Chapter 11: Battle Day

Marie’s preparation for the midterm exams progressed steadily.  

If things continued like this, she would surely reach her target score.  

The comparison was the Marie from the first cycle.  

That first-cycle Marie had also managed to achieve her target score through my pitifully desperate struggles.  

If the current her, who was accumulating knowledge far more easily than back then, was doing this well, there was certainly no problem.  

“Ughhh… I’m so nervous… What if I mess up somehow?”  

Of course, that was a fact only I knew—someone who had regressed and seen the future.  

Marie, unaware of the future where she would do well, still doubted herself and fretted with anxiety.  

“It’s okay, don’t worry. You’ll definitely do great.”  

“Really…?”  

“Yeah, if you can’t trust yourself, at least trust me.”  

“Emil…?”  

“I’m the top student in our grade, you know. Doesn’t that give me some credibility?”  

“Yeah.”  

But that part actually worked in my favor.  

The more anxious Marie felt, the more I could stay by her side, offering constant encouragement and support.  

And the more I did, the more she began to rely on me.  

“It’s… kind of weird.”  

“What is?”  

“When you say I’ll do well, Emil… even though it’s just a guess, it calms me down.”  

It was after the extra tutoring session we held together, just the two of us.  

As the sun began to set, Marie leaned her shoulder against mine and said that softly.  

Through her school uniform, I could feel the warmth and softness unique to a girl.  

It almost felt like her heartbeat was transmitted through the air.  

Her cheeks were flushed.  

With trembling eyes, she quietly lowered her gaze.  

‘Well, of course. I’m saying it with certainty.’  

Unlike her, whose heart was fluttering, my own heart remained endlessly cold.  

If this were the me from the first cycle, my heart would’ve been pounding endlessly too.  

Marie was that beautiful, after all.  

And being this close to her like this?  

But the current me, feeling her warmth and soft skin, only recalled that scene in my mind:  

“Good… haah… I love you, Malcolm…”

‘She didn’t even kiss me, did she?’  

In the first cycle, all I got from Marie was a light hug.  

Of course, there had been moments during dates when the mood was right for a kiss.  

‘S-sorry…’  

‘Huh…?’  

‘I… I’m not ready yet…’  

Back then, she’d pushed me away, her cheeks red with shy embarrassment.  

I’d been delighted by that pure side of Marie.  

I’d resolved in my heart to take it slow, to build our connection step by step.  

But looking back now, it wasn’t some cute reason like shyness.  

Marie had hesitated back then.  

She’d hesitated to give me her first kiss.  

In the end, she’d held off on it.  

“Emil…?”  

While I was lost in thought for a moment, Marie, now pressed even closer to me, quietly called my name and looked up at me.  

Her sparkling pink eyes.  

Her moist, plump lips.  

Her fair skin that stirred a man’s instincts.  

Marie gazed up at me with a cute, innocent face but an alluring air, slowly closing her trembling eyes.  

Yet she didn’t close them fully.  

She looked at me as if she’d shut them completely the moment I made a move.  Silence hung in the air.  

I knew this atmosphere.  

The same atmosphere I’d missed in my previous life.  

I locked eyes with Marie for a moment.  

Her flushed cheeks, subtle trembling, and nervous expression were all visible.  

If I leaned in just a little now, I could taste the kiss I’d failed to get back then.  

But.  

“It’s getting late, so shall we head back?”  

“…Huh, what?”  

I stood up, pulling away from Marie.  

She, who had been immersed in that strange mood just moments ago, widened her eyes in confusion and stared at me blankly.  

When she saw me start packing my bag, she hurriedly began moving too.  

With a sidelong glance, I checked her state.  

Marie’s cheeks were bright red, and she looked incredibly embarrassed.  

Her expression reminded me of myself from the first cycle.  

A mix of faint disappointment, confusion, and a tiny bit of excitement and anticipation.  

A complicated blend of emotions on her face.  

Seeing her make the same expression I had when she’d pushed me away in the first cycle amused me quite a bit.  

‘Things are going smoothly.’  

Both Marie’s studies and my strategy were progressing well.  

All that remained was to wait for the decisive day.  

If Marie got a decent score on the midterms, that would be the end of my connection with her.  

With that relaxed mindset, I awaited the exam day.  

However.  

“Ugh.”  

“What’s wrong with you lately?”  

“What do you mean?”  

It was Sierra.  

“What do you mean ‘what’? You’ve been weirdly avoiding me lately.”  

Ever since entering the sixth cycle, she’d somehow kept getting in my way.  

“I’m not really avoiding you.”  

Of course, I was avoiding her.  

The reason was simple.  

Marie had asked me not to get close to Sierra.  

‘If I ignore Marie’s request and mess up the strategy, that’d be a problem.’  

So I avoided contact with Sierra as much as possible.  

During regular class hours, I avoided passing by her classroom whenever I could.  

Even during study group time, I tried not to talk to her if possible.  

Conversations were kept to the bare minimum, just business.  

But I didn’t act cold about it.  

I’d still respond to greetings and give a small smile if she made a joke.

However.  

“Don’t lie, you’re avoiding me. Do you think I’m an idiot?”  

It seemed Sierra was keenly aware of even the smallest changes.  

“I won’t get mad, so just tell me honestly. I came to find out the reason.”  

Sierra had gone so far as to come to my classroom during lunch break, calling me out to ask why.  

