Shuchiin Academy, a top-tier educational institution in Neon. Almost all members of the upper class send their children to study at Shuchiin Academy. Of course, the purpose is not only to expand social connections at Shuchiin Academy, but also to receive the elite education that the academy provides.
And the best way for Shuchiin Academy to assess the progress of its students under its educational system is through tests.
Today was test day at Shuchiin Academy.
"Kirisu-sensei, the results should come out tomorrow, right?"
At the classroom door, a young man who felt comfortable all night but was still completely refreshed met Kirisu Mafuyu, who was holding the test papers, and asked with a smile.
"They'll be out tomorrow afternoon. So, Nakano-kun, are you ready to study hard?"
Casting a glance at Nakano Yu, Kirisu Mafuyu answered honestly, but for some inexplicable reason, she felt a slight sense of nervousness. As a teacher guiding students, she really disliked Nakano Yu's appearance of someone with good learning talent who loafed around all day.
"It doesn't matter whether I'm ready or not. Instead, Kirisu-sensei, are you really that sure I'll lose the bet?"
Nakano Yu shrugged and asked, looking at Kirisu Mafuyu's confident expression.
"Of course, Nakano-kun. It looks like you haven't listened in class at all during this period, right? If I don't even have confidence in that case, then I really don't know what would give me a reason to be confident."
Kirisu Mafuyu nodded. Over the past two days, she had observed Nakano Yu and noticed that he was mostly absent-minded or daydreaming in class, and the rest of the time he was mostly spending it with several girls. Because of this, Kirisu Mafuyu didn't believe that such a Nakano Yu could take first place in the class on the test!
"Oh~ Is that so? Then let's wait for the results tomorrow. Kirisu-sensei, don't forget to prepare the maid outfit."
Hearing this, Nakano Yu raised his eyebrows and, after saying that, entered the classroom.
Only Kirisu Mafuyu remained at the classroom door, both embarrassed and annoyed, staring at Nakano Yu's back.
Damn it! That guy… She, she was still Nakano Yu's teacher! Telling her to prepare a maid outfit—this was truly shameless!
However, she was certain that Nakano Yu would not achieve a good result on this exam. After all, this test was extremely difficult!
Although Kirisu Mafuyu wasn't the one who had set the questions, she had only glanced briefly at the test paper and discovered that many of the questions were trick questions—so tricky that even she couldn't solve them easily in her head.
"I hope you'll at least make it into the top five."
Looking at Nakano Yu returning to his seat, Kirisu Mafuyu thought to herself. She was also quite curious about what Nakano Yu's final result would be. She wanted to see just how amazing this so-called learning genius really was.
Composing her expression, Kirisu Mafuyu entered the classroom. After announcing that she would supervise the exam, she handed out the test papers.
"Rustle~"
Soon, the classroom became incredibly quiet, and only the sound of ballpoint pens scratching across the test papers could be heard.
Sitting in the classroom, Kirisu Mafuyu coldly observed the students below her. If anyone made even the slightest movement and tried to cheat, she would catch them immediately.
However, after looking around, Kirisu Mafuyu didn't find anyone cheating. Instead, she found someone who had given up on the exam.
That person was none other than Nakano Yu, the one who had made a bet with her!
Seeing Nakano Yu write on the paper for ten minutes, then put down his pen and begin daydreaming as usual in class, Kirisu Mafuyu frowned.
But then she thought about the difficulty of this test and felt relieved. Perhaps Nakano Yu hadn't listened in class during this period, which led to him not understanding the key knowledge points at all and having no idea how to solve the problems, so he simply gave up.
Although she had expected such a reaction from Nakano Yu, Kirisu Mafuyu still felt a bit disappointed.
Originally, she had thought that Nakano Yu, who had always ranked first in his class at Sobu High School, possessed extremely strong learning talent, but now it seemed he was just average.
Shaking her head, Kirisu Mafuyu no longer paid attention to Nakano Yu.
"Tick-tock, tick-tock~"
Time passed second by second, and soon the entire day had gone by.
Since it was a weekly test, there weren't many questions on the paper, just one page, and the exam duration was shortened accordingly.
By the end of the day, all six subjects that Japanese high school students had to study were quickly finished.
After handing in the last test paper to Kirisu Mafuyu, Nakano Yu was about to leave immediately when Kirisu Mafuyu suddenly called out to him:
"Nakano-kun, you disappointed me."
"I originally thought that even if you didn't know, you would at least answer the questions seriously."
Throughout the entire day, Kirisu Mafuyu had noticed that during every exam, Nakano Yu randomly wrote for ten minutes and then daydreamed until it was time to submit the paper.
Although the test papers were filled with writing, Kirisu Mafuyu had no intention of reviewing them in detail. She was completely disappointed in Nakano Yu.
Hearing Kirisu Mafuyu's words, Nakano Yu slightly tilted his head and said:
"Kirisu-sensei, the dust hasn't settled yet. How do you know I didn't answer the questions properly?"
"How is it possible to finish an entire test paper in ten minutes?"
Hearing this, however, Kirisu Mafuyu made it clear that Nakano Yu could no longer shake her resolve. She didn't believe that Nakano Yu could finish these questions in ten minutes and solve them all correctly.
Not to mention the calculations and checks required for the math problems, throughout the entire exam she hadn't seen Nakano Yu write a single word on his scratch paper.
