A Fish Is to Water as a Genius Is to [X] (魚心あれば、天才に［Ｘ］心あり, Uogokoro areba, tensai ni [Ⅹ] kokoro ari?) is the second episode of the We Never Learn anime series.
Synopsis[]
Uruka begging Nariyuki to let her borrow his notebook.
Nariyuki, Kobayashi and Oomori's class have just ended. Nariyuki reminds himself that he has to give his periodic report to the Headmaster, until his childhood friend, Uruka, playfully bumps him on the back as a greeting. Uruka then asks Nariyuki if she can borrow his notebook, to which a clearly annoyed Nariyuki tells her to stop doing that to him every time she sees him. Uruka apologizes, but then adds that since she is on her way to swim practice, she won't have time to do their homework that is due tomorrow. So she asks Nariyuki if she can borrow his notebook since he most likely is already done. Nariyuki refuses under the fact that she has been doing this since middle school and points out that she needs to do her own homework for once, which Uruka refuses as she hates studying and starts begging Nariyuki to lend her his notebook.
At the Headmaster's office, Nariyuki ends his report by telling him that both Rizu and Fumino have been improving little by little, which the Headmaster is glad to hear. He then adds that he recently learned that Nariyuki has been close friends with Uruka since they were in middle school. Nariyuki confirms but asks the Headmaster why he brought it up. The Headmaster reminds Nariyuki that Uruka is a sports scholar due to her incredible athletic skills; similar to Rizu and Fumino in their respective fields, the school takes pride in her talent, but due to her poor grades in English. Because of this, she needs a tutor to help her get into a college of her choosing. Ultimately Nariyuki is appointed to tutor her, despite Nariyuki's inner desire to reject this order.
Nariyuki informs Uruka that he will be her tutor under the Headmaster's orders.
At the school swimming pool, Nariyuki watches Uruka practice by herself and takes note of how she is much faster than she was in middle school. Uruka sees him and asks if he needed anything. Nariyuki informs her that he will be tutoring her from here on out, pointing out her desire to get a sports recommendation from Otowa University. Uruka adds that with the recommendation, she won't have to study if she gets it. Nariyuki though points out that Otowa University is looking for "well-rounded students" who not only are exceptional at sports, but also in English. This revelation stuns Uruka due to her low grade in the subject and tells Nariyuki that she won't go there. Visibly annoyed, Nariyuki tells her that his special VIP recommendation is at stake, telling her that whether or not she wants to, she will study. Disconcerted, Uruka runs away from him, with Nariyuki chasing after her. However, Nariyuki slips and falls into the pool, with Uruka having to save him. Nariyuki thanks Uruka for what she did, but suddenly grabs a hold of her, having used it as a distraction to her close to him.
Uruke meets Fumino and Rizu for the first time.
At the same time, Fumino and Rizu enter the pool to find Nariyuki, but witness him pinning down Uruka. Sequentially, Fumino hits him on the head with a fire extinguisher and Rizu notes her disgust toward Nariyuki, who clears up the misunderstanding. Uruka then recognizes the two as the geniuses of literature and science, respectively. Fumino and Rizu introduce themselves to Uruka and learn that Nariyuki has been tutoring them to help them improve on their weakest subjects. Hearing this, Uruka decides to join them and accepts Nariyuki as her tutor, shocking him and points out that she was against studying earlier. Uruka tells him to forget about it, confusing him but nevertheless lets it go since he got what he wanted. At night, on her way home, Uruka is looking at Nariyuki's notebook that she borrowed from him earlier and reminisces to them back in middle school.
Uruka when she first developed feelings for Nariyuki.
In the flashback, Uruka asks Nariyuki if she can borrow his notebook again. After copying what she needed from his notebook Uruka goes to give it back to Nariyuki, but then overhears him and Kobayashi talking about her. Kobayashi asks Nariyuki why he keeps letting Uruka borrow his notebook even though he gets nothing in return. Nariyuki answers that Uruka has sacrificed studying and having fun in order to focus her time on swimming, knowing how much she is passionate about the sport. He adds that because of this, he wouldn't just share his notebook with anyone. Hearing all of this, the eavesdropping Uruka realizes how much Nariyuki really cares about her and is revealed to have had feelings for him since that day. Uruka decides that she wants Nariyuki to do his best for her. The next day, Rizu is informed by one of her teachers that she is the only one who hasn't turned in her essay and asks that she turn it over by tomorrow.
Nariyuki helping Rizu with her essay.
