Hana Uta
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Post by Hana Uta on Jun 4, 2015 15:38:37 GMT
Hana's deep yet expressive voice rang throughout the classroom. "Now, show of hands, how many of you have played or seen someone play that game with dominoes where you set them all up in a line and knock them over in a cascade by tipping the first one?" He looked around at the handful of semi-raised hands in the room. He was going over the principle of mathematical proof by induction with his second year students in class 2-B, and he had been looking forward to employing his domino analogy.
"It might not immediately occur to you to consider it a proper 'game', but if you think about it, it is one in the sense that it follows a specific set of rules that we can break down," he said. He picked up a marker and drew a series of vertical lines indistinguishable from tally marks on the whiteboard behind him; of course, these were his 'dominoes'. "So you have a line of dominoes. What are the rules? Well, rule #1, you win if they all fall over. Rule #2, you're only allowed to tip over the first one yourself." He added a slanted line to the right-hand side of his dominoes, marking it with an arc and an arrow to represent it being tipped by a force. "And rule #3 - this one's key - when one domino falls, it's allowed to make the next domino fall." He drew a horizontal strike through each of the dominoes. "Simple little game, right?" He turned to face the class and paused. His face brightened as he continued; "Well, a proof by induction works the exact same way, if you just imagine the 'dominoes' as natural numbers." He turned back to the board and began numbering his dominoes from right to left: 1, 2, 3, 4, ellipsis. "You can use induction when you have any kind of mathematical statement which you need to prove is true for any natural number - that's like a whole line of dominoes you want to make fall. And you do that in two steps: first, by demonstrating that the statement is true for a base case, such as when the number is 0 or 1 - that's like tipping over the first domino. And second, by proving that if the statement is true for some arbitrary number n, then it must also be true for n + 1 - that's like each domino making the next one fall over when it falls over itself. Now, specifically how you carry out those two steps is more complicated, and you'll need to use the skills in algebra and logic that you've learned. But we'll flesh that out with some examples." He tapped the drawing over his shoulder with his marker. "At a high level, just remember dominoes and you should never forget what mathematical induction entails."
"...Does it always work?" asked a student. "What if along the way one of the dominoes doesn't work right? That's happened to me a lot..."
Hana pointed his marker at her. "Ah, but that's the beauty of the subtle difference between the real world and our world," he said, turning to draw a fluffy thought bubble on the whiteboard. To his students, it had become a familiar visual shorthand for him leading them away to the "Math Universe", a sort of idealized astral plane where the world functioned purely according to numbers and mathematical equations. "As long as you prove those two steps correctly, you don't have to worry about anything else. There's no chance of random error messing things up for you along the way." He started drawing another long line of 'dominoes' inside his thought bubble. "In Math World, all you have to do is prove that one domino can knock over another, and they all automatically will. And that's not all..." He continued winding his trail of dominoes this way and that off into the distance, making them smaller and smaller until they were just tiny dots. "You can have an infinite number of dominoes - in fact, that's the idea; the n + 1's don't exactly stop coming - and still knock them all over. That's just the way the math works out!"
"If only math looked as cool as falling dominoes," mused another student.
Hana chuckled. "Hahaha, who can say? Induction has been used to prove many useful theorems which could be considered quite beautiful...to a mathematician, of course." He paused for only the briefest of moments, but when he spoke again, it was in an effeminate, exaggeratedly posh tone of voice. "Goodness knows a true specialist can always find beauty in their field!"
He smiled to himself as he took in the blank stares from some students and soft giggles from others. Come to think of it, this was the first time he'd affected one of his character voices for this class, wasn't it. It was a habit of his that he just couldn't keep from bubbling to the surface occasionally; he just loved his amateur voice acting work too much. He might have called it a bad habit, but his online viewers were so small in number, he was positive the odds were astronomically in his favor that none of his students were among them to figure out what he was doing.
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Post by Shiro Yamamoto on Jun 6, 2015 2:52:35 GMT
Shiro is writing notes on Uta-sensai's math lesson for the day. She always enjoys his classes and always makes math a bit interesting and where everyone can relate too. With him using the example of dominoes. He has done this before with other examples which is very helpful when she assists her friend Kage with math homework.
With how he was explaining it was very simple for her to follow since she is a wiz at mathematics. But it was always a good idea to write the notes just in case. Shiro wrote whatever her teacher was saying and what he wrote on the board. Writing away with a casual smile during class. She have heard some girls in class crush over him since he was single, but she wasn't like them. Only thought he was a great teacher and very caring about her classmates education.
