Taking Photos

Time came to the day before the May exams.

After school, who knew how many people wanted to cram at the last minute. At that moment, Class D's angel, Kikyo Kushida, stood up and walked to the front of the podium, holding a stack of photocopies in her hands.

As Class D's public figure, many eyes turned toward her.

"Could everyone wait a moment? Let me say a few words. Before you leave, I have something to give you."

After explaining why she had stopped them, she handed the copies to the front-row students, asking them to pass them back.

Many people looked at the questions on the papers with confusion, only able to vaguely guess. After all, with just one day left until the exam, it wasn't like they could suddenly sit for a test after school—no one could handle that.

"Did you compile these test questions, Kushida? But the exam doesn't start until tomorrow."

Kikyo Kushida, seeing someone's doubt, broke into a cheerful smile and explained.

"Ah, actually, these are past papers. I asked a Third-Year Senior for them last night.

I found out these papers are the same as the ones from two years ago. They probably won't change this year either. I thought they might help everyone, so I took the liberty of doing this."

Her words were like dropping a depth charge into the class.

Countless last-minute crammers suddenly had a clear target. Cramming had its own technique—if you only had to memorize a few questions, it was much easier.

"What the heck, I wish I hadn't studied so hard. What a waste of my time."

"This is a huge help."

It was exactly break time, so many couldn't resist jumping up from their seats, and some even rushed straight to the podium to surround Kikyo Kushida.

It was like worshipping their angel, and that's exactly what it was. When everyone had no clear goal and faced the reality of failing and being expelled, Kikyo Kushida descended like a divine soldier, delivering help on the last day. As many could understand, icing on the cake was nothing compared to fuel in the snow.

Especially the Trio. At that moment, Kikyo Kushida was practically glowing in their eyes. In their minds, she was already a T0 existence.

They didn't care about their own sleazy personalities or their looks. She gave them warm smiles, chatted with them, and now offered the best help.

If they were Goblins, then she was the Saintess!

Beihai was also among the crowd, grabbing a paper. His expression relaxed a little.

"Great, now I don't have to worry about tomorrow's exam.

Sakura, I grabbed one for you too. Take a look."

Airisu Sakura took the paper, but she didn't think it would be much use to Beihai.

She had been in contact with Beihai for over two months. Back in April, the class was a chaotic mess, and Beihai didn't hold back, jumping right in.

But by May, he had buried his head in intense studying, even pushing himself hard.

"Does Beihai need this too?"

Asking when you didn't know was the mark of a good student, and it had become a habit. Keeping quiet about a problem you couldn't solve only invited punishment—Airisu Sakura knew that well.

"It might not help much, but it's better to be safe."

Beihai wore a bright smile, but really, he was just going along with the crowd. Not taking a paper at a time like this would draw too much attention.

Scanning the class, there was the blonde Rokuju Takaharadera, a lone wolf ostracized by others, who brushed off Kikyo Kushida's goodwill, saying he had a date.

Suzune Horikita was also a loner, even more so. No one cared about her, but she had real strength.

Kiyotaka Kiyotaka was observing the commotion, watching Beihai—who had rejected him at the cafeteria before—now grabbing a paper.

As soon as Beihai made his move, he followed instantly, getting up to grab a paper too.

When Kikyo Kushida handed out the papers, she froze for a moment seeing Kiyotaka Kiyotaka, but quickly recovered. The whole thing lasted only a second, and no one else noticed.

Kiyotaka Kiyotaka looked at the questions on the paper, then scanned the room again. Yes, this was right. If he just sat there, he'd easily draw attention.

He wasn't like those other recluses with their quirks.

From here, he could move toward stable social interaction.

"Beihai, gaming tonight?"

Beihai flinched. He saw the guy as a gaming buddy, but this was too much.

"The exam's tomorrow. We should take it seriously. Let's skip it today."

Airisu Sakura saw them talking again and, remembering what Beihai had said earlier, mustered her courage.

"Kiyotaka, Beihai's right. The exam's tomorrow. It's not convenient to do much today. If something like that test incident happens again, we'll get expelled.

And, and Beihai has something to do with me this afternoon."

"Alright, fine."

Kiyotaka Kiyotaka backed down. Mainly because Beihai had been in a bad state during that test and dozed off, ending up with a poor score.

The May exam was no joke. Messing this one up meant real expulsion.

Airisu Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. She had summoned incredible courage just now. If she had to hold out any longer, she would have cracked, stammered, and lost.

Walking back to the dorm after school, Beihai casually rolled up the paper in his hand, then aimed at a nearby trash can like he was shooting hoops.

Airisu Sakura didn't do the same. Instead, she took a camera out of her backpack and handed it to Beihai.

"Make sure the photos turn out nice—no messing around."

After giving a warning and reminder, Beihai naturally nodded in full agreement.

Once they found a good spot, Beihai would say something like, "Come on, smile—wait, the lighting's bad here, move left, yeah, a bit more left, just a little more."

Airisu Sakura was surprisingly lively in front of the camera, not as timid as usual, but watching Beihai photograph her still made her a bit stiff.

So she kept her eyes locked on the lens, posed her body as best she could, took a step left, shifted again, and then bumped into the wall.

"Ah?"

Already on edge, the bump jolted her whole body, and she instantly deflated—just as he snapped the shot.

Beihai's expression turned a little strange. Airisu Sakura was cute, but behind her, at the edge of the corridor, the photo had caught people shoving each other, seemingly in a quarrel.

Airisu Sakura was a bit annoyed—it was the same as before when taking photos; he never caught her looking good, only snapping her in awkward moments, calling it "adorable."

Before she could even walk up to him, Beihai grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from the scene.

When people are fighting, the right move is to ensure your own safety first.