the air!　We're in class!

　Shouting in a whisper, Washio then glanced at the podium and hid his voice even more.

'And the everyman's!
Hmm. Hmm. Washio, you're not a very nice person to call me that. It's always "Sensei." You owe me respect.

　Maki's words are so auspicious that it's hard to believe that he was nodding off proudly in class.

''Harao........ Did you sleep well?

　Tokiwa asked, his temples twitching.

'I'm afraid I haven't slept enough,'

　Maki said firmly.

'Tokiwa-sensei, if you have no business with me, I will go to sleep again.
You're kidding me!　What do you think you're doing with the school!
Of course it's a schoolhouse.

　Maki's face is very serious. There was a chuckle from the classroom.

　Let me make it clear here that Harao Maki is serious. He has no intention whatsoever of teasing the teacher, Tokiwa Renjuro. Regardless of their attitudes, all teachers, to Maki, should be treated with a certain amount of respect, and school is a place to learn to gain new knowledge.
　But to him, sleep is an important act that exists in the same dimension as those things. What's more, he doesze off unapologetically because he recognizes that there is nothing wrong with sleeping at this point in time. If it's a class that he should get up and listen to carefully, he does so.

　However, mentioning it here would only add fuel to the fire. Washio, who would have understood Maki in his own way, didn't try to say anything, perhaps because he thought so.

What can I do for you, Dr. Tokiwa?
Yes, I'll be there for you.
"Hmm.

　Tokiwa fixed his misaligned glasses and tapped the blackboard with his chalk.

'This is the problem!　Solve this problem!　If you can't....
Very well.

　Without letting anyone tell her, Maki quickly got up from her seat. He turned away from his chest, put his hands behind his hips, and walked bravely. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.
　Written on the chalkboard was a question about the proof of inequality. When it came to high school math, if your understanding of the subject caught up with you a bit, you would be left behind in an instant. As a matter of fact, there were already a few students in the class who were unable to keep up.

　Among them, Maki climbed up to the podium without hesitation, picked up a piece of chalk and began to write equations and proof sentences with a wiggle.

　You'll be able to get a good idea of what you're looking for, and you'll be able to get a good idea of what you're looking for.

''That's all, the proof is over.

　It was as if he had looked into Tokiwa's head, a word-for-word correct answer.
　Maki didn't even ask him if his answer was correct or not, but went back to his seat with his tsukatsuka. Pulling up a chair and taking a seat, he folded his hands again and placed the textbook on his face.

'Let nothing disturb Harao's sleep...'

　Three seconds later, the regular sound of sleep can be heard from his seat.
　An awkward silence falls over the class while Tokiwa is unable to say anything.

　Fortunately, or perhaps I should say, it wasn't long after that that the chime announcing the end of class echoed through the school building.




'What kind of education are you giving us at all!　Dr. Katsuwatari!
Huh?

　In the teacher's room, it was Katsugari Dehiko, the homeroom teacher of Class 4, who had yelled at Tokiwa.
　Katsugari, who was grading quizzes, looked up at Tokiwa, making a silly noise in his voice. Tokiwa approached him at once, foaming at the corners of his mouth.

''It's Harao!　Harao Maki!　That attitude, I can only imagine how rotten he is with teachers!　What the hell is that thing?!
You're close to my face. Dr. Tokiwa.

　Katsugata took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his face.

'Is it Harao? Did you fall asleep in class again?
'I'm not gonna take a nap!　That's a real sleeper. That's a real sleeper!　Of all things!　In my class!
''Harao's way of thinking is a bit different from that of a normal student, you know. I still don't know if I should respect it or not....

　The tall and lanky Katsuwari teacher scratched his forehead and said this.

''Irresponsible!　Are you still the homeroom teacher?!
It's only been a little over a month since I became the homeroom teacher. Anyway, I would like to apologize to Harao for causing you any trouble. I'm sorry.

