At Shuchiin Academy High School, the monthly exam came once again. The new students, who had been enrolled for two months, faced a new round of trials.
In Class 1-B, Uchiha Ryo looked at the grave expression on Shirogane Miyuki's face. As one of this guy's few friends, he knew very well what Shirogane Miyuki had been through in the past half a month.
"Finally... it's over. I'm about to burn out!"
Uchiha Ryo patted Shirogane Miyuki's shoulder. "It's alright. Although it's heartbreaking to see you studying to the point of near death every day, when you think about it... there aren't actually that many people who feel sorry for you."
Shirogane Miyuki: "???"
With a wry smile, Shirogane Miyuki turned to look at Uchiha Ryo.
"I probably still can't beat you this time. I've worked so hard.... Are you really a genius?"
Uchiha Ryo waved his hand. "Don't say that. You don't need to think about challenging me. Just conquer yourself. After all, only by conquering one's own childish past can a person grow."
"That's true. But I've already given it my all this time! I hope I can get a good score."
When the results were posted in the form of a large ranking board at noon, Uchiha Ryo once again went to the cafeteria to add a chicken leg to his meal.
Shirogane Miyuki, on the other hand, excitedly ran to the restroom. He needed to find a place where he could celebrate properly by himself.
After studying for nearly ten hours every day, Shirogane Miyuki, through his own unremitting efforts, had finally achieved second place in the entire year!
....
"Lady Kaguya, please calm down."
Hayasaka Ai helped up the nearly catatonic Shinomiya Kaguya and began to encourage her endlessly. Although the young lady had been pushed down to third place, her total score had increased compared to the last exam.
Shinomiya Kaguya's eyes grew colder. She had already given her all in this exam, but she still couldn't beat the first-place Uchiha Ryo, and she had even been surpassed by some unknown nobody!
This brought Shinomiya Kaguya's sense of defeat and humiliation to its peak!
"Hayasaka Ai, you'll listen to me, right?"
Noticing that something was off with her young lady, Hayasaka Ai had a feeRyo that things were about to get bad.
Shinomiya Kaguya knew very well that no matter how hard she studied for the next exam, the gap between her and them would not shrink... unless something happened on their end that caused their grades to drop.
Hayasaka Ai looked at Shinomiya Kaguya with worry in her eyes. She was very concerned that Lady Kaguya would be blinded by this sense of defeat and make some bad decisions.
"Hayasaka, I remember this guy named Shirogane is Uchiha's friend, and he works in the student council, right?"
Hayasaka Ai: "Yes, Lady Kaguya."
Shinomiya Kaguya sneered. "Last month, that guy Nobunaga invited me to join the student council and even wanted me to become the next student council president. How boring. But well..."
Shinomiya Kaguya thought of what she considered to be a very vicious plan. She would join the student council, have Nobunaga recommend this person named Shirogane Miyuki to become the new president, and she herself would be a vice president who did nothing.
At that time... by dumping all the work on the so-called new president, Shinomiya Kaguya didn't believe that under such high-intensity work, Shirogane Miyuki could still maintain his excellent academic performance!
Hayasaka Ai fell silent after hearing Shinomiya Kaguya's plan.
She felt that Lady Kaguya had changed a little recently. Ever since she came into contact with that Uchiha Ryo, Shinomiya Kaguya seemed to have become a bit more cheerful.
Shinomiya Kaguya turned her head. "Next, I have an even more vicious plan, one aimed at that guy, Uchiha Ryo!"
Hayasaka Ai pricked up her ears. This, she was a little interested in. After all, she was Shinomiya Kaguya's maid, so she was qualified to know what kind of vicious plan could make Uchiha Ryo's grades drop.
"This plan is... to make him suffer a heartbreak!"
Hayasaka Ai: "???"
Shinomiya Kaguya pointed at Hayasaka Ai. "I heard you're on good terms with him at school. So your mission is to capture him, and then dump him when you're deeply in love! That way, Uchiha Ryo will definitely be too heartbroken to study."
What a truly vicious plan....
Hayasaka Ai gave a wry smile. "Lady Kaguya, let's not talk about the success rate of the first plan for now, but the second one..."
"What, don't tell me you can't even capture a single Uchiha Ryo?"
Hayasaka Ai shook her head helplessly. "To be honest, Lady Kaguya, I think Uchiha Ryo is a very difficult person to capture. And with Ryo-kun's current popularity, you have no idea how terrifying it is at school."
One had to know that 99% of the girls at school were children of prominent families. If a girl really became Uchiha Ryo's girlfriend, unless that girl had a powerful background, she would definitely be ostracized.
Shinomiya Kaguya smiled. It would be a huge mistake to think that she, the great young lady of the Shinomiya family, was a simple character.
"Hayasaka, although I did give you an order to investigate Uchiha Ryo, you've been getting a bit too close to him lately."
"Um... I don't understand what you mean, Lady Kaguya."
Shinomiya Kaguya stood up. "You joined his club, ran over to have lunch with him, and even walked with him for a while after school."
The rumors about you two have already spread throughout the entire grade! Since Uchiha Ryo hasn't made any explanation, most people at school now suspect that Hayasaka Ai is already dating him.
Of course, everyone in the Classic Literature Club knew very well that Uchiha Ryo's status was: single.
Shinomiya Kaguya lifted her head to look at Hayasaka Ai. "You've done so much to please him, and yet you still haven't gained his approval. It seems he doesn't like you..."
"How cute~ Hayasaka."
Hayasaka Ai pouted. He doesn't like me, so does that mean he likes you?!
"Is that so? Does Lady Kaguya think it's easy to capture Uchiha Ryo?"
Shinomiya Kaguya, with zero experience in love and only recently having taken a liking to romance novels, was very confident!
Shinomiya Kaguya spoke without a care. "Well, if it's just capturing a boy, at least I wouldn't spend a month with him and make no progress."
As she spoke, Shinomiya Kaguya glanced at the precious book on her bedside table, Love Metronome.
Speaking of which, this book had been confiscated from Hayasaka Ai. But after a few simple glances, Shinomiya Kaguya had been captivated by the dreamlike romance scenes it described.
Hayasaka Ai said with a hint of pique, "Alright! Lady Kaguya, since you say I can't do it, then you go and try to capture him!"
Shinomiya Kaguya: "Try, and I will succeed!"