Dating at the School Gates?

When Megumi Kato suddenly requested a hug, Kotomi felt a bit puzzled. Was Megumi even really nervous? But then she thought, since she'd already hugged Yui, wouldn't it be unfair not to do the same for Megumi?

With the logic sorted out, Kotomi didn't hesitate. She opened her arms and gave Megumi a big hug.

"Still nervous?" she whispered softly in Megumi's ear.

"Maybe just a little… Hold me a bit longer, would you?"

"I could have sworn you said this morning that the exams were a breeze and nothing to be nervous about."

"Did I?" Megumi feigned innocence, then casually deflected, "Maybe Yui's nerves rubbed off on me. Sometimes emotions spread like a cold—one second you're fine, the next it's contagious."

Hmm… that actually made some sense, Kotomi thought.

As they hugged, Megumi gently rested her chin atop Kotomi's head. Normally, Kotomi's height difference with Megumi wasn't noticeable, but standing this close, it became clear that Kotomi was just a tiny bit shorter. Her current height wasn't especially short, but it wasn't tall either—she was stuck at 169 cm, just shy of 170.

In her last life, she'd been a proud 180 cm! After reincarnating, Kotomi had vented to the system, Kazumi, about this many times, who could only helplessly explain that height was randomly assigned and out of her control.

Whenever she thought about her reduced height, Kotomi would sigh wistfully for several minutes, then console herself with the fact that, at least, she hadn't been reborn as a little kid.

Just as Megumi was enjoying the hug, a familiar voice rang out.

"Are you two… dating?"

Startled by Yukino Yukinoshita's voice, Kotomi reflexively tried to pull away from Megumi's arms—only to find that Megumi had already wrapped her arms around her. And her grip was tight.

Seeing the adorable little penguin squirm in her embrace, Megumi smiled, satisfied, before finally letting go.

"Good morning, Yukino! Finally, exam day is here. I reviewed all weekend, yet somehow, I'm still a little nervous… Oh, but Kotomi's hug just now was like magic; it really helped me relax."

Even after being spotted, Megumi greeted Yukino as casually as ever, her tone so natural that it seemed like just a simple explanation of why they were hugging.

"Nervous? I'm fine; I've reviewed what I needed to. Besides, the exam questions shouldn't be that difficult."

"True," Megumi nodded. "Although, I heard the questions for the midterms will be much tougher. Thankfully, I'm not in the Class A exam room, so I don't need to worry about those brutal questions."

From what Megumi had heard, the midterm exams would be split into two different versions: the standard version, which would be similar to typical exams in terms of difficulty, and a special advanced version meant for top students across the school, with more challenging questions that required dynamic, creative thinking.

"If I remember correctly, Megumi, you're in the Class 1-B exam room. If you do well this time, you might be assigned to 1-A for the midterms," Kotomi pointed out.

"Eh… no thanks. I'd rather avoid those insane questions," Megumi laughed, half-jokingly. "I think I'll try to score somewhere comfortably average this time."

Her tone was casual, almost convincing. She might have been joking, but her expression was unreadable—it was just how Megumi spoke.

"Accurately aiming for a specific score range… well, that's pretty impressive if you pull it off," Yukino said, glancing at the time on her phone. "Kotomi, shall we head to the exam room together?"

"Oh? Yes, let's," Kotomi replied, reluctantly putting her phone away after watching a promo for the new Azur Lane event.

"I'm coming with you two," Megumi added, "though, besides Yukino and Kotomi, I didn't really check who else in our class is in the Class 1-A exam room."

"Is Kotomi the only person you care about?" Yukino teased. "Not many students in our class are placed in the 1-A exam room. Besides me and Kotomi, there's Seiko Kirigiri as well."

It wasn't surprising that Yukino was in the 1-A room—her grades had always been stellar. But Kotomi couldn't help feeling a bit surprised to hear that Seiko Kirigiri, who often slept through class and kept a low profile, would be joining them.

"Seiko's in the Class 1-A room too?" Megumi asked.

Once, while chatting, Seiko had mentioned that compared to her sister, she didn't consider herself academically gifted, and she was generally uninterested in studying. Yet here she was, a top student in the advanced exam group.

"Seiko's sister, Hibiki Kirigiri, is head of the art club and one of the students teachers believe has the best shot at getting into Tokyo University. Since Hibiki's always tutoring her, Seiko's grades benefit from it," Kotomi explained.

Most art club members knew Hibiki well; she was kind and approachable, the type of upperclassman who felt like a friend rather than an authority figure.

From childhood to high school, Hibiki had been the quintessential "perfect kid" that everyone admired. She consistently excelled in academics, especially in science, and her artistic talents were exceptional. Meanwhile, Seiko, though uninterested in academics, couldn't escape Hibiki's relentless tutoring.

Kotomi mentally made a note to ask Hibiki for tutoring advice after the exams, just in case she'd need to help Yui someday.

"So that's what it's like to have an outstanding older sister," Megumi mused.

"Not exactly," Yukino interjected. "Just because an older sister is accomplished doesn't necessarily mean the younger sibling will be as well."

A complex expression flickered in Yukino's eyes, as if the topic held deeper meaning for her.

Meanwhile, over in Class 1-A, Seiko Kirigiri was already seated at her desk, yawning lazily.

She'd meant to go to bed early the night before… but her sister had insisted on a last-minute cram session that lasted till dawn.

