All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

As a Japanese language teacher, Shizuka Hiratsuka also had to complete the same Japanese exam as the students. Upon seeing the questions, she couldn’t help but frown slightly.

The school had certainly raised the difficulty level for this year’s first monthly exam.

For even a Japanese language teacher like her to wonder if the questions were a bit too challenging meant it would be even harder for the students sitting in that very room.

However, remembering what had been discussed in last week’s staff meeting, Shizuka no longer felt surprised at the increased difficulty.

Sobu High School intentionally made this monthly test challenging for only one reason: to acclimate students to more difficult questions, so they wouldn’t fall apart when the midterms rolled around.

The midterm exam itself was still being compiled, but once completed, it would be sealed, making it inaccessible even to the principals. The word was that although there would be two separate tests at midterm—one for regular students and one for high-achievers—the difficulty level would increase for both, particularly for the elite test, which was said to be downright mythological in its intensity.

Some questions would extend beyond typical knowledge points, requiring students to display advanced logical thinking. These kinds of questions couldn’t be tackled with sheer diligence alone; natural aptitude would play a part.

For some, the answers would come easily; for others, they’d remain an unsolvable mystery.

It was a bit brutal but aimed to sift out the students who truly deserved honors track placement. When midterms concluded, it was likely that the number of honor students would change significantly—not for the better, but for the fewer.

”This is a bit hard...”

”These poems weren’t even covered in class. Is this an out-of-syllabus question?”

”The options on these multiple-choice questions are really tricky.”

Even the Japanese teachers sensed the increased difficulty, let alone the students themselves.

Though the students in Class 1-A seemed relatively composed, some still furrowed their brows as they worked through the questions. Their pens kept moving, though, pressing on despite the struggle.

As for other classrooms… despair was already setting in.

Some proctors were starting to question if they’d mistakenly handed out the wrong exams.

”The students are definitely feeling overwhelmed by the difficulty.”

”That’s expected; this exam’s difficulty has gone up a notch. I’ve been teaching Japanese for six years, and even I think it’s tough.”

”Ah, well... the goal of this difficult monthly test was to give them a taste of the midterm challenge ahead. This is probably good preparation.”

”Better they get hit by hard questions now than be blindsided at midterms, right?”

”Right? This is like a ’friendly’ hazing for the freshmen.”

”I’m starting to worry about the midterms. I don’t think the school’s average score is going to look very good.”

”Don’t worry. I’m sure all the other schools will be in the same boat.”

After hearing these murmurs from the other teachers, Shizuka sighed inwardly. The monthly exam was indeed tough, and judging by the reactions she’d seen, it was only a shadow of what the midterms had in store.

Could the students manage to stay composed when the time came? A poor score would be one thing, but if their morale broke, that would be a bigger problem.

It took Shizuka an hour and a half to finish the first half of the exam. She felt the increased difficulty acutely. Normally, she could breeze through the non-essay questions in thirty minutes, then tackle the essay with enough time to review her answers leisurely. But today, even the best students seemed to be slowed by the challenges in front of them.

One quick glance across Class 1-A showed that while students continued to write, their pace was noticeably slower. Some were still on the poetry section, leaving them with the reading comprehension and essay yet to tackle—a cause for concern.

The so-called ”elite” students in Class 1-A were stalling. Shizuka thought about this with some amazement until her gaze drifted over to Kotomi, seated by the window in an inconspicuous spot.

Just one look, and Shizuka couldn’t look away.

Some students had also noticed Kotomi. The same Kotomi, who they had thought would be the least serious of all, was writing quickly and steadily, her pen never slowing for even a moment.