She was apparently already certain I was avoiding her.  

Since denying it further would only make things weirder, I had no choice but to lead her somewhere else.  

“Where are we going?”  

“Just somewhere else for a bit.”  

“Why not here?”  

“You want me to talk about it in front of the whole class?”  

“Hmph, must be a pretty shady reason, huh?”  

“Why are you the one acting so righteous when I’m the one being put on the spot?”  

Avoiding Sierra… She didn’t seem to realize how much attention it would draw if I admitted that in front of the other students.  

‘How does this girl have more friends than me with this level of awareness…?’

Anyway.  

I dragged Sierra up to the rooftop.  

During lunch, when students were bustling around everywhere, the rooftop was the most convenient spot.  

Creak…  

Bang.

After thoroughly closing the rooftop door, I explained the situation to Sierra.  

And then.  

“Huh? Marie?”  

Sierra widened her eyes in surprise, as if she hadn’t expected that at all.  

Then she smirked and poked my arm playfully.  

“What’s this? You kept denying it, but it’s *that* kind of thing after all?”  

“It’s not like that.”  

“Then why are you going out of your way to fulfill Marie’s request? Especially when that request is to avoid *me*.”  

Sierra narrowed her eyes slightly, glaring at me.  

“Or what, did you just want to avoid me anyway?”  

It seemed she really hated being ignored.  

Knowing how persistent she could be, I had no choice but to explain the truth.  

“It’s simple. I just don’t want to affect Marie’s test scores because of me.”  

“…That’s it?”  

“Yeah, it’s definitely not because I find you uncomfortable or anything.”  

“Hmm…”  

Was my answer unsatisfying, or was she just not ready to let it go?  

She stared at me intently, lost in thought.  

And then.  

“Fine, whatever. As long as there’s no bad blood.”  

She brushed it off coolly.  

But now I was the one with questions.  

“Wait, my attitude hasn’t even been that bad, has it?”  

“Hmm… true, it hasn’t.”  

“Then why go out of your way to come to my classroom and ask about it when you could’ve just let it slide?”  

At my question, Sierra’s previously neutral expression twisted slightly.  

“Because it bothers me.”  

She answered confidently.  

“I can’t stand it when something’s bothering me and I don’t resolve it.”  

“I know that about you.”  

“Then we’re good. What’s the problem?”  

“What I’m curious about is *why* it bothers you so much. You could just ignore something as trivial as me avoiding you.”  

That’s what I’d thought.  

Marie didn’t like me being close to Sierra, but I figured keeping my distance from Sierra wouldn’t be a big deal to her.  

That’s why I’d acted so casually about it.  

But her sudden, intense reaction caught me off guard.  

And to my bewildered question, she responded:  

“Sigh… Emil, you may be the top student, but you’re an idiot.”  

“What, you little—?”  

Sierra shook her head as if she pitied me.  

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?”  

With a prim expression, she looked at me confidently and answered.  

“We’ve barely just become friends. If you suddenly start distancing yourself… it hurts!”  

Her cheeks flushed slightly, perhaps from embarrassment at her own words.  

But her eyes sparkled with conviction as she gazed at me steadily.  

Hearing her say that and meeting her gaze, I sensed a faint trust in Sierra’s eyes — something I’d only ever seen as playful before.  

‘Friends’…?

It was the first time I’d heard that word since being thrust into this damned game.  

Someone calling me a friend was genuinely a first.  

So I stared at Sierra blankly.  

Seeing my dumbfounded expression, she grinned mischievously and—  

Thwack.

—smacked my shoulder.  

“I’ll be careful around Marie, so let’s head back.”  

Then she grabbed my wrist and pulled me along.  

It was a feeling I’d never experienced before.  

Like a drop of cool dew falling onto parched ground.  

But since I didn’t know how to define that sensation precisely, I quietly followed Sierra as she led me down from the rooftop.  

***

Time flew by in an instant.  

And soon, the long-awaited midterm exam day arrived.  

‘I can do this… I can do this…’  

Even that morning, Marie had received encouragement from Emil, and she entered the exam with a confident expression.  

The moment she started solving the first problem, Marie instinctively knew.  

‘I really… can do this…’  

She was going to succeed in this exam.  

That instinct fueled her pencil with momentum.  

She worked through the problems faster and more accurately than when she’d practiced with sample questions.  

That pace continued until the very last subject was over.  

“Good job, everyone.”  

The sounds of laughter and exhausted sighs from the students around her signaled to Marie that it was all over.  

And amidst that noise, Marie—  

With flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes from her pounding heart—  

Felt a premonition.  

‘This exam…’

It seemed she’d pulled off something incredible.  

‘It’s a total win…!!’

Her pink eyes twinkled as if they’d met a star.  

And so, the midterm she’d prepared so diligently for ended in resounding success.  

That meant she’d achieved the goal she’d longed for since entering the academy.  

And one more thing.  

“E-Emil…!!”  

“Marie, how was the exam?”  

Her secret resolution.  

“Ugh, it was totally fine…! Sob, it’s all—all thanks to you, Emil…!”  

The overwhelming emotions she’d kept bottled up inside—  

She could finally pour them out to him.  

***

Author’s Note  

Thank you for reading!  

If you enjoyed it, I’d appreciate a like, a bookmark, and a comment!  

Comments especially give me a lot of motivation to keep writing! Thank you.