The midterm exams at Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School lasted for two days. Following the conclusion of the final exam, Shikime Natsu was quickly invited by Nagumo Miyabi into an empty classroom.
This classroom had clearly been meticulously prepared. Several stern-faced teachers sat upright in their chairs, and three sets of exam papers were laid out on the desks in front of them.
Because the wager between Nagumo Miyabi and Shikime Natsu was private in nature—especially the portion involving cross-grade exam papers—it naturally couldn't be mixed in with the rest of the school's papers to wait for standard grading.
For Nagumo Miyabi, who was anxious to know the results, having the teachers grade them on the spot and announce the outcome immediately was the natural course of action. If there were any objections, they could be raised face-to-face, completely eliminating the possibility of any underhanded manipulation.
At this moment, aside from the two of them and the grading teachers, there was another figure standing in the classroom, possessing an upright posture and a cold, stern aura.
It was the current Student Council President, Horikita Manabu. He had been specifically invited over by Nagumo Miyabi as well.
"Shikime-kouhai, having President Horikita act as the witness for this wager shouldn't be a problem for you, right?"
Nagumo Miyabi stood at the side of the podium, his arms crossed over his chest, his gaze carrying a hint of provocation and smugness.
Hearing these words, Shikime Natsu couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
This guy Nagumo Miyabi really had a deep obsession with Horikita Manabu.
Even for a private wager between the two of them, he still went out of his way to invite Horikita Manabu to bear witness. Just how badly did he want to prove himself in front of Horikita Manabu?
The relationship between these two... was truly quite interesting.
"Of course, I have no problem with it."
Shikime Natsu nodded with a smile, calmly agreeing to it. After all, Horikita Manabu's character was quite respectable.
"In order to get the results as quickly as possible, and also to let you give up hope sooner..."
Nagumo Miyabi pointed at the stack of second-year exam papers belonging to him on the podium, a trace of showing off in his tone.
"I specifically spent my points to request that my official second-year exam papers be brought over as well, so these teachers could prioritize grading them on the spot."
"After all, if we only graded the third-year portion, I'm afraid that wouldn't be enough to make you admit total defeat."
Looking at that stack of papers, Shikime Natsu sighed inwardly once again.
This guy really had too much money and nowhere to spend it.
Just to see the results a little earlier, and to show off in front of him and Horikita Manabu a little sooner, he actually didn't mind spending points on something so completely unnecessary.
Is this what they call being rich and capricious?
"Since everyone is here, let's begin."
Nagumo Miyabi looked toward the grading teachers and waved his hand to signal them.
Subsequently, he stood to the side with a confident face. His gaze turned toward Horikita Manabu standing not far away, his eyes carrying an unconcealed sense of provocation.
That look was clearly saying:
Just watch, Horikita-senpai. I will thoroughly defeat this underclassman you value so highly right in front of your face, and trample your proud judgment underfoot!
However.
Facing Nagumo Miyabi's aggressive gaze, Horikita Manabu acted as if he hadn't seen it at all.
He continued to maintain his usual cold and stern expression. His hands hung down naturally, and he stood tall and straight in place. No amount of provocation could shake him in the slightest.
Seeing Horikita Manabu's indifferent appearance, Nagumo Miyabi shifted his gaze back to Shikime Natsu.
Although this underclassman, who always wore an annoying smile, also irritated him greatly, at least in his eyes, the current Shikime Natsu was already half-dead.
There was still a tiny bit of free time before the teachers finished grading the papers. This was the perfect moment for him to enjoy the victor's privilege and ruthlessly berate the loser.
"Hey, Shikime-kouhai."
Nagumo Miyabi's mouth curled into a playful smile, asking a question despite already knowing the answer.
"The combined volume of questions from two sets of exam papers isn't small, you know. Did you... really have enough time to finish answering all the questions?"
Before Shikime Natsu could answer, he continued on his own, his tone carrying a hint of mockery.
"Could it be that because you ran out of time, you just blindly filled in the latter half of the questions with your eyes closed, and then forced yourself to hand it in just to save face?"
"If that's the case, it would be hilarious if your final score turned out to be in the single digits."
Shikime Natsu merely looked at him quietly, the smile on his face unchanging, as if he were watching a clown perform.
Seeing that Shikime Natsu didn't speak, Nagumo Miyabi assumed he had hit a sore spot, and the smugness in his eyes grew even thicker.
"Actually... you probably realized it on the first day of the exams, right?"
"Realized that I purchased extra time to answer the exams."
He spread his hands, looking entirely certain of his victory.
"Since you guessed it, why didn't you go and buy time too?"
