After overcoming the first exam of the new school year, the day of the school trip arrived.

The students’ faces were bright as they arrived at Yokohama, free from tests and in the mood to play.

The morning schedule was a tour of the museum for learning, but everyone was still excited since they were in a different place than normal.

Asahi was not interested in the museum either, but he was looking forward to the free time in the afternoon.

Although he was separated from his closest friends, they were able to go together as a result of the discussion, so he was not complaining.

Besides, he would meet up with Chiaki, Hinami, and Fuyuka for the last hour. Thinking about this, his mood naturally lifted.

And there was one man who was in a good mood but not because of the school trip.

“Man, it feels great to have a good score on the test and play without worry!”

“You’re still gonna play carefree, even if your score is bad.”

“I was worried, just a little.”

“Doesn’t look that way to me…”

Chiaki, who had been walking with Asahi on the way to the museum, opened his mouth happily.

“Seriously, I haven’t had an average score in a long time.”

“Your rankings also went up quite a lot compared to last year.

“Maybe I’m a genius…”

“Wow, this guy is getting cocky.”

“I’m kidding. I’m not a genius, but a prodigy.”

Whether he was a prodigy or not, there was no doubt that Chiaki had made an effort. However, if he praised him, he would get even more cocky than he already was, so Asahi responded with a dumbfounded look on his face.

Hinami, who walked a little ahead along with Fuyuka, also improved her score and ranking significantly, and so they both graduated from being idiots. Unfortunately, their PDA had not changed a bit, so they would continue being lovebirds.

“Asahi, aim to surpass Himuro-san.”

“That’s too high of a goal.”

In order to surpass Fuyuka, who was again ranked first in the entire grade, he needed to get close to a perfect score in all subjects.

It was not easy to improve your strong subjects more than you already have, much less your weaker subjects.

For Asahi, his weakest subjects were Mathematics and English, which caused him to get a reasonable grade in every test.

Thanks to Fuyuka, who taught him last year, he succeeded in building a solid foundation, but even so, he was still nowhere close to being on par with the top students.

“I don’t think I can get a ninety in Math and English.”

“But your score in English this time is pretty high, right?”

“That’s…”

Suddenly, the face of a classmate popped into Asahi’s head.

“Ka~ga~mi!”

Asahi turned around after a bright, lively voice called his name from behind.

Her long golden hair was the first thing he noticed, and he immediately recognized the voice as Asuka’s.

“Ugh, Miyamoto.”

“What do you mean by that, Yoshikawa?”

“They told you not to break the line, right? Hurry and get back in line.”

“Come on, just a little!”

Chiaki was right, they were supposed to walk to the museum in a line as they arrived at the assembly place.

But Asuka, who was supposed to be in the back, apparently didn’t listen.

Sandwiched between Chiaki and Asuka, who were both yelling at each other, Asahi sighed softly.

“Speak of the devil…”

“Eh, you’re talking about me?”

“To be exact, I’m about to.”

A golden-haired girl approached him with a curious look on her face.

Asuka, who was standing perfectly beside Asahi, urged him to go on.

“It’s about how I got a good score in English thanks to your teaching.”

“Oh, that’s great! It was worth teaching you, then!”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“You got it!”

Asuka was as happy as if it were her who got the score, and Chiaki tilted his head with narrowed eyes.

“You’ve been around Asahi a lot, haven’t you, Miyamoto?”

Asuka jerked for a moment and then showed her smile as usual.

“Is it? Isn’t that normal? Right, Kagami?”

“Well, if you ask me, I agree with Chiaki…”

“Eh? You, too!?”

Thinking about it, from test week to today, Asahi often talked with Asuka.

Asuka gave the impression that she was approaching Asahi.

“But we’re friends, so what’s the big deal?”

Asuka soon followed the words with a smile.

Her eyes were so powerful that he couldn’t say no to them.

“…Well, I guess.”

“I guess it’s safe to say that me and Kagami are good friends!

In the end, they settled on a fluffy conclusion, and neither Asahi nor Chiaki raised any objections.

“Oh yeah, are you fine leaving Yamada alone?”

“…Ryoma?”

“Isn’t he your best pal?”

“Ah… I guess so.”

Asuka affirmed and looked ahead at the long, long line of people.

Ryoma’s ever-so-fresh smile stood out. Next to him was Fuyuka with Hinami clinging onto her, who were smiling happily.

“…It’s a little far to go over there.”

Chiaki didn’t say anything more in response to Asuka’s ephemeral words.

As the three of them walked along the path to the museum, Asahi’s eyes met Fuyuka’s as he looked back several times. Each time, the distance between him and Fuyuka, who for some reason had an awkward smile on her face, slowly widened.

“You guys, don’t stop because it’s going to get crowded back there!”

Their homeroom teacher, Takeuchi-sensei’s drunken voice echoed through the streets of the strange city.