Imasara desu ga, Osananajimi o Suki ni Natte Shimaimashita - Ch. 43 - The Pride of the Lecturing Girls

[story645]

I thought you'd agree with me that she doesn't seem like she needs that much effort to be on top of her class, but oh well.

So my bias is that I went to a (test into) elite high school & the folks at the top of the class worked crazy hard and Hikari is described as a hard worker.

But how does that explain him needing remedial classes in new school too?

Given he failed, Yuu didn't catch up before the exam. Then he fell into a very intense and distracting romantic relationship right at the start of school, further hindering catching up.

Well, doesn't that mean it's not about levels then, even from Yuu's perspective?

Yuu's thinking is that the prerequisite for Hikari considering him as a potential romantic partner is that he first reaches her level such that he's standing besides her.

Because that can lead to questions like "how could you tell?",

"Same way I noticed you were starting to send me signals" - which the acknowledgement he started picking up signals implies the existence of the no signals state. Also "because you tried to set me up w/ other girls" is a valid and less vulnerable answer than "b/c I thought I wasn't good enough".

The thing I keep going back to is why Yuu would want Hikari to think Yuu thinks he's out of her league if Yuu doesn't actually believe it.

"if we go to different schools, we will start growing apart" (and, again, nothing about jealousy).

Yeah, b/c Yuu thought the sheer choice of going to a different school was a rejection & now it's the exam that's the make or break. That's consistent with Yuu thinking the relationship is over b/c of the school, nevermind the guys there.

 

[GennArc]

So my bias is that I went to a (test into) elite high school & the folks at the top of the class worked crazy hard and Hikari is described as a hard worker.

My bias is that I was at the top of the class without much effort, though it was a normal school. Then in a (high level) uni I had to put in much more effort to keep up and was kind of middle-to-high, but among the top of our year I saw cases of people working extra hard and of people just being really good at it.
To me it feels like Hikari had enough natural talent to not struggle too much in middle school (which doesn't seem to be an elite one).

Given he failed, Yuu didn't catch up before the exam. Then he fell into a very intense and distracting romantic relationship right at the start of school, further hindering catching up.

He didn't catch up to Hikari's new school level, but his new school's requirements aren't that high.
And I don't think the relationship was that distracting, because it sounded like they were mostly meeting on weekends:

"Sorry, Yuu, but next week's looking pretty packed too."
"You seem busy. Don't tell me... you're finally going back to school?"
"Shut up."

-snip-

"Still, that's two weekends in a row you've been unavailable. What's going on?"
"Huh? What's this, Yuu? You miss me? Feeling lonely?"

Yuu's thinking is that the prerequisite for Hikari considering him as a potential romantic partner is that he first reaches her level such that he's standing besides her.

So that means she can only choose him (because he is a beloved childhood friend) but only once he levels up?

"Same way I noticed you were starting to send me signals" - which the acknowledgement he started picking up signals implies the existence of the no signals state.

It's not like he had a foreknowledge of what mixed signals are supposed to look like. He doesn't know if signals are being sent or not until he recognises them as ones.

The thing I keep going back to is why Yuu would want Hikari to think Yuu thinks he's out of her league if Yuu doesn't actually believe it.

And I keep replying that he wants to avoid uncomfortable topics where he'd need to tell a lot of his private stuff. This

"because you tried to set me up w/ other girls"

is one of the examples, it would sound like he is blaming her.

That's consistent with Yuu thinking the relationship is over b/c of the school

But it's not over, it will just start changing for the worse according to his own words. And since it will still exist, he would be hurt by the hypothetical high level dude coming to Hikari's life.

 

[story645]

but among the top of our year I saw cases of people working extra hard and of people just being really good at it.

So a thing I've learned about a lot of the "really good at it" people is a lot of them have already been exposed to the material/have a really solid foundation - saying this both as a student and a teacher. Like even the super talented folks work really hard at refining their talents.

Which, Hikari's narrative is that she's getting up early to prep for school & staying up later than Yuu to study for the material taught at their middle school. Nothing in the text indicates she abandoned those habits when she goes to a harder high school.

ETA: but also I think this goes back into the thematic discussion on perspective.

but his new school's requirements aren't that high.

Yuu says they're "Way harder than I expected." and he's coming in as an at best middle of the pack student. In his POV chapter, the material Hikari is helping him with is the same that's tripping up Aya.

ETA: I also think this is supposed to clue in that Yuu's going to a relatively high level/hard school:

After all the drama, Yuu managed to get into a public high school. He takes a train and walks for nearly an hour each way, rain or shine.

B/c Japanese public schools tend to be highly ranked and he's going through all this trouble to commute rather than going somewhere closer but probably less good.

Relationships can also be distracting even if you're not physically meeting between texting, phone calls, and thinking/daydreaming about the person.

So that means she can only choose him (because he is a beloved childhood friend) but only once he levels up?

Not only choose him, but that once he gets to her side she'll decide he's the one she wants there.

He doesn't know if signals are being sent or not until he recognises them as ones.

It's exactly that b/c otherwise how could he decide that he was rejected w/o ever confessing?

where he'd need to tell a lot of his private stuff

The private stuff all being things Hikari did publically - choosing to go to a different school, setting him up with other girls, not getting flustered about the love letter. Hikari was a participant in these events - he'd just be explaining how he interpreted them. Which, how is that any more uncomfortable or blaming her than "I feel out of your league"?

And since it will still exist, he would be hurt by the hypothetical high level dude coming to Hikari's life.

Hypothetical dude doesn't even exist in Yuu's hypothetical yet b/c Yuu isn't thinking past the exam.