The morning sun pierced through the school building's corridor, casting long shadows of people in front of the announcement board. As Okabara Kyogumichi entered the school gate, he saw students crowded around the announcement board, their discussions surging like a tide.
He roughly guessed what it was and slowed his steps, walking over. Sure enough, at the very top of the monthly exam results ranking, he saw his name—Okabara Kyogumichi, full marks, first in his grade.
"Wow, it really is Okabara-san! He actually surpassed Yukinoshita-san!"
"That's incredible, I heard he was still tenth in the last mock exam!"
"Rumor has it that they made a bet before, and the loser has to grant the winner a request…"
The discussions around him grew louder, and many eyes instantly focused on him. Kyogumichi roughly scanned their gazes, which held surprise, curiosity, and some indescribable ambiguity, making him feel uncomfortable all over.
He subconsciously quickened his pace, wanting to leave, but he bumped into Kitagawa Marin head-on.
"Kyogumichi! You're amazing! First in your grade!" Kitagawa Marin excitedly waved the report card in her hand, her chest ribbon gently swaying with her movements. "I knew you could definitely win against Yukinoshita-san!"
Her loud voice attracted more attention, and Kyogumichi rubbed his forehead helplessly: "Lower your voice, everyone is watching."
"Let them watch, it's something to be proud of!" Kitagawa Marin said indifferently.
She took two steps forward, suddenly leaned in, and lowered her voice, "What request are you going to ask Yukinoshita-san to agree to? Are you going to make her wear a maid outfit?"
Kyogumichi imagined the scene and felt it wasn't bad. Then he shook his head: "Don't talk nonsense! We're just normal academic competitors."
As he walked into the school building, he met Shiina Mahiru. The girl was holding books and showed a gentle smile when she saw Kyogumichi: "Congratulations, Okabara-san. I knew your efforts would pay off."
Her report card showed second place in the grade, unchanged.
At the corner of the corridor, Chitanda Eru and Natsume Takashi were standing in front of the announcement board.
Chitanda's eyes immediately lit up when she saw Kyogumichi: "Okabara-san, you really got first place! You got full marks on that history essay question, can you teach me your answering techniques? Please!" Her thirst for knowledge was always so strong, completely oblivious to the ambiguous atmosphere around them.
"No problem, leave it to me. Let's discuss it in the library after school." Kyogumichi readily agreed.
Natsume Takashi walked over, his tone somewhat teasing: "Congratulations, but Yukinoshita-san seems to be struggling with some mistakes, don't provoke her too much later."
Kyogumichi's heart skipped a beat. As soon as he entered the classroom, he felt a complex gaze.
Yukino Yukinoshita sat by the window, frowning in thought over a test paper, her fingers unconsciously tapping the desk. When she saw Kyogumichi enter, her eyes flickered, but quickly returned to calm.
The surrounding students, seeing the atmosphere, quietly settled down, even their breathing became much lighter.
As Kyogumichi walked to his seat, Yukino closed her test paper, her tone a bit unnatural: "The difficulty of this exam was indeed on the lower side, which is more advantageous for someone like you who excels at last-minute cramming."
"So, this is you admitting I won?" Kyogumichi raised an eyebrow and retorted, having already guessed she would be stubborn.
"It's just an objective evaluation." Yukino took a deep breath, trying to maintain her composure. "Your history answer sheet indeed had its merits; those extended arguments, though beyond the syllabus, were logically rigorous." She paused and added, "However, there was a flaw in the steps of the last major physics question; getting points was purely due to the grader's leniency."
Kyogumichi took out his physics test paper: "I did write the wrong formula here, but the result is correct. As for you, you made two basic mistakes in the chemistry multiple-choice questions. This isn't like your usual standard."
Yukino's earlobes subtly reddened, but she still feigned composure: "It was just carelessness, it won't happen again." She took a deep breath, as if making a big concession, "Speak, what is your request? As long as it doesn't violate principles."
The surrounding students instantly perked up their ears, even Hitori Bocchi, who had been sleeping on her desk, quietly lifted her head.
Kyogumichi looked at her feigned composure but slightly trembling fingertips and suddenly found it a bit amusing: "It's simple, just help me organize the upcoming review materials. Your mistake analysis is clearer than the teacher's blackboard notes."
Yukino was visibly stunned, seemingly not expecting him to make such an ordinary request: "Huh? That's it?"
"Otherwise?" Kyogumichi said with a smile, "Do you want me to make a more outrageous request?"
"N-no!" Yukino's cheeks flushed, and she quickly turned her face away, "Organizing materials is fine, but you must study them seriously. I don't want to waste my time doing useless work."
"Don't worry, I will study them seriously." Kyogumichi took out his notebook, "Mainly the physics mistake collection, especially the electromagnetism section. Your problem-solving ideas are very clear."
Yukino then breathed a sigh of relief. As she turned back to her seat, she quietly pushed over a neatly organized electromagnetism formula sheet, with easy-to-make mistakes highlighted in red. The surrounding students all showed disappointed expressions, clearly expecting to see a more interesting development.
Kyogumichi shook his head helplessly. When he opened the formula sheet, he found a sticky note clipped to the last page, which read "Key points summary for monthly exam scope," in neat and elegant handwriting.
During the break, Yuigahama Yui ran over with a freshly bought drink: "Okabara-san, congratulations! Yukinon stayed up late last night helping you organize materials. She said, 'If I'm going to do it, I can't be perfunctory.'"
She secretly pointed to Yukino's thermos, "Inside is the refreshing tea she brewed; she said you probably didn't rest well before the exam."
Kyogumichi looked at Yukino, who was pretending to read but frequently stealing glances with her peripheral vision, and couldn't help but smile.
The sunlight outside the window shone perfectly on Yukino's focused profile as she wrote, casting a golden halo on her fair skin.
When the class bell rang, Yukino quietly pushed another sticky note onto Kyogumichi's desk. It read in elegant handwriting: "See you in the library after school; I brought past exam papers." At the end, there was a small pencil drawing, so cute it made one want to laugh. Kyogumichi picked up his pen, drew a smiley face on the back of the sticky note, and gently pushed it back.
Before going to bed that night, Kyogumichi habitually opened his phone and saw a red dot on Yukino's avatar, indicating unread messages.
[Consider this organized material my gift to you. That promise still stands; you can come to me to fulfill it later, but no strange requests, okay]