Vol. 1: Chapter 13.1 - Underneath That Mask

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May 14th, Friday.

Days went on, and the students were embraced by nothing but normalcy. Some might say that the mundane life of a high schooler is boring, but I'd argue that it's the best. This was the peaceful high school life I was hoping for.

I checked the tutors' group chat to reread some of our conversations. Things got pretty dicey after Chabashira-sensei announced something earlier.

(18:46) [How are things on your end?]
(18:46) [Is everything alright?] (Hirata)

(18:46) [Yes.]
(18:47) [I think everyone felt the same frustration as we did, but fortunately, they're still pretty motivated.] (Kushida)

(18:47) [That's a relief.]
(18:47) [How about the others?] (Hirata)

(18:47) [My group is fine.] (Ayanokouji)

(18:48) [Same here.] (Yukimura)

(18:48) [My group is also doing fine.] (Horikita)

(18:48) [So is mine.] (Matsushita)

(18:48) [Me too.] (Mii-chan)

(18:49) [I see... Really, that's a relief...] (Hirata)

(18:49) [But to think they'd change the coverage of our exam this late.]
(18:49) [It's pretty strange.]
(18:49) [There are only two weeks left.] (Horikita)

(18:50) [I'm sure all classes are on edge...] (Kushida)

(18:50) [I feel the same.]
(18:50) [But all we can do now is move forward.]
(18:51) [Let's continue our hard work, everyone.] (Hirata)

(18:51) [Alright, you got it.] (Ayanokouji)

(18:51) [I'll do what I can to improve them.] (Yukimura)

(18:52) [Yeah, I have Ishikura-san helping me too.] (Matsushita)

(18:52) [Yes!]
(18:52) [Nishimura-san has been a lot of help for me, too.]
(18:52) [She's so reliable that I sometimes forget I'm the tutor!] (Mii-chan)

(18:52) [Fight on! We can do this! (ノ◕ヮ◕)ノ*] (Kushida)

The Ayanokouji Group's session finished early. After saying goodbye to my friends, I walked back to the classroom and saw the other groups.

"Ayanokouji-kun!" Kushida stood up as soon as she saw me.

The rest of my classmates who were also present in the room greeted me. From their seat, I can see Ike and Yamauchi glaring daggers at me.

"How are your sessions going?" I asked.

"It's going great. All of them are still pressured by the sudden change, but we're being careful not to cram carelessly," Kushida answered with a smile.

I sat at the back of the classroom near Kushida's group. Taking out the study materials from my bag, I started coming up with new questions for Ken and the others. I can comfortably hear the discussions of Kushida's group with the distance I took.

"Kushida-chan is so smart! I can't believe that was the answer all along!" Ike praised her vigorously.

"With Kushida-chan teaching me, I can probably aim for a perfect score!" Yamauchi bragged on.

"Hey, why don't you two shut up for a moment? I can't focus over here!" scolded Shinohara.

Makida and Azuma just smiled bitterly as they continued what they were doing. Their reactions told me that this was a common occurrence.

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