After Junko's birthday, there are more than two months to the end of the year.

And in December, there is a final exam for the first semester, like many other schools, the review and preparation of Ikusaba is also deployed urgently.

All students in the Main Course have to add a practice test as well, they have to present their work to the judges. Since this exam will be 15 days earlier than the paper test, which is December 10, everyone must prepare before the deadline.

A week before, Kiyo was still wondering, couldn't think of what to do.

What to do now?...

Kiyo looked around the house.

Then he looked down at the desk again. Only eraser and ballpoint pen.

What would happen if I combine these two?..

He imagined a ballpoint pen with an eraser on the bottom like the pencil he used to use. No, then there's nothing special about it, how can it erase ink, and if it's combined like that, it's no different from a pencil-

Wait.

Kiyo remembers when he was an assassin, there were times when he used alcohol to remove the names of people he knew from the black list, he didn't like having to repeat the past, but what if his past experience could help him in this case?

White paper... erase...

White... erase..

Ah, that's right.

He realized one thing, people rarely use alcohol to erase writing errors, but alcohol often goes up in price quite high, inconvenient for people. If we look at Kiyo's notebook, there are pages that have lines everywhere, the handwriting is really bad (although still readable), and using alcohol to erase it will definitely smudge the notebook.

So there must be something white, meaning the same color of paper, over the damaged text.

Pen... eraser... delete....

Eraser pen..

That's right, eraser pen! Admittedly, this country has no such thing, so he took a scratch paper, and tried to draw what he could imagine what it looked like, what was in the core, and how to use it.

Almost two or three days later (after many tests in the field) that he had a complete design. It will be a pen, the tip is white, the body is blue, there is a way to cover it to prevent ink damage, all made of flexible plastic. What about ink? There are three main components:

It is a coating material (pigment) with about 50% of the main material being white coating, the processing material (plastic) is responsible for correcting the paper surface pigmentation and smoothing and smoothing the erased surface. And finally, a solvent to dissolve the treatment material, as well as dry the paper surface when erasing.

Kiyo went to school to borrow plastic and the above three materials, then proceeded to assemble them.

It could be dropped on his hand or the pen's shape does not resemble to the design, but Kiyo was not discouraged, he even forgot to eat, so Ryota had to call several times. After two and a half days, he was done (including his planning of the presentation).

Now he will experiment on paper, first his notebook. Kiyo shook the pen a few times before trying to apply it to a damaged area.

Then wait for it to dry.

Now he can't see the words anymore. See, more convenient than a bottle of alcohol, this small pen can be easily put in a pencil case.

Kiyo put the pen cap back on, then went out to find Sunny.

He's doing something with the computer. He must be coding something.

I shouldn't bother him..

Kiyo brought some money, then put on his shoes, and went out into the street.

He rewarded himself for making his eraser pen with a hot potato pie. Damn, eating it in winter naturally warms up the whole body.

Especially sitting on the sidewalk.

It's strangely peaceful. Sitting like this, I don't know if I'll be discovered..

But for the past few years, since escaping from the killer camp, it's been so peaceful. Maybe it's a stepping stone to bad things later...?

Thinking of that, Kiyo suddenly felt anxious. For instance, what if they found out he was here...

So from now on, he has to prepare himself mentally for it....

***

The next day is that fateful day.

Presentation! Must say among the crowd! Although giving presentations was not difficult for Kiyo, speaking in public is a bit...

Kiyo stood in front of the mirror of the waiting room and said to himself:

It's okay Kiyo, everything will be fine, you can do it. Our country doesn't have a thing called an eraser pen, isn't that a pride when you invent something?

Just calm down, it's okay...

But Kiyo felt even more pressure. He was afraid he would fail the test.

He picked up the script and looked it over.

"What's wrong, Kiyo?"

"The fu- Ah, is that Sunny?"

"You seem tense."

"The presentation is about to come and I can't be nervous?" - Kiyo held the paper tight.

"Sorry. But it'll be okay, I'll be here, it's your first time giving a presentation so you'll be a little shaky." - Sunny smiled.

