Date a Live:This is not the date I wanted! Chapter 400 400: Yumetsuki Exam (Part 6)

Raizen High School teaching building, Physics Prep Room.

The sharp sound of a bell rang out, signaling the start of the second period of the afternoon. However, since it was the weekend, no one had to actually go to class. For the students and teachers remaining at school, it served only as a ti-teller.

"Phew... Let's take a 10-minute break."

Tobiichi Origami let out a soft breath and set down the textbook in her hand.

As soon as Origami finished speaking, Yatogami Tohka collapsed onto the desk like a puppet with its strings cut. Thud—! Origami could almost see wisps of blue smoke rising from Tohka's head.

(Did she overuse her brain?)

Watching Tohka experience "wisdom fever", a phenonon unique to her, Origami thought to herself.

By the way, Tobiichi Origami's current state was a bit different from before. Because her personalities and mories from two different world-lines had rged, her personality would shift under specific conditions.

When Itsuka Shido was nearby, or when she encountered information related to him, all sorts of unspeakable desires would erupt like a volcano. This would drive Origami to ignore common sense and engage in various shaless behaviors—commonly known as "Master Mode."

Conversely, when those conditions weren't t, Origami's reason and sense of sha would take over. She would act much more reserved and sensible—the so-called "Honor Student Mode."

Right now, Origami's ntal state leaned heavily toward the latter.

"Tohka, do you want so water?"

"Ah... Thanks..."

Completely lacking her usual energy, Tohka weakly thanked Origami and took the bottled water handed to her.

"Glug, glug, glug— Ah, I'm revived."

After drinking nearly a liter of water in one go, Tohka exhaled. Her complexion looked much better.

"Whew... I'm exhausted. I feel like this uses more energy than fighting those cha girls all day. Can everyone really finish this 'studying' thing so easily? That is truly amazing."

Hearing Tohka's sigh, Origami gave a bitter smile. she knew Tohka was referring to the AST Wizards she used to belong to. Even though she knew Tohka ant no malice, hearing that fighting the AST was less draining than an hour of exam review made Origami feel a bit complicated as a retired AST Wizard.

Of course, she wasn't going to start a fight with Tohka over sothing like that now.

"Well... I think everyone finds studying very hard at first. But if you keep at it and see your hard work pay off, you will start to find the fun in it, and studying will gradually beco interesting."

"Ohhh—! I see!"

Tohka nodded vigorously, her eyes full of admiration.

"So, if I keep studying seriously from now on, will I be able to get the 'passing grade' Tama-chan sensei ntioned for the final exam?"

"That would be..."

Origami guiltily looked away.

Hard work always leads to success. She really wanted to tell Tohka that, but unfortunately, looking at the current situation, no matter how hard Yatogami Tohka worked, reaching a passing grade was nearly impossible.

The reason wasn't just her learning ability, but a massive gap in her basic knowledge.

Tohka's accuracy rate dropped significantly once a math problem involved more than ten fingers. In English, she hadn't even morized the twenty six letters of the alphabet, let alone grammar. In Japanese, while she could barely read, she would get confused by complex Kanji; even if she were to write a sentence entirely in Hiragana, she would still make spelling mistakes 1/3 of the ti. In Science, she had no idea what chemical reactions, photosynthesis, or gravitational acceleration were. In History, when Origami asked who King Arthur was, Tohka's response of "What is that? Does it taste good?" left Origami in a long silence.

It wasn't a matter of "can" or "can't." Expecting soone with the knowledge level of a primary schooler to understand high school material was simply asking too much.

"Well... Unfortunately... with Tohka's progress, reaching a passing grade... might be very difficult..."

"What?!"

Even though Origami felt she had put it very mildly, Tohka was still stunned as if struck by a bolt from the blue.

"Did I do sothing wrong?"

"Where to start... Let think..."

Origami pressed her hand to her forehead, feeling troubled.

If Tohka only had doubts about a specific question, Origami could just correct it or explain the right answer. The problem was that Tohka couldn't even understand how an answer was reached, or what any of the symbols ant. Origami didn't even know where to begin teaching her.

"It is probably because we don't have enough ti to review. After all, the exams are next Wednesday. It is impossible to learn all the subjects in such a short ti."

It would take at least two or three months of hard work, Origami added silently in her head.

"Umu— I see. Simply put, it ans my hard work isn't enough."

However, hearing Origami's explanation, Tohka actually looked relieved.

"Well, I've never been very smart to begin with. I already knew that wanting to pass would take much more ti than everyone else."

"I-I see... Mhm, let think of a way..."

Watching Tohka's energetic smile, Origami began to think.

Although logically, Tohka failing was basically an unavoidable fact, Origami didn't plan on giving up just like that.

On one hand, Tohka hadn't given up yet, and she didn't want to say sothing discouraging to crush her motivation. On the other hand, if Tohka failed, Origami wouldn't be able to get Shido's worn clothes and the crossdressing photos from Yutsuki— Ahem, forget that part.

Furthermore, Origami hadn't been an honor student from the start. She had reached the top through constant effort and overcoming her own weaknesses. The idea of completely denying soone else's potential went against her personal code— Yes, that was exactly it.

(Hm? Failing?)

Origami noticed sothing inconsistent.

Logically, based on her understanding of Ratatoskr, they would do everything possible to avoid an event like failing an exam, which could cause ntal stress to a Spirit. In fact, in her mories of the previous world, Yatogami Tohka had indeed safely passed her midterms.

Theoretically, no matter how hard Tohka studied, she wouldn't be allowed to fail.

(Yutsuki... she must know this. But Tohka...)

