Chapter XXI: Preparation for Mid-Terms! Group Study at Haruka's House!
Many have fallen victim to the ominous shadow that roams around day and night in East Touka City Academy. It happens every time exam day draws near. This ominous shadow blends in the student populace; camouflaging the creature in others' shadows. This creature picks and preys on delinquents and the failing. He wields no such weapons of steel or gunpowder for he does not need such things. His ultimate weapon of choice is words—dreadful verbal weapons that can break a person's will to continue living. If that doesn't scare his victim, he pulls out his ace in the sleeve—a wooden stamp with the words "FAIL" engraved on its base. Out of a few who study at the school for a certain number of years, only a selected few are chosen to survive and earn their diploma. The unlucky ones cry meaninglessly; forever to tell the tale of the curse that has haunted them within the academy grounds.
This ominous shadow creature is known as…the principal.
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"Okay class, I'm going to give back your test papers. Make sure you keep those papers. They'll be useful in preparing for the mid-terms."
The Science teacher walks around Class 1-A; handing out papers to his students. Most of them got high marks; some got average marks; but the unfortunate beings got very low grades—below the normal cut-off grade of 40 percent. One of these unfortunate beings is our very own brunette girl.
"Kumano-san, you should really study harder. The mid-terms are no joke." The teacher said; handing over Haruka's paper marked with a score of 28. Even without the score, one can tell that she failed by the abundance of red X marks on most of the test items.
"I don't understand." Haruka sighed. "I prepared for this test. Kanata, how well did you do?"
"I'm glad you asked, Haruka." Kanata replied; showing off her paper with a near perfect score of 95 and flashing a peace sign.
"95? You're amazing, kamo. How do you do it?"
"Well, instead of wasting my time flirting with some dense idiot, I study at home."
"Well…um…forget what I asked ha, ha, ha, ha…"
They found some free time to spend after being informed that their next teacher came down with an illness last night. Haruka and Kanata needed the time to go to the little girls' room. There, they talked about setting the brunette girl's priorities.
"Haruka, the more I see your red test papers the more I worry." Kanata said; brushing her hair. "You need to set your priorities straight."
"I know but it's so hard, kamo." Haruka replied. "I really can't think straight without…him."
"If you're going to continue to hit Satoshi with everything you've got, then you have to survive here first."
"I think 'hit' is a little bit exaggerated, kamo."
"I'm going on ahead to check on the theater club while I still have the time."
"Okay, I'll see you back at the classroom."
As soon as Kanata exited the restroom, Haruka was about to do the same thing as well. But a certain creaking of a door to a toilet caught her attention. For all she knows, she is the only one left inside. She thought that the wind must be blowing…except that the only cramped window in the restroom is closed shut.
"Hello? Is anybody there?"
"Nobody's here."
"Oh I see. I must be thinking too much, kamo."
Haruka left the restroom in an instant and returned to the classroom.
…
…
…
Who just answered her question?
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Lunchtime is an even better form of free time than just raw free time. Haruka was all alone on the rooftop eating her lunch. Kanata hasn't returned yet from her inspection of the theater club. The brunette girl can't wait for her anymore; her stomach is the main reason.
"What's Kanata taking so long? It's no fun to eat alone, kamo." Haruka said to herself.
"Then let me join you."
"Oh, you're welcome kamo." She smiled.
Three agonizing seconds later, Haruka never realized until now that somebody was replying to every line of hers in this chapter.
"W-Who is t-there?" Haruka quickly stood up; dropping her chopsticks on the floor.
"Consider this as a warning, Kumano Haruka."
"W-What…?"
"Your academic standing is way beyond an abomination."
"W-Who are you? Show yourself!"
Suddenly, something ominous approached her from behind like a ninja doing a back attack. Haruka felt a surge of fear rush up her back as soon as she felt somebody was behind her. That surge of fear was so strong; she was paralyzed on the spot. HE was wearing a black tux complete with matching tie and polo and he had a pair of glasses which reflected the light of the sun; concealing his eyes.
"Boo."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH…!"
Luckily, Kanata came barging in as soon as she heard her friend's damsel-in-distress scream.
"Haruka, what's wrong?" Kanata hurried towards her friend.
"S-S-S-Somebody j-just…" Haruka, crying unlike never before, was unable to set her words straight because of a sudden strike of fear that pierced her heart. "I can't t-tell kamo."
"Come on; let's get you to the infirmary (So he's been here, eh?)."
The two girls carefully walked down the stairs but as fast as safety can allow them. For Haruka, she didn't know what hit her. For Kanata, she has an idea who.
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Mid-terms were drawing near—a week away. There is really nothing to worry about if Haruka prioritizes the things that needed to be done (and not to mention study the lesson for the day every single school day). However, being fallen prey by the principal could only mean one thing—if she doesn't prepare for the big one, not only will she lose the chance of love in the process but also her sanity. Kanata arranged a group study in Haruka's house the weekend before the mid-terms. From there, they will spend long hours into sharing lecture notes and recalling important terms in their weakest subjects. As long as Kanata is around, they should be fine.
