Fifteen minutes into chemistry class. Teacher Kadowaki wrote the redox reaction formula on the blackboard. The white chalk made a sharp, rhythmic sound. Mao Mao kept her textbook open, staring blankly at the teacher's hand. （……The coefficients don't match） The hydrogen ions on the left side were insufficient. Two more were needed. She'd confirmed this reaction formula countless times while decocting medicinal herbs—there was no way to get it wrong. The teacher set down the chalk and started to say, "So, write down the characteristics of this reaction in your notes——" when Mao Mao slowly raised her hand. "[serious]The coefficients are wrong" The classroom fell silent. "[serious]The hydrogen ions on the left side—you need two more. Without adding 2 H⁺, the charges won't balance" Teacher Kadowaki turned back to the blackboard and stared at it for about ten seconds. Then, face flushed red, he said "……Yeah, that's right. Thanks" while starting to rewrite with chalk. No one said anything. The boy next to Mao Mao whispered to the girl in front of him. "[whispers]……Is she actually right?" "[whispers]The teacher's fixing it, so she must be……" "[whispers]First time I've seen someone correct the teacher three days after transferring" Mao Mao caught the conversation from the corner of her ear and rewrote the correct reaction formula in her notebook. After class, someone else said in a low voice. "She was talking about decocting medicinal herbs, right……?" "What? Normal high school students don't know that kind of stuff, do they?" Well, it was the usual thing. Mao Mao pulled out her observation notebook from her desk drawer. ──── By lunch break, the rumor had spread beyond the classroom to the entire grade. "The transfer student pointed out the teacher's mistake in the chemistry formula" traveled through the hallway like a game of telephone and reached all the way to the student council room on the first floor of the main building. The student council room was about 25 square meters. Four long tables lined up, eight pipe chairs. A white whiteboard. Outside the window, the large ginkgo tree in the courtyard was visible. At the very back of the room, Jinshi was typing on a laptop keyboard. Long jet-black hair, deep crimson eyes. Even sitting, you could tell he was tall. The man who became student council president with a record 87 percent of votes in Koushi Academy's history, but now he was frowning slightly between his brows while looking at the budget table for the Koushi Festival. One of the secretaries poked his head through the door and told him what he'd overheard. "……Really?" Jinshi looked up from the laptop. "Corrected Teacher Kadowaki's chemistry formula on day three?" "And the reason was 'I learned it from the oxidation reaction when decocting medicinal herbs'" "[surprised]Medicinal herbs?" The secretary nodded with a troubled expression. Jinshi closed the laptop. The sound of the chair scraping echoed through the room. "[serious]Year 2, Class 3—where is it" "Huh? Third floor——wait, President, you're not going yourself!?" Jinshi was already standing. ──── When Jinshi appeared in the hallway of Year 2, Class 3, the first to sense something unusual was the group of girls in front of the classroom. One of them spun around and froze. "……Huh?" "……Huh?" "Huh!? Jinshi senpai!?" The next moment, girls swarmed to the classroom window. Six of them pressed against the glass at once, looking down at the hallway. One of them pressed a handkerchief to her face and sat down saying "I can't, his face is too beautiful, my eyes hurt." Jinshi was completely used to this reaction. He didn't stop for even a second, just let his gaze slide into the classroom. Through the gap between the six girls crowded at the window, he could see a seat at the back of the classroom. Black hair in a bob cut. Faint freckles. Pale gray eyes. While everyone else had gathered at the wall to look out at the hallway, that student alone was at her seat, turning pages in an observation notebook. Her expression didn't change at all. Jinshi opened the classroom door. There was a thud somewhere. The handkerchief girl apparently collapsed in earnest. "Mao Mao" Only one person turned her face in the direction of the name. All the other girls froze thinking their name had been called—the complete opposite of Mao Mao, who looked up from her notebook and glanced at Jinshi for just one second. "[serious]Is there something you need?" A small shriek came from the girls frozen in the hallway. "She just talked normally……" "Her expression didn't change……" "Is she human?" Jinshi looked slightly taken aback, but quickly raised the corner of his mouth and entered the classroom. "[serious]I heard you corrected the chemistry formula. Is it true?" "[serious]Yes" "[serious]Why?" "[serious]Because it was wrong" "……Well, that's true, but——" For a moment, something amused flickered in the depths of Jinshi's eyes. "[sarcastic]Don't you feel anything looking at my face?" All the surrounding girls held their breath. Mao Mao, still holding her notebook, looked at Jinshi's face directly this time—for a longer moment, three or four seconds perhaps. No one had ever looked at Jinshi's face with that kind of gaze. Not overwhelmed, not flustered, but like observing a specimen—quiet and serious. While the surrounding girls turned to stone with jealousy, Mao Mao opened her mouth. "[serious]Your bone structure is well-balanced. Close to the golden ratio of facial proportions. The spacing between your nasal bridge and eyes approximates 1 to 1.618" Silence. "[serious]……Does that serve any purpose?" Jinshi froze. He couldn't tell if she was complimenting him or analyzing him. At least it wasn't "beautiful" or "cool" or "my heart raced." Golden ratio. Proportions. Purpose. Heat rose to his cheeks. （……Why am I——right now） "[cold]……You really are strange" With only that, Jinshi disappeared into the