"It's easier, yes," she agreed cordially. "But I don't need to take the easy way out. Not when it's this important." An opportunity to go to Tokyo U wasn't as grand as the opportunity to make the most of the life she'd so luckily been able to cling to. How would she make the most of her life if she let somebody else live it for her?
She smiled ever so slightly to herself, now. Not a fake smile or even a happy one, but more of a knowing one. "I can handle it," she told Hamasaki-sensei with a quiet confidence.
It was an unusual feeling. She wasn't even bothered by whatever he was writing about her. "I'm stronger than I look."