"In any case, Kirisu-sensei, you should first prepare what needs to be prepared."
Nakano Yu didn't want to argue too much with Kirisu Mafuyu. He knew that Kirisu Mafuyu was essentially a stubborn person, and it was very difficult to change her mind once she had made up her decision.
Unless the facts were placed directly before her eyes.
Hearing this, Kirisu Mafuyu remembered the maid outfit Nakano Yu had mentioned earlier, and her face turned red. Just as she was about to ask Nakano Yu what he intended to do, she realized that the young man had already left.
Looking at the test papers in her hands, Kirisu Mafuyu pressed her lips together.
Could it be that Nakano Yu really was able to finish those questions in such a short time and solve them correctly?
Her heart trembled for a moment, but Kirisu Mafuyu immediately denied it. Impossible, even she, as a teacher, couldn't do that.
But… what if?
Thinking of this, Kirisu Mafuyu returned to her office and found the history test papers she taught from the pile of documents on her desk.
"I have to grade them anyway, so I might as well take a look first."
Looking at the test papers in her hands, Kirisu Mafuyu sat down and began reviewing the answers Nakano Yu had written on the history test in ten minutes.
Ten minutes later
"How is this possible?!"
Sitting in the office, Kirisu Mafuyu's hands were trembling as she stared wide-eyed at Nakano Yu's test paper and shouted.
Putting down the test paper, Kirisu Mafuyu looked at the score she had given Nakano Yu, almost doubting her entire teaching career.
"Full, full marks?!"
Kirisu Mafuyu held her head, completely unable to believe that these were the answers Nakano Yu had given in ten minutes.
"No, no, he only took ten minutes!"
Shaking her head, Kirisu Mafuyu still refused to believe it. She picked up the paper and the answer key and began checking again, but when she reviewed it once more, the result was, as expected, perfect.
"They really are full marks."
At this moment, no matter how unwilling Kirisu Mafuyu was to believe it, she had no choice. The facts were right in front of her, and she couldn't ignore them.
"If history is full marks, then his other tests…"
Thinking of this, Kirisu Mafuyu's expression became complicated.
The test papers had already been sent to the teachers responsible for grading in the first year, so there was nothing she could do now.
"Is it possible… that I'll really lose to Nakano Yu?"
Kirisu Mafuyu fell into deep thought, staring at the papers on the desk.
What if Nakano Yu used the bet to demand something excessive?
And that maid outfit, does she really have to prepare it?
Or should she get out of the debt? No, she was a teacher; she couldn't set such a bad example for her students, but…
As she thought about it, Kirisu Mafuyu's cheeks flushed, her heartbeat quickened, and her thoughts became chaotic.
It was unknown how long Kirisu Mafuyu struggled with this; all that was known was that the night passed quickly.
When Kirisu Mafuyu finished reviewing all the test papers and returned home, she lay down on the bed exhausted.
After staring at the ceiling for a while, she suddenly picked up her phone, opened an online shopping app, and searched for "maid outfit".
"If I buy it now… it should arrive tomorrow, right?"
"Bang!"
"Rooaar!!!"
In a dark parking garage, Nakano Yu casually punched a giant ape monster and sent it flying. The ape slammed heavily into the wall, letting out a furious roar as it tried to pull itself free, only to discover that its body couldn't move at all.
It wasn't that it lacked strength; rather, Nakano Yu's punch had directly shattered all of its bones, so even if the monster wanted to move, it remained completely immobilized.
"How boring."
Nakano Yu walked forward and, with a light swing of Joyeuse in his hand, directly severed the ape monster's head and sent it rolling to the ground.
"Thud!"
As the ape monster died, its body let out a dull sound and dispersed into thick black smoke.
"Ding! Congratulations, host, on completing the daily mission! Reward: Draw chance +1!"
Ignoring the system notification in his ear, Nakano Yu looked toward the support pillar at the end of the garage.
Staring at the shadow cast by the light, Nakano Yu smiled.
But the young man said nothing more and left directly.
Shortly after Nakano Yu left, a black-haired girl in a light blue dress stepped out from behind the support pillar.
The girl timidly approached the spot where Nakano Yu had just struck the ape monster, her eyes filled with confusion as her worldview collapsed.
That evening, she had been on her way home and passed by the garage when she heard noise inside. Curiosity led her to peek in, and in the end she saw a young man violently turn something resembling an ape into a monster, then kill it with a single blow!
And she even knew that young man!
It was Nakano Yu, the top student of Sobu High School, who had kept her in second place for years!
And the girl was, of course, the second-place student of Sobu High School, the second daughter of the Yukinoshita family, Yukinoshita Yukino!
"Was that thing that night really a yokai?"
Looking at the clearly visible massive dent in the garage wall, Yukinoshita Yukino suddenly recalled the enormous shadow she had seen during the courage test at Woodland Cottage that night, and her expression became somewhat complicated.
"Nakano Yu… what exactly are you?"
Yukinoshita Yukino murmured softly, lost in thought.
She remembered that long ago, her older sister had warned her not to get close to Nakano Yu. She had thought it was because Nakano Yu was too outstanding and that her sister was afraid she would be discouraged because she couldn't surpass him in grades.
Her good sister must have been hiding many things from her.
At the very least, regarding why she shouldn't get close to Nakano Yu, she had never received an answer.
But now… she mostly understood.