Chapter 130: Second semester midterm exam(2)

The day of the midterm exams arrived. As usual… I hadn’t slept well. I’d tossed and turned all night, managing only an hour or two of sleep.

“Haa… I can’t do anything because of my nerves…”

I dragged myself to school, clutching my stomach, which was churning with indigestion. Aya, seeing me, looked concerned. I felt bad for always worrying her.

“Rina, are you okay? You look pale.”
“Y-Yeah… Just exam stress. It’s always like this… I think I was like this last time too…?”
“Did you take any medicine? I can give you some.”
“Uh… what medicine?”
“Medicine for… when you’re nervous.”

Ah, right, Aya’s family was in the pharmaceutical industry.
I must have looked really bad today. Aya took something out of her bag and handed it to me.

“Here, take this. And after the exams, go straight home and rest.”
“Thanks, Aya.”

Aya also handed me a bottle of water, and I took the medicine as we walked.
By the time we reached the classroom, I felt a little less nervous.

What kind of medicine was this…? I should have asked for some sooner. My body and mind felt relaxed, and I took a deep breath. The pressure that had kept me awake last night had lessened considerably.

The bell rang, and the teacher entered the classroom with the test papers. The pre-exam jitters were always the worst…

‘Huh?’

My mind and body felt… light. I was still a little sleepy from lack of sleep, but I felt much better than usual.

“Okay, I’ll hand out the test papers. Please focus, and I wish you all the best.”

The test on my desk was Japanese. It looked familiar, yet daunting, especially since Takamari Academy’s exams were notoriously difficult, often including material meant for second and third-year students.

‘Calm down.’

I flipped through the test, scanning the questions. Modern Japanese, Classical Japanese, and Kanji were in order. The passages filled with classical Japanese and Kanji made me nervous.

But… why?
My anxiety had completely vanished.
The test felt much easier than previous ones, and as I worked through the questions, I felt a surge of confidence.

‘This is… easier than I expected…?’

The sound of my pencil scratching against the paper felt… cheerful.
The Japanese exam finished sooner than I’d anticipated.

“Five minutes remaining.”

I finished my final check and closed my test booklet before the teacher’s announcement. I felt light and refreshed, a feeling I hadn’t experienced during an exam in a long time. Perhaps only during my past life, when the tests in my regular high school were relatively easy.

“Time’s up. Please put down your pencils.”

The usual sounds of groans and sighs filled the classroom as the teacher collected the test papers.
During break time, Aya leaned towards me.

“Rina, how was it? Was it manageable?”
“Yeah… I think so. What was that medicine you gave me?”
“Oh, it was an anti-anxiety medication. You looked really nervous, so I brought some.”
“Ah, it really helped. Thank you!”
“You’re welcome.”

Aya smiled. I quickly opened my math textbook, trying to distract myself from Aya’s smile, which always made me blush. I cleared my throat and focused on the next exam.

“Aya-ring~! Explain this to me~”
“Ah, this? Okay.”

Mizuki, sitting behind us, as always, asked Aya for help with a pained expression. This had become our usual routine during exam season.

The next exam was math. The atmosphere in the classroom was tense. The sight of the advanced calculus and probability questions made my chest tighten, but then… the tension eased again. The calculations were complex and convoluted… but why did I feel so calm?

‘Is the medicine really that effective, or… is it a placebo effect?’

I reviewed the formulas from Aya’s notes and applied them to the problems. The difficult questions we’d worked on together late into the night with Mizuki and Aya came back to me, and I quickly found the solutions. This medicine was amazing. It even boosted my concentration.

‘Right, this is similar to the question we saw before…!’

I continued working through the problems, and the math exam also turned out much better than I’d expected. I sighed in relief as the bell rang and organized my answer sheet.

The final exam of the day was English. It was my strongest subject, both in my past life and this one. I’d always scored the highest in English.

But this was Takamari. The familiar English passages and multiple-choice questions were far from easy. The vocabulary and reading comprehension passages were much more challenging than what you’d find on a regular high school exam.

Some questions were even harder than the most difficult questions on the CSAT (College Scholastic Ability Test) from my past life. But even though the vocabulary was unfamiliar, grasping the context wasn’t difficult. I finished the test within the allotted time, and a smile spread across my face as the tension eased once more.

“Time’s up. Good work, everyone.”

The bell rang, signaling the end of the exam and the end of the first day of midterms. I sighed, watching the teacher collect the test papers.

“Phew… Day one is finally over…?”

I still had energy after the exams, surprisingly. So I went to look for Aya, but…

“Rina, you were supposed to go home and rest today, remember?”
“Ah, yeah… But I feel like I can study more.”
“You’ll be tired. You need to rest, Rina.”

“Okay…!”

I followed Aya’s advice and went straight home, collapsing onto my bed as soon as I arrived.

‘Ugh… something feels… strange…?’

A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over me. My eyelids felt heavy, and my mind went blank.

‘I’ll just lie down for a bit… I’ll get up and study soon…’

But my body refused to obey, and I drifted off to sleep.

****

When I woke up, the room was completely dark. I checked my phone. It was 10 PM.

“…I slept that long?”

I was a little disoriented, having woken up at such an odd hour, but my mind and body felt refreshed. The anxiety was gone, replaced by a sense of calm and renewed energy.

“What kind of medicine was that…”

It felt like a super-serum. I’d never felt this refreshed after a day of exams.
I studied a little more, then went to bed early. The next two days of exams also went smoothly.

****

The exams were finally over.
The classroom was filled with a celebratory atmosphere. But it felt like time had flown by even faster than during the first semester…

“Anyone want to compare answers? I have the answer key~!”

Someone shouted, returning from the staff room, and students gathered around. Curious, I took out my test papers and checked my answers. My jaw dropped as I tallied my score.

“…Huh…?”

My total score was… unbelievable.
877 points, even higher than my midterm score from the first semester. And this time, I’d actually solved the problems, not just guessed.

“Wow… I did really well this time…?”

Mizuki murmured beside me in a dejected tone.

“Ugh… I think I totally bombed this one. I really need to get proper sleep during exams…”

Mizuki, as usual, was being overly dramatic. After checking her answers, she quickly returned to her cheerful self.

“Hmm~ I got 885 points! What do you think, Rina-tan? Pretty impressive, right?”

It seemed like Mizuki had overcome the pressure from her family. She’d achieved an incredible score. So… she was probably third in the grade again this time?

Aya was beaming, her expression brighter than I’d ever seen before, as if she were brimming with happiness. Was she happy with her score? Aya…? That didn’t seem like her. She always strived for perfection.

“Aya…? What did you get?”

I asked, and Aya replied softly, her voice barely above a whisper,

“I… got a perfect score this time.”
“What…? A perfect score…? Really?”

“Yes… I was surprised too… I got everything right. Anyway, Rina… now that the exams are over, want to hang out today? After the tea party?”

“Uh, uh…? Is that okay…?”

Mizuki giggled, teasing us.

“Rina-tan~! Your heart’s about to explode!”
“M-Mizuki!”

Aya smiled even brighter, watching my flustered reaction.
The midterm exams, which I’d been dreading, seemed to have gone smoothly after all.