Classes can be boring sometimes. When it's the same old stuff with the same old people, things lose their fun pretty easily. As a teacher, that can be a bit rough. For this reason, I'd allowed my students to do what they wished during this class time.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of them stood around talking, pretending that they were actually doing something. As I looked around, one student caught my attention.

From what I knew, she was a quiet girl who didn't do much when it came to physical activities. But today, things were a little different. She stood near a basketball hoop with a ball in her hands. Taking a few steps back, she shot the ball. I was a bit surprised when it went in.

After a couple more tosses like that, she stepped back even further, almost to the half-court line. With her being such a small girl, I didn't think she'd have nearly enough strength to make a shot like that. But little did I know, hidden in such a calm and quiet shell, there was a powerful, passionate fire burning.

(Reader's POV)

My breathing was growing heavier with every shot I made. Okay, sure, maybe I was putting a lot more into this than I needed to, but it had been a while since I'd been able to channel all my anger into something. I tossed the ball, easily making it in.

As I ran to retrieve it, someone else had gotten there first. Looking at the person holding my ball, I frowned. This was the same guy who was always picking on me. He held out the ball, offering it to me. But the moment I reached out to take it, he quickly pulled it away.

Angry, I reached out to snatch it back, but he held it just out of reach. Over and over I tried, but I couldn't get it. He was bigger and stronger than me and I was quickly running out of breath.

Just when I felt so worn out that I was going to collapse, someone took my ball out of the bully's hands. Standing behind him, was our teacher. "That's enough," Harada-sensei said, giving the other student a scolding look. "I think you're old enough to know better than to pick on a girl. If I see it again, you'll get detention, got it?"

The boy nodded and ran off while I stood there, staring up at our teacher. Other teachers never noticed or just never bothered to do anything whenever I got picked on. "Thank you," I told him. Or I tried to, at least. I was so worn out that I could barely breathe, so barely any sound came out.

Harada gave me a small smile and handed me my ball. Of course, I was too tired to go back to what I'd been doing. "I know you're tired, but..." He paused a moment, crossing his arms. "You think you could do just one more of those shots from the middle?"

Even with as tired as I was, hearing him ask something like that made me smile. As a thank-you, I felt like that was the least I could do for him. Thank you, Harada-sensei.