Gakuhō Asano reads the "Yomiuri Shimbun" news article with great interest. Evidently, two high school students had recently died under the care of a former colleague of Asano. From what Asano could remember, the teacher mentioned in the article was a caring man and had a knack for programming but Asano had only met him a stark few times. Nevertheless, Asano mentally reminds himself to send a letter of condolences to the unfortunate educator. Asano glances up at his small class to check how his students are doing during their independent study time. Earlier that day, Ikeda had spectacularly failed his daily assassination attempt and dutifully scans over his mathematics notes. Nakai is at his own desk as well and appears to be reading a textbook over geology. Asano examines the reflection of the pungy boy's glasses to confirm that he is indeed skimming through the textbook and not one of his various comic books. Pleased with the progress of his male students, Asano turns his attention to the only girl in the class. Mori differs from the other students in that she seems to be more frustrated. The smile usually plastered on her face is exchanged for a scowl. Her eyebrows knit tightly together as her eyes scan the paper laid out in front of her. Asano neatly folds the newspaper and places it at the top of the stack of others gathered from around the globe before rising from his chair to assist his student.
"Good morning, Mori. What seems to be the problem?" Asano greets his pupil with a warm smile. Mori replies with a mumbled greeting before voicing her complaints.
"I just don't understand this, Mr. Asano!" Mori whines as Asano peers over her shoulder to see what she's working on.
The sheet that has caused Mori to stumble is about the plot pyramid that Asano had introduced to the class the previous day. The plot pyramid includes an exposition where characters and setting are introduced. Events that are categorized under the rising action. After the rising action is the climax followed by the falling action/resolution of the story. Surrounding the diagram of the pyramid is some of Mori's writing that has been scratched out to the point that it's impossible to decipher what was originally written.
"Mori, I need you to explain to me what you're having trouble with so I can help you. Merely complaining will not solve the issue." Asano advises with his ever-calm voice.
"I get what each piece is individually. The rising action is what leads to the climax. The climax is the 'height' of the story with the falling action being what ends the story but I don't understand where the division of each event is."
The alarm clock that Asano had set up on his desk to signal the dismissal of class interrupted the teacher before he could properly assist his student. As any good teacher has done, Asano has memorized the weekly schedules of his students so he doesn't even bother to ask Mori if she is available later that evening because he already knows that she will be attending piano practice in forty-five minutes followed by soccer practice several hours later. Asano takes a couple of steps back to allow Mori to pack up her things into her book bag. With the bag open, Asano takes the opportunity to examine the contents for anything that may assist his struggling student. The first item that Asano notices is what appears to be an American novel bearing the name "Harry Potter: Chamber of Secrets". Now that he's looking at the book, Asano recalls an instance where Mori and Nakai had a discussion about the first Harry Potter book. Armed with this new knowledge, Asano dismisses his class and quickly leaves the school to capitalize on his opportunity.
Asano settles into his favorite chair in the privacy of his study. Although he did not anticipate spending his evening reading a novel meant for pre-teens, he understands that educators must make sacrifices for their students; even if that means taking time out of your day to read a book that you have no interest in whatsoever. Reminding himself that he is doing this for Mori, Asano reluctantly cracks open the Harry Potter book that he had purchased from a book store on the way home.
The next morning, Asano finishes the preparations for the first section of class. With his morning tasks complete, Asano takes a seat at his desk to await his first student. Mori comes through the door roughly forty-five seconds after Asano had taken his seat. The two exchange greetings before Asano takes up his "special material" so that he can continue where he had left off yesterday afternoon once Mori has found her way to her desk.
"Are you still struggling with the plot pyramid worksheet, Mori?" Asano asks with a caring smile. Mori silently answers her teacher's question with a scowl at the thought of the material she was uncharacteristically unable to wrap her head around.
Instead of replying, Mori's eyes dart down to the papers in Asano's hands. "What do you have in your hand?" Mori asks, curious as to why he would not just leave the documents at his desk.
Asano spreads the sheets out on Mori's desk before explaining, "As an educator, it is my duty to ensure that my students have the opportunity to learn all of the material I present. Since you were struggling, I took the liberty to relate this subject to something you have prior knowledge of."
Mori glances up at Asano's beaming face before peeking at the papers in front of her. Asano can't help but feel a sense of pride when a giddy grin spreads across Mori's face as she reads the material of the papers. The first paper is a brief handwritten summary of the book's story. Off to its right is a paper that was originally identical to the worksheet that had caused Mori so much stress. However, Asano's worksheet is completed and details all of the events that are essential to the story.
As Mori reads the kanji, its like she can physically feel her brain unravel the concepts that make up the plot pyramid. Asano had cited Page 53 as being when the story had truly begun. On that page, Aunt Petunia informs Harry that they have always been aware of his "abnormal" abilities and mistreat him because of it. The drama involving Harry and Snape is also included in the rising action with Snape expressing his distaste for Harry being one instance. The other is when Harry and his friends misperceive a plot between Snape and Voldemort to kill Harry. Continuing on, Mori remembers how difficult it was for her to pinpoint when the climax of a story would be but Asano's explanation of when Harry is locked in combat with Quirrell, and by extension Voldemort, makes so much sense. Now that she has a clearly defined climax to the story, it seems natural that the first event composing the falling action is when Harry discovers that he can injure Quirrell by touching him. The battle concludes when Dumbledore saves Harry and explains how powerful Harry actually is. Finally, Mori comes to the realization that the resolution is more than just the last major event in the story. Asano explains in the paper that Harry and his friends recognizing that Snape didn't have any ill intentions for them is important to the story as a whole. Additionally, House Gryffindor beating House Slytherin carries weight because it shows that Harry and his House have gained the respect of their peers.
Mori takes a moment to sit back and process the information. Confident that she has digested all of the information, she quickly reaches into her bag to retrieve the worksheet and the book that Asano provided to them to complete the assignment that had tripped her up.
With his job now complete, Asano returns to his desk to check the time on the alarm clock. The clock face reads 8:27; the time that Ikeda and Nakai would likely be engaged in a heated debate about the merits of their favorite stands or whatever the two boys called them. Within a few minutes, a mocking laugh and shrill yells resonate through the hallways and into the classroom. Triple-checking his notes, Asano is confident that he is ready to teach his students several days' worth of material in a single schoolday all while foiling whatever half-cooked plan Ikeda has prepared to get out of class.