　And if I can bow my head politely, the everyman is an adult. I can't poke at him any more.

Excuse me!　Is Dr. Katsugata here?

　When the door to the staff room opens sharply, the two students glance at each other and see a schoolgirl with her healthy legs stretched out of her skirt, holding a package of some sort.

'Ah, Sugiura, over here, over here.
Master. Sorry to keep you waiting. Today's lunch.

　With that, the female student, Aya Sugiura, popped the package on the desk.
　Of course, it was Tokiwa Renjuro who couldn't sit idly by and watch this.

''Katsuwari-sensei, what does this mean!
What do you mean?
Do you let your students pack lunches?
Of course not, Ms. Tokiwa.

　In a rather stunned voice, Katsuwari opened the package.

The Sugiura family runs a teishoku shop. This is a bento that you pay for. They are made by Sugiura's parents. My family runs a dry goods store, so I often deliver the food to them, and they give me a very low price for that.

　Sugiura, who looked unintentionally spooked by Tokiwa's swordsmanship, nodded unhappily at Katsuwari's words.
　He flicked his mouth, but was unlikely to be able to make a logical point in any case. Eventually he slumped his shoulders in disappointment. He swallowed the words, "If a student is a student, then the homeroom teacher is also a homeroom teacher," but the emotions that had been lost were simmering in the depths of his mind.

"Harao is a special kind of student. I'll ask him later. I'll ask last year's homeroom teacher.''

　Whether he knew what was on Tokiwa's mind or not, Katsuwari said that.

''Harao's homeroom teacher last year.... Who was it?''
This is Dr. Kusunoki. Sufi Kusunoki-sensei.

　Ah, Tokiwa nodded. Surely she would be the only teacher who didn't cause any problems with that eccentric personality, Harao Maki.
　But, however, she.........

''Well, Kusunoki-sensei is retired, so it's hard to get in touch with her.

　Katsuwari's voice was languid as he opened his lunchbox, muttering.




'd*mn, I'm on the edge of my seat.

　It was during the lunch break. Washio said to a sleepy Maki Harao, who looked asleep as ever.

I don't know how you can solve those problems without listening to the class.
It's the education gap.

　Maki answered easily and took out his lunchbox.

　The usual suspects - Washio, Hakuba, and Tentahara - gathered around Maki. They hadn't even started to prepare their lunch, but were chatting around Maki.
　I guess I got to know Washio in the latter half of my first year. He was the first classmate to invite Maki, who, due to her personality, had a tendency to isolate herself from the rest of the class, to hang out with him. Since that incident, Maki has felt a bit of friendship with Washio.

'Hey Hakuba, you know what?　Harao once won second place in a high school quiz tournament.
"Quiz night?
I'm from Harao's quiz club.

　Heh," said Hakuba and Tentahara, looking at Maki with surprising eyes.

　It's a fact. Maki is a member of the quiz club. Nearly half of the reason why he gained his education is because of that club activity. It's not a lie that he won second place. However, he couldn't help but fall asleep during the finals because he couldn't overcome his sleepiness, and as a result, he didn't win the championship.
　The first year of high school was a turning point in Maki Harao's life. His homeroom teacher at the time was the catalyst for him to join the quiz club, not to mention his relationship with Washio as mentioned above.

As I recall, Harao, Sufi-chan asked me to join the quiz club. You know?
Kusunoki-sensei. Show some respect.

　Maki's gaze became swift and swift, which is unusual for him, and he tasted Washio.

''Kusunoki-sensei, I believe, retired from marriage in March?''
Yeah, me and Harao's homeroom teacher in the first year. I remember you were the teacher who liked to wear glasses.

　Maki continued eating in silence and nodded.

