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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Nekorune
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“Can everyone please move their desks one space apart?”
At Miyuki’s words from the front of the classroom, the students spread out their desks.
Everyone seemed drained because it was exam day, and the way they sluggishly dragged their desks and chairs was somehow funny.
Tetsuya was staring intently at his notes next to me. I nudged the leg of his old desk.
“Did you study hard?”
“Yeah. I studied hard during the week, getting tutored by Miyuki.”
Miyuki had told me that after tutoring me, she’d briefly meet Tetsuya at a cafe to study together. If they weren’t childhood friends, Miyuki wouldn’t have taken care of him like that. That childhood friend thing… It was quite a shackle.
“You sound confident.”
“Well… I think I’ll do much better than the finals last semester. I still remember everything we studied hard for at your house during the break. How about you?”
“I think I’m going to fail again this time. So I’m going to cheat.”
“Cheat…?”
“Off Miyuki.”
Tetsuya’s jaw dropped slightly. He seemed taken aback that I would so boldly declare I was going to copy off Miyuki.
I chuckled at his expression, then flinched at Miyuki’s voice, which had approached unnoticed.
“In your dreams. What do you mean, cheat?”
“Oh… you heard that? Then I’ll be counting on you.”
“Counting on me for what…! Sometimes I can’t tell if you’re being serious or joking, Matsuda-kun.”
“I’m serious today.”
“Really? Then too bad. I’m going to tell the supervisor the moment you try to cheat. So I’d advise you to find the right answers on your own.”
“If I can’t solve it, I’ll just look at the vice-class representative’s answers.”
“And you say it so shamelessly…? Aren’t you worried about wasting all that studying you’ve done…?”
“Someone told me I’d be expelled if I messed up even once. So shouldn’t I do whatever it takes?”
“I told you that was an exaggeration.”
Miyuki’s brows furrowed prettily as she put her hands on her hips. She looked like she was about to scold me.
I waved a hand at her with an indifferent look.
“I was joking.”
“You said you were serious just now.”
“I was joking seriously.”
“It didn’t sound like that at all… I’ll be watching you.”
If I cheated after she had worked so hard to tutor me, it would be an insult.
I swallowed those words and shrugged in response.
Shortly after Miyuki sat down with an anxious look, the classroom door opened, and a supervisor with a bushy beard entered.
“Everyone, take your seats.”
His voice was stern. All the students in the classroom tensed up and closed their mouths.
Satisfied that everyone was sitting quietly, he walked around the classroom, checking that the students’ desks were empty and that there were no unnecessary items on top. Then, he returned to the podium and said,
“If you’re caught cheating, you’ll be immediately dismissed, so keep that in mind. You can show your work on the test paper, but only write the answers on the answer sheet. I always say this, but there are always one or two students who doodle on their answer sheets.”
Did the tension ease now that he had added a joke in a friendlier tone? The tense atmosphere in the classroom lightened up a bit.
The professor had the students in the front row distribute the test papers backward. After confirming that everyone had received two thick sheets of paper, the supervisor looked at his watch.
“Five minutes left. The test time is 50 minutes. Those who finish early can sit quietly and wait.”
I passed the time by exchanging glances with Miyuki and observing Tetsuya, who was taking deep breaths.
After about five minutes,
“The modern literature exam begins.”
The supervisor, straightening his back, announced the start of the exam. The students unfolded their test papers in unison.
Miyuki… had a relaxed expression. It wasn’t that she was being complacent, but that she was in control of herself. She would probably get the top score again this time, wouldn’t she?
I felt relieved when I opened the test paper and saw that the first question was something I had studied with Miyuki.
Watching Miyuki, who had already started writing answers on her answer sheet, I picked up my pen.
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Checking answers was a must for students. The students at Yeboni Academy were no different.
“Miyuki! How did you answer question 8?”
“Miyuki, was the answer to question 20 ‘clear poetic style’?”
In class 1-A, most of the students were gathered around Miyuki and the vice-class representative. Especially after each subject test, more than half of the students would gather around Miyuki’s desk, and it was the same now that it was lunchtime.
And Miyuki, as usual, calmly pacified the excited students and checked their answers.
I was lying face down on my desk. It was the first time I had properly concentrated on an exam, and using my brain, which I usually didn’t, had drained me mentally.
Still, was it fortunate that many questions were familiar? Miyuki’s crash course had been a great help.
“Matsuda, aren’t you checking your answers?”
Tetsuya asked, nudging my still back. I waved my hand dismissively, like swatting away a bothersome fly.
“I’ll just look at the results.”
“Why? Did you do worse than you thought?”