"But are you confident enough?"

"Not really..."

"Then I'll still be with you."

People call Kiyo.

He picked up the erasers that he had made extra. Kiyo had to get up at three in the morning to finish all the pens.

He took a deep breath and opened the door. Meanwhile, he heard Sunny say:

"All the best."

Kiyo stood in the middle of the room, greeted and introduced himself. Then he started giving presentations.

He also created interaction with his listeners by letting them try the eraser pens.

"How do you feel?"

"To be honest, our country has never had a product like this before, and maybe the world doesn't. This is a great and creative invention of a young person in our country! I give it a thumbs up! This guy has the highest score, 10 points." - said an elderly judge.

"But we have to test this product for a few more days, can't decide on this guy right away." - Another judge interrupted.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about longevity. I'm afraid it won't be for long. But that part won't deduct too much for Kiyo, because it's true that this world doesn't have a real eraser pen yet."

Kiyo was silent.

"But did he really do it?" - Said another.

"Sir, it's true that I designed and assembled it. If you don't believe it, you can come to check it out at my house." - Kiyo is adamant.

"This guy is the Mechanical Engineering Internship Student, isn't he? It makes sense for him to be the one who made it."

In the end, the judges agreed that Kiyo's entries should be kept separate because they still have to study their longevity.

Sunny's turn. He has to talk about his latest educational game studio and production team.

Everyone else, one by one, went in.

Kanryo has to discuss a mutant flower of his, but a bit too passionate, minus half one point.

Genjitsu has to talk about the newly discovered insect, but he seemed a little distant, minus half a point.

Junko presented the book she recently published.

Kaori discussed some kind of treatment.

Tomoyo had to talk about her new song and play it in front of the examiners.

Mattia talked about the recent rice yield loss problem. Like in the case of Genjitsu, he lost half a point.

Nam discussed the meaning of a symbol he drew, but he has a slight stutter, minus one point.

Angie talks about a garment made of a particular fabric but is overly conceited, minus two points.

Finally finished, everyone went out one by one.

"Damn it, how could I lose two points?"

"The topic you prepared was good, but you were too arrogant.." - Kaori said.

"Who borrowed you to speak?!" - Angie screamed.

"Hey, you asked first..." - Kaori sobbed again.

Just then, Charlotte entered:

"Hello, everyone! I've listened to your presentations, everyone did a good job!"

"But we also have mistakes." - Sunny said.

"If you can't do it then put it away, if you have any shops, go bankrupt." - Angie said proudly.

"Angie!" - Everyone in unison.

Mattia quietly left the class, walking out into the yard.

"Eh- Mattia!" - Tomoyo followed.

Mattia returned to his farm, sitting at the edge of the "house" of straw, grain, and bran.

Tomoyo also made it to the farm, but did not see Mattia sitting in the tree as usual, so she had to climb in.

"Tomoyo... why are you following me?" - Mattia was holding his face and his knees.

"Because you went out. Actually, when you were giving a presentation just now, I noticed a sad, worried look on your face, did something happen? Besides, you ran away after Angie said it. "- Tomoyo said worriedly.

"Do you also know how to read emotions like Junko?"

"Not as good as her..."

"But I won't say it. Because I have nothing to say."

Tomoyo sighed and sat down next to Mattia. He still didn't look up.

Suddenly Tomoyo grabbed his shoulder.

"What?" - Mattia looked up slightly.

"I'm sending a hug. Don't be sad."

"That doesn't make any sense. In general, you want to know why I'm aloof from everyone? Why don't you ask Genjitsu? Does he make any difference?" - said Mattia bitterly.

"Junko told me."

"You guys are indeed close." Mattia smiled faintly.

The two fell silent.

Mattia just looked up, sitting and looking at the chickens, they kept squealing, probably about to lay.

His eyes had a distant, sad look. He mumbled something unclear.

"What?" - Tomoyo overheard.

"It's nothing. I was going to tell you why I'm distanced from everyone else, but I haven't trust you yet...."