Origami looked at the confused Tohka. Although she wanted to confirm this, she didn't feel right asking directly, so she chose a more subtle way of questioning.

"Tohka, let ask you sothing first. Why do you suddenly want to study so seriously?"

Hearing Origami's question, Tohka looked a bit puzzled but nodded and answered.

"Origami, do you rember? When Shido's Spirit energy went out of control before."

"Mhm. Of course I rember."

Origami nodded. It hadn't even been a month since Shido's outburst. Origami couldn't possibly forget, she just didn't see what it had to do with Tohka's motivation to study.

"Until now, I've always been relying on Shido. I believed Shido would always help and solve any problem. But it wasn't until I learned from Kotori-chan the reason for his outburst that I understood just how much burden Shido was carrying to take care of my feelings. So I thought, I have to make a change too."

With that, Tohka gave a rare bitter smile.

"Actually, I don't really understand things like studying or exams. Shido always took care of them for . The reason I started coming to school in the first place was just because I wanted to spend more ti with Shido. So I thought, if I can pass the exams through my own effort, maybe Shido's burden will be a little lighter. And, besides..."

Halfway through, Tohka's cheeks flushed slightly, and her voice beca hesitant.

(My feelings for Shido are... I like him very much.)

She hadn't fully understood it when she confessed to Yutsuki back then, but now she realized just how embarrassing it was to explain these feelings to soone else.

"...After understanding the aning of studying, I can also understand Shido's world better."

"—?!"

Hearing this, Origami couldn't help but cover her face with both hands.

Tohka didn't know it, but for the "Honor Student Mode" Origami, this kind of half-hidden, pure and sweet confession—just like a shy girl in her first love from a shoujo manga—hit her right in the heart.

Unlike the Origami from the previous world who used revenge as fuel for progress, the Tobiichi Origami in this world had only one hobby outside of studying and training: curling up under her blanket before bed to read innocent, romantic shoujo manga and pure-love novels.

(So cute! Even though I know she's my rival, she's still so cute!)

"Tohka! I will help you pass your exams!"

Deeply moved, Origami excitedly grabbed Tohka's hands.

"Ah, a-ah... Thanks..."

A bit taken aback by this side of Origami, Tohka nodded stiffly.

——It's no problem. You just have to hold onto this precious feeling and persevere. Your exams will definitely go well, and Shido will surely recognize your hard work.

While imagining beautiful lines in her head, Origami smiled and spoke just that.

"_______________________________________________________"

Hearing Origami's words, a look of surprise flashed in Tohka's eyes.

"Is that true, Origami?"

"Mhm, absolutely."

Origami nodded without hesitation.

"I see! I'll go try it right now!"

Having received a firm guarantee, Tohka suddenly jumped up from her seat and ran out of the Physics Prep Room.

Watching Tohka's actions, Origami tilted her head in confusion.

"Is she... going to the restroom?"

Mumbling to herself, Origami was left alone in the room to wait for Tohka's return.

A short while later, the door opened. Origami turned around, but it wasn't Tohka who walked in. It was Murasa Reine, who had been on standby in the room next door.

"Reine-san, what are you doing with those things?"

Seeing Reine holding hot water, towels, and gym clothes, Origami couldn't help but ask.

"...This? Yutsuki... sent a text telling to prepare... Said to make sure Tohka doesn't catch a cold..."

Reine answered groggily, her eyes showing heavy dark circles.

"Eh?"

"I'm back!"

Before Origami could process what that ant, a soaking-wet Tohka walked in right behind Reine.

"Tohka... don't move around..."

Watching Tohka shake off water like a puppy, Reine seed ntally prepared and wasn't too surprised. She took out a dry towel to wipe Tohka's wet long hair.

Origami's eyes widened in shock.

"Tohka, why are you soaking wet? What happened?"

"Hm? What are you talking about, Tobiichi Origami?" Hearing Origami's words, Tohka looked confused and said, "Didn't you tell : 'As long as you perform three tuck-flips and four spins in mid-air, then spread your arms and shout—My head has a problem, please save God!—before jumping into the school pool, you will definitely beco smart'?"

"When did I ever say that?!"

"Of course you did. When I checked with you, didn't you very firmly guarantee that it would be no problem?"

"Eh... wait..."

Origami began to panic. As she thought about it, a cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

Although she had no mory of saying those words, similar things had happened before—where what she wanted to say and what she actually said were worlds apart.

In those cases, it was usually because she had indirectly received information related to "Shido," and her "inner self" was secretly causing trouble.

(Could it be... after I heard Tohka's words, I felt a surge of jealousy... so I said those things to sabotage her...?)

"Alright! Now that I've used this chance to beco smart, let's get back to studying with full energy!"

"Before that... Tohka... change into these gym clothes first..."

Seeing Tohka unhesitatingly interpret her actions as well-aning, Origami's heart was instantly filled with a feeling called guilt.

Right now, she was no different from a villainess in a manga who specifically causes trouble for the protagonist's love life.

"—No, I am so sorry!!!!"

Leaving behind that apology, Origami ran out without another word.

Right now, there was one thing she absolutely had to do.

She dashed down the stairs, ran across the field, and headed straight for the closed-off pool. With a powerful jump, she jumped high into the air.

Three flips, four spins—perhaps because she was a Spirit, Origami easily perford these high difficulty movents in mid air even without Territory amplification.

Jumping into the hole she had dug herself was the only way Origami could erase the guilt in her heart.

Raising both arms high, Origami took a deep breath and shouted.

"MY HEAD HAS A PROBLEM, PLEASE SAVE GOD!!!!"

Then, with a "splash," Origami fell into the freezing pool.