Hiratsuka Shizuka's Affection

Compared to the exams in Language Arts and Math, the English test was mostly multiple-choice, making it relatively easy to breeze through.

This was especially true during breaks when it came to cramming assignments; English was always the quickest to complete since it was mostly multiple-choice—just pick from ABCD, write down answers quickly, and you're done. BCDDABCAD…

Anyone who saw Kotomi filling in her answers this way would think she was just guessing. But by this point, most students, having witnessed her pace during the previous exams, were no longer skeptical. Few doubted her anymore.

Hiratsuka Shizuka, who was overseeing the exam from the podium, found herself observing Kotomi with a mixed expression. At lunch, she had asked Nakamori-sensei and Yagawa-sensei about her, and they both had nothing but high praise for Kotomi's test performance. In other words, despite her unusually fast pace and habit of finishing early, Kotomi's accuracy had earned the teachers' respect.

Could it be that Class 1-F truly has a top student? No, Hiratsuka thought, she may not just be a top student…she might be a genius!

Watching Kotomi's pencil flying across the page, Hiratsuka felt her curiosity becoming unbearable. Eventually, she could no longer resist the urge to see her up close and descended from the podium for a round of inspection.

For monthly exams, it's enough for the proctor to make just a few rounds, but Hiratsuka had been patrolling the classroom repeatedly, not out of duty but out of a desire to watch Kotomi solve the test.

Quietly approaching Kotomi, Hiratsuka felt a tremor when she saw that Kotomi had nearly finished the multiple-choice section already.

Her speed is incredible!

Hiratsuka's gaze locked onto Kotomi, who, sensing her stare, didn't slow down in the slightest.

The moment she looked at each question, solutions and answers popped into her mind with the relentless drive of moths drawn to a flame.

This learning system is amazing!

Her pen glided across the page with the calm precision of a test-taking prodigy, without a hint of hesitation.

Ten minutes passed, and Kotomi had already completed the multiple-choice section and was now moving through the cloze test. It took her less than five minutes to finish the ten questions in this part as well.

While most students were still grappling with the multiple-choice questions, Kotomi was far ahead, writing the first of three reading comprehension passages. Watching Kotomi answer with such ease and speed, Hiratsuka felt a strange mixture of excitement and…a touch of fear.

Standing beside Kotomi, she couldn't help feeling her scalp tingle.

She watched as Kotomi finished the three reading comprehension passages without missing a beat. Although Hiratsuka was a Language Arts teacher, her English was good enough to confirm at a glance that Kotomi's answers, at least the five she saw, were all correct.

To work so quickly and be so accurate! Hiratsuka's mind started to spiral. Had Kotomi memorized all the answers?

Shaking her head with a wry smile, Hiratsuka dismissed the thought. She was letting Kotomi get to her. The test papers were sealed and off-limits to everyone, even the teachers.

So, Kotomi's performance was simply her genuine ability!

While Hiratsuka was still mulling over her thoughts, Kotomi finished writing the last sentence of her essay. She had completed the entire non-listening section in just 19 minutes.

The English listening segment would take up the remaining time, meaning her test was essentially done.

Hiratsuka felt so astonished she nearly bit her tongue.

Even if an English teacher took the test, they'd hardly finish this fast!

Yet Kotomi had done it.

The nearby students also noticed her putting down her pencil, meaning she had finished the non-listening part.

They had by now come to terms with the vast gulf in ability between themselves and Kotomi. Seeing her finish three-quarters of the test in just 19 minutes, some of them thought to themselves:

"She's just on another level."

"There's a limit to how fast humans can be, but she's clearly beyond that."

"I've gotta find a way to stick close to her."

"Why do her tights look amazing, whether black or white, and when I wear white ones, it just doesn't work?"

Kotomi stretched her wrist a bit; the rapid writing had left it slightly sore, but that was nothing a quick stretch couldn't fix. Noticing Hiratsuka standing nearby, she was unsurprised and looked up to give her a graceful, charming smile.

The moment that flawless smile—beautiful in every sense of the word—fell into Hiratsuka's field of view, she felt her heart racing.

She was a Language Arts teacher, but she had no words to describe Kotomi's beauty.

Her white hair gleamed in the light, smooth and silky. Her skin was delicate and soft, and her pink eyes held a glimmer that made one want to lean in for a kiss. With her long lashes and cherry-pink lips, all framed by a gentle smile, she was simply breathtaking.

Hiratsuka felt her heart skip.

Not just a little, but overwhelmingly so.

To her astonishment, she realized that in that brief moment of enchantment, she had felt something like…affection for Kotomi.

What am I thinking? Hiratsuka internally scolded herself. You're her teacher, for heaven's sake!

Flustered, Hiratsuka hurried away, leaving Kotomi puzzled.

All I did was smile at her. Why did she blush?

Seeing a shy Hiratsuka was rare indeed, but she looked so cute blushing!

Just as she was musing over Hiratsuka's adorable reaction, the listening segment began, and Kotomi focused on finishing her test.

Though the recordings were repeated twice, she completed her answers after just one playthrough.

The listening test for freshmen lasted 25 minutes, and as the final question ended, Kotomi's English test was officially complete.

Every single answer, written flawlessly.

Should I turn it in early again? she wondered. Maybe I could find a quiet spot to play some Azur Lane and check out the new event…

Looking up at the podium, she found Hiratsuka gazing right at her.

Hiratsuka was watching her, and she was watching Hiratsuka.

Their eyes met.

Despite being the student, Kotomi was the one to make the monitor blush.

Face flushing pink, Hiratsuka quickly lowered her head, feeling her cheeks burn.

Kotomi's looking at me again!

