Chapter 107: An Unexpected Rank
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 107: An Unexpected Rank
“Could everyone move your desks one space apart?”
At Miyuki’s words from the front of the classroom, the students began to spread out.
Everyone was drained from the exam day, and it was kind of funny watching them listlessly drag their desks and chairs across the floor with a scraping sound.
Tetsuya was next to me, staring intently at his notebook.
I nudged the leg of his worn-out desk.
“Did you study hard?”
“Yeah. I studied hard with Miyuki tutoring me on weekdays.”
Miyuki had told me.
After tutoring me, she’d take a short break to meet Tetsuya at a cafe and study with him.
If they hadn’t known each other for so long, Miyuki wouldn’t have bothered looking after him. That damn childhood friend thing… it was nothing short of a ball and chain.
“You sound confident.”
“Well… I think I’ll do much better than last semester’s finals. I still remember everything we worked on at your place during the break. How about you?”
“I think I’m gonna bomb it again. So I’m planning to cheat.”
“Cheat…?”
“Off Miyuki.”
Tetsuya’s mouth fell slightly open.
He seemed stunned that I’d so brazenly declare my intention to copy Miyuki’s answers.
I was chuckling at the look on his face when I flinched at the sound of Miyuki’s voice, who had approached without me noticing.
“Dream on. What are you talking about, cheating?”
“Ah… you heard? Well, I’m counting on you, then.”
“Counting on me for what?! Sometimes, Matsuda-kun, I can’t tell if you’re being serious or just joking.”
“I’m serious today.”
“Really? Well, that’s a shame, isn’t it? The moment you try to cheat, I’m telling the proctor. So use your own skills.”
“If I get stuck, I’ll just look at the vice president’s paper, then.”
“You’re being incredibly shameless… Isn’t it a waste of all the studying you’ve done so far…?”
“Someone told me that if I slip up once, I could get expelled. So shouldn’t I do whatever it takes?”
“I told you that was an exaggeration.”
Miyuki placed her hands on her hips, her brow furrowing prettily.
She looked like she was about to lecture me.
I gave her an indifferent look and waved a hand dismissively.
“It was a joke.”
“You just said you were serious.”
“I just said a joke like it was serious.”
“It really doesn’t seem that way… I’ll be watching you.”
It would be an insult to you if I cheated after you worked so hard to tutor me, I thought, swallowing the words and shrugging my shoulders instead.
Not long after Miyuki sat down, still looking at me with uneasy eyes, the classroom door opened and a proctor with a bushy beard entered.
“Everyone, be seated.”
His voice carried an air of authority.
The students in the classroom tensed up, their lips sealed shut.
Once everyone was quietly seated, he wore a satisfied expression and walked around the room, checking that everyone’s desk drawers were empty and that there were no unnecessary items on their desks.
Then he returned to the podium and spoke.
“If you’re caught cheating, you’ll be removed from the room immediately, so keep that in mind. You can write your work on the test paper, but only your answers should be on the answer sheet. I say this every time, but there are always one or two students who doodle on their answer sheets.”
Perhaps because he added a joke in a friendlier tone, the tension eased.
The subdued atmosphere in the classroom lightened up a bit.
The professor had the students in the front row pass the test papers back.
After confirming that everyone had received the two thick sheets of paper, the proctor looked at his watch.
“Five minutes left. The exam is 50 minutes long. Students who finish early should sit quietly and wait.”
I passed the time by exchanging glances with Miyuki and watching Tetsuya take deep breaths.
After about five minutes,
“The modern literature exam will now begin.”
The proctor, standing up straight, announced the start of the exam.
The students all unfolded their test papers in unison.
Miyuki… she looked relaxed.
Not because she was looking down on the test, but because she was in perfect control of herself.
She’ll be at the top of the class again, won’t she?
When I unfolded my test paper, the very first question was something I had studied with Miyuki, which put my mind at ease.
Watching Miyuki already starting to write on her answer sheet, I picked up my pen.
* * *
Self-scoring was a rite of passage for students.
The students of Yebonie Academy were no different.
“Miyuki! What’s the answer to number 8?”
“Miyuki, was the answer to number 20 ‘a pure and clear poetic style’?”
In Class 1-A, most of the students were crowded around Miyuki and the vice president.
In particular, more than half the class would gather in small groups around Miyuki’s desk after each subject’s exam, and it was no different now that it was lunchtime.
And Miyuki, kind as always, was calming the excited students while helping them check their answers.
I was sprawled out on my desk, completely drained.
It was the first time I had ever properly focused on an exam, and using my brain for once had taken a huge mental toll.
Still, I guess it was a relief that there were a lot of questions I knew. Miyuki’s crash course tutoring had been a massive help.
“Matsuda, aren’t you going to check your answers?”
Tetsuya nudged my unmoving back.
Waving my hand as if shooing away an annoying fly, I said, “I’ll just wait for the results.”
“Why? Did you do worse than you thought?”
This bastard just assumes I did poorly.
