Distorted universes | A Parallel Story to "Rivalry"

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"Today I brought the exam with me that this class wrote last week. As always, L/n-san got the best score." The teacher announced and the class nodded, as if it was already given that this happened. You already knew about that and disinterestedly read your book, not letting your eyes wander away from the information you absorbed.

Unexpectedly, the eyes of the teacher then fell on Takino, causing poor him to jump. "Of course, that's no surprise for all of you. But this young man's score right here is. He surprised all of us." She spoke and you perked your ear up, carefully listening to what she was saying, yet still not looking away from your book.

She grabbed the exams and called out every student's name so that they could get their exam. After five names you heard your name being called and stood up while walking to the exam. You grabbed it and didn't even look at the teacher. Immediately opening the exam to look for possible mistakes you felt bitter about finding one dumb digit twist mistake and made your way back to your seat, internally scolding yourself for being careless and overestimating yourself.

While correcting your mistake, the rest of the class got called and the last one to get the exam was Takino. She most likely did that on purpose, after trying to get the class hyped up about his score.

Takino shakily stood up when he heard his name and you looked up, meeting his eyes. His eyes widened as soon as he saw you looking at him and got even more nervous. Did you accidentally glare at him? You forced yourself to smile a little, but he already approached the teacher with uneasy steps.

As soon as he arrived at her desk, the teacher chuckled. "Nishino-san, why so nervous? You were one point away from L/n-san's score!" She happily reassured and his nervousness disappeared in an instant. "Huh??" She laughed at his reaction and handed over his exam. "Look for yourself."

As he sat down, still in shock, the whole class quickly filled with chatter regarding Nishino's score. "Was he trying to impress L/n-san?" "Maybe he even studied with her!" "Is he her friend now??" "Takino is so cool!" "Why do you call him by his first name? He rejected you, did he?" The noise made your bad mood even worse, so you aggressively grabbed your book again and fully focused on it, shutting off the chatter of your annoying classmates.

After 20 minutes of pointless discussions about the exam's tasks, the school bell sounded like bliss to your ears. You packed your stuff and exited your classroom immediately.

Yet, as you walked down the hallway, you heard a voice calling you. "Y/n, wait!" Of course, he would want to talk to you now. You sighed and turned around, now intentionally glaring at him. "What." Takino nervously fidgeted with his sleeves and avoided your eyes. "Did I disappoint you?" You rose your brow. "Disappoint me? ...Elaborate."

Takino packed out his exam and showed it to you. "I was one point away from your score. Because of a dumb mistake..." You took a look at it and smiled a little, your stern eyes warming up a little. He just aced a math exam and all he was worrying about was if you were disappointed? Sometimes he was cute... "You did great. You even got the task that I didn't get. Yes, your mistake was dumber than mine, but mine also was." You closed the exam and gave it to him. "That happens sometimes. It's avoidable if someone focuses more and unacceptable if it's a scientific study of something similar, but that's why we are at school." You met his eyes with a gentle smile. "To hone our skills. Even I sometimes learn something here, even tho I study a lot by myself already." You cheered him up and he mirrored your smile.

He put his exam away and then looked at you. "Uh... Could we repeat our study session someday?" He asked and you chuckled a little. "You know what... Yes, I'd love that. When and where?" You asked back, still smiling, but his blushing face cooled you down immediately, stopping you from smiling and returning to your resting-bitch-face kind of expression. "Don't say anything cheesy." He smiled and avoided your eyes. "It's just that I find your smile really cute." "I said nothing cheesy." He laughed a little. "Sorry..."