April's tail end brought a slightly chilly breeze that made people feel restless.
Early in the morning, Shangguan Che sat in the classroom and habitually activated his Clairvoyance skill, scanning the activity throughout the school building.
He wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't looked, but when he did, he saw a small mountain of exam papers piled up in the office. The top stack was stamped with the words "April Quiz."
As luck would have it, his eyesight was so good that when he scanned the desk, he accidentally caught a glimpse of the answer sheets tucked beneath the exam papers.
"Seriously? Does this count as 'information delivered right to my door'?" Shangguan Che wondered, unconsciously tapping his fingers on the desk. "But the school's documents are hidden away so carefully. Who knows if these exams are the legendary Special Exam? If I mess this up and get expelled, I'm done for."
After thinking it over for a while, Shangguan Che decided to observe the class first.
Sudo was still slumped over his desk catching up on sleep, while Ike and Yamauchi were huddled together discussing last night's game. Even the few students who were usually fairly serious didn't seem the least bit nervous.
"Seems like it probably isn't a Special Exam." Shangguan Che breathed a sigh of relief. "If this really affected Class Points or could get people expelled, the school would be setting the whole class off like a powder keg. Besides, with Sudo and the others' grades, if they were held to university standards and failed a course, how could only a few people have been expelled in the second and third years?"
Once he'd figured that out, Shangguan Che quietly copied down a few tricky math problems and English reading answers on a slip of paper during break, then passed it to Sakura.
"Sakura, take this. You never know, they might show up on the test. Think of it as reviewing in advance." Shangguan Che lowered his voice and darted his eyes about, as if he were up to something illicit.
Sakura froze for a moment, then accepted the slip of paper, her fingertips growing warm. "Shangguan, this..."
"Don't read too much into it. When I was doing problems yesterday, I thought these might show up, so I put them together for you to look over in advance." Shangguan Che hurriedly covered, then turned and slipped away, afraid Sakura might ask more questions.
As for Karuizawa Kei, Shangguan Che hadn't dared to deliver the answers to her himself. It wasn't that he was afraid she'd refuse. It was because he'd "accidentally" witnessed a confession scene worthy of a TV drama using Clairvoyance.
That evening, Shangguan Che had only meant to see what Karuizawa was doing in the dormitory. Instead, he saw her standing with Hirata at the end of the hallway, her eyes red and her voice choked with tears—or so Shangguan Che imagined her voice sounded.
Hirata furrowed his brows, looking worried.
Karuizawa shook her head, and tears spilled down her cheeks.
In the end, Hirata hesitated for a few seconds before gently nodding.
Shangguan Che had been stunned. "Seriously? This looks so much like a confession, but it came out of nowhere! Isn't this the kind of scene you only get after knowing each other for years and going through life-or-death situations? How did they go from nothing to being together just like that?"
To make sure, Shangguan Che had even messaged Hirata on his phone: [Hirata, do you have a girlfriend?]
A few minutes later, Hirata replied: [Is there something you need, Shangguan?]
Shangguan Che had a sudden idea and replied: [It's nothing. Someone else asked me to find out. Don't worry, that person is a woman both psychologically and biologically.]
Hirata's reply came quickly: [Then please apologize to her for me. I already have a girlfriend.]
[OK.]
Before long, the whole class knew that Hirata and Karuizawa were dating.
Watching his classmates exchange knowing looks, Shangguan Che silently exclaimed, "That news spread way too fast! Even faster than my Clairvoyance!"
Later, he gave the answers to Hirata and asked him to pass them on to Karuizawa. When Hirata got the answers, he asked in confusion, "Why didn't you give the answers to the whole class, Shangguan?"
Shangguan Che had expected him to ask. He immediately put on a pitiful expression and draped an arm around Hirata. "Hirata, it's because I don't know if these answers are even right!
"I only got them by secretly asking an upperclassman. Who knows if they're accurate?
"If they're wrong and you tell everyone about them, the whole class will make fun of me. I'd be socially dead, and I don't want that!
"Please, don't tell anyone."
Looking at his pitiful expression, Hirata's heart softened. "All right. I won't tell anyone."