She was writing some more notes when she heard something that sounded very familiar. Was that what I think it was? She swore he said something that was so much like a certain fashion pony from a show she watches. Did Uta-sensai really just quote Rarity? Or was that her imagination? She couldn't really tell but looked at her teacher with a confused yet surprised expression. That wasn't the only thing. That theatrical tone sounded similar to somewhere online. Was if from YouTube or Niconico site? This was really going to bug her now.
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Hana Uta
Teacher Admin
Posts - 35
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Joined - January 1970
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Post by Hana Uta on Jun 6, 2015 17:58:24 GMT
As he looked around, Hana's eyes kept hovering back over to Shiro, one of his best students in this class. Though he couldn't read faces or body language that well, what information did make it through to him was enough that he could tell her reaction was subtly different from the others, as was her behavior when she returned to writing her notes. Her hand was moving more slowly, and she kept pausing to look away like she was thinking about something, or at him like she was expecting something. I didn't throw her off her game that much, did I? he wondered. It didn't occur to him to think that it might be because she had started to recognize the voice he had just done. Or, if it did, he didn't want it to and suppressed the thought. It was just a random, silly "teacher quirk" to make his students laugh. Surely that's what everyone would think. Surely nothing would come of it.
But a few days later, Hana was giving class 2-B a quiz at the end of the lecture. As usual, Hana was sitting at the teacher's desk watching with an eagle eye for any signs of cheating or other illicit activity. Generally his students had been well-behaved after rumors started spreading that the one or two students he had caught cheating on a test had been forced to take the rest of it sitting on the floor in the corner. Seiza. Satisfied that he could trust his students, Hana had started relaxing his attention a little more frequently. This was one of those times, as a thought occurred to him about his latest story translation and he dug his smartphone out of his pocket. After fiddling with a line of text, he turned back to watching the class, placing the still-lit phone on his desk face-up without a second thought. For a minute or two, his phone's wallpaper had been proudly displayed for all to see. Or at least, for anyone who happened to finish the quiz early and come up to turn it in. In truth, his wallpaper bore the avatar of Songblossom, the online face of his translating and voice acting hobbies. But to the unaware observer, it was merely an innocuous pattern consisting chiefly of a few musical notes and some flower petals, possibly a take on his name. Thus, for the same reason that he paid no thought to doing a voice in class, he didn't particularly care about anyone happening to catch a glimpse of his wallpaper.
He had no idea how big of a mistake he was making.
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Post by Shiro Yamamoto on Jun 7, 2015 3:37:10 GMT
It was a few days later the day of the test which she has been studying for. Shiro has been studying for a few days now. She had heard about the rumors about some of her classmates cheating. However she was one that did not do such a thing at all. So she was very studious about her work on the test.
She was sure she was going to get every answer correct. Plus she made sure to show her work with solving the question since her that's how the teacher wants it like. It took her a while, but she was finished her test faster then any other students. Shiro double checked her work before she decided that it was time to had in the completed test.
So she got up from her desk and walked up to the teachers desk. "Uta-sensai. I'm finished my test." She handed her paper to him and noticed something on his phone. A flower petals and musical notes. It's the Songblossom avatar image she has seen on NicoNico. But was it that he was looking at Songblossom's videos or was he really Songblossom. She didn't make it show on her face of what she was thinking. So she had an idea. But needed conformation.
Then she remembered that they had some homework of math problems that weren't on the test. "Um Uta-sensai I am having some problems with the homework you gave us the other day. I was wondering if I could have some help?"
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Hana Uta
Teacher Admin
Posts - 35
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Joined - January 1970
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Post by Hana Uta on Jun 7, 2015 18:18:28 GMT
Hana was delighted when Shiro asked him for extra help with her homework after turning in her test. It always warmed his heart to see a student so vested in learning as to go out of her way to pursue it like this. That it was Shiro was a bonus; she seemed to greatly enjoy his analogies especially, and he often caught sight of her copying his whiteboard drawings into her notebook with careful attention to detail. "I'd be happy to help Yamamoto-chan, but I'm afraid you're going to have to see me after school. I don't know if you have any club activities today or not, but you should be able to catch me in the faculty office either way, if that's okay." He smiled brightly into her eyes. He never had as much trouble talking to or looking into the eyes of his students as he did his peers. He didn't feel the need to keep up as many barriers around them; he already felt safe behind the barrier of the student-teacher relationship, not having to worry about relating to them as a person.
