Episode 41 – At the university auditorium

“Hey, hey, it’s that person.”
“What? That person? That person with the bad looks?”
“Oh yeah, they said he was being picked up in reverse by a very beautiful woman.”

What do you mean by reverse? Is woman picking up men a royal way?

I mean, I guess I was supposed to have been picked on in college.

This is because ever since the day Shizuku san arrived at the university, I have been getting a lot of strange looks from the students around me.

Many of the glances were of wonder, but some of them were price-gouging glances, which made me a little uncomfortable, but, hmmm, yes.
If such a beautiful girl is going to pick up a guy, they must be curious to see what it is like.

Hi, here’s the thing. Sorry I didn’t meet your expectations.

Well, it wouldn’t exactly be a pick-up, and I’d even like to know what Shizuku san is trying to get involved with me for.

That’s why I pushed forward with guts and headed for the classroom, despite the stares of the people around me.

“Oh, you’re late, Nagishiro. Help me a little”

Although I said I was late, it was still five minutes before the start of the lecture. And Professor Omori had just arrived and was preparing for her lecture.

“Press the switch on that projector over there.”

The professor gives instructions while starting up the computer.
I put my luggage in the appropriate seat and at the same time follow the instructions.

“I heard that Nagishiro was picked up by a beautiful girl.”
“…… No, that’s a hoax.”
“Really!? Then you don’t have a girlfriend yet!?”
“Why are you so happy, teacher, please don’t make your students the object of your love?”

Even though there are not 10 people in this classroom, it’s obviously not a good idea to show that kind of attitude when there are other people in this classroom. …… Well, my voice was relatively quiet, so maybe they didn’t hear me.

“He said he doesn’t have a girlfriend. ……”
“Oh, that’s not her?”
“No, that’s not her.”

I could hear them. Three girls from my group were talking.
I’m glad you’re paying attention to something that apparently doesn’t matter, though.

Professor Omori changed her attitude and looked as if nothing had happened.

“Oh, by the way, your group will stay behind after class. Got it?”
“Yes? I understand.”

I took my seat as I replied.

“You guys, break up the group.”

Professor Omori said this in a hushed voice in front of those of us gathered after class.

“Hey, Nagishiro, Kasugai. You’re the only ones writing reports.”
“Et-to, thats…..”

Kasugai is trembling as the professor stares at her.

“And Yamashiro, Sakaki, and Tagomi. You guys will lose your credits.”
“Oh, no!”
“That’s terrible!”
“Why!”

The three raise their mouths in protest, but the professor brushes them off.

“What about it? I won’t give credits to someone who can’t even write a good report. I won’t have you graduate if you can’t even write a report in your third year of college.”

It is true that recently, the three of us do not write reports anymore, and the two of us, myself and Kasugai san, have been working on a whole one by ourselves.

To my surprise, Professor Omori saw right through it.

“I can easily recognize a report written by a slob like you. Reports written by slobs are slobs.”
“Um, I think that’s an exaggeration.”

There, Yamashiro and a female student, the leader among the three who were called by name, responded directly to the professor.

“Even we are smart enough to come to this school.”
“Haa”

But the professor snickers at her protests.

“So, this university has fallen so far.”
“What do you mean by that ……?”

To Yamashiro’s quizzical question, the professor lets out a sigh before answering.

“I mean that you’ve misunderstood what it means to be smart. Being able to study is not the same as being smart.”

Professor Omori asserts that it is not.

“It’s true that most smart people can study, but the reverse is not true. People who can study are not smart.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I guess so. It’s a hard fact to accept for someone who is so obsessed with their education.”

Yamashiro frowns at the ridicule, but the professor continues without concern.

“For example, Nagishiro always completes his reports properly. Hey Nagishiro, how many hours did it take you to make this report?”
“Oh, me? Well, Kasugai san helped me for about three hours.”

I was startled by the sudden question, but I answered only what was necessary in the professor’s merciless air.

“Three hours…if two of you take three hours, divide that among five of you, and that’s a simple calculation of 72 minutes per person? Well, that’s about right. And if it takes 72 minutes to put it all together at Nagishiro’s level, it will take about 30 minutes if you do it as well as he does.”
“….!?”

Yamashiro was almost indignant at being told that my report was appropriate, but he was apparently unable to speak back strongly enough and was unsuccessful.

“So you can’t even do an assignment that would take you half an hour. That’s partly because you’re not smart enough to take more time, and partly because you’re not smart enough to even estimate 30 minutes.”

She explains in a stern tone of voice. It seems that the girls can’t argue with her, because although she is stern, she is strangely easy to understand.

“So you will lose your credits. If you really want it, the three of you will start putting together a report this week. Prove you can do it.”

Finally, Professor Omori told them so and we were to disperse.

“Hey, Nagishiro. You should write a report for us, too.”

Immediately afterward, the five of us awkwardly left the education building together and continued to talk in front of the building.

It was from Yamashiro’s suggestion.

“You say you write reports. Of course we can do it if we do it right, but it’s too much trouble.”

Apparently, Professor Omori’s talk did not reach her mind at all.
I felt pity for the professor, but I was still unable to speak back strongly with Kasugai san at my side.

“Eh, but”
“Then fine. Send me the report you wrote. I’ll change the sentence structure and stuff.”

They are showing a concessionary attitude, but nothing in particular has changed.
It seems that plagiarism in reports was forbidden by the university, but the idea was that they would not be caught anyway.

(You can even tell the difference between my report and these people’s reports, so plagiarism is easy to spot.)

What a surprise, I know that Kasugai san is also thinking and trying to refute this.
If we get involved in this, we could be expelled from school in the worst case scenario.

“I-I think that’s indeed a tough one. ……”
“What? What, you got a problem with that?”
“Because she’s going to notice it anyway. ……”
“Then why don’t you write it from scratch? If you don’t want to be noticed.”

Even though we, the people who are being stolen from, feel that we have to give consideration to them, we are dismayed by the atmosphere of Yamashiro, which does not allow us to say whether or not we want to be there.

What am I going to do, will I really have to write for them as well?
As I said, I can’t have Kasugai san help me, so that would be all by myself.

She came to me just as I was thinking about giving up to some extent.

“I’ve heard your story, Nagishiro kun?”

Aloof and out of nowhere, Mizuno Shizuku san appeared.

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