Chapter 66: Heaven Has Eyes, Life Comes Full Circle
This week, the first years had an exam — something that had been repeatedly mentioned already.
"Ishigami, are you going to study this weekend?" Shirogane Miyuki asked curiously.
"I remember you said last time you were going to take studying seriously."
At first, Shirogane Miyuki thought the other wasn't lying, but then he noticed Ishigami Yuu's somewhat strange expression.
"You're… not going to study?"
Ishigami Yuu covered his face, speaking gloomily: "I want to study!! But the games… they're just too tempting!"
"I couldn't control myself, ended up gaming the whole day! I… I can't be saved anymore!"
Ishigami: ༼;´༎ຶ ༎ຶ༽
The other four all showed puzzled expressions.
"If this excuse is just because you don't want to study, you might as well admit it outright. Ishigami-kun, you seem a bit tsundere, you know?" Fujiwara Chika teased.
Sakurai Saki turned to look at him, saying: "The exam is on Thursday, Ishigami, you still have three days to work hard. The test content is mostly junior high school material you've already learned. As long as you haven't neglected it too much, you should still be able to manage."
"Although junior high school graduates are automatically promoted to high school, they still have to take the entrance exam, and that exam isn't easy. The fact that you passed it shows your basic knowledge isn't bad."
"Frankly, if you studied seriously from the start of the year, your grades should have improved by now."
"At the very least, you should have moved up from the bottom to somewhere like rank 160, right?"
Ah, there were a total of 199 first-year students.
Cold sweat trickled down Ishigami Yuu's forehead.
Senpai, you're overestimating me!!
He stammered, "Umm, Sakurai-senpai… I've basically forgotten everything."
(ó﹏ò｡)
From the start of the school year until now — or more precisely, since the spring break — Ishigami Yuu hadn't touched a single book.
During the prep phase for the entrance re-exam, he had pushed himself a bit too hard, and now, his "explosion period" was over, leaving him in a skill cooldown phase.
Hearing this, Shinomiya Kaguya immediately became serious.
Her adorable junior… could it be he was going to rank dead last in the ability assessment test?
She couldn't let that happen!
"Ishigami-kun, your grades are already bad — if you don't put in the effort, you'll have to repeat the year."
Ishigami Yuu glanced around.
The top three students of the year were all present here, plus Fujiwara-senpai — who was in the decent, above-average tier.
Effort… it's not something that works just by trying. There are many things in life where, no matter how much you try, how much you explain, you'll still be denied, misunderstood…
So maybe, just maybe, it's better not to try at all. For someone with no talent, even trying is pointless.
"Senpai, you wouldn't understand."
Back in junior high, Ishigami Yuu's grades weren't particularly outstanding.
In just three short days, even if he tried, he couldn't improve much.
"No, I understand!"
A voice sounded right beside him.
Ishigami Yuu turned his head and saw that it was Shirogane Miyuki.
"I understand exactly how you feel. A year ago, around this same time, I was in a situation very similar to yours. I was lucky enough to pass the make-up exam and get accepted into the school through a special slot. Even so, my grades back then were at the very bottom."
Shirogane Miyuki made no effort to hide his past.
He saw a bit of his former self in Ishigami Yuu: lacking confidence, giving up on himself, just drifting through each day.
If it hadn't been for the previous student council president pulling him into the student council in April of last year, he might have been the same.
Surrounded by the children of the wealthy, back then Miyuki hadn't even had enough money to buy proper meals, and the stark contrast made him feel both inferior and angry.
"Effort does pay off, Ishigami." Shirogane Miyuki said, glancing at Shinomiya Kaguya before continuing: "For me to surpass Shinomiya and rank first in the year — there were many factors involved, but the most important was effort."
Even though Shinomiya Kaguya felt very uncomfortable inside, she couldn't find any reason to refute.