When he noticed her eyes lingering on his phone, however, his self-consciousness kicked in and he began to have doubts for the first time. Why is she paying so much attention to it? Does she know something? Hana tried to keep calm and convince himself that couldn't be the case, but between that and her reaction to his voice acting the other day, evidence was starting to mount against him. And as he busied himself in the faculty office while waiting for Shiro to arrive that afternoon, he found it difficult to focus on grading quizzes. He was starting to have no idea how this encounter was going to play out.
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Post by Shiro Yamamoto on Jun 10, 2015 3:00:16 GMT
When she heard her teacher taking the bait for later it was perfect. She was finally going to get her questions answered. Which thankfully it was later that very day. Thankfully she didn't have any practice with dance team or archory. So she was free to set her little mind trap. She headed to the faculty office thinking over her plan, making sure it was fool-poof. Shiro was making sure that this would work out just find and hoped that there were not any other teachers around.
Finally arriving at the office she knocked on the door. She heard Uta-sensai respond. "Excuse me. I'm coming in." She opened the door and walked in closing the door behind her. With a quick glanced it seemed that it was only her and her teacher. This was going to work out just like in her head. Time to begin her little trap. Staying calm she walked over taking a seat after Uta-sensai offered it to her. Pulled out her homework which wasn't started yet. Knowing that she would have to make sure it was perfect she started without showing a smirk.
"Uta-sensai, I'm having a bit of trouble with how you worded this question right here. I don't understand what equation I need to use here." She pointed to one of the questioned which gave a situation. Letting her teacher show what she had to do. Uta-sensai would tell her what she was suppose to do and which equation to use, which she would follow. This was going very well. Her plan was working perfectly. And it was coming to the part where her simple plan will finally bare fruit. Is Uta-sensai user Songblossom himself or a fan of Songblossom and My Little Pony? Just has to finish solving the math problem and her plan with unfold. Now. "So Songblossom-sensai, is this how its suppose to be?"
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Hana Uta
Teacher Admin
Posts - 35
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Joined - January 1970
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Post by Hana Uta on Jun 10, 2015 16:01:06 GMT
Hana watched Shiro carefully as she entered the faculty office, trying his best to pick out signs of anything unusual from her. As far as he could tell, he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary about her. In fact, he didn't notice anything within the ordinary about her either. That itself was unusual; since when did she guard her expression as carefully as he liked to?
She sat down across from him when he offered a chair and presented the homework problem in question. A word problem. Another red flag. Shiro didn't usually have a whole lot of trouble with these. He figured it was because they gave her more relatable, real-world examples of the math involved similar to his analogies, but there were a couple different skills involved, he decided. In any case, further evidence was mounting that she was up to something. He hesitantly began walking her through the problem, feeling like he was traipsing through a minefield. He hoped he could get through this without any bombshells exploding in his face.
"...Well, Yamamoto-chan, the problem is asking for a change in surface area over time. Remember our word association games? Change over time usually means you need to use differentiation. What's changing over time? The surface area, so that's how you know you need the equation for the surface area of a sphere. That equation relates to only one variable: the radius. And you've been given an equation for the radius as a function of time, so if you substitute..." Indeed, as he walked her through the problem, she carried it out with her usual ease, deriving the correct answer flawlessly.
"So, Songblossom-sensei, is this how it's supposed to be?"
BOOM. And there went the bombshell. Hana could've sworn his vision had literally exploded into stars as the blood rushed to his face. His pulse quickened and his breathing grew slow and deep. Anyone watching might think he had just narrowly avoided falling off a cliff or something. There were only a couple hundred people in the world who could possibly know who Songblossom was; how was one of them a student in his class?! But he quickly composed himself as best he could and put on his best blank face to regard Shiro with. He could still play it cool; he wouldn't be beaten that easily.
"...How do you know that name?"
...Yeah, who was he kidding. He had already lost this fight.
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Post by Shiro Yamamoto on Jun 16, 2015 3:57:39 GMT
Shiro's eyes light up when she saw her teacher's reaction to that little trap she set off. He walked right into it. With how she noticed the sudden shock expression and his face changing color. However it was the next part of what he said that made her realize that he was not a fan of Songblossom, he IS Songblossom. Eyes widen when she saw his reaction yet tried to play it cool. Her very own teacher is Songblossom, one of many NicoNico voice actor people creating videos of playthroughs of games and reading fanfictions of My Little Pony. This was Songblossom himself and she was in his class. This was her lucky day.
"I knew it. I'm a fan and fellow upcoming voice on the NicoNico page. I always watch your videos. I knew it."
She as jumping within her own skin, but was trying to stay calm. They were still in school and who knows if Uta-sensai really wants the world to know he is Songblossom. If he wants to keep it secret she would. Then an idea hit her. She would make this her marketing statagy to get her really voice acting career starting. And she is going to need his help to do so.