　Sufi Kusunoki; born on August 16. Type A Leo. She is the only woman who has been defeated in the "culture" category by Masaki Harao, a quarter of whom seems to be of Egyptian descent, hence her strange first name. She was a very strict teacher who always wanted to know the answers to her questions.
　Respect the teacher, that's what she taught. At the same time, she was the only adult outside of her family who approved of Harao's lifestyle, which required him to sleep at least twelve hours a day to stay awake. It was usually due to her influence that Harao respected his teacher and snored openly in class.

　If he could, Maki wished he could have learned a little more from her, he thought. Maki hadn't yet returned the humiliation of defeat to her.

'Sometimes Washio, where is your lunch?　Take three meals. Dr. Kusunoki also said that.
Oh, yeah. No, we're not...

　Washio shifts his gaze a bit and looks awkward. Just then.

Yoo-hoo!　Gentlemen!

　Rin Himemizu, the class's energizer, bounced her small body and interrupted Washio and Hakuba.

　Maki was not particularly unfazed, bringing the contents of the lunchbox to her mouth with a mechanical motion.

You've been waiting for a while. We're done with our business! Let's eat dinner as promised........Huh?

　Rin spoke with a smirk, but soon noticed Maki's meal and tilted her head.

'Did you and Harao-kun eat first by any chance?
I'm the only one eating.

　Maki muttered, not slowing down her chopstick movements at all.

'Oh, yeah?　What do we do?　We're going to eat with Tsurugin, Ryuzaki-kun and the others, do you want to come with us?
"I am going to sleep now.

　With that, Maki put away her lunch box and took out an eye mask from her bag.
　It's a good thing that you have a friend, Maki would really like to thank Washio for making a friend, but to tell the truth, socializing with many people is a chore. Washio, on the other hand, has a really sociable personality. With his personality, it's better to make a lot of friends.

I'm sure you're not the only one. Sorry.
Why are you sorry?

　Maki tilted her head at Washio, who looked a little put off.

'Himemizu, look at Washio's diet. This guy eats an unbalanced diet.
Okay, okay, okay. I'm on it.

　Rin smiled and nodded with a smirk.

'Is that also what Kusunoki-sensei taught you?'
Hmm.
Harao-kun, you really like Mr. Kusunoki, don't you?
I admire you.

　After saying that, Maki put on her eye mask and looked up at the ceiling.

　He put on the eye mask for exactly three seconds. Maki's consciousness falls into sleep. In the meantime, he saw Washio and the others leave the desk, somewhat reservedly.




　Take three meals. Eat something well-balanced. Respect your teachers, for one thing. Respect your friends.
　These are all lessons from Kusunoki-sensei. Maki's father, a city councilman, did not think much about his family. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he was a premature baby at birth. When he could remember, he seemed to have been relatively overprotected by all his relatives. Such a family environment made Maki grow up to be a bit of an arrogant boy.
　As the heir of a prominent family, Maki had acquired all kinds of education. He was able to study and play the piano. His skills in painting and calligraphy were above average. He also dabbled in martial arts. But it was Kusunoki Sensei who broke his nose.

Harao-kun, I heard about your performance. Harao-kun, I heard that you entered the school with the highest grades in your school year.

　Not long after he entered the school, he called out to Maki, who was a troubled child with a tag.
　As mentioned earlier, Kusunoki Sufi was the homeroom teacher. She was a brown-skinned woman teacher who looked good in a suit and light-rimmed glasses.
　Maki had been an arrogant student since that time, and the other teachers had been unable to help her. Then Kusunoki, her homeroom teacher, made this suggestion to her.

'Harao-kun, would you like to play a quiz game with me?

　The quiz match was accompanied by the condition that if you couldn't answer, you had to do one thing you said. To be honest, Maki wanted to go to bed quickly instead of that, but he decided to take the contest, confident that if he won the game here, he would never be disturbed from a good night's sleep again.
　Maki had entered a public high school as a way to make his relatives look good, but in reality, he could afford to aim for a higher private school, and he was confident that he had accumulated a level of miscellaneous knowledge that was as good as any adult in the area.
　That brain was certainly excellent, but Maki had no way of knowing that he was severely lacking in flexibility at the time.

