Tapping her pen against her desk, Sei stared at the clock on the other side of the large lecture hall. That demon must have figured out a way to slow down time in this godforsaken room. What the hell is he even talking about? Why did I pick Physical Anthropology as an elective?
The professor, Hijikata Toshizou, lectured on. He then paused, looked around the room, and rolled his eyes. "What, are all of you hung over? Yes, guy wearing sunglasses indoors, I can tell that you are on some stupid social media site, looking at pictures of your latest inebriated escapades. I'll make sure that your TA staples instructions on how to drop this course when they grade your next assignment," he said, and then smirked.
"Speaking of grades, your first exams have been graded. The average was a 65."
As the room filled with whispers and groans, Sei swallowed hard. Damn it! I knew that I should have studied more! Wait, I didn't think it was that hard…there's still hope!
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe some of you would have done better if you paid less attention to out drinking one another and more attention to, oh, I don't know, going to class and taking notes," Hijikata said as he erased the board.
Once he was satisfied with the board, he turned to face the class. "However, for the first time since I've been teaching this class, one of you not only made a perfect score, but you also pointed out a mistake on the exam," he said, irritation beginning to cross his features.
"I wasn't going to originally give you extra credit, but your TA managed to persuade me to, so you scored a 105. Everyone else earned an additional two points as well. You can thank him for that, not me. Considering that the second exam averages have historically been in the 50's, I suggest that you thank him relatively soon. Now leave."
Sei grinned. I knew marking that mistake was a good move.
She flipped through her notebook, pulled out the syllabus, and skimmed it for her TA's office location and hours. His office hours start in 15 minutes. If I run, I bet I can catch him before anyone else does!
And with that, she unceremoniously shoved her notebook into her backpack, and then sprinted out of the building.
Running across campus, she ignored the strange looks people were giving her. She was too busy debating on how she should approach her TA. 'I'm sorry to bother you, and I promise that I won't take long.' No, that makes me sound like a telemarketer. 'I just wanted to thank you for—'
Lost in thought, she slammed into the person walking in front of her, sending the papers they were holding into the air.
Horrified, she fell to her knees in an effort to help them pick up the papers. "I'm so sorry! I was trying to get to my TA's office hours, and I wasn't paying attention, and I'm so sorry," she said, tears beginning to well in her eyes.
This is so embarrassing. I'm such an idiot. Are they laughing? I can't even look at them. Hey, this sheet looks…familiar. Wait, I just turned something like this in—OH NO.
At that moment, it occurred to her that not only was the person she just tackled her own teaching assistant, but he was also laughing. Her face flushed, she cradled it in her hands. "O-okita-sensei, I'm so, so, so, so, sorry!"
Souji chuckled. "Tominaga-san, it's a pleasure running into you!"