"I knew you were the best!" Shangguan Che immediately smiled and patted Hirata on the shoulder. "I know you want to ask why I gave them to Karuizawa. Go ahead."
Just as expected, Hirata followed his lead and asked, "Why?"
"Because you're my best friend!" Shangguan Che said, lightly bumping Hirata's shoulder with his fist. "Isn't helping your best friend's girlfriend the most natural thing in the world?"
Hirata's eyes widened in shock. "How did you know Karuizawa and I were dating?!"
Shangguan Che silently complained, "Shouldn't you be asking when we became best friends? How did you miss the point by that much?"
But he kept a calm expression. "Pretty much everyone in class already knows. Don't get hung up on that. Hurry and give Karuizawa the answers. Class is about to start."
Only then did Hirata react. He grabbed the slip of paper and hurried off.
The third period was social studies with the homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae. As soon as the bell rang, Chabashira-sensei walked into the classroom carrying a stack of exam papers. Her expression was as stern as ever.
Hirata was the first to raise his hand and voice the whole class's question. "Teacher, are we having a test?"
"Yes. It's the end of the month, so we're having a quiz." Chabashira-sensei handed the exam papers to the student in the front row. "Pass them back."
The papers made their way from desk to desk, and the atmosphere in the classroom instantly grew tense.
Just then, another student raised a hand and asked, "Teacher, is this quiz a Special Exam?"
Chabashira-sensei raised her eyelids, and the corners of her mouth actually lifted slightly. The smile vanished almost at once, but Shangguan Che still caught it.
"This exam will only be used as a reference in the future. It won't be reflected on your report cards." She paused, then continued, "There's no risk, so don't worry. But, of course, cheating is strictly forbidden."
Watching Chabashira-sensei's rare smile, Shangguan Che couldn't help wondering, "That smile is so unusual. Is she in a good mood because this exam doesn't matter? Or is there something fishy going on behind this quiz? It can't be that she admires Hirata and smiled at him, can it?"
The more he thought about it, the more amusing it seemed. "Come to think of it, Hirata is handsome and nice. Could Chabashira-sensei be into younger guys? Haha, just kidding. She doesn't look like someone who'd get involved in a teacher-student relationship."
Suddenly, Shangguan Che remembered that at the start of the school year, Chabashira-sensei had said that a homeroom teacher would stay with a class for three years.
"Could moving up a class benefit the homeroom teacher?" The thought had only just occurred to him when the exam papers being passed up from the row ahead interrupted his train of thought.
"Whatever. Why think so much? I'll just take the test first." Shangguan Che picked up his pen and started working carefully.
Twenty minutes later, he checked his paper and started musing again. "Maybe Chabashira-sensei just felt like smiling. It doesn't mean anything. Yeah, that's definitely it."
Shangguan Che activated Clairvoyance and glanced at the students around him.
Sakura sat to his left, bent over her work. He couldn't see her exam paper. Hirata in front had nearly finished; as expected, he was at the top of the class academically. Karuizawa was making average progress, so the answers he'd given her had probably come in handy.
Shangguan Che took the opportunity to look at the other classes as well. He found that everyone was taking the test seriously, and no one was cheating.
"I was hoping to see what the punishment for cheating was. What a letdown." Shangguan Che pursed his lips.
Even as he handed in his exam, clips from the movie he'd watched that morning were still playing in his mind. When the male lead died at the end, he'd nearly burst into tears.
As he left the exam room, Sakura hurried to catch up and asked in a quiet voice, "Shangguan, how difficult did you think that quiz was?"
"It was okay. Not too hard." Shangguan Che smiled. "What about you? Were there any questions you couldn't do?"
Sakura nodded, then shook her head. "Most of them weren't as hard as the problems you gave me, Shangguan. I understood all of those."
"That's good. I'm sure you'll get a great score." Shangguan Che patted her on the shoulder. "Come on, let's head back to class. We're going to eat in the cafeteria together later."
He hadn't even noticed that, without realizing it, he'd gotten used to studying and eating with Sakura. This ordinary, comforting routine made life at Advanced Nurturing High School seem not so bad after all.
Before you continue