"So I'm guessing you don't want others to know do you, Uta-sensai?" Saying his actually name in the respectful matter would be better if this idea is going to work. She really wants to gget a career as a voice actor. No if , ands, or buts. "I have an idea."
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Hana Uta
Teacher Admin
Posts - 35
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Joined - January 1970
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Post by Hana Uta on Jun 18, 2015 0:20:48 GMT
Shiro's baby blue eyes seemed to stare into Hana's soul. He no longer felt comfortable looking into them. Even after his date with Ayame had opened him up to the idea of actually letting others slip past his defenses, it was still difficult for him to begin genuinely trusting new people with his true self. But as his gaze wandered away from her eyes and tried to analyze the rest of her face, her expression was, as best as he could tell, one of pure joy. In fact, if anything, she seemed scarcely able to contain her excitement. And why not? She had called herself a fan, and if that was the case then not only getting to meet Songblossom in person but having him for a teacher must be like a dream come true. How bad could it be? ...But then Hana remembered the real danger at hand; there was always the possibility she'd love nothing more than to run off and brag about it to all her friends and everything.
"That's...not exactly supposed to be common knowledge..." was all he could stammer out even as his heart rate began to slow back down. He trusted Ayame's word, but a student would be less likely to have the maturity to be willing to keep silent. Particularly the outgoing, short-tempered Shiro. Fortunately, she seemed to pick up on his exact concerns. Yes, if nothing else, perhaps she could be persuaded to negotiate, though he was wary of the tone in which she had said that she had an idea.
Hana closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. For just a few seconds, he let his mind wander through his favorite anime and video games. Names, scenarios, and conversations floated across his mind in the blink of an eye. Though he had always been terrible at dealing with people, he had come to find that if he took just a few moments to concentrate and imagine himself and his conversation partner as characters in a scene, he could think rationally and analytically enough to solve the predicament just like any math problem or video game puzzle.
By the time he had finished and opened his eyes again, Hana's composure had fully returned. "Let me guess...you want a favor or six in return for keeping quiet about this?" he mused in as nonchalant of a tone as he could muster, trying to take back control of the conversation. Shiro seemed fond enough of his class, so he figured he had at least one card he could play. "Well, regardless of our personal feelings on the matter, I can tell you that not saying anything would objectively be for the better. It could very well cost me my job if the wrong people hear about it." Hana's face twisted into a wry smile. "I don't know how fond you are of my class, but hey; who knows what sort of ogre might be sent in to replace me."
Next card. If she really was a fan, Hana could easily appeal to her through flattery and the Japanese cultural instinct of a favor for a favor. He did genuinely appreciate his fans anyway. He shifted his voice into an affectionate gear and said, "But I do sincerely appreciate that you're a fan of my videos; I always like to see people enjoying them. You were brave enough to come forward to me about it, so I'd be perfectly happy to do a little something special for you." Then his voice took on a stern tone. "I'll warn you right now, though: special treatment on assignments or tests is off the table. As teacher and student, we have to draw a line and be professional." He paused for a moment; she seemed to be listening attentively. Comfortable that he was back in control, Hana relaxed his posture and passed the ball to her court with a friendly "So. What's the offer?"
Even as he said that, his mind was scrambling to divine what sort of favors she could conceivably ask for. Maybe she'd ask him to take her out for a lavish dinner. Not really a problem money-wise, but he would have to figure out how to accomplish it without drawing attention to themselves lest anyone suspect a student-teacher relationship. Romantic or not wasn't the issue, either; even provably platonic fraternization could be seen as a potential conflict of interest. ...Yeah, the more he thought about it, the more this was starting to seem like a bad idea. He had zero control of this conversation.
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Post by Shiro Yamamoto on Jun 30, 2015 17:42:20 GMT
She nods at his suggestion of him doing a favor for her. Which the voice acting career will definately be closer to her reach if he accepts her little idea. Songblossom right infront of her, a well known voice on niconico playing games and covers of a very popular pony show. Who else could resist being a part of that? She had done some similar things of vlogs of anime conventions she has gone to on Youtube and asissted with fan-covers of anime shows and abridge series. But none have gotten her to that popular state that she would be in panels or been swarmed by fans. Not yet at least.
When she heard about the personal feelings, she raised an eyebrow. Why would she want to date her awesome teacher? After reading multiple manga series that's where her mind decided to go. Plus there was someone in the host club she sort of has feelings for. Maybe she should let Uta-sensai know so he doesn't have to freak out about it. "Oh no nothing like that with personal feelings stuff. Your my teacher and I respect that. Besides..." Looks to the side blushing oh so slightly. "...there's someone else I have my eyes on. Um.... never mind."
