Hayato had an aunt who worked in Hawaii, and although there was no direct connection, it made English his strong suit.
His Chinese was a bit weaker, but this time, Hayato, with the profound charm of the Chinese language and his unique understanding of the Japanese language, also produced an excellent answer sheet.
As for mathematics, which neither of them was good at—
"System!"
This external brain would make up for it.
Actually, Hayato wasn't interested in rankings or anything; it was just that the bald math teacher kept a very close eye on him.
As soon as he relaxed in class, a piece of chalk would fly over.
After many such occurrences, Hayato's "agility" was already enough to dodge chalk.
If he got a good score, the bald teacher's attitude towards him should improve.
But who would have thought, with the combination of the three parties…
"How did you know I got first place in the entire grade?" Hayato asked the people on the green field, beaming with pride.
"…?"
Kushiro Arisa froze for a moment. Who the hell asked you that?
Then she realized, holy crap, first place in the entire grade!? As a "just-pass-is-enough" person, she had never been interested in academic rankings.
However, she had heard a little about the top few masters.
After all, the same names always dominated.
But, the character "Hayato" had always been obscure, never even appearing in the top ten list.
How did he suddenly jump to first place?
"As expected of Hayato." Ochi Tsubasa praised with a guileless smile, "Even his grades are so excellent, unlike me who can only play soccer—"
No.
Kushiro Arisa's pupils trembled as she looked at Hayato. This guy didn't look like the studious type either.
Aren't all those top students very plain, wearing glasses, silent, and with few friends?
Hmm, some even have very little hair.
But Hayato had a short ponytail, two buttons of his school uniform shirt unbuttoned, revealing his delicate collarbone, a slender figure, and slightly rolled-up sleeves, his fair wrists glowing under the sun.
Full of youthful spirit, he looked like a trendy, handsome guy no matter how you looked at him.
Oh, no, wait.
Kushiro Arisa suddenly realized, no, that's not right.
Hayato was also very plain; he wore a school uniform and school pants, without any extra accessories, and actually dressed like an ordinary high school boy. Moreover, he wore black-rimmed glasses today, usually didn't talk much, and didn't seem to have many friends…
Aside from having more hair, he perfectly fit the persona of a top student.
The other difference was that face.
Kushiro Arisa understood: being handsome meant being trendy.
Holy crap, first place! Kushiro Arisa thought, although being first in high school, and in a small test, wouldn't bring any substantial rewards.
But the mere title of "first place" was enough to show off!
If she could get a first place, it would even be written on her tombstone!
Like carving a QR code on the tombstone, scanning it to view photos of three test papers or something.
She looked at Nanao Akane.
How to put it, she used to feel that Nanao and Xiaolin were quite a match, but now, compared to each other… hmm, it seemed to highlight the gap between "200 points" and "first place."
Reina. Kushiro Arisa thought again, refusing Hayato back then… that was truly an outrageous thing…
But Nanao Akane seemed not to have heard Hayato's flat yet boastful words; she murmured the two words "Xiaolin."
And then,
A door appeared in her mind, slammed shut with a "bang," and then opened with a "whoosh."
Everything was connected; there was only one truth!
Hayato was about to walk down the stairs to meet his comrades cordially.
Nanao Akane bit her itching silver teeth, took quick steps with her long white legs, and blocked him on the stairs.
"You!"
"Hmm?" Hayato raised an eyebrow. Even though Nanao Akane hadn't asked, he answered on his own, "Honestly, coming in first place..."
"Your name!" Nanao Akane interrupted Hayato.
"Huh?"
Hayato found it strange.
He was on the stairs.
And Nanao Akane was below the stairs.
The former looked down, the latter looked up at him.
Suddenly, a gentle breeze blew, and the leaves rustled.
The setting sun's rays filtered through the leaves, casting dappled light and shadow on both their faces.
Nanao Akane took a deep breath, asking as if she was using all her strength:
"Your name is!?"
...
Hayato paused. He felt that if the rustling of the leaves from the wind were replaced by the song "Zen Zen Zense," it would be a perfect kill.
But it couldn't be replaced.
However, the atmosphere was already set, and a too-calm answer would be boring.
So he pointed his thumb at his nose bridge:
"Ore wa! Kobayashi! Da!"
Nanao Akane continued to look up at him, her blue eyes beginning to ripple.
See, these stinky women just can't understand a man's romance. Men should really just pilot a Gundam.
Nanao Akane stared for a while, and then tears suddenly welled up in her eyes.
She suddenly felt a bit wronged.
She thought her relationship with the boy in front of her was already minimal, but she hadn't expected to not even know his name... Even Arisa and Kochi...
What exactly had she been so smug about before?
No wonder he wouldn't even reply to her messages.
Turns out, she was an 'outsider'...
"What's wrong?" Hayato rubbed his neck.
"...Didn't you say your name was Anshi...?" Nanao Akane said, lowering her gaze, tears welling in her eyes.
"Hm? That was a lie." Hayato was surprised. So she actually believed it.
This girl looked not very smart, but he hadn't expected her to actually... really not be very smart.
"...Oh, right!"
Nanao Akane quickly asked.
Even though she felt very wronged, the first thing she could think of was: "...You, you're not hurt, are you?"
"What?"
"It's about Supervisor Higashi earlier..." Nanao Akane said softly.
East Gang kicked Kobayashi.
At the time, Nanao Akane didn't understand, but now she pieced together the whole story.
"Oh, it's nothing. I went to the infirmary; I'm perfectly fine." Hayato smiled.
"Oh, that's good." Nanao Akane breathed a sigh of relief, lowering her gaze and twisting the corner of her clothes tightly.
"How did you do on the test?" Hayato asked.
"...It was, it was okay?" Nanao Akane said.
Comparing 'two hundred points' to 'first place,' the phrase 'it was okay' doesn't really fit.
But, under the dazzling light of being first, Nanao Akane felt that if she revealed her true score, it would somehow... feel unworthy of the boy in front of her.
"Come on, let me see." Hayato held out his hand.
"N-no way..." Nanao Akane clutched her backpack strap tightly. "Oh, oh, right, I didn't bring it, ha, haha..."
"Hm?" Hayato's eyes narrowed slightly.
Just a hint of ferocity made Nanao Akane lose her ability to resist.
She could only unzip her bag, then, looking humiliated, took out her test paper.
Her attitude when handing it to Hayato was like that of a defeated dog.
Hayato took it and looked at the score first.
He chuckled, then gently encouraged, "Terrible."
"...Akane?"
Just as Hayato was about to review the paper, a bewildered voice called out to Nanao Akane.
Hayato raised his eyes to look at Katarai Shono, who was surrounded by the Soccer Team, then blinked, as if deep in thought.
Nanao Akane was immediately anxious and quickly said:
"Pian Lai Student, please note, I have no relation to you now. I hope your address can be more polite!"
"Oh."
So it was Pian Lai. Hayato nodded; he really couldn't remember his face.
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