Karuizawa Kei sat on the edge of the bed, now accustomed to appearing in Kaoru's room like this.

Her jacket discarded, she wore only a white long-sleeved blouse that accentuated her youthful bust.

Below her pleated skirt, her legs were pressed tightly together—smooth, flawless skin resembling the finest porcelain, with plump, pale calves that looked irresistibly soft.

"I think I can score really high this time. I even showed the practice questions you gave me to Chiaki—she thought they were super hard and couldn't solve them as well as I did."

The girl smiled happily, hands propped on the bed as she gently swung her legs, crescent eyes fixed on Kaoru.

Though Chiaki Matsushita wasn't among the top students in class, she ranked fairly high among Karuizawa's circle of friends.

That even Matsushita acknowledged her rapid improvement thrilled Karuizawa.

She'd always believed herself hopeless at academics, never expecting Kaoru's tutoring to be so effective.

Perhaps it was because they were alone together, but Karuizawa found herself focusing more intently than in class, her gaze rarely leaving Kaoru.

For some reason, the sound of his explanations always made her heart flutter.

"Studying itself isn't difficult—the challenge lies in understanding the material," Kaoru said, glancing at her notes.

"A perfect score might be tough, but Class B shouldn't threaten you anymore."

Karuizawa pouted.

This was what she disliked—Kaoru only turned on the praise during study sessions, remaining all business otherwise.

"Hey hey hey, what score do you think I'll get, Kaoru?"

"Aside from math being slightly weak, you should score above eighty in other subjects."

"What do you know, I'm actually pretty good at this." Karuizawa Kei inexplicably blushed before casually asking, "I remember it's Class A against Class B. You guys should have no problem defeating Class B, right?"

"Not sure, but I think we'll be fine. our leaders seems very confident."

"Is the leader Sakayanagi-san?"

"She's our class's top student—probably smart enough to get into Tokyo University with her deviation score."

"That impressive? I didn't know. I always heard Ichinose-san was academically stronger. People from Class B say she ranked first in the entrance exams."

Noticing the faint smile on Kaoru's face, Karuizawa felt like her little scheme had been exposed.

Her cheeks flushed slightly as she quickly changed the subject.

"Kaoru, do you know who's in charge of our class's exam prep?"

"Probably Horikita-san, Yukimura-san, and a few others, right?" Kaoru had some impression of D-Class's high achievers.

Currently, these students were responsible for tutoring the weaker ones.

D-Class's strategy was class-wide improvement.

Top students like Horikita Suzune, Yukimura Teruhiko, Hirata Yosuke, Mei yu Wang, and Kushida Kikyo led study sessions in the library, helping not just the struggling students but even those with average grades.

Take Hasebe Haruka, for example.

Her grades were far from needing extra help—she usually sailed through midterms without issue.

But with the special exam at stake, Haruka had been dragged into the tutoring sessions.

Otherwise, Kaoru wouldn't have spotted her in the library.

There was no choice. D-Class had already lost everything.

If they didn't push themselves now, they'd be left with nothing but scraps.

Under these circumstances, the class had—for once—followed Horikita's arrangements without protest.

"Mhm, it's definitely them. But you know we're allowed to seek outside help for this special exam, right?" Karuizawa lowered her voice as if wary of eavesdroppers.

"Earlier, I saw Horikita stop our homeroom teacher. They went to the office together."

Kaoru found it amusing.

Normally so airheaded, she suddenly displayed this sharp observation—though he couldn't tell what sneaky plan she was cooking up now.

"Do you think Horikita sought help from Chabashira-sensei?"

The rules of this exam allowed teachers from each class to intervene, as long as students requested their assistance.

Of course, the teachers couldn't take full responsibility for creating questions—that would be blatant favoritism, turning it into a direct confrontation between homeroom teachers.

Horikita Suzune must have asked Chabashira Sae for guidance—perhaps on how to make the questions more challenging.

Only these teachers would know how to craft problems that were both difficult and reasonable.

"Well, it's allowed by the exam rules. Is Class A not planning to seek help from anyone?" Karuizawa asked with a subtle hint of provocation.

"With the homeroom teacher's help, defeating Ichinose shouldn't be too hard, right?"

Kaoru walked over to her bedside and pinched her small nose, smiling faintly.

"You're the one who wants to beat Honami, aren't you? If our questions are tough enough, her score will be lower than yours."

