"Everyone, please listen carefully. This is very important."
The next day, at Class D's meeting, the always-charming Hirata hurried to the podium, looking unusually anxious.
"It's about the scope of the midterm exam…"
Hikigaya raised an eyebrow in surprise. He had been wondering when Chabashira-sensei would address the mistake in the exam content. He was even thinking of how to remind Hirata about it. But it seemed Hirata had already figured it out.
Still, Hikigaya noticed that Hirata kept glancing at Horikita while he spoke. Was she the one who found out?
As expected, when the students learned that they had spent half a month studying the wrong material, chaos erupted—especially with the three idiots in class causing the biggest commotion.
Luckily, Hirata and Class D's little angel, Kushida, quickly stepped in to calm everyone down. It was almost like they had prepared for this. Hikigaya guessed that Hirata and the others had already held a small meeting beforehand, which was why they managed to restore order so fast.
There was no time to point fingers now. The real priority was fixing this mess as quickly as possible—after all, the midterms were less than ten days away.
"Hm?"
Hikigaya glanced at Sakura beside him and saw that her face was deathly pale. Her whole body was trembling.
Uh… girl, are you actually okay?
He quickly looked away, feeling a bit awkward. Staring too long seemed rude, and also kind of… well, let's not go there.
Hikigaya could already guess why Sakura looked like she was about to pass out. It was simple.
Her grades were barely hovering above the passing line. One small mistake, and she could drop below it and be expelled.
This mistake in the test material hit two groups the hardest: the students who were already failing, like the three idiots, and the ones barely scraping by—like Sakura.
That's why the students reacting the most were those in her situation. They had finally clawed their way to safety, only to be shoved back to the edge of the cliff—this time even closer to falling. Anyone would struggle with that kind of stress.
There were study groups to help students like Sakura, and she had joined one.
But for someone with social anxiety, it wasn't very effective.
She couldn't start conversations on her own. She was scared of her study group members—especially since they included Karuizawa and Shinohara.
That was like throwing a little lamb into a wolf's den.
So, even though she technically attended the study sessions, it was almost as if she wasn't there at all.
Most of the time, she just stayed in her room and studied alone.
After yesterday's "incident," Hikigaya had taken a night to recover.
Meanwhile, Sakura had realized that running away had hurt him, and somehow, she had found his email address. She sent him an apology, along with the information about her digital camera.
Surprisingly, chatting with Sakura through email was much easier than talking to her in person.
Online, she wasn't the nervous, quiet girl she was in real life.
Her words felt completely different from how she spoke face-to-face.
At school, they never talked directly. She was still her usual shy and awkward self.
But in chat, she had no trouble keeping a conversation going.
She even started conversations herself sometimes.
She even used emojis.
Was this one of those cases where someone was timid in real life but bold online?
And so, a strange thing started happening.
Even though they sat next to each other in class, barely a meter apart, they didn't talk in person.
Instead, they texted each other.
Honestly, it was kind of ridiculous.
No wonder people always said that smartphones were ruining social skills.
Hikigaya thought for a moment, then sent her a message.
[You okay for the exam?]
Less than a second later, she replied.
[N-no problem.]
Hikigaya glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.
She was still trembling.
That's "no problem"?!
She must have noticed his gaze because she immediately buried her head in her desk like an ostrich.
And now she was shaking even more.
Hikigaya sighed and typed another message.
[If you don't mind, I can help you study.]
The message was marked as "read" instantly.
But then… silence.
For almost five whole minutes.
The "read" status just sat there, mocking him.
Seriously, who invented the "read" notification?
Did they not realize how awkward it made things?!
Just as he was about to lose it, his phone buzzed.
[Can… can I?]
[It's decided then.]
Thinking about the girl who acted like an ostrich, Hikigaya decided to send her another message with the exact time and place. That way, she wouldn't overthink it and back out at the last minute.
She read the message instantly but still didn't reply. Hikigaya didn't mind—this was all he could do. If she didn't want to accept his help, there wasn't much else he could do about it.
What he didn't notice, however, was that after receiving his message, the girl had stopped trembling.
…
It wasn't until the end of the school day that Hikigaya finally received a definite reply from Sakura. The delay showed just how much she had struggled with the decision, but in the end, she chose to accept his help. After all, this midterm exam had pushed her to the edge of a cliff.
Still, Hikigaya didn't start tutoring her right away. Instead, he told her to go study by herself in the library while he made a quick trip to the student council office.
When he arrived, he found Horikita Manabu busy with paperwork, as expected. And as always, Tachibana Akane was right by his side.
"Huh? I don't think today is your duty day, is it?"
Tachibana Akane looked confused. Hikigaya was serious and responsible about his work, but when it came to "overtime," he would avoid it whenever possible. Knowing that this was his first time facing a "fail and you're expelled" midterm exam, Tachibana had even reduced his assigned duties to give him more time to prepare.
Unlike her, Horikita Manabu had already put down his pen, as if he had sensed Hikigaya's reason for coming.
"Is something wrong?"
Seeing Hikigaya remain standing after greeting them, Horikita asked directly.
"There is something I need to ask you about."
There was one thing Hikigaya needed to confirm, and besides the teachers, Horikita Manabu was probably the only one who could answer him.
"Go ahead."
Horikita's expression was serious, but there was a hint of anticipation in his eyes.
"President, is there only one version of the first-year midterm exam paper?"
Tachibana Akane was stunned. A sharp glint flashed in Horikita Manabu's eyes.
…
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