Chapter 158: Keeping Things as They Are Is the Best Outcome!
"Boss Nagumo said... he isn't coming, and that the examination-paper issue has nothing to do with him."
Afraid Ryuen might beat him up, the student hurriedly explained, "And honestly, it really doesn't! This school reused old examination papers every year before. Who could've known they'd suddenly change them this year?!"
Ryuen was not completely brainless.
When Nagumo first gave him the papers, he had personally asked several upperclassmen about how the exams usually worked.
So Ryuen knew he could not really blame Nagumo.
But if he didn't blame Nagumo, then who was he supposed to vent his anger on?!
If Ryuen failed even one subject in the midterm, he would be expelled.
In truth, someone like Ryuen was not particularly afraid of being expelled.
What he feared was losing the chance to take revenge on Shimizu Yuto and losing the opportunity to lead Class C into Class A.
Keeping promises was one of the few virtues Ryuen possessed.
After all, he had made an agreement with the Class C students.
Each of them paid him twenty thousand personal points, and in return, he promised to lead them to Class A.
Once he learned Nagumo had no intention of meeting him, Ryuen left the clubroom with a dark expression.
The only thing he could do now was pray.
Pray that he had not failed any subject.
...
Meanwhile, Yuto returned to the café carrying two books.
Kikyo was no longer there.
"Kei, where did Kikyo go?"
"She said some friends invited her out to karaoke, so she left first," Kei answered cheerfully.
With Kikyo gone, nobody was left to interfere with her date with Yuto~
"What about you? Don't you need to spend some time with your friends?" Yuto asked with a smile.
"Oh, I can hang out with them anytime."
"What matters most right now is spending time with you."
Kei showed an adorable smile, making Yuto affectionately pinch her soft cheek.
"Then what do you want to do? I'm free until six this afternoon."
"Huh?"
Kei froze slightly.
"Why only until six? Yuto, does that mean you won't have time for me afterward?"
"Right. I already have plans with someone else, so I need to leave before six and have dinner with them."
"I see..."
Kei forced a small smile and wrapped herself around Yuto's arm.
"Then let's go shopping. I looked through the men's section a few days ago and found some clothes that I think would look really good on you."
"Sure. Let's go."
Yuto paid the bill, and the two left the café together, heading toward Keyaki Mall.
As they walked, Kei remained unusually quiet.
She held tightly onto Yuto's arm, almost as though she feared he might suddenly pull away and leave her behind.
After spending so much intimate time with Yuto recently, Kei had gradually noticed several things that did not quite add up.
For example...
She still did not know who prepared Yuto's breakfast and lunch every day.
That was Chabashira.
And sometimes, Kei could smell another person's fragrance on Yuto.
That was usually Airi.
Actually...
Even right now, she could detect a faint scent on him that did not belong to Yuto.
That fragrance belonged to Hiyori.
Since Hiyori had briefly fallen against Yuto earlier, some of her scent had lingered on his uniform.
So Kei had begun to suspect something.
Maybe she really was not Yuto's only girlfriend.
But even if she realized that...
What could she do?
Kei could no longer imagine leaving Yuto.
Whenever she pictured herself separating from him, an overwhelming sense of panic surged through her heart.
That fear was even stronger and more terrifying than what she had once felt when facing bullying.
So even if Kei had begun to realize certain things, she chose to pretend she knew nothing.
She would remain beside Yuto and continue enjoying his warmth, protection, and affection.
"Yuto..." Kei murmured while tightly holding his arm.
"Hmm?"
Yuto turned toward her.
He had already noticed something was wrong with her mood.
"What's wrong, Kei?"
"I... I'm pretty well-behaved, right?"
"Uh... Yeah, you are."
"So in the future... you won't abandon me, right?"
Yuto looked at Kei, who had lowered her head.
"Why do you think I'd abandon you?"
"Because... Anyway! You're not allowed to leave me!"
"Of course I won't."
"Then promise me. Pinky swear."
Kei released Yuto's arm and held out her slender little finger.
With a gentle smile, Yuto hooked his pinky firmly around hers.
"We promised."
"So you don't need to worry about me abandoning you anymore."
"Mm!"
A honey-sweet smile blossomed across Kei's face again.
She tried to hug his arm once more, but Yuto quickly moved aside and instead placed an arm around her waist, pulling her close.
Being held against Yuto made Kei's eyes curve happily.
Her heart filled with security, warmth, and happiness.
...
Yuto and Kei spent more than an hour shopping around Keyaki Mall.
Kei bought several sets of casual clothes for Yuto, while Yuto bought her several outfits and dresses in return.
As six o'clock approached, Yuto finally separated from the reluctant Kei.
Holding her shopping bags, Kei watched him leave.
She instinctively took one step forward as if she wanted to follow him.
But after a moment, she stopped herself.
Keep things as they are...
Keeping things as they are is the best outcome.
"Anyway, Yuto already promised he won't abandon me," Kei murmured softly.
Once his figure disappeared from sight, Kei sniffed quietly and headed back toward the first-year dormitory with her shopping bags.
...
On his way back to the detached apartment, Yuto unexpectedly encountered two acquaintances.
Sakayanagi Arisu from Class A.
And Kamuro Masumi.
Arisu walked with her cane while Masumi held an umbrella over her.
Judging from Masumi's openly disgusted expression, she was clearly unhappy about carrying the umbrella.
Besides, it was already evening.
The sunlight was not even strong.
Was an umbrella really necessary?