"H-How rude! I'm not some childish kid! I'm just offering reasonable advice from my position as your girlfriend!" Karuizawa grumbled, clearly displeased, though her cheeks flushed slightly red.

"I never said it was a bad idea. Though I really don't want you two to dislike each other."

Kaoru had long known that even the most harmonious groups would still compete in secret.

Even if it sometimes seemed childish.

"I know that already! But honestly, it's a little frustrating... Ugh, never mind. Let's just keep studying for now!"

Karuizawa forced a smile and snuggled up to him.

Only in his arms could she forget her unhappiness.

Wait—

There was a woman's scent.

Her expression instantly cooled.

She couldn't recognize whose it was.

Normally, she often caught whiffs of Ichinose Honami or Kushida Kikyo on Kaoru—the former's citrus-scented body wash, the latter's floral perfume.

She had confirmed these herself, accidentally leaning in close enough to catch the scents without their knowledge.

But she still didn't know Sakayanagi Arisu or Kamuro Masumi's fragrances.

Was it one of them?

Karuizawa bit her lip.

No good.

She needed to leave more of her own scent on him—only then could she assert her claim over him to the others.

"Kaoru, want to take a bath together tonight?"

...

With finals approaching, Class A's top students had finally gathered in the classroom after school on Friday.

"Fufufu~ After a month of hard work, I trust everyone is prepared. May I check the final results?"

Sakayanagi Arisu leaned on her cane, glancing around at the students before her gaze settled on Kaoru.

A flicker of irritation flashed in her eyes.

Though Kaoru had been busy with tutoring lately, he was still aware of everyone's progress—thanks to their group chat.

Even without meeting often, these top students could share updates there.

Still, the whole setup felt like a work group chat, reminding Kaoru of some unpleasant memories.

After everyone had taken out their notes, Kaoru secretly glanced at Ai Morishita's notebook.

The girl's handwriting was neat, stroke by stroke, like a printed work of art, with occasional traces of corrections visible here and there.

Directly sharing the questions in the group chat would be risky.

Not only was there the possibility of betrayal, but even if someone happened to peek at them, it would be a loss for Class A.

Therefore, this was the first time Kaoru had truly seen the complete set of exam questions prepared by Class A.

Ai Morishita was responsible for English and Modern Literature, and it was clear she had put a lot of thought into it.

Kaoru assessed his own abilities and concluded he probably wouldn't score full marks.

"You're peeking at my notes again," Ai Morishita noticed Kaoru's gaze, though she wasn't particularly surprised anymore.

"Though it might sound like bragging, I referenced quite a few high school exam questions, you know~"

Some prestigious schools' exam papers would leak online, and students like Ai Morishita, who put in extra effort, were likely not rare.

"Impressive how you managed to tweak the online questions like this," Kaoru showed her his own notes.

"How many points do you think you'll get?"

Because of their height difference, Ai Morishita stood slightly on her tiptoes, leaning closer to Kaoru.

Her fingers unconsciously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she stared intently at his notes.

Kaoru noticed her small gesture and lowered his notes a bit, though he could still see the fair skin of her neck beneath her collar—the most delicate part, faintly revealing blue veins beneath the rosy-white complexion.

"I should've teamed up with you earlier," Ai Morishita suddenly regretted her decision.

After just a brief look, she quickly realized these were all questions Kaoru had come up with himself.

If she had partnered with him, she might have been able to slack off even more.

"No way. You'd probably dump all the work on me and then fall asleep on the side," Kaoru saw right through her.

"Sleep? Why would I sleep? And even if I did, it'd only be while waiting for you to finish writing the questions, right?" Ai Morishita seemed genuinely puzzled, while also kindly reminding him.

"Kaoru Mitoma, you shouldn't say such rude things to a girl."

Kaoru rolled his eyes at her.

He had once seen her napping alone on a bench outside during lunch break.

No wonder she had wishes related to sleep.

"You two seem to be getting along well. Feeling confident?" Arisu Sakayanagi approached Kaoru and Ai Morishita.

"Although you've shared your question ideas in the group, this is too important to leave unchecked. If there are any issues, please revise them over the weekend."

Considering the possibility that the questions might not meet the standards, Arisu had suggested reviewing them today.

Later, they would also need to visit the staff room and have Mashima take a look.

If everything met the school's requirements, then their task as top students would be complete.

The exams would begin next week.

Kaoru handed his notes to Sakayanagi.

Katsuragi watched from a distance as they exchanged questions for cross-checking.

Neither of them spoke.