She then let him continue and when she heard that he won't give her special treatment for school work and test. Like she needs that for his class. Shiro was doing well in his class and was literally acing her tests. So she nods in agreement understanding his rules on the no special school treatment. When he was done she smiled. Now it was her turn. And it was going to be very simple. And so with a smile along with a slight tilt of the head, like a puppy, she told her idea. "Let me be a guest on your NicoNico show a few times. That's simple enough."
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Hana Uta
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Post by Hana Uta on Jul 7, 2015 0:00:13 GMT
Bewilderment flashed across Hana's face when Shiro started talking about someone else she "had her eyes on". Where had that come from?! But then he remembered that she had tied it to "personal feelings stuff" and a hint of a smirk tugged at his lips. He had been talking about their personal feelings of wanting to keep secret or brag about the fact that he was Songblossom, but apparently she had misunderstood him and her mind went straight to somewhere else when she heard that. Wonder what's on her mind, he thought to himself. "I'm very glad we understand each other, Yamamoto-chan, but you realize I was referring to our personal feelings regarding keeping this matter a secret?" He abstained from poking too much fun at her. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea either, after all. Besides, the misunderstanding could be considered his own fault just as much. He may have been fantastic at explaining math, but conveying personal feelings, practical life advice, small talk? Those lay outside his expertise entirely.
When she finally got around to telling him what she wanted, something inside his brain snapped. She probably didn't know it, but Shiro had just stepped on a landmine. There was scarcely time for him to wonder if she was prepared for him to blow up in her face as he gasped and his eyes bulged. "OH MY GOD! Are you kidding me?! Are you sure you wouldn't be the one doing me a favor?!" Why wouldn't he want to have her on as a guest for a reading? Normally he had to do them all by himself; to have the chance to do one together with a cute girl, and one of his best students at that...he could just picture Shiro as the voice of a certain brash, athletic pony... "Yes yes a hundred times yes! I'd love to have you guest star whenever! There's this awesome TwiDash story I've been wanting to do...or that DiscoShy...or-...oh man, that would be so great...!" His mouth could barely keep up with his brain at this point...until both stopped dead at a single thought. "...Oh...but..." he finished quietly; "...you...keep in mind, you would have to...I mean, my recording studio is...kind of, my house, and..." He fell silent with that. He couldn't bring himself to finish the implication. It was just too awkward and embarrassing and seemingly impossible to arrange without someone getting arrested/expelled. How was he ever going to get her over to his house?
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Post by Shiro Yamamoto on Jul 18, 2015 17:55:20 GMT
When she saw how her teacher react with her wanting to guest star in his show, is was shocking. Seeing Hana-sensai all excited like her meeting a famous voice actor for the first time. "Heheheh maybe we both be helping each other out. I'm glad I'm looking forward for this."
When she heard him talking about certain pony pairing was very amazing. She liked the DiscoShy pairing and certain ponies as well. She liked a certain rainbow pony was her favorite and she had been practicing her own voices for some of them. "There are some pairing of that I would love to do."
Yet then her teacher said that they are going to have to find a way to get the recording done. She knew this part might happened. Where they were going to record? When he started talking that they are going to have to maybe record at her place she knew where he was thinking. This time at least. It would be hard for that way and thank goodness her mother money helped in one way. "Um how about I just send what I have to you. I have a small recording booth at my house. Heh."
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Hana Uta
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Post by Hana Uta on Jul 20, 2015 19:38:48 GMT
The first thing that came to Hana's mind when Shiro mentioned a "recording booth" was the closet he retreated into with his laptop and microphone when he needed to record voice-overs. "A recording booth, hm? I have one of those myself...though it's really more of a closet, of course. The lack of soundproofing can be quite problematic sometimes."
She had mentioned sending him recorded lines; he hadn't considered that possibility. But would it even work? Considering the way he usually recorded his readings, he wasn't so sure. "You want to send me recordings? Umm...maybe that could work, but...if you know who I am, you must know how I do my readings, right? Live action, with plushies? It might look a little weird for me to be acting out a scene and then a second, random voice comes out of nowhere. I mean, I always keep my face hidden when I record a reading, but...would you not be comfortable being on camera at all?" He wasn't sure why he was pursuing this line of questioning any further. Sure it would be different but not entirely unreasonable, having Shiro's part be voice-overs only. Maybe he was just really looking forward to having her company, especially now that their common interests were starting to come out. "What sorts of pairings would you be interested in, anyway?"
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