He had woken up later than the others. Going to wash himself in the morning had been an embarrassing affair: his leg started stinging while he was on the chamber pot. He had to grunt and bite down on his screaming, gnashing his teeth, afraid of his shameful sounds going out of the bathroom, when he went to wash his hands. Then, Jun had come in to lower him into the bathtub.
He was carried down, as he reluctantly accepted that he wasn’t strong enough to use the crutches. But that wasn’t on his mind. He had to accept these inconveniences. And, this stupid foot, with its stupid pain.
“When do your classes start?” he asked Narumi, who had been to his room in the morning once. She was reading from a scroll, and having a bowl of rice at the same time - her breakfast was arranged in several bowls in front of her. A similar set was being prepared for him on the other side. He only had a sip of the tea and saw, on two cushions in the side of the room where the sunlight streaming through the courtyard settled in two bright spots, the two cats curled up.
“Soon,” she said. “I think really soon. You should eat fast, Kuro-nii.”
“What’s the first lesson?”
“Mathematics”
I remember mathematics. Trigonometry. Calculus. Complex analysis. That should be an easy way to begin the day.
“I hate it,” Narumi said, a big frown on her face.
“It is nice,” Kuro told her. “If taught properly.”
The professor walked in wearing an ostentatious robe. He had on a black cap, tied at the back, with the knot over his head and the two corners dangling on each side. He had a bushy moustache and a thin beard that flowed mostly from near his chin to this chest, salt and peppered with his age. He seemed every part the scholar.
“Rise,” he said, but he was looking at the two cats. “Shoo,” he said. “Student, must I tell you again and again to not have pets during class?”
“I apologise and request your forgiveness, Furuichi-sensei,” she said, almost getting up. “I will see to -”
“The cats stay,” Kuro said.
The professor turned to him. Narumi couldn’t hide her shock, and looked at him as if he had done something that was a no-no. A silence held them all in that room overlooking the garden.
He is very boring, my lord, Ylinat whispered in his mind. Might as well go and stretch myself on the lawn.
You’re just going to sleep there. Stay in the cushion. And then, he added, Keep the other one nearby as well.
The professor held a long silence. Narumi’s eyes darted from one to the other in panic. And Kuro wasn’t about to be the one to the break it. He waited.
“This is very improper,” the professor said. “You must be the Young Master. I welcome you. Mister Jun Kawabashi has just told me all about the special circumstances, that you have woken up after years. It’s a miracle of the hotoke. Of course, it’s delightful news. I must congratulate you and your family. However,” he stroked his beard, and looked around. “This is very improper. Such a thing requires your honoured father’s approval. I will not tolerate an environment where teaching is not at its optimal level.”
“Having pets around relaxes the mind,” Kuro said. “I assure you they will not be hindrances of any kind, and we will only interact with them during breaks.”
“This is most improper…” the professor began, but Jun stood at the side of the door. And he shook his head. “But, I guess we will begin. I must tell you, young master, that the lessons might be difficult for you, after such a traumatic event. Anyway, young mistress, let me look at your work from the previous evening…”
He began going through her scroll, pointing at her work, and reprimanding her for doing things correctly. She was learning to solve divisions and multiplications, and then the subject shifted to geometry. He had a very sing-song voice, and from the corner of his eye Kuro saw Kurocchi taking a long yawn.
“Now, please take your abacus, and calculate the side of this triangle.”
The professor began drawing a right triangle, and drew another point at the hypotenuse and said, “How much is this line worth? I want an exact answer.”
Things started aligning in his head, and even before he knew it, he was speaking. “Nine point eight nine nine four nine. Or rather seven multiplied by root of two.”
Another stretch of silence. The professor reluctantly took out his abacus and his fingers started moving quickly on the beads. “Yes, you are correct.” His eyes narrowed. “Explain it.”
“That’s thirty degrees over there. That’s sine of sixty, and the angle is reflected and that is cosine of thirty, and half of fourteen is seven times square root of two. And root of two is 1.41421356, approximately.”
This time the professor’s mouth was wide open. “How could you know … of these advanced techniques? Where did you learn the tables? The scrolls are worth tens of thousands of mon!”
Kuro shrugged.
The professor sat down, and scribbled a circle and another triangle, on a piece of blank paper with a brush and a pool of ink in a stone basin.
“Solve.”
Kuro picked up the brush and knew the answer before the brush made a single stroke. However, his hands shook as they struggled to draw a line. Narumi had to help him write the rest.
The professors moustaches were shaking. “Then how about ….”
Clouds covered the peaks, and the sun was playing hide and seek with them over the valley. Narumi was playing with Mimi, and Kurocchi was swishing his tail, his head over his paw and his eyes half closed.
“YOU HAVE STUDIED THE PENDULUM?” the professor screamed. “How? How is that possible?”
“I just …” Kuro looked at Kurocchi’s half closed eyes. “Know it. After I woke up, that is.”
You are not a very good influence in your sister’s education, said Kurocchi, and turned on his back and started snoring.
“I have heard of this expansion technique. What did you call this? Polynomial expansion?”
“Err, yes.”
“And you can break it into the smallest part. But, of course! It is all so clear now! To think pendulums were related to projectiles!”
“Hmm, indeed.”
“And this … what did you call it? Calculus? But indeed. It simplifies so many calculations. It is magic. Even the magi do not know about it. It is …it is wonderful.”
“Right…”
The professor started gathering his materials and scrolls. He picked up the bundles and put it into the pockets of his long sleeves.
“I will be back tomorrow. I want to discuss with you. This is a gift! A gift, I tell you! To think the younger brother of a prodigious swordsman would become a prodigy of mathematics! I must think about and investigate your claims. I will be back. Early!”
And he ran out of the room, and they could hear his footsteps receding away. “He’s a genius!” They heard him, and then the door closed.
Narumi was pouting. “I’ll go and ask if lunch has been prepared.”
After she left, Kurocchi walked up to him.
What is the lesson that we learnt today?
“I don’t know… ?”
The cat sat down and started licking its paws. Camouflage, my lord. Camouflage.
