HΣIШΔ

a very happy surprise

two days of torture later, and heiwajima mako is trying desperately to keep from biting her nails out of nervousness.

while she hadn't understood a fair amount of the questions, she hadn't left any blank on any of the tests, and surprisingly, she was feeling quite confident about her chances. if she failed, then that would all come crashing down around her, and nothing would be able to drag her out of that pit.

tensely, she waits for the octopus to give out the scores.

she lets a smug grin form on her face at hearing the success of her friend, and the blonde sends her a matching look from the front.

looking over the sheet given to her, mako's eyes bulge out at the grade.

"congratulations on 4th place, heiwajima-chan! english is very much your strong suit, is it not?" he congratulates, and she grips the paper tightly.

'this is the highest grade i've... ever gotten...'

isogai and okuda also best out the top student in their respective subject for first place, and mako feels her confidence building slightly with each paper given to her. although the grades aren't the best, they're above average enough to satisfy her self-esteem, and that's all that matters to the girl.

looking at her overall grade, she lets out a shaky breath, feeling hot tears begin to build up in her eyes.

'no... i can't cry! i'm not gonna fucking cry!'

she'd made it to the 21st place in the whole grade. granted, that wasn't very high, but it's the absolute best she could've hoped for, and has lifted her to realize that she may not actually be as stupid as she thought.

———

mako can't help herself but feel proud. just knowing that she scored so high, especially for her.

she had basically ignored everything during the assembly, still on her high of excitement and happiness. her classmates and the octopus had seemed to notice her cheery attitude, despite how discreet she thought she was about it.

she listens excitedly to everyone chatter about the vacation they get to go on for beating class-a. she's never been to the island of okinawa, and couldn't help but let her eagerness to go, show.

at the end of class, she made her way to the bottom of the mountain with nakamura at her side, the two of them talking about what all they want to bring for the trip, but stop when they hear whispers come from students of the main campus.

"huh? what's going on?" the shorter blonde asks rhetorically, the two of them moving towards what seems to be the source of attention, already seeing some of their classmates nearby.

"see anything, heiwajima?" groaning at the familiar voice, she gives the boy a glare before muttering, "no. piss off, you ass."

the boy slings his arm around her shoulder, much to her annoyance, and she sends a glare to her friend, who smirks evilly at the interaction.

the trio move closer to the source of attention, and mako's eyes widen in shock and pure joy at the sight before her.

a wide grin forms on her lips at the sight of her eldest brother, heiwajima shizuo, standing at the gates of the school, looking as tall and menacing as ever. the man is in his regular bartender outfit that kasuka gifted him, and he's glancing over the crowd of curious and enamored students, who all whisper about him and just how mean he looks, and why he was even there.