Distributing Past Exam Papers

Time flowed like sand between fingers, slipping away amidst the rising and falling chorus of discussions. In the blink of an eye, the final day before the midterm exams arrived.

The air in the Class D classroom this morning was thick with the heavy, suffocating atmosphere of an impending battle, a mixture of exhaustion, tension, and the final desperate sprint.

Natsukawa walked into the classroom at his usual time, neither early nor late. His expression remained calm, standing in stark contrast to the taut atmosphere surrounding him. He did not head toward his seat; instead, his gaze swept across the room before finally landing on Kushida Kikyo, who was currently surrounded by several girls.

He did not walk over to interrupt their conversation, but instead picked up his personal terminal and sent a message to Kushida.

Kushida had been chatting happily with her classmates, but upon seeing Natsukawa enter the classroom, she immediately diverted a portion of her attention toward him. She watched as he walked in, glanced at her, and then pulled out his terminal. Almost the moment he lowered his hand, her own terminal chimed with a notification.

Taking advantage of a lull in the conversation, she checked her terminal, and the content of the message left her pleasantly surprised:

"Kikyo, go ahead and distribute the original exam papers you printed out to everyone."

The corners of her eyes lifted slightly, seemingly pleased that her previous efforts hadn't gone to waste. She offered an apologetic smile to the girls beside her: "Sorry, give me a moment, there's something very important I need to take care of."

She turned and walked toward her locker, deftly pulling out the stack of original exam papers that Natsukawa had instructed her to keep safe and wait for the right moment to reveal. Facing this stack of paper again, her mood was vastly different from the impatient, credit-seeking excitement she had felt when she first printed them.

She stood at the front of the classroom, took a deep breath, plastered her habitual, flawless, sweet smile on her face, and clapped her hands to draw the attention of the entire class.

"Everyone! Please quiet down for a moment! Before the exams, I have something here to distribute to all of you!" Her voice was crisp, carrying a reassuring strength.

Every eye in the room instantly focused on her and the stack of papers in her arms.

"This is information I obtained from a second-year senior I know, and I've verified it—" Kushida raised her voice to ensure everyone could hear clearly, "Our school's midterm exam papers for the first semester never change! So, what I have in my hands are the original papers from last year's midterm exams!"

Whoosh—!

It was as if cold water had been dropped into a pot of boiling oil; the entire classroom instantly erupted!

"Are you serious?!"

"Kushida-san! You're amazing!"

"This is great! As long as we have the original papers! As long as..."

"We're saved! We're actually saved!"

The cheers of relief were enough to nearly lift the roof off. Dozens of gazes filled with gratitude, admiration, and relief shone on Kushida like spotlights. Even the usually cold Horikita looked up, though she quickly lowered her head again; she seemed satisfied with her own tutoring results and didn't care much for these papers. Sudo and the others were so excited they nearly jumped for joy.

The papers were quickly distributed, and everyone clutched them tightly as if they were precious treasures, as if they were holding a lifeline to a passing grade. Cries of "Thank you, Kushida-san!" and "Kikyo-chan, you're an angel!" echoed incessantly.

However, standing at the center of this wave of gratitude she had ignited with her own hands, Kushida Kikyo maintained her perfect smile, responding over and over with "I'm just glad I could help~" and "Good luck, everyone!", yet deep inside, she felt a sense of emptiness she had never experienced before.

Those sincere words of thanks, the validation that usually made her feel as nourished and satisfied as if she were drinking in nutrients, now sounded as if they were muffled by a thin, transparent film. They no longer stirred ripples in her heart as easily as they once did.

In her mind, images from the past week uncontrollably surfaced: in that quiet corner of the library, she would shed all her pretenses, complain with exhaustion, and even reveal her darkest thoughts. And that man would simply listen calmly, occasionally casting a glance that seemed to pierce through all her performances and reach her very core. He didn't offer cheap comfort, and sometimes he would even use sharp words to puncture her superficiality, but every conversation with him provided a much deeper sense of validation.

She began to crave the feeling of being around him. That sense of relaxation where she didn't need to pretend and could be seen entirely, allowed to show her true self—that stimulation of having her thoughts guided and her horizons broadened was far more profound and... intoxicating than the superficial praise currently filling the classroom, directed at her angel mask.

Subconsciously, she cast her gaze toward the culprit behind it all.

Natsukawa sat at the back of the classroom, one hand supporting his head, watching the commotion caused by his behind-the-scenes maneuvering with a detached expression. His gaze was calm and ripple-free, as if none of this had anything to do with him.

However, when his line of sight accidentally met Kushida's, he gave her an incredibly slight nod.

It was just such a tiny gesture.

In an instant, Kushida felt as if her heart had been gently squeezed by a warm hand. A strange, warm current—a mixture of bitterness, exhilaration, and immense satisfaction—surged through her limbs. Her cheeks flushed uncontrollably, and a faint red tint crept up her ears. This feeling was so foreign, yet so intense.

She hurriedly lowered her eyes to hide the complex emotions swirling within them, her fingers curling unconsciously to grip the hem of her skirt. All the thanks and praise from her classmates couldn't compare to this silent affirmation from him. This realization left her feeling both flustered and intoxicated—flustered that her emotions could be so easily swayed by a man, and intoxicated by this unprecedented sense of peace and fluttering excitement, as if she had finally found a true place to belong.

On the other side of the classroom, Horikita Suzune quickly scanned the original paper she had just received. Confirming it was identical to the version Natsukawa had given her earlier, she set it aside. Her gaze shifted past the excited crowd and landed on Natsukawa, who sat composed and relaxed in the front-diagonal row.

So... he really is relying on these kinds of opportunistic tricks, Horikita thought to herself, a flicker of subtle disdain flashing in her violet eyes.

It wasn't that she hadn't been curious before. Seeing that Natsukawa never participated in any study groups, she had once used the excuse of looking for materials on the other side of the library to quietly observe him from behind the bookshelves a few times. The result, however, was that what he had spread out in front of him weren't textbooks at all, but novels like Two-Sen Copper Coin and D-Board Murder Case, his expression so leisurely it was as if the upcoming exams had nothing to do with him.

This only deepened Horikita's assessment—Natsukawa Sosuke was merely using his petty cleverness to obtain the exam questions in advance, which was the only reason he could be so composed. His "ability," perhaps, was limited to just that. A true powerhouse should be like her brother, crushing everything through absolute, solid knowledge rather than relying on these crooked paths.

She withdrew her gaze and refocused on her own notes. She had absolute confidence in the upcoming exams, whether relying on the original papers or her own accumulated knowledge.

In the afternoon, the final bell of the school day sounded, feeling both heavy and highly anticipated.

The next day, Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, the first semester midterm exams, officially began today.