My Ex-Girlfriend Who Dumped Me, the Top Student, Is at Risk of Failing and Repeating a Year—but I’m Too Busy Tutoring a Former Shut-in Beauty To Get Back Together With Her - 14-15

Chapter 14: The Troublemaker Friend Mutters to Himself

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I, Shun Todo, let out a deep sigh while sipping on a carton of coffee in a corner of the classroom.

“……No, this is just wrong.”

My gaze was fixed on a seat by the window. Minato Kashiwagi, the center of our class’s gossip, and the revived beautiful girl, Kotone Kisaragi, were there.

It was lunch break during the exam period. Studying was their prerogative. However, it was as if gravity was warped only around them, or as if a transparent barrier (an AT Field) had been deployed… At any rate, their presence stood out as something extraordinary.

“You got this part wrong again.”

“Muu…… I’m sorry, Sensei.”

“You don’t have to apologize. You just need to reach a point where you can do it.”

Kashiwagi pointed at the notebook with a red pen. That much was fine. The problem was his hand. Kashiwagi was moving the pen with his right hand, but his free left hand was under the desk. And that left hand was tightly enveloped and squeezed by both of Kisaragi’s hands as she sat next to him.

She was entwining her fingers with his and stroking his hand dearly, as if to say Kashiwagi would vanish if she let go even for a moment. Furthermore, the distance between their two chairs was far too close. It was a distance where their shoulders touched. The surrounding boys were raising voices of resentment, muttering things like “Uwah……” and “Just explode already,” but Kashiwagi himself continued his explanation with a cool face.

Is that bastard Kashiwagi really unaware even like that?

Exasperated, I approached their seats.

“Yo, you lovey-dovey idiots. Tone down the public display of affection already.”

When I called out, Kashiwagi looked back with a blank expression.

“Lovey-dovey? What are you talking about, Todo? We’re seriously doing a supplementary physics lesson.”

“Listen here…What are you talking about while you’re gripping hands under the desk? The notebook’s gonna get damp from hand sweat.”

When I pointed that out, Kisaragi slowly raised her head. Unlike the meltingly sweet gaze she turned toward Kashiwagi, her eyes were inorganic and cold.

“……Charging.”

“Huh?”

“My brain won’t work unless I replenish my ‘Sensei elements’…… Don’t bother us.”

Kisaragi muttered bluntly, then squeezed Kashiwagi’s hand even tighter and rubbed her cheek against it.

Hey, hey, she’s treating him completely like her own property.

However, Kashiwagi’s reaction was even more terrifying.

“Sorry, Todo. Apparently, she has strong anxiety due to past trauma. It seems she calms down when she’s connected to someone like this.”

“……Are you seriously saying that?”

“Hm? Yeah. It’s like a type of earthing. If it keeps her mentally stable and increases her study efficiency, my left hand is a small price to pay.”

“What’s with that feeling of subtly weaving in physics knowledge?”

Kashiwagi finished his statement with a perfectly serious face.

This guy is pretty glitched out, too. It seems that if it passes through the filter of “studying,” he processes even excessive physical contact from a beautiful girl as a “means of efficiency.”

I guess they’re both as bad as each other.

Kotone Kisaragi is a yandere-in-the-making whose love for Kashiwagi is so heavy she’s dependent on him. Minato Kashiwagi is a lunatic with such low self-esteem that he perceives affection as a bug.

They are “danger: do not mix.” Yet, they have clicked together in a miraculous balance.

I happened to look toward the back of the classroom. There, Rina Aikawa was slumped over her desk alone. Her entourage had left her, and things were hostile with her boyfriend, Hasegawa. This was the end for the queen who used to work Kashiwagi to the bone as a “useful tool.”

Back then, Kashiwagi always had dead eyes. Even from the sidelines, I could tell he was wearing himself down while telling himself, “It’s for Rina’s sake.” Compared to that, look at him now.

“Good, you solved this problem. You did great, Kisaragi.”

“Ehehe… Sensei, praise me more?”

“Yes, yes.”

With his hand that wasn’t being held, Kashiwagi patted Kisaragi’s head. His profile looked exasperated, yet somehow fulfilled. Being needed by someone and leading someone. There was no doubt that it had become his current vitality for living.

Well, if he looks like he’s having fun, I guess it’s fine.

Even if his partner is a slightly (no, very) heavy and dependent girl. It’s a hundred million times better than being exploited by that piece of crap ex-girlfriend.

“Alright, alright, thanks for the show. Sorry for bothering you.”

I shrugged my shoulders and decided to return to my seat.

“Ah, Todo.”

Kashiwagi called out from behind me.

“We’re studying in the library again after school today. You want to come?”

“I’ll pass. I don’t want to suffocate from being exposed to that ‘heavy atmosphere’ between you two.”

When I waved him off and refused, I saw Kisaragi stare at me triumphantly and pull Kashiwagi’s hand even closer to her chest. It was a silent pressure that said, “I won’t give Sensei up.”

Well then, I’m looking forward to the announcement of the test results next week. I’ll enjoy watching from my front-row seat how the outrageous “numbers” those two will likely strike down will redraw the map of power in this classroom.

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Chapter 15: Heaven and Hell

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The day the final exam results were announced. During the morning homeroom, the air in the classroom grew tense as our teacher, Saejima-sensei, walked in.

“Good morning. I’ll hand out your individual score sheets later, but for now, I’ve posted the ranking list for the entire grade in the hallway”.

A chorus of groans like “Ugh…” and “Are you serious? It’s public for everyone?” rose from throughout the classroom. However, the teacher curled her lips upward, appearing somewhat amused.

