Just one lesson || Kazuscara

Chapter 6

My apologies for the very late update! I was very busy with my summatives, but here it is!

Thank you so much MetaKirby2 for helping me proofread.

Once again thank you all for the support. I can't imagine getting 3K reads in such a short period of time.

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"Mr. Zhongli?"

His mouth reacts before his brain can properly process the sight in front of him.

Mr. Zhongli. He is the other person in the room.

It doesn't make sense.

How does he know Childe? Although Scaramouche professes he isn't the brightest bulb in the room, he knows better than to assume Mr. Zhongli and Childe's conversation is anything but innocuous.

"Scaramouche, it's getting late now. You should go home." Mr. Zhongli says as he extends his hand out, "You should be careful when crouching under tables."

Scaramouche feels an ominous premonition well up in his heart. Is Mr. Zhongli not going to ask him about why he's in the classroom, which is clearly off-limits after class?

"Ah, if I recall correctly, Kazuha told me he's going to tutor you on Friday." Mr. Zhongli says, "I'm glad you're showing initiative in your learning, Scaramouche."

"Yeah." Scaramouche answers, not knowing what to say. Did Mr. Zhongli just do the classic topic switcharoo?

"Whatever reason it may be, you still ended up taking this course. It's difficult and definitely not suitable for everyone, but it's worthwhile to give it a shot. To achieve some new insights."

"Yeah."

"I heard from Mr. Venti that you have great artistic talent too."

"I...wouldn't say that." Scaramouche hesitates. He is far from greatness. From his level.

"Well, however you perceive your talent, you'd still consider yourself an artist at heart, yes?"

"...Yes."

Now that he thought about it, could he be considered an artist...or a true artist, in any sense?

"Then that's fine." Mr. Zhongli grins, "As an artist, no matter what you create, there's a certain life to your piece. Even if the final product is a snapshot of an object at a specific point in time, it's still anything but static."

"Consider this. All the maths you have learned up until now, such as geometry and algebra, assume the world is static. When motion is considered, it is often linear instead of being varied. Do you still recall displacement and velocity?"

"Yeah." Why is Mr. Zhongli keeping him here? He just wants to go home.

"Great. So if you recall, all the displacement graphs you learned so far are expressed only as linear  functions..."

Scaramouche groans inwardly. His mind is already exhausted from painting for hours. The last thing he needs to process is Mr. Zhongli's pseudo-lecture.

"...In Calculus, however, we take to account how the same object can behave differently with respect to time."

"Ah, I see." Scaramouche nods, feigning understanding in whatever the heck Mr. Zhongli is spouting.

"No matter," Mr. Zhongli grins. He must've seen Scaramouche's uncertainty, clear as day, "I'm confident Kazuha can explain the concepts you have trouble with."