Tomoyo was a bit disappointed:

"If you don't trust me, why elect me as class president?"

"Ah, yeah." - Mattia retracted his previous statement.

Then Mattia tried to recall his entire story and began to retell it.

"Listen carefully."

"Okay."

"Do you know the farm in the suburbs?"

Tomoyo frowned, then "ah":

"The farm which was the biggest in the city?"

"That's right. It used to be my house. But you know why it's not there anymore?"

"I only heard it disappeared for almost half a year now, but I don't know why... My hometown is in Machi town."

"Machi..? It's in Nanami province, isn't it? Then you must be new here, but that incident, everyone in the city here knows about it."

"Then why had that farm gone..?"

Mattia cleared his throat, then began to talk:

"Here. My father is the owner of the farm, my mother passed away when I was a few months old. My father and I live by farming, raising livestock, and trading agricultural products. It must be said that my family was quite rich. Because of my early exposure to agriculture, I was considered a smart and capable kid (I don't think so either)."

Mattia paused for a moment, to see if Tomoyo was paying attention. Seeing that she was still here, he continued:

"My dad loved me very much. He took my mom's role, taking on all the responsibility of teaching and taking good care of me. You see, he was a person who was close to me, but earlier this year..."

Mattia paused, trying to hide his emotions, covering his mouth.

"Mattia, are you okay? If it's too hard for you to say, we can leave it for another time!" - Tomoyo panicked.

"No.. it's okay. I'm fine." - Mattia brushed it off.

Waiting for him to regain his composure, Tomoyo heard Mattia continue:

"In July, my father fell seriously ill and died. That farm should have gone to me, but on paper, it was all my father's name, and I wasn't old enough to inherit, you know you can't own a piece of land until you're older than 18, right?"

"Depending on the province. Here is 17 years old in my hometown."

"Then it's different here. Even though I could manage the entire farm, people looked down on me, thinking that it was impossible for a student just out of middle school to own the whole land. So the farm collapsed, and I was unemployed." - Mattia said in a frustrated voice.

Tomoyo started to feel sad for him.

"My uncle - the principal of this school, brought me to this school and let me in. I was put in charge of the school's farm after the keeper of that place took his own life. quit my job. My uncle gave me a title for my talent: Ultimate Breeder.

"Is that so..." - Tomoyo lowered her voice.

"But hey, don't you think I'd be happy for a new farm?"

"Maybe..?"

"To be honest, not at all. I still can't get rid of the pain of losing my father, I keep blaming myself for failing to keep the inheritance for my family, having the ability but not being able to do anything. See, it turned out to be almost every night I dream that my grandparents and parents come back to blame me.

And so I try to protect the school's farm as long as possible so that I don't have to make the same mistakes in the past. When they come back, I really want to die, but I still have to try to live."

Mattia sighed.

"I separate from everyone because I'm afraid I will do something wrong, affecting the whole class. See, that's all."

Then Mattia sat holding his head. If we listen closely, he seems to be crying.

Tomoyo was about to cry too, but not a single tear fell from her eyes.

As it turned out, the phrase "bankruptcy" reminded Mattia of the day his father died and the day the old farm was demolished..

She didn't know what to do but comfort Mattia, although he didn't like it, he just let it go.

In the silence of the farm, it felt like time stood still, like there were only two people left in this school.

Finally, Mattia spoke up:

"It's almost time, let me get up."

"Yeah, let's go."

They got up and went back to class.

From the classroom, Junko saw two people and asked in surprise:

"Why do you guys come back so late? Wait, Mattia! What's with that face?"

Mattia brushed it off with his hand and said:

"Nothing."

"Tomoyo bullied him?" - Angie interjected.

"Nonsense! I didn't bully-"

"Just ignore her. By the way, Tomoyo..."

Mattia paused for a moment.

"Huh?" - Tomoyo turned to ask.

"Thank you. I will heal from this pain.."

After saying that, Mattia returned to his seat and tried to start a conversation with Kiyo.

Hope you'll be recovered soon, Mattia...Tomoyo thinks so.