The room settled into a tense quiet, punctuated only by the nervous tapping of pens and the soft rustle of paper. The girls, immersed in the unexpected challenge, wrestled with the numbers and concepts Kyouya had thrown their way. He allowed a few minutes of this struggle, letting the pressure build, before speaking again.
"Should any of you find yourselves at an impasse," Kyouya's voice cut through the concentration, "do not hesitate to signal for assistance. While independent thought is paramount, understanding where your conceptual gaps lie is equally valuable." He paused, a subtle invitation in his tone. "I am here to clarify, not to provide answers."
He scanned the room slowly. Most of the girls either hunched deeper over their papers, unwilling to admit difficulty so soon, or cast quick, furtive glances his way, weighing the risk of appearing weak against the desire for guidance.
Then, his gaze landed on her. Himari Tennouji. The heir to the colossal Tennouji Conglomerate, a name that commanded respect and fear across the global economic landscape. She wasn't outwardly flustered like some. Her posture was poised, her expression thoughtful, yet a faint, almost imperceptible frown creased her brow as she stared at her paper.
Slowly, deliberately, Himari raised a hand, her movement graceful but firm. It wasn't a desperate wave, but a calm, assured gesture. Her eyes, cool and intelligent, met Kyouya's across the room. She didn't speak, simply held his gaze, an unspoken request in her steady demeanor.
A faint, almost imperceptible tremor of something akin to intrigue sparked within Kyouya. Most would have hesitated longer, perhaps even fumbled. But Himari, despite her apparent struggle, projected an aura of quiet confidence, demanding his attention rather than pleading for it.
Interesting, Kyouya mused internally. She wastes no time on pride. A direct approach, calculated and efficient. Just as I would expect from someone of her lineage, yet... there's a certain boldness in her quiet assertiveness.
He pushed away from his chair, moving with a fluid, unhurried grace that drew every eye in the room. He walked past rows of bent heads, ignoring the quick, jealous glances that followed him. Many girls seemed to shrink in on themselves, wishing they had been brave enough, or perhaps, simply chosen.
As Kyouya approached, Himari looked up, her expression unreadable. She gestured subtly to the empty space on the floor beside her. "Kyouya-sama," she began, her voice low and clear, carrying just enough to reach him but no further, "My current derivation for Part B is leading to a bit of a tangle when I try to link how the volume changes to how the depth changes, especially with the pool being just a big box. Could you... clarify the exact way those rates connect?"
A wave of palpable jealousy swept through the other participants. Whispers barely audible permeated the room. "Why her?" one girl muttered under her breath, "She's probably just pretending to get special attention." Another scoffed, "Of course, the Tennouji heir gets a private lesson." Ayaka, however, remained oblivious, her pen scratching furiously as she wrestled with her own calculations, completely absorbed. For her, the problem itself was the only rival that mattered.
Kyouya, acutely aware of the simmering envy, felt a flicker of satisfaction. This was precisely the kind of dynamic he sought to observe. He crouched beside Himari, his lean frame surprisingly agile. His eyes scanned her paper, taking in her notes, her initial setup, and the point where her logic seemed to falter. Her equations, though containing a mistake, showed a clear attempt at a higher-level understanding, not just rote memorization.
Intriguing indeed, his thoughts intensified. She is seeking the 'why' behind the 'how.' A mind that dissects its own process, identifying the conceptual gap. A mind capable of true self-reflection, even under pressure. This goes beyond mere intelligence; it speaks to a certain intellectual honesty. This might prove to be very, very useful.
"Your initial setup is good, Himari," Kyouya murmured, his voice now even lower, a private conversation between the two of them amidst the sea of struggling minds. "The hiccup isn't in your understanding of how things change, but in how you're handling what doesn't change. Think of it this way: the pool's length and width are fixed, right? They don't stretch or shrink as the water level goes up or down."
He tapped a finger gently near her equation for volume. "So, when the volume of water changes, it's only because the height is changing. The length and width are just constant multipliers. It's like finding how fast a stack of coins grows if you add one every second; the base of the stack stays the same, only its height changes. When you're looking at the rate of change, those fixed dimensions simply carry over as a constant factor."
He straightened slightly, allowing her a moment to process. "Does that clarify the relationship between how fast the volume changes and how fast the height changes?"
Himari's intelligent eyes widened almost imperceptibly as Kyouya's explanation clicked into place. The analogy of the growing coin stack, simplistic yet profound, cut through her mental block with unnerving precision. She gave a small, crisp nod, a flicker of understanding replacing the previous frown. "Yes, Kyouya-sama. That clarifies it entirely. Thank you." Her voice, always controlled, held a genuine note of relief.
As she looked up at him, still crouched beside her, a strange sensation prickled through her. His proximity was unexpected, his presence a quiet, intense pressure. She had always prided herself on her composure, her ability to remain detached and rational in any situation, a cornerstone of her identity as a Tennouji. Yet, being this close to him, feeling the subtle shift in the air around him, a peculiar warmth bloomed in her chest.
It wasn't a dizzying infatuation, no. Himari dismissed such foolishness immediately. It was... a jolt. A sudden, unwelcome awareness of his lean, almost predatory grace, the unsettling depth of his gaze, the quiet power that radiated from him. Her heart, usually a steady, predictable rhythm, gave a single, distinct beat against her ribs—a beat that was a fraction too hard, a fraction too fast.
She straightened her posture almost imperceptibly, a subtle defensive mechanism. Her chin lifted, and her eyes, though still holding his, hardened slightly. This was simply an intellectual challenge, a logical query. Nothing more. Her family's legacy, the formidable weight of the Tennouji name, demanded unwavering composure, a fortress of pride against anything that might compromise her calculated rationality. She would not be swayed by mere proximity, or by the unsettling brilliance of a mind that seemed to see right through hers.
"Excellent," Kyouya murmured, seemingly unaware of the internal turmoil he'd just sparked. He straightened up, his shadow momentarily falling over her paper before receding. His gaze flickered across her face for an instant, a barely perceptible pause, before he turned to survey the rest of the room.
She got it, Kyouya observed internally, a surge of satisfaction displacing the more mundane thoughts. And the immediate reassertion of her composure, that barely perceptible tremor before the steel façade snapped back into place... fascinating. Her intellect grasps the solution quickly, but her pride, her ingrained conditioning, fights against even the slightest acknowledgment of vulnerability or influence. A formidable mind, layered with complex defenses. Precisely the kind that yields the most intriguing data.
He moved away, leaving Himari to swiftly complete her calculations, her initial discomposure now buried beneath a renewed, fiercely concentrated focus. The quiet envy of the other girls returned, unnoticed by Himari, but acutely perceived by Kyouya.
The game, he noted, was becoming even more intricate.