　So, the first problem Kusunoki posed to me was this.

'What will be the first four legs, then two legs, and finally three legs?'

　It sounded like a joke, but Maki couldn't respond to it. It was like the nose of a sphinx, haplessly snapped off. He still remembers the words of Kusunoki, who lifted his glasses to the frustrated Maki, and said to him: "There's a difference in education, Mr. Hara.

''It's the difference in culture, Harao-kun.

　A promise is a promise. Maki hadn't fallen so low as to break it. He was able to join the quiz club at last.

　Even after joining the club, many quiz battles took place between Kusunoki and Maki. Parallel Thinking Quiz, Cryptography Quiz, Graphics Quiz, and Miscellaneous Knowledge Quiz. All the problems that Masaki threw out were cleared, and for a while, Masaki was unable to get the correct answer to any of Kusunoki's problems. Whenever Masaki was in a daze and became silent, Kusunoki lifted his glasses and said, "Harao-kun.

'Harao-kun. Answer the question.''

　Within three months, Maki was getting to be able to answer Kusunoki's quiz to a point. However, the number of defeats he had accumulated up to that point was large. In the meantime, he was forced to listen to "orders" such as "Eat your meals properly" or "Cherish your friends".

　It was towards the end of the second semester that he was informed that he would be retiring at the end of March. Maki congratulated him on his decision, and at the same time, she began to devote herself to furthering her education. He wanted to beat her at least once before the time limit.
　It was only during that period of time, later or later, that he cut back on his sleep.
　Still, in the end, Maki had never once been able to give her a quiz that Kusunoki couldn't answer. No matter how much she cultivated, her fountain of knowledge was far deeper than Maki's. Although Maki's cultivation had grown to the point where no one in her grade could compare to her, she was still not far behind Kusunoki-sensei.

　If she could outsmart her teacher, even once, and make him do what she said.

　What would I have asked her to do?

　I still think about those things, but in the end, I've never gotten an answer.
　Answers to questions. I can't even answer my own internal questions, so maybe I'm not quite there yet, after all.

　It doesn't have to be now. When I get the answers one day, I want to have another quiz battle with Kusunoki-sensei.

　Maki was thinking about that in his slumbering consciousness.




'They say it's a quiz,'
Quiz....?

　Katsugabari Dehiko, who contacted his former teacher Kusunoki as soon as he could, said to himself: "It seems that Mr. Kusunoki has been using the quiz to keep Harao quiet.

It seems that Kusunoki-sensei has been using the quiz to keep Harao quiet. If he couldn't solve the quiz, he would do whatever the other person told him to do.

　As expected, even Tokiwa was stunned. What kind of method was he using?
　It is not a good idea for a teacher to "do whatever he says" to his students, no matter how conditional it may be. As expected, this is not something to be praised. Tokiwa Renjuro frowned.

''Well, that's an enviable story, isn't it?''
Mr. Katsugata?
Excuse me.

　But Kusunoki had never lost a quiz to Harao before, it seems.

I think Harao has grown up a lot. He was the runner-up in a high school quiz competition.

　As he says this, Katsuwari is looking at his notes rather intently.
　Katsuwari is a great teacher with a lot of love for his students, even if he sometimes goes a little too far and worries about them. That's why he was the first to contact Kusunoki. Tokiwa had to admit that point.
　On top of that, Tokiwa thinks. If he won the quiz game, he would be able to correct Harao's unruly behavior.

　Renjuro Tokiwa is a mathematics teacher. He has been immersed in the fascinating and difficult world of numbers for more than ten years. He has made it this far as a bachelor.

　When it comes to quizzes, he has no intention of losing.

I'm not sure who the advisor of the quiz club is now, Katsugari-sensei?
'I don't think you had an advisor. After Kusunoki-sensei retired. The students, too, only have Harao left.
Ho.....

