The two of them served as instructors, each taking charge of different groups, answering the students' questions and watching their work.
This examination included an ikebana arrangement event.
So the students all took it seriously.
Partly for the exam, and partly out of curiosity.
Hachiman was clearly in the latter category.
As the group leader, unless he switched leaders, he could not participate personally. So the only reason he was paying attention now was clearly out of interest.
But then—
"Does Hachiman like flower arrangement?"
A voice spoke as Hachiman worked. It was Hiyori Shiina, who had been assigned to the same group.
Shiina smelled lovely and was beautiful, and her soft voice easily drew attention.
Unfortunately, Hachiman was also her longtime classmate.
When Shiina asked that question, Hachiman understood that what she wanted to ask—or rather, what she cared about—was not whether he was interested in flower arrangement.
It was because this course was probably one of her strengths.
Since he often saw Shiina in the library, Hachiman had noticed more than once that she used bookmarks while reading.
Some of those bookmarks, decorated with plants and flowers, were beautiful, but they were not something one could buy at convenience stores or supermarkets.
Hachiman had already looked into that.
Originally, he had thought that Horikita, who studied ten hours a day, worked very hard and deserved some kind of reward. So he had considered giving her a bookmark.
But at the time, he had not found any, whether at convenience stores or bookstores.
When he showed the clerks photos he had taken, they told him that while the bookmarks were exquisite, they did not carry them.
In other words—
Shiina had made them herself. Since she changed the type of bookmark more than once, they probably had not been