Toyonokai Academy.
Kasumigaoka lay sprawled over her desk, stifling a yawn as she ignored the murderous glare from the teacher at the podium and busied herself texting under the table.
She'd come first in this round of mock exams again anyway, so at most, the teacher would only nag her a little no matter how annoyed they got.
[You foolish disciple, have your mock exam results come out yet?]
[If you scored too embarrassingly low, don't come crying in front of your teacher, okay? (smile.jpg)]
Bantering childishly with Yukinoshita like this never failed to amuse her.
Though her words were often sharp, Kasumigaoka suspected that Yukinoshita had done quite well this time. As her private tutor, Kasumigaoka was keenly aware of how far she'd progressed academically in the past month.
Probably ranked somewhere in the top forty.
But knowing Yukinoshita, she wouldn't be satisfied with that. She'd never admit it, but her pride ran deep so deep she'd treat even such an impressive leap forward as some kind of shameful failure.
Kasumigaoka had even prepared a few witty comebacks in case Yukinoshita tried to play it cool and tsundere again.
Half an hour after Kasumigaoka sent her message, the ever-disciplined student who never checked her phone during class finally replied.
The image she sent showed her ranking Yukinoshita Yukino: 2nd place in the entire grade bold and unmistakable.
Kasumigaoka: ??????????
That's impossible!!!
Sure, she knew Yukinoshita was both intelligent and hardworking, but this was only one month! How…?!
Yukinoshita: [Next month's exam, I'll come steal the top spot from you. (smile.jpg)]
Kasumigaoka pressed her lips together tightly.
A strange, inexplicable panic and sense of helplessness welled up inside her, crashing down like a wave.
She should have been happy for Yukinoshita's success and part of her was. But this level of success, this overwhelming achievement, somehow made her feel uneasy.
In that moment, an ugly, shameful thought flickered through her mind.
If only Yukinoshita hadn't done quite so well this time…
Yukinoshita had reached second place in just one month. Would she even need a private tutor anymore?
And if that bridge between them disappeared, if they no longer had a reason to stay in touch…
Wouldn't she be pulled back into that twisted, suffocating swamp of loneliness again?
The version of herself from back then, the one who couldn't even sleep without medication, was pitiful enough. But this self filled with such petty, selfish thoughts was even more revolting.
And yet.
Wasn't this proof, plain and painful, that she simply couldn't live without Yukinoshita?
Yukinoshita couldn't help but feel something had shifted in the atmosphere at Sōbu High since the mock exam results came out.
Even in her own class, it was glaringly obvious.
Classmates who used to avoid her like she carried some kind of contagious disease barely sparing her a glance were now looking at her as if she were some kind of genius prodigy.
After several years abroad, this sort of reaction still felt unfamiliar to her.
Apparently, no matter how much "happy education" the East Asia region claimed to embrace, the worship of academic achievement was deeply ingrained in its bones.
Miura's friend, Onozawa Kei, even came over during break to "absorb a bit of genius aura," as she called it only to be promptly dragged away for "re-education" by the scowling Kamizawa Junko.
Yukinoshita, meanwhile, was busy analyzing her own mistakes. By the time she'd mentally gone over every major question from all five subjects, she was forced to admit something surprising.
She hadn't actually given it her all this time.
Other than when it came to her older sister, Yukinoshita had always held a subtle but unmistakable pride in her academic talents.
She'd only had a month to prepare, but during that month, she'd gained a slew of mental stat boosts. Her processing speed, knowledge absorption, and memory capacity had grown severalfold.
Even so, the gap between her and the top scorer was nearly thirty points.
Shameful.
Her expression turned grim as she scribbled the name Jutarō Hasegawa on a piece of scrap paper.
Next time, she would snatch first place from him.
[System, system, could you give me a hint about the bonus reward for the side mission "Top of the School"?]
The system, ever the ex-girlfriend simulator, remained as unresponsive as a corpse.
After quickly drafting her study schedule for the next month, Yukinoshita couldn't help but glance at Miura, who sat beside her.
She was propping up her head and looking attentively toward the front but Yukinoshita could tell she wasn't really paying attention.
Ever since the results were announced, she'd been acting like this restrained, holding something in.
The moment the final bell rang, Miura grabbed Yukinoshita by the hand and practically dragged her out of the classroom, a chorus of surprised gasps trailing behind them.
They stopped to catch their breath behind one of the school buildings.
Miura clutched Yukinoshita's shoulders tightly. "Second place! Yukinoshita got second place in the whole grade!!"
Uh… okay?
Miura-san, you're just now reacting?
Also, can you not yell it like I just won a Nobel Prize? This is seriously embarrassing.
Perhaps overwhelmed by excitement, Miura's words tumbled out rapidly. "This is amazing! Yukinoshita, this is amazing! Now everyone knows how incredible you really are!!!"
No one knew how hard she'd fought to keep her joy from boiling over into something reckless when she first saw the results.
But even now, she couldn't stop smiling.
"So good… It's so good. Everyone finally sees that Yukinoshita is a good person… Everyone's going to love you now…"
Her voice trembled.
Yukinoshita had been about to say that no matter how outstanding someone was, it was impossible to win over everyone.
But in the end, she just nodded. "Yeah. That's great."
Miura fell quiet. She lowered her head and let out a shaky sob, gently resting her forehead against Yukinoshita's shoulder.
"I'm not crying, okay…"
She said it in a voice clearly on the verge of tears.
Yukinoshita blinked in quiet surprise, but lifted her hand to gently pat Miura's back.
Miura really was just a big, sentimental child.
"Yuki…"
At that very moment, Yui Yuigahama turned the corner, three school bags in her arms. As she looked up, she froze.
Her voice caught in her throat and was swept away by the wind.
In the shadow behind the school building, the two girls leaned close, their figures intimately entwined.
Standing motionless where she was, Yuigahama felt as if an entire galaxy now stretched between them.
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