The notice was pinned outside the staff room early in the morning, and by second period, the entire school was buzzing.
"First Term Examination – Begins Monday."
Those five words carried very different meanings for everyone at Sakura High.
For some, it meant proving themselves.
For some, survival.
And for a few… quiet terror.
By lunchtime, the Cosmic S.T.A.R. Club room had transformed into a battlefield of books, scribbled notes, half-eaten snacks, and emotional breakdowns waiting to happen.
Souta collapsed face-first onto the table with a dramatic groan.
"I'm doomed. I'm absolutely, completely, academically doomed."
Haruto, sitting beside Beru with his notebook open, didn't even look up.
"You said that before your midterms too."
Souta lifted his head slowly. "And I was still doomed then."
Beru pushed a cup of coffee toward him gently. "You passed, though."
"Barely. By the mercy of the universe." He pointed weakly at the ceiling. "And now the universe has syllabus."
Luna sat across from him, calm but focused, organizing her notes with neat precision. "You wouldn't feel doomed if you studied daily instead of the night before."
Souta looked deeply offended. "Excuse me, I study emotionally. Not academically."
Tadao, quietly highlighting a textbook near the corner, spoke without looking up.
"That's not how studying works."
Aira, sitting beside Ren, whispered nervously, "Is it always like this during exams?"
Ren adjusted his glasses anxiously. "I already feel like I'm failing and the exams haven't even started."
Haruto flipped a page and spoke lightly, but there was seriousness in his eyes.
"Everyone feels that way. It just means you care."
For all the jokes swirling in the room, pressure lay heavy beneath the laughter.
That evening, Beru's house glowed with warm lights far past midnight.
Haruto sat at the dining table beside Beru, books spread between them. Their shoulders brushed occasionally as they leaned over the same page. There was no awkwardness—just comfort.
"You always study like this?" he asked softly.
Beru smiled. "With tea, snacks… and panic halfway through."
Haruto chuckled. "Efficient."
Across town, however, Souta stared blankly at his open notebook with zero comprehension of what was written inside.
Formula after formula blurred together.
"…Why does math hate me personally?"
His phone buzzed.
Luna: Did you revise chapter 4 yet?
Souta stared at the message. Then at his notebook. Then back at the message.
Souta: Define revise.
A few seconds later, another message popped up.
Luna: Come over. Now.
Souta blinked. "Am I about to be saved or punished?"
Ten minutes later, he was standing outside the Ayame residence, utterly unprepared for the serious storm of academic discipline waiting inside.
Luna didn't waste a second.
She sat him down, placed a stack of books in front of him, and said, calmly but firmly,
"You're not bad at studying. You're bad at starting."
For the next two hours, the sounds of:
"Wait, why?"
"No, that's wrong."
"HOW is that wrong?!"
"Because you skipped three steps."
"…Oh."
Echoed through the room.
And somewhere between frustration and stubborn effort, Souta slowly began to understand.
At one point, he looked at Luna quietly and said, softer than usual,
"Thanks for not giving up on me."
Luna paused… then smiled gently. "You don't give up on me either."
At school, pressure continued to swell.
Aira began doubting herself constantly.
Ren stopped sleeping properly.
Tadao remained outwardly calm, but his coffee intake doubled.
Beru studied quietly every night.
Haruto reviewed constantly.
And Souta…
Souta tried harder than he ever had before.
Yet fear lingered.
Not fear of failure.
But fear of disappointing the people beside him.
On the evening before the exams began, the club gathered one last time.
No telescopes.
No star charts.
Just books… and shared silence.
Souta looked around the room slowly.
"Next time we meet here," he said quietly, "we'll either be geniuses… or broken."
Beru smiled gently.
"Either way, we'll be together."
Luna nodded.
"That's enough."
Outside, the school bell rang softly in the distance.
Tomorrow… the pressure would finally descend.
And none of them were ready.
But none of them were alone, either.
---
To be continued...