Nagumo Miyabi leaned in closer and lowered his voice.
"Is it because you also felt you were destined to lose, so you simply resigned yourself to despair and didn't want to waste that unjustified money?"
Facing this rapid-fire barrage of mockery, Shikime Natsu finally spoke up. He let out a light sigh.
"Nagumo-senpai, aren't you... talking a bit too much?"
"Can't you just be a little quieter and patiently wait for the exam results to come out like a mature adult?"
"You—!"
Being told off by Shikime Natsu like this, Nagumo Miyabi's previously soaring mood instantly plummeted to the bottom of a valley. That familiar sense of frustration welled up in his heart once again.
As expected! Every time he opened his mouth to talk to this guy, he could never achieve his desired effect!
Even though he was clearly the one holding the advantage, even though he was clearly the one about to claim victory, why was it that every single time, this guy could infuriate him half to death with just a few words?
Calm down... Nagumo Miyabi, you need to calm down. This is nothing but his final struggle. Just a dead duck remaining stubborn. Once the scores come out, he's finished!
Right at this moment, one of the grading teachers put down their red pen.
"The third-year exam portion for Nagumo-san has been completely graded."
Everyone's gaze instantly focused over there.
"Across the five subjects, a total of... 13 points were deducted."
Hearing this score, a proud smile instantly surfaced on Nagumo Miyabi's face.
Only 13 points deducted across five subjects! What kind of concept was that? It meant an average of less than 3 points deducted per subject!
For him, who had only reviewed for a short two weeks, this could absolutely be considered an outstandingly excellent result. It perfectly matched his high A+ academic ability evaluation.
"Heh..."
Nagumo Miyabi chuckled lightly and shot a glance at Shikime Natsu.
"This is nothing more than the result I achieved by putting in a little bit of effort and reviewing for two weeks."
After saying that, he turned his head and waved his hand at the teachers who were just about to grab Shikime Natsu's papers.
"Teachers, there's no need to rush to grade Shikime-kouhai's papers just yet."
"Why not... ride the momentum and grade my official second-year papers as well?"
"I want to let Shikime-kouhai see everything clearly all at once."
The teachers exchanged glances, nodded, and complied with his request, setting about to grade Nagumo Miyabi's second-year papers.
During the waiting process, Nagumo Miyabi still didn't stay idle.
"Ah man, I didn't expect the third-year questions to actually have some difficulty."
He shook his head in feigned regret, his tone exaggerated.
"The points deducted actually reached double digits... I'm truly ashamed."
"I can only say as expected of third-year questions, they do hold some real weight."
As he spoke, he stared intently at Shikime Natsu's face, trying to capture a trace of panic or an ugly expression on it.
However, to his disappointment... Shikime Natsu continued to maintain that faint smile, not even batting an eyelid.
Keep acting! Just keep acting! Nagumo Miyabi sneered inwardly. I'll see how long you can keep this act up!
Soon, the teachers stopped their pens once again.
"The second-year exam papers for Nagumo-san have also been completely graded."
"A total deduction of... 5 points."
"Among them, the math subject received a perfect score."
On the second-year papers, only 5 points deducted across all five subjects! And one perfect score! The smile on Nagumo Miyabi's face bloomed completely; victory was in his grasp.
Even he himself was quite satisfied with this result. For those highly difficult finale questions, he only lost a tiny bit of points due to a slight flaw in his steps.
You must know, during the final exams of the previous semester, he had been deducted a full 6 points, without a single perfect score.
Yet now, under the circumstance of having to split his attention to review third-year material, he actually managed to break his own record! What did this prove?
It proved that under pressure, he instead erupted with even stronger potential!
Nagumo Miyabi turned around and looked down at Shikime Natsu from above, his eyes full of contempt.
"How about it, Shikime-kouhai?"
"Seeing this score, how confident are you now... in being able to defeat me?"
He sneered in his heart. If it weren't for the fact that this guy Shikime Natsu was far too annoying, and if it weren't to thoroughly crush this guy, he wouldn't have chosen to go all out. You forced my hand on this!
However.
Facing this near-perfect transcript, Shikime Natsu merely let out a light chuckle.
"Heh... I thought Vice President Nagumo was so confident because you had gotten perfect scores in all subjects."
He swept a faint glance at that score, his tone calm.
"So... points were still deducted, huh."
"—!"
Hearing these words, the smile on Nagumo Miyabi's face instantly froze. Following that, a surge of nameless fury shot straight to his head.
What kind of talk was this?! What did he mean by "points were still deducted"?! Did he think this was some first-year child's play?!
