Again, again and again. No matter how hard you tried, you just seem to can't get a good grade. Sure, you passed, but something inside you was ripping your heart apart, the desire to become better. You needed and craved academic validation, but you always managed to fail in every aspect.

Your knuckles clenched around your test paper, crunching it up slightly as you buried your head in your arms. 75/100, seriously? You knew you could've done better than that.

You had your face buried in your arms, feeling hot tears prick your eyes, but a soft voice interrupted you.

"Hey.. you alright?"

You looked up, and it was your energetic and whimsical classmate, Bachira, holding his exam paper. You caught a glance of it, and he just barely passed.

Though you two didn't talk much, he was very observant and noticed your discomfort. It was unusual for him to speak in such a tender voice, since he was usually yelling at Isagi or his other friends.