2 — A Total Coincidence

All of a sudden, the realization struck like a whirlwind.

A realization that the most beautiful girl in her class would be sitting right next to her.

Meanwhile, the others were gossiping around, perhaps talking about how lucky she was to sit beside her at all. Minagi just gave her a bombastic side-eye look—to both them and Haruka.

"That's all." 

The homeroom teacher ended, forcing students to pay attention immediately.

That was followed by his hands clapping in the air as an instruction.

All the students then moved to their seats immediately.

No questions or chattering. Just a quiet switch from one desk to another. The scenery looked quite dynamic, since for these students, each number's placement was already well-known.

Therefore, no need to look for or ask for help. They knew their placement already.

Haruka looked at Umiha. She was sitting right beside Fuka.

They clapped their hands in the air, both from back and front, signalling their bond of friendship.

Haruka, on the other hand, walked slowly like a penguin getting stuck in the desert.

What should I do?

She couldn't help but wonder about her fate, now sitting next to her.

The most beautiful girl in my class.

Shiki was already taking her place, sitting right next to her. She then greeted her with a wave, her mouth opening as if spelling "Ya-hoo!" by moving her lips.

Haruka didn't know what to say. She was already nervous from the idea of meeting her earlier, let alone initiating a conversation. She couldn't even open her mouth.

So, she only waved back with an uneasy smile drawn on her face.

"So, is everyone already on their seat?"

The silence followed, with a single nod complimenting his question.

"Good. Let's begin."

"The exam."

All of a sudden, everyone was shocked. Jittering and chattering everywhere.

After all, they had just returned from their winter holiday.

But followed by wonders from all of the students, one of them raised their hand immediately.

"Kisaragi-sensei."

"Yes, Minagi-san?"

"Excuse me, but are you out of your mind? Our heads are still stuck imagining those beautiful sceneries during Christmas and New Year's Eve. But now you wanna give us an exam?"

"That's lame."

Someone tried to follow by speaking their mind, but then—

"Raise your hand if you want to speak."

He sighed, then looked at Umiha Minagi immediately.

"After this, come to the teacher's room."

"Heh, again?"

She sighed, followed by chuckles from some other students.

Kisaragi-sensei ignored her reactions, thus dropping those papers he carried immediately.

...

"Man, that exam was so boring as hell!"

"Yeah dude, that was horrible. Even worse than my nightmare? Impossible!"

"Woah bro, was it the one where you said you were sleeping with a succubus?"

...

The whole chit-chat by the boys just flowed here and there after the exam ended. And with it, also marked the end of Kisaragi-sensei's hell of a lesson after one hour that felt like eternity.

It must be said that all of the students here hated maths.

Aside from Shiki Miyazumi.

And as if it had become a habit during the class break, other students started approaching her, questioning her difficulties during this sudden exam. And all of them were girls.

However, being out of place, Haruka didn't feel like it was suitable for her to be here.

Those girls ignored her existence. By this alone, she just knew she shouldn't be here at all.

She couldn't hear what Shiki said, perhaps due to diffraction with girls acting as a wall.

But she showed a polite, courteous smile. The one she had been known for.

One must have shuddered how she really looked without it.

It was as if they had already forgotten about what happened to Iwato-kun.

...

The class break ended. Everyone returned to their seats as usual. One of them was stuck, wasting enough time to look for her purse, while the other girl helped search for it.

"Eh, is this some kind of voodoo curse?" Fuka said, looking down then staring at Utaha.

Utaha didn't know how to react other than trying to help, despite actually doing nothing.

Fuka was the one who had covered for her food and drinks at the canteen earlier.

"Heh, really? Again? Have you checked under the desk?" Umiha replied.

"Y'all are so clumsy. Couldn't you just bring it by yourself?"

Kitahara-san exclaimed, as if she had never lost her stuff before this.

Because just yesterday, she claimed she had lost her money after buying some snacks.

So, of course they ignored her ill-mannered 'advice' immediately.

Haruka, meanwhile, couldn't help but wonder what was going on.

Just today, Utaha lost her wallet at home — so obviously she would connect both situations.

"What's wrong, Kawasumi-san?"

Shiki immediately cut her thoughts.

It's Kawahara...

"No, nothing... Miyazumi-san." Hesitantly, she grabbed her pen again.

In Shiki's mind, Haruka looked perpendicularly oblivious to her own state of mind.

"Did you perhaps miss something too?" Shiki insisted with a question, leaning an inch closer to her.

"Uh, no... not at all. I think."

How come? Is she able to read my mind?

Haruka had been wondering about this too. The thing is, she lost her eraser. So, she forced her way out to answer everything carefully during the exam, not letting any mistake granted.

And not only that, she was also concerned by her friends too. Especially Fuka, who had just lost her purse somewhere after the break. She couldn't help but grip her pen even harder.

"Here."

She said to her, while offering an eraser. Her face deadpan, unlike the time when she talked with other students. Not even any smile, let alone a single expression, showed from her face.

It's almost robotic.

"I have got two of them, so you don't have to worry."

She continued, while showing her other eraser with her right hand by shaking it slowly.

"Th-thanks..." Haruka replied, looking down at the floor in her liability.

Meanwhile, Shiki only nodded and never replied with any words.

I-is this her actual personality?

For once more, she couldn't even imagine which one is true or false about her.