Kotomi also had a moment of confusion. All she did was meet Hiratsuka Shizuka's gaze, so why did she look down? Was there something on her face?

She touched her cheek—nothing seemed out of place.

Before the test started, she had planned to keep a low profile and not hand in her paper early, but while writing the English word for "ship" in her essay, she suddenly remembered she hadn't started her Azur Lane event yet.

Forget it; no more pretending. She'd turn in the paper early and head out to play.

Packing up her things, Kotomi walked up to the podium and handed in her English exam right in front of everyone, then exited the room with the same flowing ease as before.

With a good half hour left in the English exam, Kotomi wasn't about to waste that precious time. She slipped up to the rooftop, settled on a bench, and got right into the large-scale event.

While the rest of the students were still struggling with the trickier sections of the English test, trying to squeeze answers out of their minds, Kotomi was already up on the rooftop gaming.

If any other student saw this, they wouldn't just be discouraged—they might cough up blood in frustration.

After all, they all had the same brains, so why was there such a massive gap?

When the English exam ended, Kotomi didn't rush back to the classroom, as there was a forty-minute break. The next set of exams would be History and Social Studies, each lasting one hour with no break in between.

So Kotomi happily spent another half hour on Azur Lane, and when there were only ten minutes left until the next test, her phone battery was already running low. She powered it down, left the rooftop, and returned to the 1-A exam room.

"This exam will be History and Social Studies with no break in between," Hiratsuka Shizuka announced. "If you need to use the restroom, do so now; you will not be allowed to leave during the exam."

When she finished, she shot Kotomi a deep look, as if to say that this time, even if she finished early, she wouldn't be allowed to leave.

Kotomi caught the unspoken message in Hiratsuka's gaze and responded with a gentle, serene smile, full of innocence and charm—one that, as expected, left Hiratsuka slightly flustered.

Kotomi didn't mind that she couldn't turn her paper in early; her phone battery was low anyway, so even if she could leave, she wouldn't be able to go home.

Ding, ding, ding…

The exam bell rang, and the History paper was distributed first.

History and Social Studies are largely memorization-based subjects. As long as a student memorized the key points the teacher went over, they wouldn't struggle too much in these subjects.

Teachers often advise students who are weaker in core subjects like Language Arts, Math, and English to focus on memorizing History and Social Studies to boost their scores.

Kotomi remembered how, in her previous life, teachers had given her similar advice since her Math and English were so poor that her only chance to raise her scores was through these subjects.

Thank goodness she had the learning system in this life, she thought.

The History test was half multiple-choice and half short-answer questions.

The multiple-choice section was no problem; the more time-consuming part was the short answers, which required time to formulate a response and then organize it clearly on the page.

The answers to each question also tended to be lengthy.

In History and Social Studies, time management is precious. With each subject only having an hour, students needed to save at least forty minutes for the short-answer section. This meant they had to speed up on the multiple-choice questions.

Kotomi didn't worry about running out of time; she could find the answer at a glance, saving considerable time.

In less than forty-five minutes, Kotomi finished the History test. However, since the two subjects were administered together, she couldn't turn it in early.

Seeing that forty-five minutes had already passed, the other top students grew tense, quickening their pace, their pens rarely pausing, worried they wouldn't finish in time.

Compared to the previous three subjects, History was relatively simple. For these top students, it was practically free points, though the short-answer section was time-consuming to write out.

Failing to answer these "free points" questions would make them unworthy of sitting in the 1-A classroom.

Meanwhile, Kotomi was already twirling her pen in boredom, presenting a stark contrast to the other top students.

Those sitting nearby could only sigh in dismay:

"Onee-sama, come on—give us a break!"

After an hour, the bell rang precisely on time. Hiratsuka's voice instructed everyone to stop writing, and the other students managed to finish their History exams just in time.

The questions weren't hard, but the sheer length of the short-answer section made it quite a challenge.

Even simplifying the answers still left an hour feeling tight.

Once they submitted their History papers, the students barely had time to relax, knowing that Social Studies was next.

The short answers in Social Studies were long too!

With the Social Studies test paper in hand, the top students, who had felt a narrow escape with the History short-answer section, immediately started working, wasting no time at all.

Some students even skipped the multiple-choice section, diving straight into the short answers.

Kotomi, however, started with the multiple-choice questions as usual, finishing the fifteen questions in under three minutes.

In thirty minutes, she had written out all the answers to the short answers.

With nothing else to do, she put down her pen and rested her head on her desk, dozing off since she couldn't turn in her paper early.

…

Yuuma Matsutou was the History class representative for 1-A.

He was an undisputed top student.

Not only was he the best in History, but he ranked among the top three in every other subject, occasionally even clinching the first position.

The first three tests had initially thrown him off with their difficulty, but he felt fairly confident he'd done well. Though he'd spent a little extra time on the History multiple-choice questions, he still managed to finish in the last minute.

History and Social Studies were his strongest subjects, and he was already on the second-to-last short answer question in the Social Studies test. Yuuma was quite pleased with himself, chuckling softly.

The other top students were just starting the first question, but he was nearly done with his.

Yuuma thought he had it in the bag.

There couldn't be anyone in the class faster than him, not even Kotomi.

But just as he imagined showing off to his classmates later, he heard a soft, rhythmic breathing sound.

Unlike the tense, hurried breaths of everyone else, this one was gentle and relaxed, as if the person making it wasn't taking a test at all, but…sleeping?

It wasn't just Yuuma—every student in Class 1-A heard it.

Even Hiratsuka Shizuka noticed.

Out of curiosity, everyone turned their gaze in the direction of that tranquil breathing sound.

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