“……”
“……”
“What are you looking at me for?”
“Look at the question, okay?”
“Do I have the answer on my face?”
Bolting upright in bed with a start, Yin Xiaomeng gasped for air.
The image of her teacher’s head not being a head but a formula with a Lagrange remainder term had left a deep impression on the girl who was still just an ordinary high school student.
Especially how that damn remainder could extend tentacles, patting her cheek while muttering in a voice that gave her goosebumps—
To be honest, she felt like she was having a stress response.
“……”
“Lately…”
“Maybe I should take a good rest for a while…”
Although she vaguely remembered that she had a city-level competition to participate in these two weeks, Yin Xiaomeng felt that compared to getting less-than-perfect results…
If this continued, she would sooner or later be toyed with by those tentacled teachers covered in math formulas, English grammar, and chemical equations in her dreams, turning into a fool who only thinks about studying.
The sky outside the window was just barely getting light.
The girl sat on the bed, shifting her bottom back, leaning against the headboard to sit up straight.
The pillow on the bed almost became a cushion, but at the last moment, Yin Xiaomeng picked it up from the bedsheet and hugged it to her chest as a comfort item to enhance her sense of security.
Although she knew that those things that extended tentacles from the letters on their heads were just nightmares caused by her recent stress, still…
She was still scared.
Human bodies with “grotesque” heads… after enduring a while in her sleep, she only felt like she had fallen into the uncanny valley…
“……”
Rubbing her arm where the goosebumps hadn’t subsided, the girl inexplicably wanted to take a nice bath and scrub her skin before it was time to leave…
“Eww… it’s really gross…”
The imagined sticky, slippery feeling caused a physical reaction, and the discomfort didn’t fade with time but became more pronounced as Xiaomeng kept rubbing her arm.
Head lowered, the girl’s unfocused gaze fell on the pure white pillow.
1
2
3
She vaguely heard the slight ticking of the second hand, and the pure pillow in her arms gradually revealed lines of somewhat scrawled writing along with the girl’s memories.
‘Under the condition x=0, eˣ equals 1+x+…’
Familiar words.
Someone suddenly let out a resigned laugh.
“Then what do you suggest? It’s chasing me to kill me!”
Leaning her head back, a faint soul seemed to escape from her half-open mouth along with the movement.
…
“Class President…”
“I feel like you don’t look so good today.”
“Did your period come early?”
Staring at Yin Xiaomeng’s pale face, her best friend offered her thoughtful concern.
Although the way she spoke was a bit rude and straightforward, Yin Xiaomeng clearly didn’t have the energy to comment on her words.
Putting her shoes into the shoebox, the girl almost instinctively reached out to ruffle the hair of the child hanging on her.
She didn’t speak, just shook her head to indicate that nothing serious was wrong—
Even though her shaky body seemed ready to collapse at any moment and sleep forever, Yin Xiaomeng still forced herself not to fall here.
Even if she really couldn’t hold on and needed to sleep a little, she had to go back to the classroom…
After all, the perfect persona she had worked so hard to maintain…
She couldn’t let it completely collapse just because of a nightmare, right?
“……”
Too lazy to bend down to straighten her shoe heel, even though stepping directly on the back fabric of the shoe would cause a slight ache in her heel.
But it was better than squatting down and possibly blacking out when standing up, passing out right between the two rows of shoe racks.
If that happened, maybe the entire galaxy would no longer be suitable for living, right?
“Xiaomeng, Xiaomeng…”
“Hold my hand, I’ll take you upstairs to rest… and watch your step, remember to lift your feet at the stairs.”
Completely unaware of what had tortured her into this half-dead state, Situ Ling probably realized the urgency.
After ruling out the option of the still-closed infirmary, the only place where Xiaomeng could rest properly seemed to be the classroom desk.
And there was good news.
She could probably handle most of the morning duties that their class president, who was now leaning on her arm and practically faded to gray, did every day…
So the rest time and efficiency should be longer and higher.
But there was one bad news that couldn’t be solved for now.
Her body type could definitely be called a frail loli, and trying to support a girl at least half a head taller than her, plus carrying both their uniforms, was a bit too much.
In concrete terms, as she supported Yin Xiaomeng, who seemed to have lost her soul and was acting purely on instinct, her thin legs involuntarily began to tremble.
“……”
Really… she needs to lose weight…
Even though she liked the girl she was supporting, Situ Ling couldn’t help but feel resentment toward the weight that was testing her limits.
So heavy.
Yin Xiaomeng, are you fully leaning on me?
Come on, support yourself a little, I’m about to get crushed!
The faint fragrance that she hoped to smell in her dreams every day lingered at the tip of her nose.
The girl, barely holding on by the thought that she was “reasonably taking advantage,” had a very rich inner monologue.
“Ah… hoo…”
“Well, if you don’t put in some effort yourself…”
“…I’m going to ruthlessly squeeze your big, round, white things!”
…
In the end, she didn’t get to squeeze.
After finishing the pre-reading preparations for the girl resting on the desk, Situ Ling sat back in her seat and clenched her fist in the air somewhat reluctantly.
As if through such an action she could taste the softness she longed for—
But empty grabs only yielded air.
“Alas…”
A silent sigh.
The girl turned her head to look at Yin Xiaomeng, who had buried her whole face in her arms on the desk, and her mind uncontrollably recalled memories related to her softness and warmth…
“……”
Not knowing what she thought of, the expression that had been tinged with regret quickly melted away after a brief stiffness.
Replaced by a familiar shade of red.
“……”
The girl imitated the movement of the girl beside her, lying face down on the desk, burying her flushed cheeks in her arms.
Actually…
Swimming class was actually a really great course.
Mmhm.
It was very useful for allowing someone like her, who couldn’t swim, to gradually master the skill of swimming!
It definitely wasn’t because swimming class could…
Just as the thought half-emerged, Situ Ling quickly cut it off.
For a moment, the classroom was left with only a steady breathing sound and a series of rapid heartbeats like a drum.