Masumi thought exactly the same thing.
Unfortunately, Arisu insisted that she hold it anyway.
That damn little girl!
"Oh?"
Arisu also noticed Yuto.
Her eyes brightened slightly, and she quickened her pace.
Masumi wondered why Arisu had suddenly sped up.
Then she noticed Yuto ahead as well.
Her expression instinctively brightened, and she also began walking faster.
When the two reached Yuto, Arisu smiled pleasantly.
"Long time no see, Shimizu-kun."
"Long time no see, both of you."
Yuto smiled toward Arisu and Masumi.
"Long time no see, Shimizu," Masumi replied with a smile.
Arisu glanced sideways at her.
Whenever Masumi followed her around, she always wore an annoyed expression.
Yet the moment she saw this boy, she suddenly smiled so happily.
"Shimizu-kun, did your midterm go smoothly?"
Arisu smiled meaningfully.
"I heard both Class D and Class C had quite a bit of trouble."
Yuto glanced at her.
She had probably already heard that Classes C and D obtained old midterm papers.
Otherwise, she would not have phrased the question like that.
Because Arisu paid particular attention to Yuto, she had instructed both Masumi and Hashimoto Masayoshi to keep track of information concerning him.
During lunch earlier that day, Hashimoto had already discovered the chaos caused by Ike and the useless papers in Class D.
He immediately reported it to his princess.
"My exams went pretty smoothly. I should get fairly good scores," Yuto replied.
"Fairly good scores?"
"Indeed. For geniuses like us, getting high marks on a midterm is hardly difficult," Arisu said casually.
Masumi rolled her eyes beside her.
This damn little girl really had thick skin.
How could she say something like that with a straight face?
"I already have plans with someone, so I won't stay and chat."
"See you both later."
"Mm. Goodbye."
Yuto said farewell to Arisu and Masumi and continued toward the detached apartment.
Masumi kept watching his retreating figure.
Arisu smiled.
"Do you really like Shimizu-kun that much, Kamuro-san?"
"Yes—"
Masumi answered instinctively.
Then she snapped back to reality.
"Who?! Who likes Shimizu?!"
"Hmm~"
Arisu showed a little-devil smile.
Masumi immediately felt a chill.
That damn little girl had worn exactly the same smile when she blackmailed Masumi into becoming her errand runner!
"So you don't like Shimizu-kun?"
"Then why were you staring at him?"
"Am I not allowed to look at a handsome guy?!"
"So you stare at Shimizu-kun simply because he's handsome?"
"Kamuro-san, I didn't realize you were such a shallow person."
"Yeah, that's right. I'm shallow. Got a problem with it?" Masumi answered irritably.
At that moment, Arisu leisurely pulled out her phone and tapped the playback button.
Their conversation immediately began playing from the speaker.
"You damn little girl! You were recording us?!"
Masumi's expression changed instantly.
She angrily reached for Arisu's phone.
However, Arisu had anticipated the attempt and quickly pulled it away.
"Don't do anything reckless."
"I have two pieces of leverage against you now."
Masumi glared fiercely at the smiling Arisu.
"You seriously think that recording is enough to threaten me?!"
"Isn't it?"
"..."
...
Two days passed.
Today was the day the midterm results would be announced.
The atmosphere inside the Class D classroom was extremely tense.
Many students looked anxious and uneasy.
The weaker students like Ike were particularly terrified.
They resembled prisoners waiting to be taken to the execution ground.
Ike had somehow even obtained a string of Buddhist prayer beads.
With his eyes tightly shut, he repeatedly rolled the beads between his fingers while muttering things like—
"Buddha, please let me pass every subject..."
He had crammed at the last moment, and now he was praying at the last moment too.
Neither was particularly useful.
No matter how hard he prayed, Buddha was not going to rewrite his midterm score.
Even Yukimura, who was confident in his academics, felt nervous.
There were probably only five people in Class D who felt almost no anxiety.
Shimizu Yuto.
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.
Hirata Yosuke.
Koenji Rokusuke.
And the only girl among them, Horikita Suzune.
Still, even Suzune felt slightly uneasy.
Because during this midterm...
She had deliberately controlled her scores instead of doing her absolute best.
After discovering that the real midterm papers were completely different from Ike's, Suzune made a major decision.
She would deliberately lower her own scores to reduce the passing threshold!
The passing mark for each subject was fifty percent of the class's average score in that subject.
That meant the highest possible passing mark was fifty points.
As long as Suzune kept each of her own scores around fifty-one, she could guarantee her own passing grade while lowering the class average—and therefore lowering the passing threshold for everyone else.
So despite her cold and unapproachable appearance, Suzune was actually an enormous tsundere.
"Yuto, I'm still nervous."
"What if I failed?" Kei quietly asked from the seat beside him.
"What are you nervous about?"
"We already checked the answers after the exam and estimated your scores."
"You scored above eighty in every subject. There's no chance you failed," Yuto replied helplessly.
After the midterm, Yuto discovered that all three of his girlfriends were anxious about their results.
So relying on his memory, he reconstructed the entire set of midterm examination papers.
He then made two additional copies and had Airi, Kei, and Kikyo answer them again.
By grading their answers, he was able to directly estimate their actual midterm results.
Once all three confirmed that their scores were safely above the passing threshold, they finally stopped worrying.
To thank Yuto for calming their nerves, they enthusiastically threw themselves at him, showering him with kisses. The kissing soon led them to bed, where they engaged in some... pleasurable exercise.
…
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