— — — — — —
At exactly 9:30 PM, Kawasaki walked into the convenience store where Oikawa worked.
Her expression was cold.
"Didn't you say you'd rest at night during the holiday?" Oikawa looked surprised.
"Just buying something."
Kawasaki grabbed a chilled bottle of cola from the refrigerator. She twisted it open and drank it in one go, then placed the empty bottle on the counter with a solid thud.
"You know, could you act a little more ladylike?" Oikawa sighed and scanned the bottle. "88 yen."
"Mind your own business."
Still looking annoyed, Kawasaki pulled out a 100-yen coin and tossed it onto the counter.
"Received 100 yen. Your change is 12 yen."
While counting the coins, Oikawa casually added, "Looks like our exam results are out. Shizuka-sensei told me this afternoon that my Japanese score was apparently terrible."
Kawasaki's lips curled upward ever so slightly.
Oikawa caught it immediately. "You're enjoying this, aren't you? Don't tell me you're actually happy about my misery."
"Shut up."
She shot him a glare, then set her backpack on a nearby table and pulled out her math workbook, starting to work through problems.
"A good man doesn't argue with women," Oikawa muttered.
He took out his phone and opened the class group chat. The students were discussing the exam results there as well.
"Did you hear? The scores are already out."
"The math test was insanely hard. I don't think I'll even pass. What do I do?"
"The total score is 80. If I can get half of that, I'll already feel blessed."
"@Hayato Can you ask the upperclassmen to get the score sheet? Hayato, we're counting on you!"
"…I'll try."
"Yatta! Hayato, you're the best!"
Without even checking the ID, Oikawa knew that message was from Yumiko Miura.
He had privately labeled her "a tough-looking little girl."
She was a gorgeous blonde who attracted admiration from countless boys at school. But since everyone knew she liked Hayato Hayama, no one dared pursue her.
Still, girls who weren't very scheming could be quite likable sometimes.
Like right now.
Oikawa himself was also curious about his scores.
He wasn't worried about most subjects. But Japanese and Geography–History made him uneasy.
About seven or eight minutes later, two pictures appeared in the group chat.
Hayato had posted them.
"One is the math scores, the other is physics. I couldn't get the rest."
"Amazing, Hayato!"
"That's insane. You really got them."
"If you manage to get the Japanese scores too, I'll truly worship you."
"You're dreaming. Hayato isn't a god. There's no way he can get the score sheet from Shizuka-sensei."
"If she finds out, she'll kill him…"
Seeing that, Oikawa smiled.
Looks like everyone feared Shizuka Hiratsuka about the same amount.
Then another message appeared.
"Whoa, what am I seeing?!"
"@Oikawa Oikawa, did you cheat or something? How are you full marks in both math and physics?"
"Oikawa, confess immediately."
"We all sleep in math class. Why do you get first place while I get 23 points? This is unfair."
"Impossible. The teacher must've made a mistake."
The group chat erupted with complaints.
Oikawa's grin widened.
Why study hard?
For exactly this feeling. The feeling of being envied.
In one word. Awesome.
After thinking for a moment, he replied, "The reason I sleep in math class every day is actually because I study until late every night."
"Classmates, there's no such thing as getting something for nothing in this world. When you don't see me, I'm studying seriously."
"Even today, during the holiday, I studied all day without even eating."
"Keep working hard, everyone. I believe that if you try your best, your grades will definitely surpass mine."
Reading his own message, Oikawa nodded with satisfaction.
Perfect.
"Yeah right. Liar."
Kawasaki glanced at him and scoffed.
"What do you kn—"
As Kawasaki's glare intensified, Oikawa's voice automatically dropped in volume.
This wasn't cowardice.
It was simply wisdom.
But strangely, after Oikawa sent that message, the chat suddenly went quiet.
Hachiman Hikigaya posted a "learned a lot" emoji.
Yui Yuigahama posted a "so amazing" sticker.
Then nobody said anything else.
...
Soon, 10 PM arrived.
After finishing his shift, Oikawa walked out of the convenience store with Kawasaki.
The night air in Chiba City was cool and quiet.
Neither of them spoke.
Occasionally, the sound of a passing car cut through the silence.
Whoosh.
Whoosh.
After several cars passed like that, Kawasaki suddenly stopped walking.
"I… I'll treat you to dinner," she said. "You've been tutoring me, and I never properly thanked you."
"You got 67 in math and want to thank me?"
"But if you want to thank me, you don't need to buy dinner. Just marry me."
"I don't mind your rough personality."
For some reason, Kawasaki suddenly felt her face heating up.
All she wanted right now was to punch Oikawa as hard as possible.
"I'll ask one last time. Are you eating or not?"
"Yes!"
Hearing the chill in her voice, Oikawa wisely stopped teasing her.
They walked side by side into a nearby McDonald's.
At this hour, it was basically the only place still open.
Kawasaki ordered a huge pile of food.
"You can eat that much?"
Kawasaki shot him a vicious glare.
What did he mean she could eat that much?
If she hadn't overheard him saying he hadn't eaten all day, would she have ordered this much?
This stuff was expensive, okay?
...
..
Holidays always seemed to pass too quickly.
In the blink of an eye, the two-day break slipped away.
Yawning, Oikawa walked into the classroom.
Editing a manuscript felt harder than writing a brand-new novel.
The good news was that after two days of hard work, he had almost finished revising Your Lie in April.
Tonight he could send the edited version to Ayame Kagurazaka and move on to the next stage of publication.
"Oikawa, morning!"
An unexpected person greeted him.
Hina Ebina.
She wore red glasses and looked like a quiet, well-behaved girl.
In reality, she was a scheming fujoshi.
"Morning."
Oikawa replied politely, but inwardly he became cautious.
This woman… definitely wasn't a good person.
Oikawa suddenly thought of another Ebina.
They both had the same surname.
So why was the difference between them so huge?
The gap was enormous.
.
.
.