Keep talking like that and I’ll really make myself at home in your place.
I slowly pushed myself up and retorted, “I take it you did well?”
“Me… I think I did better than last time.”
“Congratulations. I’m heading to the school store. Want anything?”
At my words, Miyuki, who had been checking answers, whipped her head around.
“Matsuda-kun! Strawberry milk for me!”
It’s so noisy in here, yet she somehow heard me. Unbelievable.
Tetsuya said he wanted strawberry milk too, so I gave a half-hearted "got it" before roughly tearing up my test paper, tossing it in the trash, and leaving the classroom.
I was sauntering down the quiet hallway toward the school store when,
“Junior! Junior!”
I heard Chinami’s distinctively cute voice from behind me.
Chinami was walking over with Renka, a carefree expression on her face.
I grinned at her and greeted her.
“Hello, Master. Did you do well on your exams?”
“I did great! How about you, Junior?”
Come to think of it, I was curious about Chinami’s grades.
Renka was in the upper-middle ranks… but what about Chinami?
Judging by the dazed look she usually had, even though she said she did well, I bet she was in the lower ranks.
“I think I did alright. Where are you two headed?”
“We were just thinking of stopping by the club room to do some cleaning.”
“Cleaning…? There are no club activities today. You should be resting, why go out of your way to…”
“Cleaning is essential if we want to keep the club room tidy. We’re doing it now so we can head straight home after the afternoon exams.”
“Then I’ll help too. I’ll come over after I stop by the store.”
“No, it’s okay. My friend Renka offered to help, and we’re just doing a quick clean-up, so it won’t take long.”
Nodding slowly, I looked at Renka.
“Did the captain do well on her exams?”
“Me? I did… alright, I guess. You’re coming to the training camp, right?”
“Of course.”
“Good. Come prepared.”
Trying to start a battle of wills already, are we?
She’d be surprised if she knew how hard I’ve been training.
Trying to juggle it with studying, I felt like I needed two bodies.
You’re so dead.
“Junior, I’ll text you a list of things to bring for the training camp today, so make sure you prepare everything properly. Got it?”
Chinami stretched out her arm and patted my back a few times.
I gave her a bright smile and replied, “Got it. Are you sure you don’t need help with the cleaning?”
“Of course. Don’t you worry about a thing, Junior. Just focus on your exams and getting some rest.”
My dear Chinami… so considerate of her student’s well-being… she’s too kind.
She’s been dropping hints that she wants a massage lately. I’ll have to set a day and give her another one. Or maybe I’ll do it during the training camp.
* * *
“They’re up!!”
At a male student’s loud shout, every student in the class shot up from their seats and rushed outside.
They were all heading to see the exam results, which had been posted on the bulletin board today, the day after the midterms ended.
This was one of the things I never understood whenever I watched a school life story.
Publicly displaying everyone’s ranks.
It must be a huge blow to the self-esteem of the lower-ranked students… what a cruel genre.
I suppose it’s a convenient way to provide information about the main and supporting characters through their grades at a glance, and it’s not like the readers care about the extras’ scores anyway, but…
This is how scary a competitive society is.
“You worked hard, Matsuda-kun. I’m so proud of you.”
The classroom was now empty, the students having vanished in an instant.
Miyuki came over and patted my butt, offering words of encouragement.
She seemed happy that I had shown her I was taking the exams seriously over the past two days.
As Miyuki started to head out, I grabbed her wrist. She looked up at me as if to ask what was wrong, and I gave her a wide grin.
“What rank do you think I’ll get?”
“Hmm… since you didn’t check your answers, I’m not sure… Should I be brutally honest?”
“Go for it.”
“Even considering how hard you worked, around 20th place.”
Lower-middle rank, huh. She was being pretty generous.
I nodded and left the classroom with Miyuki.
A huge crowd of students was swarming the bulletin board.
The murmuring was quite loud, and I couldn’t see the lower ranks very well because of all the heads in the way, but the names at the very top were as expected.
[Class 1-A Rankings]
[Top Rank, Hanazawa Miyuki]
[Second Rank, Natsume Honoka]
The top and second-ranked students were Miyuki and the vice president. A predictable result.
Bread Girl was 6th? Not bad.
I could see Tetsuya’s name in the middle-rank section.
[16th, Miura Tetsuya]
The guy who said he did better than last time was exactly average.
I saw him standing on his tiptoes to check the rankings, and his expression was a little sour.
He said he did better than last time… This is why you shouldn’t get your hopes up.
As I was inwardly snickering at the look on his face,
“Huh…? Matsuda-kun…!”
Miyuki, who had squeezed through the crowd, let out a surprised cry, and I narrowed my eyes.
“What?”
“Look at this!”
Miyuki’s finger, trembling as she made a fuss, was pointing to a spot slightly above the center of the poster.
My eyes followed her fingertip, and I saw:
[14th, Matsuda Ken]
My name was plastered right there in 14th place.
‘Huh…?’