บท 156: You, A Perfect 100
The student list for the 1st-year A class exam room was already out, and before the end of the school day, Izumi Kotomi took a look at it. There were 20 students in total—far fewer than other exam rooms—but that's because every one of these students was among the top performers in the entire first-year cohort.
This meant that the 20 top students would engage in fierce competition during the exams in the 1st-year A class exam room.
Just thinking about it made Kotomi's blood boil a little.
Aside from Kotomi, both Yukino Yukinoshita and Seiko Kirigiri were also assigned to the 1st-year A class exam room.
As for the remaining 17 students, she didn't recognize them.
"Kotomi, I've finished," Yui said, pulling Kotomi's attention back from her thoughts about next week's exams.
"Done already? Good job. Take a break while I look over it."
Kotomi took the papers and, with practiced hands, picked up the red pen on the desk. It was no wonder Yukino, Yui, and Megumi Kato often said she seemed like a teacher—her focused expression while marking papers really gave off the air of a strict but exceptional educator.
The grading was done quickly, and both tests scored a perfect 100.
Kotomi couldn't help but smile as she wrote a large "100" in red on each paper, then handed them back to Yui.
Yui, who had been nervously awaiting her scores, stared in disbelief at the two perfect 100s on her papers. Then, bursting with excitement, she leapt from her chair and cheered, "Yay! I got 100 points!!"
"Actually, two 100 points~," Kotomi reminded her, grinning as well.
"I can't believe I did this! Kotomi, are you sure you didn't just give me a high score to comfort me?"
Yui's academic track record wasn't great, so seeing two perfect scores filled her with disbelief and joy, a combination that left her struggling to process it.
"You've been studying hard all week, and I've been tutoring you. If you still didn't do well on these practice tests, do you think I'd go out of my way to comfort you? I'd be more likely to pin you to the desk and give you a stern talking-to," Kotomi said, pretending to be fierce.
"Ehehe~," Yui scratched her light peach-colored hair, laughing sheepishly at Kotomi's mock scolding.
"For the next hour, I'll walk you through the key points from Japanese and other subjects that often show up on exams but are easy to get wrong. If you can learn them and stay calm and focused during the test, you'll have no problem getting a good score."
"Mm-hmm! I can't wait to bake you a big cake when I ace the exam!" Yui nodded energetically.
"Is it only cake that you're offering to me?" Kotomi asked playfully, wanting to lighten the mood after Yui's intense hour of practice.
She had only meant to joke around a bit, but Yui's reaction was unexpectedly different. Her face flushed red as her mind drifted to thoughts that were definitely not related to cake, and she stammered:
"K-Kotomi…what else do you want me to make? As long as it's not too hard, I-I'll do my best to meet your requests!"
While Kotomi had no idea what Yui was thinking, she could tell it was definitely something…off. Yui's reddening face confirmed it.
"I was just joking, Yui. Cake will be perfect," Kotomi clarified with a slight chuckle.
"O-Oh…right," Yui responded, her face turning an even deeper shade of red. If the ground could have opened up, she would have gladly slipped right in.
Yui had been under a lot of pressure recently, what with all the studying and preparation for the upcoming exams. It was a change of pace for someone who didn't normally hit the books so hard. A few days ago, in an attempt to relieve stress before bed, she had been browsing her phone and ended up stumbling onto a site that asked if she was 18 or older.
Instinctively, she clicked "Yes" and found herself on a manga site.
The site's logo was a single orange slice nestled within a blooming lily.
The cover of the manga caught Yui's attention, making her wide awake just as she was about to fall asleep.
What she read next utterly shocked her.
"Wha—this is that kind of manga! Girls…can do this sort of thing?!"
"A bunch of girls...together?!"
"Wha—what is this weird stuff they're doing?!"
"But they…they look like they're really enjoying it…"
"Wait…does it feel…good?"
New knowledge unlocked!
Yui found herself hooked, and before she knew it, she was up late each night reading these kinds of comics. By now, she had devoured over 90 volumes in just a few days!
From short stories to full-color ones, Yui had dived deep into this new world. And thanks to these nightly reading sessions, she found herself waking up refreshed, her stress from the day before completely gone.
Of course, this newfound hobby also led to some rather…distracting thoughts whenever Kotomi tutored her. The proximity, the faint fragrance Kotomi carried, and the sight of her beautiful, delicate features only made Yui feel more and more flustered.
No wonder she had interpreted Kotomi's innocent comment as something more suggestive.
Once the lesson ended and Kotomi finished reviewing all the critical points, their final cram session before the exams was officially over.
"Make sure to digest everything I've taught you today. If you get stuck on something, just ask me."
Looking over her notes, Yui still couldn't help but worry. "Do you think I'll do well on the exam?"
Hearing the uncertainty in Yui's voice, Kotomi smiled gently.
"Nervous?"
"A little," Yui admitted with a nod.
"I get it. It's actually normal to feel nervous after studying hard for an exam. If you hadn't reviewed anything, you might not even feel worried. But now that you've put in the effort, you're probably afraid of letting yourself down, wasting all that hard work, or disappointing me for all the time I spent tutoring you. Am I right?"
Yui quickly nodded. Kotomi had perfectly captured her anxious thoughts.
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