Sometime after, at the Yuiga Residence, Rizu asks Nariyuki for help regarding her essay, giving him some of her family's udon as compensation. Nariyuki accepts the offer (believing it more like a bribe) and begins helping her. Rizu mentions that she can't write anything if there isn't a solution for her to work with. On the other hand, Nariyuki says that she will help her understand the fundamentals of how to write an essay. Rizu's phone rings and finds a message from Uruka, telling her that she is at a karaoke house by herself and asks her to come to join her, which she rejects, telling Uruka that she is studying with Nariyuki. Suddenly, Uruka arrives at the Yuiga house and makes an excuse that she also wanted Nariyuki to help her study too, which Rizu finds suspicious due to their recent conversation, but is silenced when Uruka suddenly grabs her breasts. Uruka joins their study session, but realizes she didn't bring a notebook.
Nariyuki and Uruka learn that a blackout has occurred.
As Nariyuki goes to give her a spare, the lights go out. Looking outside, Nariyuki finds the whole street without electricity, realizing that it is a power outage. Uruka isn't fazed as she finds the blackout exciting. Rizu doesn't share the same sentiment, but inches closer to Nariyuki, with the latter, asking if she is scared of the dark, which Rizu denies. The lights on Uruka and Rizu's phones go out due to low battery, causing Rizu to cling on Nariyuki's arm, proving that she is indeed scared of the dark. Seeing this, Uruka decides to do the same thing for a chance to cling to Nariyuki, making up that she is also scared. Nariyuki then assures them not to worry and creates a makeshift candle from aluminum foil, tissue paper, and salad oil, which impresses both girls. Rizu, captivated by the candle, says that it reminds her of a birthday. Nariyuki then adds that on nights when the electricity goes out and that he doesn't mind sitting in the dark with a candle, saying that the light illuminating from it makes him feel as though people are brought closer because of it which Rizu seems to share. As Uruka asks how long the candle will last, the light from it dies out, causing the three to panic. In the ensuing scuffle, Nariyuki accidentally gropes both Rizu and Uruka. When the lights come back on, an awkward atmosphere comes in and causes the three to be unable to look at each other. Trying to break the ice, Nariyuki asks Rizu if they should finish her essay, but she answers that she will be going home instead and abruptly leaves.
Uruka asking for help on the upcoming Vocabulary Test.
The following day, Nariyuki, to his surprise, learns from Rizu that she managed to finish her essay in time and that her teacher had accepted it. Rizu also thanks Nariyuki for his help the night before. In the faculty room, Rizu's teacher is reading her essay. Another teacher notices Rizu's essay as well, but criticizes that the essay is unoriginal and lacks a mature point of view. But Rizu's teacher defends the essay by pointing out that since it is Rizu's work, it still marks an improvement on her part. Elsewhere, Uruka finds a notice informing all sports class about the upcoming English Vocabulary Test. To her horror, she reads that those who fail the test will take supplementary classes and will be unable to do any club activities. At a diner, Uruka informs Nariyuki of this and asks for his help. Nariyuki tells her to just memorize the words needed for the test, but Uruka reminds him that she is horrible at remembering things. Nariyuki goes to explain how she can do it, but Uruka is visibly worn-out from just listening to him. Fumino, waking up from her nap, offers her and Rizu's assistance to help her study. Hours later, at night. Uruka has not made any progress throughout their study session, repeatedly complaining to Nariyuki; much to Rizu's annoyance while Fumino has run out of encouragement for her.
Nariyuki helping Uruka study through swimming.
Uruka then requests that Nariyuki show her much fun English is to study, but Nariyuki fires back that studying will never be fun for someone who can't do it. He reminds Uruka that when she first tried swimming, it wasn't fun for her which she confirms. In her response, swimming it wasn't fun for her at first but when she worked hard every day, she improved and eventually started to have fun and love the sport. Nariyuki then gets an idea. The next day, at the school's swimming pool, Nariyuki's will show Uruka a word and she will have to swim through the pool to find its equal meaning, with Rizu and Fumino assisting. Nariyuki's plan was to use Uruka's focus on swimming and applied it to her studying, which worked as Uruka managed to get a perfect score. At the end of the day, Uruka feels confident about the upcoming test, but Nariyuki adds that she should still review just in case. Uruka then tells Nariyuki that she agrees with him about how studying is hard and that she still hates it, but it has been fun for her as she gets to work hard for a goal with Rizu and Fumino, but also mentions that it is especially fun being with him. Nariyuki asks what she means, but Uruka instead gives him a gift, telling him that it is thanks for everything he has done to help her since they met, adding that he better use it as she runs off to join Rizu and Fumino ahead.
Nariyuki smiles and thinks to himself that being a tutor isn't all that bad. Later at night, Nariyuki privately opens Uruka's gift, but finds her used swimsuit in it and cautiously wonders why she gave it to him. Meanwhile, Uruka freaks out in her room as she gave Nariyuki the wrong bag.
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