Gifted Academy: The Perfect Student

?After placing all of the small wooden pieces on the board, she stared at the black and white checkered squares for a little while before finally making her first move. Gently picking up the white pawn, she moved it up two squares.

As expected, she had something prepared.

Her first move was not E4 or even D4. It was C4, The English Opening.

Well, it wasn't the first time I'd played against this opening either.

I had never seen this girl on the world stage before. For all I knew, she was an amateur. However, for some reason, something didn't feel right. I couldn't let my guard down, like that one match against Mizuhara.

Taking a moment to think, I responded with a pretty standard Knight F6, the Anglo-Indian Defence.

As the game went on, I decided to observe the pattern of Fujiharu's moves. They were completely different to the ones that Mizuhara played. Instead of aggressively trading pieces and trying to beat me with pure calculations, Fujiharu was extremely reserved, slowly building a defence with no holes.

However, there was a good reason why I stayed undefeated for almost ten years.

Meticulously, she slowly positioned her pieces around her king, covering any possible chance for me to break through. Her moves were not those of an amateur. Every move had a purpose, linking up the pieces like a web, an impenetrable web.

I guess I'll just have to slowly peel down her defences, one layer at a time.

Fujiharu, you're like a naked king hiding in a castle.

If that's the case, I'll just have to act as a battling ram and smash down your entrance.

***

I looked up and saw Fujiharu's face suddenly light up. She scanned the entire board, checking for any mistakes. In the end, her eyes were glued to my rook, which was hanging, right beside her impenetrable castle.

'She blundered a rook' is probably what Fujiharu's thinking right now.

However, like sacrificing a group of berserkers to smash down the enemy's walls, I was sacrificing my rook to open up her king.

Because the king's safety is important.

But not only that, her king was trapped by her own pieces.

All I needed to do was add a little bit of pressure.

As she took my rook, I played my next move. Move after move. We continued the game.

Until.

"Checkmate."

***

"That was a nice match."

Suddenly, I heard the voice of a girl I had never seen before. With long, foreign white hair, she looked down at me with distant yet familiar eyes. Resting her arms on my shoulders, she laughed. I had just defeated Fujiharu, but it seemed that this girl was also watching.

"You're good. You remind me of a leopard, pouncing on your prey."

"Who are you?"

"Ah, me? I'm just a nobody~"

For some reason, her way of speech reminded me, ever so slightly, of Mizuhara.

Taking a quick look at the board, the white-haired girl reset the board. She was moving all of the pieces back to their original positions, disregarding what had just happened prior.

"Wait, what are you doing?" asked Fujiharu.

"Oh, were you still looking at it?" she replied.

Fujiharu seemed confused f𝔯ee𝘸𝘦𝚋𝒏oѵ𝐞l.c𝒐𝓂

"Um, I guess not. Are you wanting to play a game?"

"Not really."

"Then why are you resetting the board?"

"I just feel like it."

Looking at the white-haired girl in confusion, Fujiharu got out of her seat. Running her fingers through her hair, she waved at me.

"I guess I'm not at your level just yet~."

With that, she walked away, looking somewhat dejected.

I looked over at the girl who had just finished resetting the board.

"Kanako, is it?"

"Yeah..."

"How about you team up with me for the special exam."

I wasn't expecting to suddenly be offered to team up like that. I didn't even know who this person was. They extruded an aura of confidence, but I knew nothing about them. Noticing that I was hesitating, she continued, taking her student card out of her pocket.

"I'm Hasegawa Mio~ check my Preseqta. I'm sure you'll be able to make up your mind."

Hasegawa Mio?

I looked up her name

-

Hasegawa Mio - Second-Year Student

Overall Intelligence: **Unreleased**

Athletic Ability: **Unreleased**

Interpersonal Skills: **Unreleased**

Spatial Awareness: **Unreleased**

Lateral Thinking Capacity: A+ (Ranked #3 out of 417 in school)

_

Appearance: **Unreleased**

Cooperative Reliability: B (Ranked #54 out of 417 in school)

Creative Ability: **Unreleased**

~~~

Overall Score: A+

Consistency: **Unreleased**

-

Her attributes were incredible. They were even better than Fujiharu's. Looking at the ranks, I saw no reason to reject her invitation. In this special exam, your teammate's abilities were almost as important as your own. It's impossible to make it far if you have a poor teammate. With that in mind, I spoke up.

"I'm willing to be your teammate, Hasegawa."

"Perfect, it's settled then~ I knew you'd come along."

She tapped on her phone a few times before I received a notification. She must have inputted the team into the Preseqta Special Exam tab.

-

National High School

To the student Kanako Hanae,

You and Hasegawa Mio have been confirmed as teammates. You have five minutes to reply if you wish to cancel. Otherwise, it will be inputted into the system.

-

That was it.

"I look forward to playing with you, Kanako."

"Aren't we going to practice?"

"Practice, do you feel the need to?"

"I mean, just in case?"

She pouted and looked up at me.

"If you want... but I want to go play the piano now~"

"Uh, well, that's fine then."

I guess I could gamble on her ability. There shouldn't be a large issue if her Lateral Thinking Capacity was so highly ranked. I need to report back with Fukuda anyways.

"See you~"

Hasegawa left, giving me a little wave. I also decided to go back to the dorms. Fukuda was probably sorting his own teammate out. Father sent a few more students here, so he could probably group with any of them. Although, I would eventually like to stop relying on things that Father provide me with.

This special exam will be the first one where I will truly use my own strength.

***