"The six, Haruka…! You forgot to carry the six!"
"Waaaaah…! I'm a dunce at Math, kamo!"
Or maybe not…
"See here? You didn't carry the six; that's why your answer was marked wrong." Kanata pointed out a flaw in her friend's solution.
"Oh I see; I didn't know that problem could be so easy kamo." Haruka hit her head lightly with her clenched fist.
"I don't seem to understand this equation. Can you help me out please?" A voice of a boy called out for Kanata.
"Let me see that." She took a good look at the boy's book. "Oh, you mean this one? Well the answer here is—WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, YOU RUBBER SHUU?!"
"I just let myself in. There are some things that I want to ask in Math as well." Shuu flipped his green hair.
"Oh, so now you're pleading me for help, is that it?" Kanata poked Shuu's forehead in intervals. "I'm surprised to see you actually asking me for help."
"Nah, I just don't want to bother my girlfriend at this time." Shuu said.
Pissed off by what Shuu said, Kanata grabbed the prince of arrogance and put him in a tight headlock. Now who wouldn't be strangled and struggling to break free after that?
"You know what; I can do even worse if we weren't in Haruka's house!"
After the two of them have calmed down, they resumed studying while asking questions about parts in the lesson that they don't understand. Hikari couldn't concentrate thanks to the stuffiness of Haruka's bedroom. Secretly, she lifted her pink skirt a little and fanned it with a book.
She thought that nobody would see her. But as soon as she lifted her skirt up some more Satoshi and Shuu were drawn away from the thickness of their lecture notes for a special lesson on the anatomy of the female's external genitalia.
An inside look at a female's privacy only led them to their heads being slammed to their respective notes.
"Eyes on your notes and not on the blank page…!" Kanata yelled; forcefully holding the two boys' heads down. "And Hikari…?"
"Yeah…?" The blue-haired girl replied.
"I know it's a bit chilly but I wouldn't put a lot of heat pads in there if I were you. They'll toast those parts of yours like toast."
"Y-Y-You can see t-them?!"
"For starters, your underwear looks like a swollen head—"
Haruka stood up and covered Kanata's mouth immediately. "Okay, that's enough. Let's get back to studying, kamo."
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"Anybody up for some cookies…?" Haruka asked her friends.
Nobody even dared to reply, sadly.
So the brunette girl rephrased her question; smirking. "I bought them at the supermarket yesterday."
That's when she finally received some responses.
"You know, I could really go for some cookies." Kanata said. "Sure, we could all use a break anyway."
"I love cookies!" Hikari shrieked excitedly. "Chocolate chip cookies are the best!"
"I guess my stomach agrees with you all." Shuu said.
Haruka left her friends in her room for a while to whip up a batch of commercially-made chocolate chip cookies. Upon closing the door behind her, that's when her feelings dominated over logical reason. "Even though I'm now working part-time in a bakery, you guys still don't trust me? How mortifying, kamo…"
A few minutes later, she returned to the room carrying a tray of a plate of cookies; five tea cups; and a teapot full of hot tea—the perfect afternoon snack. As soon as she was right in front of the door, Haruka heard voices from inside her room—something that made her thought wrong.
"I can't take it anymore. It's too much." The brunette girl heard Satoshi's voice.
"B-But we can't…it's against the law." She also heard Hikari reply.
"I don't care if it's the law. I have to do it now."
"No…not here…anywhere but here…!"
Haruka then realized that she has heard enough. She barged in the door and screamed: "NOOOOOOOOOOO! Don't do it in my house, kamo!"
Sorry to bother you, Haruka, but they weren't doing anything funny. Satoshi and Hikari were just reading lines from a selection in their English textbook.
"Hey Haruka, you're just in time for English." Satoshi said.
"English…?" The brunette girl pretended to blend in. "Oh English, okay I'm very good at that."
"Surprisingly, you got the reply to what Hikari said a while ago right…except the kamo part."
"Really…? I mean yeah; I've read that story dozens of times."
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The day of preparation paid off in the end. Although not considerably higher than her friend, Haruka's marks on most of her subjects were convincing enough for the dreaded principal to let her stay in the school for a little bit longer.
"Consider yourself lucky, Kumano Haruka." He looked out his office window. "You're safe…for now."
Meanwhile inside the classroom, the brunette girl's feeling of joy couldn't be compared to anybody else's. She scored an 82 at Math, 85 at English, and a shocking 89 at Science—the three major subjects and her three major Waterloos. It just goes to show that it really pays off to have friends to help out.
"You sure made me speechless, Haruka. Great job…" Kanata commended her friend. "(Although I scored higher…)"
"Thanks, Kanata! I couldn't have done it without all of you." Haruka smiled.
Now that that's taken care of, our brunette heroine is now determined to win Satoshi's heart more than ever.
TO BE CONTINUED