hallway. Walking quickly, but still just barely not running. The classroom left behind couldn't say anything for about twenty seconds. ──── Back in the student council room, Jinshi stood in front of the coffee maker. He set a cup and pressed the button. Coffee dripped. （Bone structure is well-balanced. Close to the golden ratio of facial proportions） He'd never received a response like that. He reached for the cup——his fingertip caught on it. The cup tipped over. Coffee spilled generously onto the desk documents. "……!" He frantically pulled out tissues and pressed them down. The corner of the budget confirmation form turned brown. "President……your face isn't red, is it?" The secretary was standing at the door before he knew it. "[cold]It's not red" "But——" "[cold]It's not red" The secretary said "……Yes" and quietly closed the door. Jinshi pressed the wet documents with tissues while looking at the large ginkgo tree outside the window. In the midday light, yellow leaves swayed. （She asked if it serves any purpose） No one had ever asked him that. ──── After school. A handwritten note was taped to the infirmary door. "I need to see Mao Mao ——Raihan" Mao Mao read the note once, then twice, and reluctantly headed to the infirmary. When she opened the door, Raihan was sitting on a round stool next to the bed. White coat, thin glasses, a fountain pen in his chest pocket. Narrow eyes, a face that was hard to read. A part-time health instructor who came to Koushi Academy only three days a week—Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday—and apparently held a doctorate in pharmacology. Raihan pointed to a vinyl bag on the desk. It contained houttuynia. The one Mao Mao had hung to dry under the bed the other day. "[cold]Your drying method is unusual" "Hanging vertically is standard, but you've arranged them diagonally at 45 degrees on a rope" Raihan narrowed his eyes behind his glasses. "This method isn't in the textbooks" Mao Mao sat down on a chair. "[serious]It suppresses the volatilization of active ingredients. At a 45-degree angle, direct sunlight doesn't hit as much——" She stopped mid-sentence. Explaining further felt like it would backfire with this person. The more knowledge she showed, the more questions would follow. Raihan continued as if he'd been waiting for it. "[cold]Your knowledge far exceeds what a high school student should know. Who taught you?" Mao Mao's gaze dropped for just a moment. "[serious]My grandmother" She answered briefly and offered nothing more. Raihan was silent for a while, looking at Mao Mao. She thought she'd be pressed further. But Raihan pulled out an old memo from his pocket and started writing something. The sound of the pen moving was the only thing in the infirmary. "[cold]I see. Come again" That was all. Mao Mao stood up. When she put her hand on the door, she glanced at Raihan's hand for a moment. The characters "Mao Mao" on the memo. Below that, something else was written, but she couldn't read it from her angle. Mao Mao closed the door. She stood in the hallway for a moment. （What was he writing?） She didn't know. Only an annoying premonition remained, faintly. ──── Crossing the courtyard in the evening, she heard footsteps behind her. "[serious]Wait" She turned around. Jinshi was there, a stack of documents in one hand, his long hair catching the evening sun. His expression was slightly stiffer than this afternoon. "[serious]Starting today, you're helping with student council chores. Come" Mao Mao considered the structure of that sentence for a moment. "[serious]Why?" "[serious]We're short-handed. Your chemistry formula was accurate, and you don't seem stupid. You're the right person for the job" The reason was at least logically sound. But the tips of Jinshi's ears were slightly red. Mao Mao didn't notice. She just thought "That's forceful." "[serious]……Understood" One leaf from the ginkgo tree fell, fluttering down. ──── Brought to the student council room, Mao Mao looked around the space. Four long tables. Whiteboard. Coffee maker. The large ginkgo tree outside the window. And a bookcase against the wall——with two locks. A padlock and another keyhole on the doorknob. Jinshi explained. "[serious]Only I and the advisor, Kataoka-sensei, can open the bookcase. Even the vice president Rihaku doesn't have a key. We're strict about key management" "[serious]That's thorough" "Everything from the Koushi Festival budget approvals to project permits is in there. If anything happened, the entire festival would stop" The Koushi Festival was the academy's cultural festival held the second weekend of November every year. It drew over 4,000 visitors and was a large-scale event with the student council overseeing everything. The preparation period was three weeks, and they were just before that now. Mao Mao could sense from the air in the room what weight was on Jinshi's shoulders. The secretary came in carrying a stack of printouts. "[serious]Could you arrange these by date……?" Mao Mao silently took them. She arranged them while checking dates. While her hands moved, there wasn't much to think about. She didn't dislike this kind of simple work. Half her mind was free to continue thinking about medicinal herb component analysis. Jinshi stood in front of the coffee maker, pouring coffee into a new cup. He glanced over. Just briefly. Mao Mao didn't notice. She was focused on checking the dates on the printouts. Jinshi glanced again. The secretary pretended not to see. Outside the window, the large ginkgo tree was bathed in evening sun, turning golden. Light came through the glass, warming the documents to a warm color. Mao Mao looked at it blankly. （Not a bad view） She'd grown too used to being alone. With each transfer, isolation. Talk about medicinal herbs and people would pull away. It became normal. But the air here——somehow, just a little, it felt easier to breathe. She didn