I'll Only Say This Once, So Listen Closely

"I've solved them all."

"Oh. Have you, now."

I'd more or less seen it coming, but sure enough, I'd been summoned to the faculty office.

I handed my homeroom teacher the stack of exam sheets packed with high-difficulty problems from every subject.

"Sorry about this. I didn't want to put you through it, but the other subject teachers were practically on fire about it."

"It's fine. I'd have done the same in their place."

"…Did you hit your head or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠something? Kid's suddenly this well-behaved…"

Muttering as much, my homeroom teacher flipped between the answer sheets and the exam papers. A moment later he let out a hollow little laugh.

"Huh. You really did solve them all. The work's clean, too. And the way you approached the problems—completely different angle from the average student. Especially impressive."

Well, yeah. I'd learned this stuff at a Korean high school. I had no idea how they taught problem-solving in Japan, so of course a few minor differences were bound to show up.

"Anyway, once I show this to the other teachers, they won't be able to keep muttering about cheating or leaked questions. Thanks for staying late."

"You're the one who went through the trouble, sir."

"…Aigoo. Hearing you talk that nicely is pleasant and all, but it feels weird as hell. The sudden academic leap, the attitude flip—you sure you weren't swapped out for someone else?"

At my teacher's joke, I could only manage a bitter smile.

In the original story I remembered, and in the scraps of Ryuzaki's own memories that occasionally floated up, the guy had been a hopeless delinquent through and through.

For that same guy to wake up after an accident and turn into a model student overnight—thinking it was strange would have been the strange part.

I can't keep playing Ryuzaki forever anyway.

Even with his memories in my head, at the root of it Ren and Ryuzaki were different people. I could never perfectly imitate him.

"…While I was in the hospital this time, I did a lot of thinking. Whether it was okay to keep living like this. Whether it was already too late to change."

So I'd given up on acting like him. More precisely, I'd given up on acting like the bastard Ryuzaki.

"Even so, if I never even tried, I figured I'd regret it later. So I'm working on becoming someone different."

From here on, I would play the reformed Ryuzaki. Though calling it "playing" was a stretch—really, I just meant living the way I normally would.

This was a precious second life I'd barely managed to get. Selfish as it might sound… I had no intention of spending such a rare chance mimicking someone else and drifting along a script already written for me.

"……"

My teacher listened in silence, blinking. Then his eyes reddened, and he dabbed at them with a tissue as he muttered,

"…You little punk. Yeah. You! You thought it through right! Looking back at yourself like that—that's not easy. I'm proud of you, seriously. I'll be rooting for you. Anything hard comes up, you tell me. Teacher's got your back, okay?"

"Thank you."

"That's right. Starting today, you're making a fresh start."

Mr. Homeroom patted my shoulder for a long time, as if I were some kind of treasure.

Of course, I couldn't take the display at face value. Without meaning to, I found myself wondering what angle he was working.

An old habit—one I'd never managed to fix. Not being able to trust people easily.

Whenever someone approached me, my first instinct was to look for the ulterior motive. Everyone who'd ever come close had worn a different face on the inside than the one they showed.

So from a young age, I'd stopped pinning pointless hopes on other people. If you don't expect anything, you can't be betrayed.

That was also why I loved knowledge more than most. Unlike people, knowledge doesn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lie.

"Sir. I have a question."

"Yeeeah. Ask me anything."

"What subject do you teach, and what's your name? I don't remember, so I'd appreciate it if you told me."

"…What?"

Ryuzaki was the kind of idiot who didn't even know his own homeroom teacher's name or subject. Better to get that sorted now.

"…Your fresh start starts there?"

Mr. Yukio clutched his head as he muttered.

"Hatanaka Yukio. The guy who wrote the national language exam you completely bombed."

Naturally, the way the other students looked at me had changed.

Where there used to be nothing but fear and disgust, a quiet current of bewilderment and curiosity had seeped in between.

I knew exactly why. I'd gone and racked up first place school-wide in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠four out of seven subjects.

I overestimated the level here a little.

The "Academy City student" title had made me tense up at first, but in the end they were just first-year high schoolers.

They were still a long way from matching the experience and know-how of a Korean high school senior on the day before the CSAT.

I probably could have handled it fine without even using any special abilities.

Subjects that leaned hard on background knowledge and kanji—national language, geography, history—I'd thoroughly wrecked.

