Smiling Face Without Flaws

　　Yotsuba dumbfoundedly stared at the rankings.

Ichika also looked at the rankings, she couldn't help but smile and said to her.

　　"I didn't expect the two of us to score this close this time, Yotsuba?"

　　"Are you alright? You look dazed."

Yotsuba regained consciousness, quickly concealed her surprise, and smiled.

　　"It is nothing! But Ichika is really good. You're obviously busy with acting, but you can score higher than me and Nino… Ah, maybe secretly study too?"

　　"No! I just flipped through the book before the test, and I don't understand the questions, so I can only guess." Ichika with a happy smile on her face, "Well, even though I'm still in the bottom twenty, but I'm very satisfied if I can guess such a result."

　　"Ah… Um, congratulations."

　　Yotsuba smiled looking at Ichika who looked at the list again and didn't see anything out of the ordinary about it.

　　She pointed at her chin with one finger and muttered.

　　"By the way, Miku and Itsuki have made great progress. Is it really because of Shinichi-kun... Should I start asking him to teach me? But will it tire him too much? He is not our exclusive tutor…"

　　 Her smile remained unchanged, but Yotsuba pinched the hem of her clothes.

　　Before Ichika could avert her eyes, Yotsuba looked away and looked curiously at the top of the list.

　　"Speaking of Asada-san... His name should be at the front, right? I don't know how much he got in the exam, it must be so high that we can't imagine it!"

　　"Only 500 points at most. How could it be unimaginably tall… Besides, it's hard to say?" Ichika showed an evil smile and whispered

　　"Maybe he's been too busy studying lately, and his grades have plummeted as a result!'

　　"I heard that Shinichi-kun also has a title called 'Unshakable Second King', if it falls, I don't know what it will turn into..."

　　Ichika just wanted to make a joke, and had no other intentions. Shinichi has been reading the most books for teaching lately, how could he not have time to study?

　　She also didn't think that Shinichi's performance would be surpassed by anyone else. There was no other reason, she just believed it, so she made this joke casually.

　　However, the speaker does not have an intention, but the listener does.

　　Yotsuba paused, then dashed to the front of the list, "I'm going to the toilet, I'm going back to class, tell everyone you don't have to wait for me!"

　　"Eh? Wait, Yotsuba…" Before Ichika could react, Yotsuba had already dashed through the crowd, her figure flexible, and she couldn't catch her at all.

　 Ichika suddenly realized, a trace of guilt appeared on her face, and sighed in her heart.

　　"This is a disaster... I know Yotsuba cares about grades the most, but I said something like this..."

　　"Even though she's no longer the one with the lowest score, but..."

　　After all, Yotsuba were the main reason they moved here together...

　　...

　　Passing through the crowd, Yotsuba had no idea what expression she had now.

　　It was really hard for her to smile now.

　　Fortunately, the heaviness in her heart did not hinder her pace, and she quickly ran to the top ten list specially listed. Nino's figure flashed from the corner of her eye, but she was not in the mood to care, and directly locked a name on the list.

Asada Shinichi, 2nd place.

　　"Very good..."

Yotsuba was so happy that she wanted to cry.

　　She slapped her cheeks, and allowed the smile to return to her face.

　　"499 points, Asada-san is still good! Even though he tutored Furuhashi-san and Ogata-san, and tutored Itsuki, Miku, and me, he still barely got a perfect score... He's a monster! No, this Is this Ultraman level? The madman who learned Ultraman level is indeed the legendary Second King!"

Yotsuba were amazed. She turned her head and glanced at the long pink haired girl who stood out in the crowd. Then she left the crowd and walked towards the toilet.

　　"Miku and Itsuki really improved… Even though the school grades were lower than here before, the test difficulty would increase, but their total score now is higher than that..."

　　Needless to say, it was all thanks to Shinichi.

　　"Asada-san is really amazing. He certainly wasn't our tutor, but he still took the time to teach us very seriously... Then Miku and Itsuki rewarded him with a grade increase. He must be really happy, right?"

　　"Only me..."

　　Her feet paused in front of the toilet, and Yotsuba walked slowly to the women's room, looked in the mirror, a face that was about to cry was reflected.

　　"Asada-san, I'm sorry..."

　　"Only I let you down…"

　　How happy she was when she studied with him, how uncomfortable it is now.

　　How she had looked forward to when she wanted to show him, her progress, but how disappointed she was now.

　　"Sure enough, I still can't…"

Yotsuba lowered her head, turned on the faucet, took some water and washed her face.

　　She didn't lift her head or turn off the water, just letting the water run down her face.

　　"I must apologize to him."

　　Yotsuba wasn't crying, just a little sad.

　　She wiped her face, looking at her slightly embarrassed self in the mirror.

　　Even so, she still manages to smile from the bottom of her heart.

　　"Ichika, Miku, Itsuki, everyone has improved, it's great!"

　　There shouldn't be any blemishes on such a smiling face.

　　...

　　Miku looked at her own ranking, and then looked at Itsuki who was ten levels higher than her.

　　"Itsuki, the thieving cat."

　　"Why this evaluation!" Itsuki looked really excited, her face flushed with excitement.

　　"No matter what, this time period's effort was finally not in vain..."

　　"I know, so, I'm just a little unwilling." Miku said to Itsuki, "Congratulations, next time, I won't lose."

　　Itsuki looked her straight in the eye, with a firm and hopeful tone.

　　"I don't want either! Let's work hard together and aim for higher goals!"

　　"Only in terms of value..."

　　"Eh? If not?"

　　"It's nothing…" Miku nodded, "Confirmation, no threats."

　　Itsuki tilted her head in confusion, then looked at the list again, feeling emotion well up in her heart.

　　Rankings and achievements that she never thought about, she never thought that she could rise to this level with her sister.

　　Although Nino still doesn't like studying, Ichika and Yotsuba's progress is not very high, but she and Miku have a very clear gap from before.

　　This was Shuchi'in Academy, Japan's leading aristocratic school, and the exam questions were of course difficult above standard.

　　And she, a stupid student who almost repeated a class and transferred from another school, was able to beat a third of the people in the exam.

　　Even though it was only the last place, but before seeing the rankings with her own eyes, Itsuki couldn't imagine this sight at all.

　　It's just a miracle! Small but significant accomplishments she achieved with the help of others and her own efforts.

　　She would never forget who gave her this touch.

　　Closing her eyes, Itsuki remembered Shinichi, and everything she had done for him all along.

　　Her heart was pounding, and while her chest was hot.

　　Itsuki opened her eyes, glanced at the other four familiar names on the list, and then stopped at her ranking.

　　She looked happy, and seemed to think so offhand.

　　(Asada-kun, this is the change you gave us, did you notice?)

　　After all, there must be obvious improvement, but Shinichi will definitely not admit it, saying that it was all their own efforts, and had nothing to do with it.

　　Even so, Itsuki wanted to thank him a lot.

　　(Thank you, very, very thank you...)

(In the future, I will always follow you. Whether as a secretary or as a friend.)

　　If she and her sister had followed Shinichi through to graduation, what kind of changes would the five of them have in the end?

　　is it good? Is that bad? Or still the same?

　　Itsuki wanted to see such an ending, not out of curiosity.

　　This was a mission she had to do after her mother's death.

　　Perhaps, there are other emotions...