Before they knew it, November had arrived, with only a month left until Paper Shuffle. Time for studying was becoming increasingly precious, especially for a class like Class 1-B, which had many students who were bad at studying.
The good news was that Sawahara had finished preparing the test papers Class C would use for the exams during the last few days of October. Sawahara would have more free time each day to take care of other matters now, though this wasn't good news for everyone.
"Only the last two questions left, and then we're done..." Hiyori Shiina, who had been helping Sawahara prepare the questions, had put down her pen at some point. She cradled her cup of black tea and took a delicate sip, gazing out the window as if lost in thought.
"Yeah. Starting tomorrow, things should get easier." Sawahara considered the second-to-last question. He didn't intend to make it too difficult; an ordinary mechanics problem would do.
"Sawahara, it's getting late. Why don't we continue tomorrow?" Shiina interrupted him as he prepared to start writing.
Sawahara looked at the sky outside the library. The moon had risen, though it wasn't completely dark yet. It was probably around six... Hadn't we left the library at eight thirty yesterday?
Though he thought this, Sawahara stopped what he was doing and set down his pen.
"Sure," Sawahara said with a smile. "But let's go somewhere else tomorrow. How about the school café?"
"Huh? Sure." Shiina froze for a moment, as if she hadn't expected Sawahara to agree so readily. But once she recovered, she quickly accepted, a faint blush rising to her cheeks.
Does this count as a date?
Of course it wasn't a date. It was just a reward. Shiina had worked hard helping him write questions lately,