The evening sunset streamed through the bright windows,
slanting into the Class 1-A classroom.
The echo of the dismissal bell had not yet completely faded, but the air inside the classroom had quickly cooled,
Unlike the casualness of Class D, most students in Class A left with hurried steps and clear goals—
Either heading to the library to study, attending club activities, or participating in group studies.
In this efficient atmosphere, one figure seemed a little out of place.
Yamamura Miki sat in a corner in the back row,
her soft blue long hair tied into a neat side ponytail, resting on her shoulder.
She kept her head down, her slender fingers unconsciously curling the corner of an open notebook page,
but her gaze occasionally darted towards the window.
Her presence was very faint, like a drop of water in the ocean.
No one particularly disliked her, but it seemed no one truly noticed her either.
She was always alone, arriving quietly, leaving quietly,
like a silent backdrop in the classroom.
This formed a subtle contrast with Sakamoto, who also often kept to himself.
Sakamoto's solitude was like the distinguished uniqueness of a lone peak,
an absolute presence that attracted all eyes even in silence.
Her solitude, however,
was a complete, almost transparent hiddenness.
Yet, in her heart, Sakamoto was not out of reach.
She remembered clearly, during a duty day at the beginning of the semester, she was responsible for wiping the high windows,
the stool was a bit wobbly, and she clumsily almost fell.
It was Sakamoto who happened to pass by, and instead of directly helping, he used a method she couldn't understand but was incredibly stylish—it seemed he just casually tapped a specific spot on the stool leg with his toe—
The wobbling stool instantly stabilized.
He didn't even look at her or say anything,
as if he had completed a trivial task, and then calmly left.
But that momentary sense of stability and that silent rescue were deeply imprinted in Yamamura Miki's heart.
For her, it was a moment of being "seen,"
even if it might just have been her own wishful thinking.
At this moment, she took a deep breath, as if to gather all her courage.
Her hand was tightly clutching a somewhat conspicuous roll of paper documents,
her fingertips slightly white from the force.
She couldn't hesitate any longer.
She had to tell him this.
She saw Sakamoto had already packed his bag and was standing up gracefully, ready to leave.
Now was the time.
Yamamura Miki suddenly stood up, the chair legs scraping against the floor with a slight sound,
but the sound was quickly drowned out by the footsteps of the last few students leaving.
She almost ran, head down, weaving between desks and chairs, blocking Sakamoto, who was about to walk towards the classroom door.
"Th-that! Sa-Sakamoto-kun!"
Her voice was as thin as a mosquito's, with a noticeable tremor,
her cheeks quickly flushed, even her earlobes turned pink.
She bowed deeply, offering the crumpled paper she held in both hands, not daring to look up at Sakamoto's expression.
"I'm so sorry to bother you, this! Please, you must take it!"
Sakamoto paused, looking down slightly,
his gaze falling on the blue-haired girl in front of him, who was almost curled into a ball,
and the suspicious roll of paper in her hands.
His expression was as calm as ever,
She didn't show the slightest displeasure at being disturbed.
"Sakamoto-kun,"
His clear voice rang out, calling her name without a single mistake.
"No need for such formalities. May I ask what this is?"
Hearing her name called so clearly, Yamamura Miki's body trembled almost imperceptibly.
She looked up in surprise,
Her eyes filled with disbelief and a hint of emotion.
He... he actually remembered my name?
The immense shock made her forget her nervousness for a moment, and her speech quickened slightly:
"Th-this is... the midterm exam paper! From last year's second year!"
Her words made Sakamoto's gaze shift slightly.
Yamamura Miki continued to explain, trying to make her narration clearer:
"It... it was during lunch in the cafeteria... a Second-Year Senior Student I didn't know, he said he was from Class A... suddenly approached me and stuffed this into my hands..."
Her voice lowered again, as if recalling the scene, still feeling a bit flustered:
"He said... he said because our class created a miracle, he wanted this miracle to continue... and he also said that the midterm exam questions are almost the same every year, and with this, we'll definitely be able to maintain our lead... I... I actually found it very strange, but he was very insistent, and he left after saying that... I didn't know what to do..."
The more she spoke, the softer her voice became, like a child who had done something wrong:
"I... I felt that such an important thing definitely couldn't be left with me... so... so I thought it would be most appropriate to hand it over to Sakamoto-kun to handle..."
She lowered her head again, but her hands still stubbornly held up the exam paper.
Sakamoto listened quietly,
His gaze moved between Yamamura Miki's flushed cheeks, red from nervousness, and the exam paper for a moment.
"I see. Thank you for your trust, Yamamura-kun."
He reached out, smoothly and naturally taking the exam paper from her hands, his fingertips not touching hers, avoiding any contact that might make her more nervous.
"This information is indeed quite important. Handing it over to me to handle is a wise choice."
His acknowledgment made a huge weight lift from Yamamura Miki's heart,
And at the same time, a faint warmth surged within her.
She nodded slightly, still not daring to look up completely.
Sakamoto took the exam paper but didn't immediately unfold it.
Instead, his gaze lowered slightly,
Seemingly beginning to quickly scan the content on the paper while simultaneously thinking.
Just then—
Outside the classroom window, across the corridor, a figure happened to pass by.
It was a female figure with long black hair, standing in the corridor.
It was Horikita Suzune from Class 1-D.
Her gaze swept past the Class A window, instinctively searching for that particular figure.
Then, her eyes fixed.
Through the clear glass window, she clearly saw—
Inside the classroom, Sakamoto was standing by the window,
Holding an unfolded paper covered with writing.
And standing in front of him,
Was a blue-haired girl, blushing, head bowed, hands clasped tightly in front of her, looking very awkward and nervous.
More importantly,
Horikita Suzune recognized at a glance the format and style of the paper Sakamoto was holding—
It was exactly the same as the exam paper she had bought for ten thousand points from that Second-Year Senior Student at noon, which was claimed to be "last year's midterm exam actual questions."
Inside the window, Sakamoto seemed to sense something, his gaze lifted from the exam paper, and he looked towards the window as if aware.
But in the corridor outside the window, the black figure was no longer there.