Until recently I was a purebred Korean, after all. The kanji I'd learned in my past life barely got me through reading them.

I'd tried dipping into Ryuzaki's knowledge for help, but that guy's head was a cloudless blue sky, so I gave up cleanly. All he knew was hiragana, katakana, and the absolute basics of kanji. I was starting to doubt he was even Japanese.

If I'd had even a little time to study, I would have done far better. Math, English, science, and the rest of the universal-knowledge exams, though—those had been a cakewalk.

I'd already learned all of it. And once I learned something, I almost never forgot it.

Anyway, that was how the students' gazes toward me had subtly shifted. Not that I, the person in question, cared in the slightest.

Living obsessed with other people's eyes and judgments—I'd learned the hard way in my last life that it was exhausting and utterly useless.

What did it matter how they saw me, or what they whispered behind my back?

That kind of indirect interference couldn't touch my life at all.

Which, put the other way around, meant—

"Um… Ryuzaki-kun, do you remember me? Hiragi Alice—from when we did that group project together."

—that this kind of direct interference could affect my life a great deal.

Hiragi Alice. A presence that lingered, however faintly, both in my memories of the original story and in Ryuzaki's own.

One of the 5 Geniuses of Tsukuyomi Academy City among the freshmen, and the girl who had entered Asahi High School at the top of her class.

Also one of the original protagonist's heroines.

If I remember right… Ryuzaki was harassing her.

There had been an episode where Ryuzaki, taking an interest in Alice, made a move on her, and the protagonist stepped in to protect her. Sometime around the second semester of first year, if I had it right.

"Hiragi-san, correct?"

"Come on, just call me Alice. We're friends, aren't we?"

In short, the present Ryuzaki and Alice were total strangers who had barely exchanged a word.

"Actually… there's something I wanted to talk to you about privately. Would you come up to the rooftop after school?"

Why would a campus celebrity and model student go out of her way to speak to a thug like Ryuzaki?

Anyone could guess.

She's clearly planning to grill me on how I studied—or whether I cheated.

Your average rom-com male lead might have flushed and gotten all fluttery about it, but unfortunately I was nothing like those guys.

When the real motive was this obvious, what was there to get excited about?

Still, I kept that thought to myself, met Alice's eyes squarely, and answered,

"Yeah. No problem."

"Really? That's a relief. Thanks—rooftop after school. Don't forget, okay?"

With a gentle smile and a "See you later~," Alice walked off.

"…Lucky bastard."

"Wait, why him of all people?"

At the same time, a wave of envy and resentment from a whole pack of male students crashed down on me. Of course, the moment their eyes met mine, every last one of them wilted.

Still—I hadn't expected people to read that conversation as something like flirting. And not just one or two of them, either; a solid chunk of the class.

Must be the age when romance cells take over the brain.

I finally understood why the academic level here had felt lower than I'd expected.

School is for studying, not dating.

Hiragi Alice had taken first place school-wide.

First in three of seven subjects, second in the other four. Overwhelming results no one else on campus could even approach.

…This can't be real.

Whatever her outward expression, Alice's heart was a complete mess.

Ryuzaki—the one everyone feared and refused to get involved with. The delinquent she'd been sure would never have the slightest connection to her life going forward—had walked straight into her territory without so much as a by-your-leave.

The first feeling that rose was disbelief. That disbelief slid, almost naturally, into humiliation.

Alice was in the same class as Ryuzaki, so she knew exactly what his usual study habits looked like.

A human disaster who never listened in class and spent every other day picking fights with teachers and turning the room into a war zone. For something like that to plant its foot above her head—of course her pride was wounded.

—A girl who only survived thanks to her sister, and she can't even match half that talent. Hah. Never mind.

She had to be excellent. She had a duty to stand above everyone else and crush them underfoot as she advanced.

Only then would she earn recognition from a family that shone so brightly, one and all. Only then would she have the face to look her sister in the eye.

"Um… Ryuzaki-kun, right? Do you remember me? Hiragi Alice—from when we did that group project together."

Wearing a smile thick with pretense, she approached Ryuzaki.

She had to find out how he'd gotten those scores.

It shouldn't be hard. Most boys rolled over the moment she smiled at them a few times.

The beauty she'd inherited almost one-to-one from her mother. The poker face she'd naturally polished from childhood, tagging along to her parents' social rounds.