"So tired... All thanks to my sister. Even though she knew I had exams today, she kept me up so late last night," muttered Seiko Kirigiri. "It's weird, though… She was so eager about tutoring last night."

It felt like no matter how much time she spent with her, it just wasn't enough.

After thinking about it a bit, Seiko concluded that her sister must be holding a grudge. Perhaps she'd gotten fed up with always being the one in charge and had decided to "get even" by draining her energy before exams.

"I let my guard down, too focused on enjoying myself to remember I had exams today," Seiko sighed, covering her face. She never thought her sister, Hibiki, would play the beauty card on her so effectively.

Earlier this morning, after their "late-night cram session" ended, Seiko had tried to grab a few more hours of sleep. She even considered skipping the morning entirely. But then Hibiki had lightly patted her on the back and said, "Seiko, get up. Today's the big first exam for freshmen. Didn't you say you wanted to get to school early?"

After tossing her out of bed, Hibiki had chuckled, pulled the covers back over herself, and snuggled in for another hour of sleep. Seiko didn't know how to express the mix of frustration she felt as she stood there, exhausted, getting dressed while her sister—the instigator of it all—slept soundly.

"Seiko, good morning! Did you get here early?" Kotomi greeted her as she entered the exam room, immediately spotting Seiko in the middle row.

"Yeah… just woke up too early, so now I'm tired."

"Did you go to bed late?"

"Couldn't sleep..." Seiko mumbled.

Kotomi had noticed that both Seiko and her sister seemed to struggle with insomnia, and it appeared to be getting worse lately.

"That's starting to sound serious. Maybe you should think about seeing a doctor?" Kotomi suggested, genuinely concerned.

"Regular insomnia isn't something to take lightly. Better to get it checked out," Yukino Yukinoshita agreed, overhearing their conversation as she entered.

"Hehe, thank you both for your concern! But I think I'll be fine. My sister and I have just had some irregular schedules lately. Once we get back on track, I'm sure it'll improve," Seiko replied with a small laugh.

In reality, Seiko didn't have insomnia at all. It was just an excuse to cover up the fact that she was always so tired.

"Are you ready for the exam?" Kotomi asked.

"Should be fine. I'll grab a quick energy drink before we start."

"You could try coffee," Kotomi suggested, holding up her own canned coffee.

"Coffee's not really my thing…"

"Fair enough."

After a bit more chatting, Kotomi returned to her seat by the window in seat number 9. Being able to crack the window open if things got stuffy was a small blessing.

More students started to fill in, each one giving off that unmistakable aura of a straight-A student. Kotomi couldn't help but feel a bit out of place among the study-focused crowd.

She scanned the front of the classroom and, seeing no sign of the teacher yet, decided to lay her head down for a quick rest.

But no sooner had she settled in than she heard an unfamiliar voice calling her name.

"Izumi-san, could I talk to you for a moment?"

"No, you can't," Kotomi replied bluntly, not even bothering to look up. She didn't recognize the voice, so she had even less desire to disrupt her peaceful nap.

The boy, who'd approached hoping to chat, walked away dejectedly, his head hanging.

"Izumi-san, could I add you on social media?"

"Izumi-san, could I ask you a few questions after the exam?"

"Izumi-san, do you have anyone you like?"

...

With each new attempt to start a conversation, Kotomi's strategy was the same: stay lying down and pretend to sleep, ignoring them all.

She knew that as soon as she responded to any one of them, it would be a never-ending spiral. Pretending to be asleep was her best move. She didn't want any new nickname like "Ice Queen," so a middle-ground solution—playing the sleeping beauty—seemed best.

Some guys in high school just couldn't help but approach a pretty girl, even with the most unoriginal lines.

Kotomi almost wanted to laugh. Really? If they couldn't even come up with a decent line, did they seriously think they could get anywhere?

"Izumi-san…" came another voice.

...And it wasn't just boys. There were girls lining up to chat with her too.

Did all the honors students from Class 1-A have this much free time? She'd had at least six people try to talk to her already!

While pretending to be asleep, Kotomi subtly glanced around and noticed that many of the people who'd approached her weren't even from Class 1-A.

Just how free were they, anyway?

After making a mental note of this, Kotomi firmly ignored anyone else who approached.

It was surprisingly effective. Peace and quiet finally settled over the room.

About twenty minutes before the exam officially started, Kotomi stretched lazily, completely unbothered by the scrutinizing glances from her highly studious peers.

A few of them, secretly observing her from their seats, couldn't help but question the rumors they'd heard about her. Did she really look like someone with excellent grades?

Kotomi chose to ignore the judgmental looks. She was more preoccupied with a crucial decision: Sprite or Monster energy drink for the exam? Or both, mixed?

The exam began.

The first subject was Japanese.

To oversee things, Shizuka Hiratsuka had been assigned as the proctor for Class 1-A.

The Japanese exam was two and a half hours long, with a maximum score of 150.

Looking down at the exam paper, Kotomi was struck with a sudden curiosity—what would happen if she temporarily deactivated the study ability granted by her system?

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than she acted on it, deactivating the skill before glancing down at the questions.

Crap! Every single question, from multiple choice to classic poetry and reading comprehension, made her head hurt.

Better turn it back on.

She reactivated her study skill and looked at the questions again.

Oh. This is easy.

With a renewed confidence, Kotomi picked up her pen and began to fly through the questions.

She breezed through them effortlessly, like her pen had been enchanted.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon: 

Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven