Heroine Life

Chapter 7: Complicated Yet Simple

Last week, the dreaded midterm exams were held.

The amount of material covered wasn't too much,  but regardless of how much was covered, I'm not very smart so it doesn't make much of a difference.
Although I hate studying, even I made sure to prepare for the exams. Though my preparation was nothing more than a desperate last-night cram session.
I managed to write an answer to most of the questions, but I'm sure I'll get low grades like always. As long as I avoid failing, that will be good enough.
I'm already used to getting scolded for my bad grades, but I wanted to avoid the hellish supplementary classes that those who failed are forced to take.
The exams were already over, so all I could do now is pray for passing grades.

Finally, a few days later, I was handed a printout with my grades in all subjects...

"...........Whoa."

My mouth dropped open at the unexpected results.

"..........Impossible."

My hands holding the report card trembles as I begin to doubt that the report card is even mine.
I check my name on the sheet over and over again, suspecting that I was handed someone else's report card by accident.
Maybe a printing error is to blame for these baffling results.

"Chiharu? Why are you staring at your report card with such a funny face? Could your grades be extremely terrible?"
"They certainly are extreme...."
"Let me take look... What is this?"

After cautiously peeking at my results, Misora's expression changes from curiosity to shock.
She rubs her eyes repeatedly as if in doubt, takes the report card from me, and holds it close to her face as she meticulously checks the grades.
It's not just me, Misora is also having a hard time believing her eyes.
Since she knows my usual grades, it's only natural she would have such a response.

"Are these grades really yours?"
"It looks like they are."
"I can't believe these are really yours."
"I find it hard to believe myself."
"Not only did you not fail in a single subject, but one-third of your grades are above average ...... Considering your grades up until now, this improvement is too drastic."



That's right. The reason for my surprise is that my grades this time far surpassed my imagination.



Thanks to the special notebook Misora so neatly put together and lets me borrow, I have mostly managed to avoid failing up until now.
However, even if I didn't fail, all my grades were dismal and I would be barely scraping by.
This time, something unexpected happened. My grades were high in all subjects, and a third of them were above the average for our entire grade.
To most students student, these grades might be nothing special, but for me, who isn't that smart, these are unthinkably high results.

"I even managed to rank 18th in the class this time."
"You were always near the bottom up until now."

By the way, our class had 30 students. My ranking usually ranges from 25th to dead last. My ranking now is a lot higher than ever before.

"It's a miracle."
"Yup, has to be a miracle."

We nodded at each other. Only a miracle can explain how I got these high grades.
Ah... though if I think about it, there is one other explanation.

"Oh yeah. Before the exams, Yuzuha watched over me while I studied. She didn't give me much choice in the matter."

Even though I told her I didn't want to study, she was tenacious and I yielded.

"I see, so it was thanks to Oosuga. Still, to raise Chiharu's hopeless grades this much is amazing."
"Well, when she teaches me it's thorough and yet easy to understand."
"Fufu, a genuine genius has a good influence on the people around them."

A good influence, huh?
Though if she wants to say that, it's all thanks to Misora's influence that I even managed to scrape by up until now.

"...By the way, how are your grades, Misora?"
"You want to take a look? It's the same as usual though."

She handed me her report card, so I looked at it right away.
I scanned over it and found a lot of grades I could never achieve in my lifetime. As I had expected, these grades were typical of Misora.

"2nd in the class and 5th in the entire grade....... haha..."

It was so amazing that I had to laugh to not be overwhelmed.
Not only was her ranking high, she even got some perfect scores. These results are terrifying.
Exactly what kind of studying allows someone to achieve this?

"As long as you pay attention in class properly and do a bit of review, anyone would be able to achieve this."
"Seriously?"

If things were really that simple, students all over the world wouldn't have such a hard time.
In any case, it would be impossible for me. My head is just wired differently from Misora's and isn't suited for studying.
Besides, I have no interest in getting good grades. All that matters to me is that I don't fail.

"Ah. I took a look earlier. The top student in our entire grade is Oosuga."
"I kind of suspected that."