An ordinary delinquent like Ryuzaki would fold easily. A few smiles, a little warmth, and he'd spill everything soon enough.

After school arrived before she knew it.

"Ah, you came. Thanks for making the time."

Under the sun sinking in a wash of sunset, Hiragi met Ryuzaki's eyes and offered a lovely smile.

"What's this about?"

…Not even a flicker of expression?

That had been her trump card, and yet Ryuzaki stayed blank-faced and simply asked what she wanted. Alice was more than a little thrown.

Of course, she didn't let any of it show. That was amateur work.

"Well, I was honestly shocked. I had no idea Ryuzaki-kun was that good at studying."

"You're the one with the better grades. Are you mocking me?"

"Come on~ I just got lucky. I'm not like this every time. A lot of what I'd studied happened to show up, that's all."

She eased into the conversation with a little small talk.

For all his rough looks, Ryuzaki turned out to be surprisingly normal. No—if anything, he was pleasant and witty.

Most boys threw one-sided questions at her and spent the whole time putting her on a pedestal. He, on the other hand—

"Hey, that last math problem, number twenty-four."

"That one… oh, right. The one fusing the Euclidean algorithm with Diophantine equations?"

"Yes, exactly! Did you solve it, Ryuzaki-kun?"

"Somehow. The solution ran a bit long and gave me a hard time, but it wasn't unsolvable. What about you, Alice-san?"

—asked questions in moderation, matched her energy in moderation, and dropped the occasional joke that never went overboard, keeping the conversation going.

"I got that one wrong… If I'd only gotten it right, I would've had a perfect score too."

"Looks like you need to study a little harder."

"Shut up. Next time I'm winning."

It was the kind of calm you felt talking with a comfortable same-sex friend.

"Which part of this exam did you find especially hard?"

"I think I was born in the wrong country. I'm considering immigrating all the way to America."

"Is there an Academy City in America?"

"There must be one somewhere. Ah—on second thought, never mind. I like rice too much. Living over there would kill my pancreas. Do you like Western food, Alice-san?"

"It's the best! I could eat it every day if it weren't for the calories. If I wouldn't gain weight, I'd want it constantly."

"Ah, right—high calorie. Gotta watch the weight, I guess."

The small talk meant to reel Ryuzaki in had somehow turned into ordinary chatter.

About thirty minutes had slipped by when Ryuzaki glanced at his phone and said,

"…Ah. I've got to go. My father called."

For a moment, she felt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a twinge of disappointment.

"Really? Can't be helped, then. Let's talk again next time."

"Sounds good. See you tomorrow."

Without a shred of lingering, Ryuzaki waved and headed down the stairs.

This was the first time she'd ever chatted with a boy this comfortably. No—it hadn't just been comfortable. It had been genuinely fun.

Smart guys are usually missing a screw or two.

Someone who had both basic conversational manners and an intellect on her level was not easy to come by.

Talking with him had been enjoyable, like catching up with a friend she'd known since childhood.

So he wasn't quite the scoundrel she'd thought. In Alice's mind, her evaluation of Ryuzaki ticked up a notch.

That said…

"I feel like I forgot something… Ah."

Alice realized she had completely blanked on her original purpose.

She bolted down the stairs after Ryuzaki. Fortunately he hadn't gone far—by the time she hit the first floor she could see the back of his head—

"……!"

Rushing, she missed a step and pitched forward.

This is going to hurt, isn't it? It's going to hurt a lot.

As the floor rushed up to meet her, she squeezed her eyes shut.

—Thud.

"What's the hurry? You'll get hurt like that."

"Ah… thank you."

Ryuzaki had closed the distance in an instant and caught her, saving her a hospital visit. Now that she noticed, his shoulders were really broad.

He was definitely farther away. When did he get here?

The question rose, but her real question came first.

"Um, Ryuzaki-kun. I have something I want to ask."

"What is it?"

"How did you usually study to jump your grades like that? Can you tell me?"

"Study? Hmm… nothing all that amazing, but I don't mind telling you."

Maybe the chatting had done its job. Ryuzaki nodded without fuss and opened his mouth.

Just as planned. Alice smiled brightly and murmured to herself.

"I'll only say this once, so listen closely."

Go on. Tell me the secret that let you surpass me…!

"I just studied from the textbooks."

"Huh?"

…What the hell did this bastard just say?