Unraveled Ties-Chapter 45: The Pressure of Exams

The week of exams had arrived, and the entire school was consumed by an atmosphere of stress. The usual chatter in the hallways was replaced by hurried discussions about formulas, historical dates, and last-minute cramming.

Reiji sat at his desk, flipping through his notes lazily. He wasn’t the type to stress over exams, but that didn’t mean he could slack off entirely. His grades were decent—not top-tier like Sena’s, but good enough to keep him from any real trouble.

Speaking of Sena...

He glanced sideways. **She was sitting a few seats away, scanning her notes with an intense focus, practically radiating an aura of determination.** It wasn’t surprising—Sena was one of the top students in their grade.

"Yo, Tsukishima," Kaito called from behind.

Reiji turned, only to see Kaito grinning smugly. "How’s the studying going?"

Reiji shrugged. "It’s going."

Kaito chuckled. "Man, I swear, you’re always so calm. Meanwhile, Yuna’s been drilling questions into me nonstop. I’m pretty sure my brain’s gonna melt before the math exam."

Reiji smirked. "Sounds rough."

"You have no idea." Kaito sighed dramatically before leaning closer. "What about you? Studying with anyone?"

Reiji paused for a moment before answering. "...Sena."

Kaito blinked, then grinned. "Oho? Studying together, huh? That’s rare. What, you two close now?"

Reiji rolled his eyes. "It’s just for the exams." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Kaito snickered but didn’t push further.

Just then, their teacher entered the classroom, and everyone immediately tensed. The math exam was first, and as the papers were handed out, Reiji felt the usual anticipation settle in.

"Alright, you may begin."

The room fell into complete silence, save for the sound of pens scratching against paper.

Reiji scanned the questions. *Not too bad.* He started working through them at a steady pace, occasionally glancing around the room.

Sena, as expected, was already deep into writing, her brow furrowed slightly in concentration.

Aoi, sitting a few rows ahead, had a determined look on her face, lips pursed as she worked through a problem.

**Reiji couldn’t help but admire that about her.**

She always gave her best, no matter what.

Shaking off his thoughts, he focused back on his own test. *No distractions.*

---

A few exams later, lunchtime finally arrived.

Reiji sat under a tree in the courtyard, flipping through a textbook while munching on a sandwich. *He wasn’t too worried about his results, but there were definitely a few questions that had made him sweat a little.*

As he turned the page, a familiar voice broke his concentration.

"You look too relaxed for someone in the middle of exams."

He looked up to see Sena standing there, arms crossed.

Reiji smirked. "I could say the same to you."

Sena sighed, sitting down beside him. "I studied. There’s nothing else to do but wait."

"Fair enough," Reiji said, closing his book.

They sat in silence for a moment before Sena spoke again.

"How do you think you did?"

Reiji shrugged. "Alright, I guess. You?"

Sena leaned back. "It was easy. Though, I’m pretty sure some people in our class were dying halfway through."

Reiji chuckled. "Yeah, I heard someone sigh like they lost their will to live."

Sena smirked. "Exams do that to people."

Reiji watched her for a moment before speaking. "...So, about that lunch thing after exams."

Sena raised an eyebrow. "What about it?"

Reiji hesitated. *It was just a ‘lesson,’ but still...*

"Never mind," he muttered.

Sena gave him a questioning look but didn’t press. "Whatever. Just don’t fail your exams, or I’ll cancel the whole thing."

Reiji smirked.

They continued eating in silence, the stress of exams momentarily forgotten.