During last year's first semester final exams, Shirogane Miyuki had challenged Shinomiya Kaguya, declaring he would defeat her to take the top spot in the year.
At first, Shinomiya Kaguya hadn't cared about this matter at all — and as a result, she suffered a crushing defeat.
It was precisely because of that incident that she remembered Shirogane Miyuki, along with Sakurai Saki, who at the time had just stood yawning next to him when he came to issue the challenge.
["Shirogane, is that the girl you admire? She looks like an ice statue, not interesting at all. What do you see in her? After beating her, you'll probably switch to a new target anyway."] He had said that back then.
Honestly, Sakurai Saki's sharp tongue was truly formidable. Instead of remembering Shirogane Miyuki — the one who actually issued the challenge — Shinomiya Kaguya ended up remembering Sakurai Saki more vividly.
["I will remember this grudge! I definitely need to find his weakness! Vengeance will be mine!"]
To Kaguya at that time, people came in only two kinds: tools that could be used, and tools that could hurt her. The first kind was easy to use; the second kind needed a little sharpening!
But later, when Shinomiya Kaguya investigated Sakurai Saki, she only found that his middle school records were suspicious, as if forged. Most of the details were still unclear, as if this man had suddenly appeared from thin air.
"I was also a bottom-ranked student in the mixed class last year, similar to Shirogane's situation," Sakurai Saki added in agreement.
Back then, he had fled from Kyoto to Tokyo, mainly to get permission to live alone — it was easier to control his powers that way. If a dangerous situation arose, he could use them without fear of being discovered.
Sakurai Saki was still concealing his identity as an esper, though his attitude toward it was rather casual.
If discovered, then discovered. He'd just wait for the other party to cause trouble for him, and then erase them.
"Sakurai-senpai was in the mixed class too?" Ishigami Yuu heard this for the first time, even though this semester had only been going on for two weeks.
"My family runs a wagashi shop; did I tell you that?" Sakurai Saki countered.
When Fujiwara Chika heard "wagashi," she suddenly remembered the birthday gift Sakurai Saki had given her last time.
Now she deeply regretted it! Regretted it terribly! Those wagashi should have been saved!
But somehow… they had all mysteriously disappeared.
Still, they were really delicious.
"Saki-kun makes amazing wagashi." Fujiwara Chika praised.
Shirogane Miyuki felt a surge of jealousy when he heard that — he hadn't even tasted any of the sweets Sakurai Saki had made.
"If you like, I'll bring some to the student council room next time," Sakurai Saki offered.
At this moment, Shinomiya Kaguya suddenly realized the conversation had gone off track.
Weren't they just talking about Ishigami-kun's studying?
Should she pull the topic back?
No, maybe it was better to set aside Ishigami-kun's matter for now.
Hayasaka was probably ready by now — she should start leading Sakurai Saki over there.
"Ah, everyone, just now I saw Hayasaka-san running out of the classroom. Was there something urgent?" Kaguya asked, the topic shift sounding a bit stiff.
Everyone around her sensed the awkwardness.
But they were still intrigued by Kaguya's words.
Fujiwara Chika pretended not to care, saying, "Maybe she went to work a part-time job? Golden Week is coming up, right? Playing around costs money too."
Probably off meeting that boy who confessed to her.
Shirogane Miyuki said nothing.
Ishigami Yuu had no idea what was going on. His relationship with Hayasaka was merely "thick-thighed goddess and thigh-hugger" — she was great at games, but beyond that, Ishigami barely had any awareness of Hayasaka.
Sakurai Saki lowered his head and activated X-ray vision, searching for her silhouette.
'Hm? Where did she go?'
Could she still be in the changing room?
————
At the same time.
Hayasaka Ai was staring at Iino Miko, who was chattering away endlessly in front of her, wearing a face that looked like she just wanted to die.
Was this karma for teasing Miko-chan all week?
'Aaa, how do I get out of here without revealing my identity?'
(╥﹏╥)