This bastard was assuming I had failed the test. If he keeps acting like this, I’m really going to start targeting the women in his household.
Sitting up, I asked back,
“You must have done well then?”
“I… I think I did better than last time.”
“Congratulations. I’m going to the store, do you want anything?”
At my words, Miyuki, who was checking answers, turned her head sharply.
“Matsuda-kun! Strawberry milk for me!”
She had good ears to hear me despite all the noise. It was ridiculous.
I mumbled an acknowledgement to Tetsuya, who also said he wanted strawberry milk, threw my torn test papers in the trash can, and left the classroom.
As I strolled down the quiet hallway towards the store,
“Kouhai! Matsuda-kouhai!”
Chinami’s characteristically cute voice called out from behind.
Chinami was walking towards me with a relaxed expression, alongside Renka. Grinning at her, I greeted them,
“Hello, Master. Did you do well on the exam?”
“I did well! How about you, Kouhai?”
Now that she mentioned it, I was curious about Chinami’s grades. Renka was in the upper-middle range… but what about Chinami? Considering her usual airheadedness, even though she said she did well, I had a feeling she was in the lower range.
“I think I did okay. Where are you headed?”
“We were just going to stop by the clubroom to clean.”
“Clean…? There’s no club activity today. Why bother when you could be resting…”
“Cleaning is essential if we want to keep the clubroom tidy. We’re doing it now so we can go home right after the afternoon exam.”
“Then I’ll help too. I’ll join you after I stop by the store.”
“No, it’s okay. My friend Renka is going to help, and we’re only doing a light cleaning, so it won’t take long.”
I slowly nodded and looked at Renka.
“Did you do well on the exam, Captain?”
“Me? I did okay, I guess. You’re still coming to the training camp, right?”
“Of course.”
“Good, be prepared.”
She was already trying to start a fight. She would be surprised if she knew how hard I had trained for this day. It was like I needed two bodies to juggle studying and training.
You are dead meat.
“Kouhai, I’ll send you a list of things to bring to the training camp, so please be prepared. Understood?”
Chinami patted my back with an outstretched arm. Smiling brightly at her, I replied,
“Understood. Are you sure you don’t need help with cleaning?”
“Of course. Don’t think about anything else, Junior, just focus on your exams and resting.”
Our Chinami… So considerate of her student’s needs… She was too kind. She seemed to be wanting another massage lately, I’d have to find a time to give her one again. Or maybe during the training camp.
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“They’re up!!”
At a boy’s loud shout, all the students in the class jumped up and ran outside. They were rushing to see the exam results posted on the bulletin board, which had just been put up today, the day after the midterms ended.
This was one of the things I never understood when I watched school-themed stories. Making everyone’s rankings public. This would crush the self-esteem of those in the lower ranks… such a cruel genre. There was the convenience of being able to learn about the main and supporting characters through easily visible grades, and readers didn’t care about the grades of extras anyway…
This is how scary a competitive society is.
“Good work, Matsuda-kun. I’m so proud of you.”
The classroom was instantly empty after the students disappeared. Miyuki approached me, patting my butt and offering words of encouragement. She seemed pleased that I had shown her I was working hard on the exam during the two-day testing period.
I grabbed Miyuki’s wrist as she was about to leave, and grinned at her as she looked up at me questioningly.
“What rank do you think I’ll get?”
“Well… since you didn’t check your answers, I don’t know… Shall I be honest?”
“Go ahead.”
“Even considering how hard you worked, around 20th place.”
Lower-middle rank. She was being generous.
I nodded and left the classroom with Miyuki.
Students were crowded around the bulletin board. The murmuring was quite loud, and the students’ heads were blocking the lower ranks, but the name I could see at the very top was:
[1-A Class Ranking]
[Top Rank: Hanazawa Miyuki]
[Second Rank: Natsume Honoka]
Miyuki and the vice-class representative were in first and second place. It was as expected. Bread girl was 6th? Not bad. Tetsuya’s name was in the mid-range.
[16th Place: Miura Tetsuya]
This guy, who said he had done better than last time, was exactly average. His face was slightly crumpled as he checked his ranking on tiptoe. And he had said he did better than last time… This is why you shouldn’t get ahead of yourself.
As I inwardly mocked his expression,
“Huh…? Matsuda-kun…!”
Miyuki’s surprised voice, as she squeezed through the crowd of students, made me frown.
“What?”
“Look at this!”
Miyuki’s finger pointed slightly above the center of the notice. Following her fingertip with my gaze, I saw:
[14th Place: Matsuda Ken]
My name was clearly displayed in 14th place.
‘Huh…?’
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Thanks neko! love u boo!