　Jouban said, the light reflecting off his nervous-looking glasses with a glint of light.

''Then let me be the advisor of the quiz club.
Oh, so that's what it's all about, isn't it?




　The next time Maki woke up, it was already after school.

　The teacher who took his 5th and 6th period classes was too lethargic to try to wake him up, and since his homeroom teacher, Katsugari-sensei, was too busy to show up at homeroom, the chairperson of the committee, Ryuzaki, apparently only gave him the necessary information and that was it.
　On Maki's desk, there is a piece of paper with a simple message on it. It's a scrap of notebook. The way the letters are written in an orderly fashion is probably not Washio. I don't know who wrote it. It was just easy to read the letters.

　Maki takes the scraps and puts them away in her bag.
　There weren't many classmates left in the classroom. The setting sun was shining through the window.

　Once it's after school, there's only one thing to do. Grabbing his bag, Maki left the classroom.

　I don't see Washio and the others. It's the basketball club, so he must be busy. As the only remaining member of the quiz club, I have to properly protect the club room.

　Now that Kusunoki-sensei has retired and the third-year students have graduated, the quiz club's room has become much larger than it was before.
　The quiz club's classrooms have become much larger than they used to be, and it is no longer possible for students to compete with each other in terms of depth of knowledge. Maki is not particularly sentimental about it. It's not such a bad thing to keep this memorable place on your own. Even if it is a forgotten royal tomb in the sand, the king who rests there has his own happiness.
　Besides, Kusunoki-sensei was gone, no matter how much he wished for it, and even if he were to return to work, it was highly unlikely that it would be while he was still at school. The days of the past will probably never return.

　As he headed to the quiz club's club room, which had been built using an empty classroom, Maki noticed another figure in the room.

''.........?''

　I wondered, but I wasn't afraid of things. Maki opened the door abruptly.

　He was not surprised when a middle-aged man with nervous-looking glasses sat there.

'Dr. Tokiwa,'
There you are, Harao.
This is the quiz club's office, but how the hell did Mr. Tokiwa end up in my office?

　Maki asks as she enters the room and takes a seat at the desk.
　Tokiwa Renjuro doesn't answer that, but gently holds out a sheet of paper.

'Harao, that's a math quiz I've prepared for you. You can try to solve it.
Doctor Joban, answer the question. What brings you to my office?
I'll be the quiz counselor starting today.

　Changban said in a voice that sounded like he was biting down on a bitter bug, so Maki was a bit surprised, too.

''Sensei?''
Are you unhappy?
No, no.

　Maki looked at the paper that was handed to him and took out a pencil from the pencil case. It's really a math teacher's quiz, methodical and yet nasty. But it's not so difficult. I feel that Kusunoki-sensei's problem was much more difficult than mine.
　But it's been a long time since I've solved a quiz given to me by someone else. In the past, there have been a few quizzes in class, or I have been asked to solve problems in front of the class, but the feeling is a little different from that time.

　When I thought about why, it soon occurred to me.

'Sir, there's one tradition in the quiz club,'
What is it, Harao?
If you can't solve the problem, you listen to one thing they say.

　With that, Harao pulled out a single college notebook from his bag.

'I'm going to ask you to solve the problem I've been thinking of.
What...?

　Tokiwa flinched. But Maki didn't take it up, and thrust the notebook at him with a gulp.

'Can't you do it?　Kusunoki-sensei was more than happy to solve it for me, though.
Wow. Don't compare me to her. But, uh, well, that's okay.
Choose one page and solve it. If you can't do it, try another page.

　As he said it, it was a bit new to Maki that he was being so talkative.

　Glancing up, Tokiwa opened the page with a nervous look on his face as usual and tried to run his pen towards it. However, a short time later, I could see his face turn blue.

''It's the difference in culture. Dr. Tokiwa.''

　Saying that, Maki had a smile on her mouth and swiftly solved the quiz he had come up with.