Did he think that as long as he took the past year's papers and memorized the answers, he could easily get a perfect score? He had accomplished this solidly through his own strength! Every single point was proof of his ability!
Nagumo Miyabi sneered, forcefully making himself calm down.
"Hmph, I won't engage in a battle of words with you."
"Since you're boasting so shamelessly, then let's see exactly how your scores turn out!"
Speaking up to this point, he seemed to remember something. He turned around and walked over to Horikita Manabu, who had remained silent the entire time.
"President Horikita."
Nagumo Miyabi slightly raised his chin, his gaze provocative.
"As the witness, I'd like to hear your opinion."
"How many points do you think... this underclassman you hold in such high regard will be able to score when facing the second-year exam papers?"
Horikita Manabu didn't look at him, but instead cast his gaze toward the stack of ungraded papers on the other side of the podium.
A moment later, he slowly spoke, his voice cold and steady.
"Nagumo."
"Don't underestimate Shiki too much."
Hearing this evaluation, the smile on Nagumo Miyabi's face faded away little by little, and his eyes turned gloomy.
Even at a time like this... Horikita Manabu actually still thought so highly of Shikime Natsu? To the point of blind trust?
Good... very good! Then I'll let you see with your own eyes just how ridiculous your trust is!
"Then let us wait and see!"
Finally.
The last exam paper finished being graded.
One of the teachers organized Shikime Natsu's five exam papers, and then announced the test results.
"Shiki-san's scores..."
"Perfect scores in all subjects!"
The gloomy expression on Nagumo Miyabi's face instantly solidified, and his entire body froze in place.
Perfect scores? Perfect scores in all subjects?
"Heh."
Right at this moment, a light chuckle broke the silence.
Shikime Natsu clapped his hands. Looking at the dumbfounded Nagumo Miyabi, the corners of his mouth curled into a playful arc.
"So it turns out... in Nagumo-senpai's eyes, getting 5 points deducted is something worth celebrating?"
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have spoiled your fun."
"I also won't get in the way of Nagumo-senpai celebrating by himself."
He spread his hands, his tone relaxed and casual, yet every word pierced the heart.
"However... according to the wager, Nagumo-senpai, you've lost, you know."
"Th-This... This is impossible!"
Nagumo Miyabi abruptly snapped back to his senses, his face written all over with disbelief.
He quickly arrived in front of the teachers' desks and snatched up Shikime Natsu's papers to inspect them.
He didn't believe it! He absolutely didn't believe it!
How could a guy like Shikime Natsu—who seemingly idled his days away, only knowing to hang out with various beautiful girls all day at school—possibly crush him in academic ability when he had gone all out?!
And under the circumstances of this volume of questions, this level of difficulty, and even without purchasing extra time?!
This completely defied common sense!
However... the handwriting on the papers was neat and clear, and the problem-solving methodology was quite perfect—even significantly better than the standard answers. In fact, upon seeing Shikime Natsu's solution process, a voice couldn't help but emerge in Nagumo Miyabi's heart: So it can actually be solved like this.
No matter how he flipped through them, no matter how he searched, he couldn't find a single error or omission. He couldn't find a single place where points could be deducted.
That was to say... Shikime Natsu's perfect scores were 100% genuine. Even if he wanted to nitpick, there was simply no way to do so.
In the domain he was most proud of... he had actually lost?
Nagumo Miyabi had considered that he might lose to Kiryuuin Fuuka, and he had considered that he might lose to Horikita Manabu, but he had absolutely never thought he would lose to a first-year brat.
Moreover... this was even under the condition that he had bought extra exam time.
As for saying that Shikime Natsu's first-year exam questions only required memorizing answers, giving him plenty of time to solve the second-year papers...
But... the correctness of the answers didn't have much to do with time.
Nagumo Miyabi thought of his own actions before the exam results had come out...
He had truly become a jumping clown. All the cold mockery and cynical remarks he had spouted at Shikime Natsu earlier had now completely turned into a boomerang, striking right back at himself.
He had brought Horikita Manabu here, originally intending to let Horikita Manabu see the sight of Shikime Natsu being defeated by him. Yet the result was...
Shikime Natsu turned his head to look at Horikita Manabu beside him and smiled.
"President Horikita, you can announce the result now, right?"
Horikita Manabu glanced at Nagumo Miyabi, then looked at Shikime Natsu. Horikita Manabu hadn't expected that a guy like Shikime Natsu could actually defeat Nagumo Miyabi during the first-year midterm exams—and an all-out Nagumo Miyabi at that. It seemed...
His assessment of Shikime Natsu at that time had still been too low.
"I declare, the victor this time is Shikime Natsu!"
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