The first few months at Hamikawa High had blurred together in a whirlwind of new faces, clubs, and unexpected moments. By the time summer heat settled in and uniforms shifted to lighter fabrics, a quiet tension had taken root across campus—final exams were coming.
When Eadlyn arrived in Class 1A that morning, Ken greeted him with a groan, his head already buried in his arms on the desk.
"Dude… the exam timetable is out," Ken whispered dramatically. "My soul left my body."
Rin, seated with perfect posture, adjusted her glasses without looking up from her notebook. "If you had listened in math class, your soul would still be here."
Manami stifled a laugh from the next desk. "Rin-chan, be nice."
Eadlyn glanced at the schedule pinned to the blackboard. Japanese. Math. History. Science. His stomach twisted slightly. He wasn't bad at studies, but the pressure of exams in a new country—with a language he was still mastering—made his palms sweat.
"Study café today?" Ken suggested, rubbing his temples.
"Agreed," Rin replied before anyone else could speak. "We need a plan."
After school, the four of them settled into a booth at a quiet café near the station. The warm chandelier above cast soft light over their table, already crowded with textbooks, notebooks, and highlighters. The scent of coffee and baked goods wrapped around them like a blanket of determination.
Eadlyn took a deep breath. "Alright. Who dies first?"
"You," Manami answered immediately, pushing her history notes toward him.
Rin leaned forward, her sharp gaze scanning the group. "You're improving, but you still confuse the Ashikaga and Kamakura periods."
Manami added gently, "And your kanji writing… let's just say it has personality."
Eadlyn groaned, rubbing his face. "Yeah, yeah. Roast me later."
They all laughed before diving into their subjects like soldiers preparing for battle.
The Study Dynamic
Rin took charge of History with military precision, breaking down timelines with such clarity that even Ken—who usually zoned out during lectures—found himself paying attention. Yet whenever she explained something directly to Eadlyn, her voice softened almost imperceptibly. He noticed but pretended not to.
Manami handled Japanese grammar with patient clarity, her explanations as methodical as her personality. She leaned close to correct his stroke order, her shoulder brushing his as she guided his hand. For some reason, she didn't keep the cautious distance she usually maintained with other guys. There was comfort in her presence—something warm but quietly guarded.
Between them, Eadlyn found himself being pulled in two different directions: Rin's stern intensity and Manami's gentle ease.
Ken, meanwhile, wrestled with math formulas like they were eldritch horrors.
"Why do letters exist in math?!" he groaned, staring at the algebra problems. "Why?!"
Rin pinched the bridge of her nose. "Because that's algebra."
"Al-ge-bra is evil," Ken declared dramatically.
The group burst into laughter again, the tension easing just enough to make the work feel manageable.
Enter the Queen of the School
Just as the atmosphere softened, the café door chimed.
Sayaka stepped inside.
The moment she appeared, the energy in the room shifted. Her uniform was impeccable, her posture straight, but there was something different in her expression when she spotted Eadlyn—Rin leaning close to explain a concept, Manami practically shoulder-to-shoulder with him as she corrected his kanji.
Something flickered behind Sayaka's composed gaze—not jealousy, not anger, but a quiet tightening of her jaw. A muscle in her cheek twitched almost imperceptibly before she smoothed her expression.
Eadlyn straightened in his seat. "Ah—Sayaka. We're studying. Wanna join?"
She approached, her smile polite but strained at the edges. "If you don't mind."
Rin and Manami instantly slid to a more neutral distance, their unspoken rivalry dissolving under Sayaka's calm authority. The teasing vanished. The group turned serious.
Sayaka opened her notes without hesitation. "Let's start from where you left off."
Under her composed presence, they genuinely focused. Eadlyn felt his mind clear; with three different teaching styles—Rin's precision, Manami's patience, Sayaka's discipline—he finally grasped the topics he'd struggled with.
By the end of the session, everyone had pages of notes to review.
Farewell—And New Tension
As they packed up to leave, Sayaka paused beside Eadlyn.
"You did well today," she said, her tone neutral but her eyes lingering a second too long. "Keep it up."
Her words were simple, but the way she looked at him made the air between them feel charged.
Rin watched from behind, her expression unreadable. Manami too. Each processing the shift in silence.
The exam countdown had begun… and so had the first quiet stirrings of emotional turbulence.