It was now Friday, the last day of finals. The week had passed in a blur, with every other day the same as the last one.
The last exam I had was math, and I'd just reached the last question.
Math had always been the easiest subject for me, and I'd been flying through most of the questions with ease. That was—until this one.
I reread the question over and over again, but no matter how many times I did, I didn't even know where to begin. I couldn't remember the last time something like this happened to me.
I lifted my eyes from the exam and glanced at the clock. I still had an hour left, so there was no need to rush or panic. So I decided to take a little break.
I leaned back into my chair and stretched my back, causing a loud crack to cut through the room. Luckily, everyone was too absorbed in their own little world to even care.
Once my body loosened, I turned to Luna. Her hand would move, then pause once she got to the next question, and after a few seconds, move again. From the looks of it, she seemed to be doing pretty well. At the very least, she never stayed still for more than three seconds.
I couldn't help but let out a small scoff seeing it.
That's good. Maybe I should treat her the next time we go out or something.
Next, I turned to Remi. Her face was as tense as ever, but her pencil never stopped moving. She was doing fine, too.
Lastly, I turned to Mei. When I did, I found myself leaning forward, eyes widening.
I blinked, but no matter how many times I did, the scene in front of me didn't change.
Mei was sitting completely frozen. Her pencil was still in her hand, pressed against the paper—but it didn't move. Five seconds passed. Then ten. Nothing happened.
Mei was actually… stuck on a question. Most likely the same one I was stuck on. It was a rare sight, and as interesting as it was, another feeling surfaced. Something much stronger.
I picked up my pencil and went back to my exam.
If both Mei and I were stuck, it couldn't have been an ordinary problem. Some would give up—it wasn't like one problem even mattered. And I'd agree. I didn't need these extra points; my grades were fine, even if I completely failed this question. But for some reason, with the challenge sitting right there, my heart wouldn't stop pounding.
Then—whoever gets this question right—wins.
Mei couldn't hear this internal bet I made with myself, but that was fine. I didn't make it for her, or anyone in particular. All that mattered was that I could hear it.
My hand blurred across the page, writing out every number and formula I could think of. Even if I knew it wouldn't lead me to the right answer, if there was a possibility that I'd somehow hit a eureka moment, I did it.
I wrote, erased, wrote, erased, wrote, and erased over and over again.
My hand ached from the sheer force I was pressing into my pencil, but I didn't stop moving.
Before I even realized it, my paper was now a smudged field of grey.
I leaned back and read the question from a distance.
Yeah—this isn't working.
I leaned onto the desk and rested my head on my hand, digging into my memories. I'd read this question so many times by now that I was sure I'd done something similar to this at some point, but when...
Suddenly, a blurry memory of a problem from the study session on Sunday night resurfaced. I almost jumped out of my seat, the fragments of that night slowly piecing together. I didn't remember the solution exactly, but I did remember the first couple of steps.
That's all I need.
With a faint smile, I brought my pencil back to the page and wrote the first few steps. From there, other pieces of the memory began to resurface. For the ones that didn't, I was able to figure out what to do based on what I'd written down.
I set the pencil down and stared at the answer I had arrived at. There was no doubt about it. I was sure that this was it.
Mei POV
…What?
My eyes traced the same three black lines for the hundredth time, hoping for some kind of change. Yet, no matter how many times I read them, nothing ever came to mind.
Why… why now?
The past few days had gone easily for me. I didn't struggle with a single exam, and I was sure I'd gotten them all right, too.
So why… at the last one?!
I expected that this exam would be no different, since Math was always my strongest subject. Yet, on the very last question, I was stuck.
I glanced up at the clock. I'd reached this question when there were still an hour and thirty minutes left.
Now… only seven minutes remained.
My heart dropped, and cold shivers ran through my entire body—but the clock's hand ticked on.
For every second that passed by, this hollow sense of nothing emptied my chest, eroding my vision.
I took slow, deep breaths and grabbed my wrist.
A searing pain rattled my brain, pulling my thoughts back into the present before I could sink any further.
It's okay.
I've aced everything else so far.
One question won't change anything.
No one can solve this question, anyway.
I can still get first place!
I can still–
But I knew that was nothing more than a lie. If there was one person who could solve it—it was him.
And I was sure that the odds weren't zero—because he was good at math, too.
Maybe he does get this question right, but then what?
Did he ace the other exams like I did?
I know language isn't his strong suit—or at least it isn't better than mine.
Maybe that can even us out.
Maybe I can still get first place!
Maybe…
I bit my lip as I gripped my wrist even tighter, one thought drowning out all others.
Maybe this will be enough for Father!
But I knew that that was a lie, too. Father would never be satisfied with this, and I was sure Hoshino had done well on all the others as well.
It's no use…
This isn't enough…
But—
With a shaky hand, I let go of my wrist, grabbed my pencil once more, and brought it to the question.
I started to write out anything that came to mind. If I couldn't solve it, then I'd scrape for part marks. If it lifted my grade by even a mere half a point, I didn't care. I wrote down everything that I could before the bell rang, signalling that time was up.
I thought that I had written a lot, but when I looked at my answer, there were only two lines.
I didn't grip the test harder, and I didn't wail. I simply stared at my answer before putting the exam down without uttering a single word.
It's over…
I let go of the pencil, my hands lying limp against the desk. It was in the midst of summer, and I was wearing my usual cardigan—yet the cold had never felt more suffocating.
The teacher said something, but I couldn't hear her. All sound simply came in as an unintelligible blur.
The teacher walked along the aisles, collecting every exam as she did until she reached mine. When she did, my body moved on its own and handed her mine.
Once she finished, she returned to the front of the class and said something else, to which the students all stood up and filed out of class. Following everyone's lead, I did the same thing.
It felt like I was dragging my feet, but I was sure I was moving perfectly fine.
As I walked along the hallway, my hair swayed in front of my face, poking at my eyes. I didn't bother moving it aside.
From the pull in my cheeks, I was sure that I was smiling. Maybe that was why some of my classmates approached me and started small talk.
Just like the teacher, their voices never reached me.
Yet, my own mouth opened and gave them a cheery reply. They laughed, and so did I. We continued to talk for a little longer before going our separate ways.
Then, I made my way over to the shoe lockers and changed into my outdoor shoes.
Just as I was about to step outside, I stopped, standing right in front of the exit.
Rain poured violently outside, the winds blowing aggressively against my skin.
I stared at the deep grey clouds, feeling my thoughts drift away as I slowly lost myself in them.
Through the depths of the clouds, a cracking, trembling voice reached me.
I… don't want to go home.
The moment the voice faded, it felt like the emptiness shattered, but at the same time, grew all the deeper.
My right leg twitched, pulling me back to reality, and I lost balance for just a moment—but my body caught itself almost instantly before I could even think about it.
My gaze lingered on the clouds just a moment longer before I turned to my bag and pulled out an umbrella.
There was no point in avoiding it. I would have to get there eventually. Might as well deal with it now.
I knew that.
Yet—I still didn't move.
…Enough of this.
My free hand moved upward, slowly approaching my wrist.
But before the pain could come, someone tapped me on the shoulder.
I stopped, my hand frozen mid-air, and spun around.
In this black, muffled world, his figure was the only one that shone—that I could see.
My chest burned at the sight of him, clearing everything—everything except for the sense of nothing.
My lips parted, and I greeted him with a cheery smile.
"Hello. What do you need, Hoshino?"