River of Stars

Chapter 3 - A Plan

After coming home from their first study section, Nishikata looked up more about the admission criteria for Sekai Eda High. They had an admission exam for third years, in which the candidates needed a minimum score to enter, but after that a number of students were selected based on their position relative to the others. That system intimidated Nishikata, since he had heard of how difficult the exam was and how strong the competition was, since it was a High School usually pursued by people of the so called "elite" and "geniuses".

But that wasn't all. Apparently, he also needed to have a minimum score of 80 points on all subjects in his second and third years of middle school. Upon seeing this, Nishikata felt like his stomach had turned over inside him. They had already taken their first tests of second year before summer, and Nishikata's scores were not good. He had gotten around 60 to 70 points in most of the subjects, which weren't that bad, and it seemed relatively possible for him to improve on those subjects. The real problem was math. On the first test of the year, he had gotten 46 points. Nishikata felt desperate, since he'd have to get excellent grades on the following tests to be able to meet the conditions to enter Sekai Eda High.

Nishikata decided to try and guarantee good grades for the rest of his second year. And then, when he was in third year, he'd start really studying for the admission exam.

Studying in the library had become a habit for Nishikata and Takagi. They'd do that two or three times a week until the start of the first tests in the middle of September. Usually Takagi would help him out with things he didn't understand, or simply do the exercises along with him, since she was also using that time to study. They'd use this time mainly for the subjects Nishikata had more problems with, and he could study other things alone in his house.

The days passed and the tests approached, and as they did Nishikata became more nervous and began to study more intensely. He'd have to improve greatly on math specifically, but he also needed to raise his score on the other subjects at the same time. And so his study sections with Takagi got more and more frequent.

In the middle of September, the tests began, and Nishikata felt himself getting more stressed in this period. He'd have study sections for each subject's topics before their respective tests, and he always got super nervous while doing them. Nishikata did well in subjects such as history and geography, since he never had any problems with them, although he was pretty nervous while doing the tests since he still had to increase his grades. But the one that was really making him anxious was the mathematics' test, which was approaching rapidly.

On the day before the test, Nishikata was having lunch with his friends, and it became the topic of their conversation.

"Man, tomorrow's test's gonna be tough" Hamaguchi said gloomy as he took a sip of his juice.

"Aren't you guys way too worried?" said Kimura, finishing his third rice ball "It can't be that bad"

"You say that at every math's test, Hamaguchi" said Takao.

"Guys who are good with math seem to have it easy on them" Hamaguchi looked at them, annoyed, and then turned to Nishikata "But Nishikata understands me, right?" He put a hand on Nishikata's shoulder.

"U-Uhh, y-yeah, right, hehe" Nishikata chuckled nervously.

Nakai laughed lively "I'm not that good with it, but recently I've been studying with Mano-Chan, so we help each other understand the subjects"

"Isn't it hard to concentrate having your girlfriend teaching you?" Takao asked.

"Is that so? Hahaha" Nakai laughed again "It's not a problem for me though"

"Eeeeehhh... Well, in that case Nishikata doesn't really have anything to worry about, having Takagi-San teaching him" Takao said, in a teasing tone.

This almost made Nishikata spit his juice "H-How do you know about that?" he asked, completely red. He mentally slapped himself for not denying it right after.