"Kitagawa-kun, is the school really going to use this paper for the midterm exam?"
Ichinose Honami's brows furrowed slightly as her fingertips turned over the sheets that had just come out of the printer.
Ten minutes earlier, in a corner of the cafeteria, she and Kitagawa Kai had made a deal with a second-year boy whose eyes showed a hint of impatience.
For ten thousand Personal Points, they had obtained the electronic version of the exam paper from him.
Kitagawa Kai leaned against the wall nearby. His gaze swept over her profile, serious but worried, then over the white A4 sheets in Ichinose's hands.
The paper looked utterly ordinary. At the top, a bold black title was printed-
"Advanced Nurturing First-Year, First-Semester Midterm Exam."
It had all the usual details, including its title, class, and student number, and was no different from the previous quizzes.
"This paper is genuine. I'm quite sure of it."
Ichinose Honami looked at him, though the doubt in her eyes hadn't completely faded. "But how could the school allow the exam questions to leak? And how did that second-year senior..."
"Rules." Kitagawa interrupted her. His gaze shifted from the paper to the afternoon sunlight outside the window, turning somewhat deep.
"This school encourages competition and even tacitly permits a certain degree of rule-breaking, as long as you aren't caught in the act. Remember what Hoshinomiya-sensei said about failing an exam?"
Ichinose nodded, her expression growing more serious. "I remember. The passing score is half the class average. If a student's score falls below that threshold, they face expulsion."
"Exactly. Given the current average academic ability shown by Class C and Class D, how many students do you think can reach or exceed half the class average on their own, without any outside help?"
Ichinose Honami fell silent. She began recalling the state of the other two classes.
Setting Class C aside, Class D was even more of a concentration camp for problem students. Apart from a handful, most of the students seemed indifferent to their studies. At their current level, passing the exam would be as difficult as climbing to heaven.
"Oh, you mean that unless they all deliberately get extremely low scores and drag the class average way down, the halfway mark will be lower too."
"So when the school designed this midterm, it must have taken that possibility into account."
"So either the exam won't be too difficult, ensuring that most students who are willing to work hard have a chance of passing, or it expects us to find a way to use this approach as a shortcut."
Realization dawned on Ichinose Honami's face. "I understand. Whether or not this paper is genuine, it gives us a clear direction for our revision."
Kitagawa Kai added, "We can reasonably alter the order of the questions and the numbers, then put them together into a practice exam for Class B to help everyone review and prepare for the test."
"Wow, Kitagawa-kun, thanks for the suggestion. Leave the rest to me."
"Thanks for handling this, Honami," Kitagawa Kai replied, watching Ichinose Honami disappear down the corridor with the folder in her arms.
He turned away, put his hands in his pockets, and headed for the library.
Kitagawa Kai went straight to the mystery novels section. At this time of the afternoon, it was usually quieter there.
Shiina Hiyori was still sitting in her usual spot by the window. She seemed to have just taken a short nap-or perhaps had been immersed in the world of her book for too long. Now she tilted her head slightly, her eyes unfocused as she enjoyed the soft sunlight filtered through the glass.
Her wine-red uniform jacket was draped over the back of her chair. She wore only a spotless white shirt, and her dark blue bow tie was loosened a little, adding a rare touch of languor to her cool demeanor.
Shiina Hiyori seemed to sense his gaze and slowly turned her head. When she saw who it was, a gentle ripple stirred in her amethyst eyes.
"Good afternoon, Kitagawa-kun."
"Good afternoon, Shiina. Ryuen hasn't given you a hard time about us being friends, has he?" Kitagawa Kai walked over to her and naturally pulled out a chair to sit down.
"Ryuen? He only pays attention to what he considers necessary." Shiina Hiyori spoke in her usual soft, gentle voice, with an air of casual detachment.
"Kitagawa-kun and I discuss mystery novels in the library. We don't talk about any information, so he won't interfere much."
Even if he did interfere, I wouldn't change anything. What could matter more than my own book friend?
Thinking this, she turned her head with complete ease and quickly glanced at the boy sitting beside her.
"I see." Kitagawa Kai nodded.
"Looks like I was worrying too much. I just thought that, given Ryuen's style, he might try to stop his classmates from getting too close to me. After all, he's lost to me several times."
"..."
Don't say that. Ryuen's nearly taken all our points away.
A brief silence passed between them, but it wasn't awkward. It was more like the natural pause between passages while reading.
Kitagawa Kai closed the book in front of him, as if he'd suddenly remembered something, and broke the quiet in a casual tone.
"By the way, is there anything you want to read next, Shiina? I was just thinking of checking that shelf to see if a new copy of The Mystery of the Doll House has come in."
Shiina Hiyori also closed the Sequel: Black Death House in her hands, carefully tucked in her bookmark, then stood up to follow him. "I'll come too."
The shelves in the mystery novels section were especially tall, with the top shelf almost reaching the ceiling.
Shiina Hiyori tilted her head back and carefully searched the middle and upper shelves.
Philosopher's Locked Room.
The book was on the very top shelf. For someone of average height like her, it was in an awkward spot, though she seemed just able to reach it on tiptoe.
She barely hesitated. Rising onto her toes, she stretched out her arm and reached upward with her slender fingers.
The movement lifted her skirt hem a little, revealing a small section of calf covered by gray over-the-knee socks-a truly fair and delicate sight.
Kitagawa Kai was standing not far behind her to one side. He pretended to browse the shelf beside them, but the corner of his eye kept track of what she was doing.
She rose slightly onto her toes and reached out, even gave a little hop, but still couldn't get the book. The sight revealed a strangely adorable stubbornness.
Kitagawa Kai walked over naturally. "Is this the one?"
"Mm."
"I'll get it."
Kitagawa Kai raised his hand and grasped the top edge of the book firmly. With a slight pull, he slipped it out from between the tightly packed books.
"Thank you." Shiina Hiyori took the heavy book and held it in both arms. Her cheeks seemed to have flushed faintly from the effort, and her breathing was a little uneven, but that made her look all the more lively.
"You're welcome. You can ask me anytime if you need a book from a high shelf."
They carried their books back to the spot by the window and each placed one on the table.
"Shall we read separately, like usual, and talk about anything interesting we come across?"
Shiina Hiyori nodded without hesitation. "Mm, let's do what we usually do."
[Ping!] [Shiina Hiyori Affection Level +5, current Affection Level: 45]