Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818622172789075625/episodes/16818622173199707957
“Then let’s get on with it.”
“Yes.”
After school.
Nagisa and I are sitting next to each other at a family restaurant, spreading out our notebooks and study materials.
The only other drinks on the table were from the drink bar, so I felt a little sorry for the waiter.
I take out a loose-leaf notebook from my bag and look at Nagisa.
“This is the first semester’s final exam.”
“Hmm. Obviously, you’re perfect with the vocabulary and idioms you learned in class. You’re also getting some extra points in reading. I guess the assignment is listening. And…”
“I’m having a hard time with all the application questions. I can of course solve the parts I learned in class, but the problem is that I’m trying to read with a poor understanding of the material, so I don’t have enough time.”
“I kind of figured it out when I saw the flurry of blank spaces in the second half.”
Nagisa’s answer sheet was like the honors student.
She answered almost all questions correctly from Question 1 to Question 3.
She was also able to answer the reading comprehension questions, and her performance was even better than mine.
It was as if she had said she was good at Japanese.
But, however, it is not enough.
Her score was 68/100 on the first one and 71/100 on the second one.
I could tell at a glance that the reason for this was that she was completely out of gas, and that it was due to the fact that the second half of the exam, about two major questions, were almost completely left blank.
The regular examinations at my school have a large amount of questions at an exam-preparation level, and in particular, they are full of questions that make you read, so if you take your time in solving them, you will end up in a situation like this.
Nagisi’s brow is wrinkled and she has a grim expression on her face.
Apparently, this guy might be quite a perfectionist.
And another thing, I sensed a grim aura from the front.
I look up and there is a Buddha-faced Reisa glaring at me with a straw in her mouth.
“What the hell?”
“Nothing? You mind?”
“I do.”
I do, and it’s very distracting.
Well, actually, I used this time to occasionally tutor Reisa in her studies.
Is she unhappy that my time is being taken away?
“You’ve prepared practice questions for Reisa san, haven’t you?”
“That’s true, but that’s not what we’re here for.”
She’s a bit of a sore loser.
But never mind, it’s nothing new that Reisa has been acting strange.
“Amakusa san, maybe it’s not that you take too long because you don’t understand well, it’s simply that you take too long. For example, here.”
I pointed to a part of the question paper.
“This long answer question has a large number of points. But it’s also tricky, and that’s why it’s so difficult.”
“Yes, that’s right. It was difficult.”
“You got a perfect score there. That’s the problem.”
“……?”
Nagisa tilted her head curiously.
And then, Reisa, not her, asked me a question.
“Here, teacher. Why can’t you get a perfect score? It’s good to get a perfect score.”
“I told you about the concept of the distribution of points and the probability of getting a theoretical score, right? It’s the same thing.”
“That’s what you were talking about on the quiz, right?”
In short, you don’t need to get all 15 points for this writing test.
Instead of spending 20 minutes out of 60 minutes on this question, it would be better to get 7 partial points in 5 minutes and solve another question in the remaining 15 minutes until the end.
Of course, if you are really good at English, you may be able to solve it efficiently and aim for a perfect score.
But not me.
Asking me to help you means that you have the courage to cut it off.
This is because I’m not very smart.
However, well, this is the theory of exam preparation.
Nagisa seemed impressed by my explanation, but then smiled wryly, as if somewhat unconvinced.
“I know it’s a bit of a blur to throw away the questions you can get and move on, but I’m sure your score will go up as a result.”
“Yes. I think so, too.”
“But even so, the percentage of correct answers in reading comprehension is astonishing.”
“Fufu, I’ve always loved reading books. Recently I’ve been trying to make a conscious effort to read English books.”
I, Edano Tsukushi, am a man who hates reading books from the bottom of my heart.
When my father was still alive and well, I was absorbed in playing video games and ball games outside, and had never been exposed to any kind of entertainment such as books.
I believe that the ability to read and compose sentences depends on the habits of childhood.
Thanks to this, I still can’t string together the elements that come to my mind and put them together in a limited number of words in essays and essay questions.
However, I was not the only one who had trouble with this.
“Heh. I never read any Japanese books. I really can’t speak Japanese.”
“W-we’re on the same team !”
“Eh, you’re a returnee too !?”
I leaned forward and sympathized with her.
Indeed, Japanese is probably his biggest challenge.
The way she speaks, with her distinctive accent, sometimes gives the impression that it’s not her first language.
It’s a huge misconception, but at least I can fill the void of loneliness by having someone who shares my fatal weakness of not being able to read or write printed text.
“Thank you, Reisa san……!”
“What are you crying about !? There are so many mines, I don’t understand !”
“Yes, we’re in a war zone…..”
“It’s broken !”
Nagisa laughs at the confused Reisa.
“Fufu, it suits you.”
“Nagisa…..!”
While tilting my head at Nagisa’s somewhat strange reaction, I let it slide.
But it felt like a dream come true.
We chat while studying after school, and what’s more, the other person has much better grades than me.
I have a lot to learn.
What’s more, these two girls are the most popular and beautiful girls in the school.
It is a life that I could not have imagined until a short while ago.
It’s fun.
I’m happy.
How lucky am I to be able to study in such a fulfilling environment?
Happiness that I can once again appreciate.
However, it was a bad idea to jinx that.
“Tsukushi, is your phone ringing?”
“Eh? No, no, there’s no one who would contact my phone right now.”
My mom hasn’t been home from work all day, and unfortunately the only friend I’ve exchanged contact information with is Reisa, who is right in front of me.
It would be one thing if this guy was making a prank call, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
The only other person I can think of is a childhood friend who I’ve known for a long time.
Yeah.
The thought hit me and all at once my face went limp.
“Ah, it stopped.”
“But there’s another ring. Is it your family?”
The phone stopped ringing, but I continued to hear the line beep.
The fact that there’s several messages led me to identify the culprit as one person.
Because my mother is an old-school e-mail user who crams all her requirements into one long message.
Paradoxically, she’s the only person I have to contact anymore.
I took my phone out of my pocket, and sure enough, Kako’s name was in the notification box.
[Let me have dinner tonight.]
This was the latest message on the lock screen.
I hadn’t heard from her since then, so why in the world?
And yet, there was no hint of apology or awkwardness in the message.
It reminds me furiously of the last time I was at a fast food restaurant.
You made fun of me like that, and now you want me to prepare dinner for you?
Even though you know my mother is a single mother and is short on money?
You threw away my mother’s cooking sometimes, saying things like it taste bad.
“T-Tsukushi?”
“Edano san……”
Their voices were distant.
I couldn’t stop my heart from palpitating as I remembered feelings I had almost forgotten.
I realized this after I got away from her, but letting her get the better of me was only going to make her get cocky.
I would not allow it anymore.
Before I knew it, I was gripping my smartphone with so much strength that my hands turned white.
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