Huff... Huh...

Dad, can we go again from the top? I want to make up for lost time as quickly as I can...

Okay, got it. Here we—

Dinner's ready, you two!

Oh... Whoa!

Is it that time already?

But also, did you make dinner this time, Mom? That's unusual.

I did. I got home early, so I figured I'd cook for once.

To be fair, your father did most of the prep work. I just did the frying.

Speaking of which, tonight we're having tonkatsu! They turned out extra crispy.

Tonkatsu?! Yay!

Extra crispy, you say?

I'm looking forward to that.

Yes, they should be nice. By the way, An, well done on getting through your supplementary classes.

Oh, uh... Thanks!

Sorry for making you both worry.

Hehe, we were never worried for you.

Huh?

We didn't tell you, but... Your homeroom teacher told us, “If she puts in the effort, I will make sure she doesn't get held back.”

Seriously?! You could've told me...

No way. It was a good opportunity for you to put some effort into studying.

I mean, we all have our strengths and weaknesses, and that can't be helped... But you've had a chance to reflect now, right?

Yeah...

*Sigh*

If only I was a good student like you two were...

Like we were?

Yeah. Like, you're a teacher, Mom. And Dad, you always had good grades, right?

Hehe. Come to think of it, I've never told you, have I?

The truth is, I was once a bad student.

What? You were?

That's right. Back in junior high, I didn't see the point of school, and I never put in any effort.

Then, when I reached high school, I was in the same boat as you, An. My teacher came to me and said, “There's no way you're getting into second year like this!”

Then, why did you want to become a teacher?

I'll tell you why. I had a very talented teacher.

That teacher didn't just bring my grades up, but actually taught me to enjoy studying.

And so I thought, “I want to be a teacher like that one day.”

Really?

I totally thought you had always had good grades. Unlike me...

Still, enjoying studying...

I think going through all this has taught me that...

Really?

Yeah. I had these study sessions with my friends to get us through the supplementary classes.

At first, I didn't understand Classical Japanese at all. It was like an alien language to me.

But once I started understanding it, I could start finding similarities in how me and those ancient people thought.

And that felt...kinda fun.

In that case, An, you've gained something far more important than good grades.

I'm sure your teacher would be beaming with pride to know their student feels that way.

I'm sure it's been tough, but you've worked so hard!

Thanks, Mom!

I promise my grades will—

Uh... I guess school will get harder next year, so maybe I can't make any promises about that...

But, I will keep studying hard!

Hang on, while we're here talking, our dinner's getting cold! We can't let that extra crispy tonkatsu go soggy!

You're right. Let's go home.

Yeah!