“This time’s results are interesting. Those who put in the effort were rewarded, and those who grew conceited have fallen to the earth. It’s a clear split between ‘Heaven and Hell'”.

The teacher’s gaze flickered toward our seats for a split second before drifting over to Rina Aikawa’s seat. Rina’s shoulders gave a startled jolt.

“Everyone, go confirm your reality during the break. …That is all”.

Leaving only those meaningful words behind, the teacher left the classroom. In that instant, the students surged out into the hallway like an avalanche.

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A crowd had already gathered in front of the bulletin board in the hallway. A long list was posted across the wall, a cruel ranking of all 300 students in the grade.

“Whoa, Kashiwagi is a monster as usual. He’s leading the pack at the top of all 300 people”.

“More importantly, look at this name. …Isn’t this Kisaragi-san, the one who used to not come to the school?”

“For real, she’s in the top ranks!?”.

A stir spread like ripples through the crowd. Kisaragi and I stood at the back of the wave of people.

“……Let’s go, Kisaragi”.

“Yes, Sensei”.

As I started walking, the students naturally cleared a path. At the very top of the bulletin board, there was my name, shining brilliantly.

1st Place: Minato Kashiwagi

This part was the same as always. I let my gaze slide down a bit.

10th place… not there. 15th place… still not there. And then…

“……Found it”.

At the end of my finger, there was the name.

18th Place: Kotone Kisaragi

18th place out of 300 students in the grade. It was a brilliant achievement, placing her within the top 6%. Furthermore, considering this was her return match after a several-month blank period, it could be called a miraculous number.

“18th place…”

Kisaragi stared at the number and pouted her lips with a hint of frustration.

“Sensei’s name is much higher. …It’s so far away”.

“Of course it is. It’s a hundred years too early for you to overtake the one at the top of 300 people (me)”.

“Muu… But I made it onto the same ‘first sheet’ of paper”.

She’s the real deal, feeling frustrated rather than happy here. 

I realized that then.

She pulled out her smartphone and took a photo of the bulletin board. It was a photo of the first sheet of the list containing the 1st through 30th places, with both of our names captured within the frame.

“Hehe… Look, Sensei. I was able to ‘prove’ it properly”.

“Yeah. It’s more than enough of a result. You did a great job”.

When I praised her honestly, her cheeks softened with joy. It was then…

“Move it…!”

Rina arrived, roughly shoving her way through the crowd. Her expression was a mix of impatience and baseless pride.

(It’ll be fine… I didn’t study, but I’m not stupid. I was always around 100th, so even if I drop, it’ll be around 150th, right?)

I could almost hear her inner voice. Indeed, until the time we were dating, she had maintained a position in the middle tier around 100th to 120th. In her first year, she had studied normally and maintained that level. However, once we started dating in our second year, she learned how to slack off and began to rely on my secret notes before tests.

She had been able to maintain her rank in the previous midterm with those…

That was likely why she misunderstood, thinking, “I’m reasonably capable”. She failed to realize her rank was only possible because I had drilled the basics into her and provided summarized test ranges. She had grown completely conceited, thinking, “I’m fine even without studying”.

Rina lunged toward her usual spot on the middle bulletin board.

100th place… no name.

120th place… nothing.

150th place… still nothing.

“Eh…?”

The color drained from Rina’s face. In a panic, she shifted her gaze further to the right-side bulletin board—the list for the lower tier.

200th place… nothing.

220th place… nothing.

“No way… This has to be a lie, why…!”

Her fingertips trembled as her gaze dropped even lower on the very end bulletin board.

Then, her finger stopped.

268th Place: Rina Aikawa

268th place out of 300 people. It was an unmistakable “bottom-tier” rank, far faster to count from the bottom. This wasn’t just about failing grades. She was the prime candidate for repeating the year.

“N-Noooooooo!”

Rina let out a scream. The surrounding students turned cold gazes toward her.

“Whoa, Aikawa is in the 260s.” 

“She’s really fallen off.” 

“Wasn’t she around 100th until now?” 

“Does that mean it was all thanks to Kashiwagi? How pathetic”.

Unforgiving backbiting pierced Rina’s ears. Her brand as a “reasonably capable, top-caste girl” completely collapsed at this very moment.

“Why…! I’m not this stupid…!”

Rina glared at us with teary eyes. However, between us at 1st and 18th place and her at 268th place, the disparity lying between us was no longer something that could be bridged with words.

“It’s a simple logic,” I stated quietly.

“The reason you were able to stay at ‘reasonably capable’ was because I was giving you a boost. This is the result of you mistaking that for your own strength and sitting on your laurels”.

“Nng…”

“While you were playing around, Kisaragi was desperately moving her pen by my side. …That’s all there is to it”.

Rina couldn’t say anything back and bit her lip. Whether it was out of frustration or regret, I didn’t know. Perhaps unable to bear being there any longer, Rina covered her face and ran away from the spot.

The hallway fell into a hush. The match was decided—by the cruel reality of numbers.

“……Shall we go, Kisaragi?”

“Yes, Sensei!”

We left the scene. By my side now was a proud partner who absorbed my instruction and responded with results.

“Sensei, a reward!”

“Hmm? A reward for 18th place?”

“Because I worked hard! …Today, hold my hand all the way home, okay?”

“……Well, I suppose it’s a celebration for your return. Just this once, okay?”

When I gently squeezed her hand back, Kisaragi laughed innocently, saying, “Yay!”. Then, she whispered softly into my ear.

“Next time, I’m going even higher. …Until I can stand right next to Sensei (next to 1st place), keep a good eye on me, okay?”

In those eyes burned a possessiveness called ambition. Thus, the final exam arc closed with our complete victory.

However, the story was not over yet. Because the greatest event for a student—summer vacation—was waiting.

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